An American Family History

Jacob Brunstetter, Jr. was born about 1782 in Heidelberg Township, Northhampton County (now Lehigh County), Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Jacob Brandstetter and Maria Margaretha Bloß.

He was the sponsor for his brother Daniel's daughter, Sarah, when she was baptized at Towamensing Union Church in 1806.

He appeared in the 1810 census in Heidelberg Township.

He married Julie Gilbert. Julie was born abut 1783 in Pennsylvania.

Julie and Jacob's children were Samuel Brunstetter (1810), Rebecca Brunstetter Harding Ohl (1813), Jacob Brunstetter, (1815), Mary Ann Brunstetter (1819), Levi Brunstetter (1829) and Henry Brunstetter (March, 1837).

He appeared in the 1820 and 1830 census in Austintown, Trumbull County, Ohio. They (Jacob Bronstter) were still there in 1850. The household consisted of David Carl who was age 34 and a farmer, Lydia Carl age 22, Elizabeth Carl age 4, Lydia Carl age 2, Jacob Bronstter age 68, Juilia Bronstter age 67 and Levi Bronstter age 21. Jacob and Levi were farmers.

Julie died in Austintown on November 03, 1851 and Jacob died on December 22, 1854.

Mahoning Dispatch, Friday, December 6, 1912 p. 183
December 4
Samuel Brunstetter [grandson of Jacob Brunstetter], whose illness was frequently noted in the Dispatch, died last week Thursday morning at the home of David Anderson. Deceased was a son of the late Jacob Brunstetter, who was one of the county commissioners in 1852, and was born in Austintown township Nov. 10, 1842. Here he resided nearly all his life. His wife and son preceded him to the better world. He was in the 100 day service during the civil war. He was a member of the Evangelical church of this place. Many relatives and friends deeply mourn his death. Funeral services, held Saturday from the Evangelical church, were conducted by Rev. W. H. Bucks of Cleveland, assisted by Rev. Harman of the United Evangelical church and Rev. Tovay, and were very largely attended. Interment was made in the Brunstetter cemetery.

Mahoning Dispatch,
Friday, August 28, 1928, p. 538
Mrs. Samuel Brunstetter, whose illness has been frequently mentioned in these columns, died Wednesday morning, aged 69 years. Funeral services will be held in the Evangelical church Friday at 1 o’clock. Rev. S.H. Seager of Cleveland will officiate. Interment in the Brunstetter cemetery. Deceased was a member of the Christian church at Four-Mile-Run. She leaves her husband, two sisters, five brothers and a wide circle of friends to mourn her departure.

Mahoning Dispatch, Fri, September 4, 1928
The funeral of Mrs. Samuel Brunstetter was very largely attended. Relatives were present from Massillon, Niles, Girard, Youngstown, New Castle, and Pittsburg. Rev. L. H. Seager being out of the city, Rev. W. H. Bucks, Editor of the Evangelical Messenger, Cleveland, officiated.

Mahoning Dispatch, Friday, June 6, 1928, p. 377
January 4
Word has been received of the death of Mrs. Nancy Pennell [daughter-in-law of Jacob] Brunstetter, aged 89, widow of the late Henry Brunstetter, of Alva, Okla, whose death occurred at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W.G. Johnson, near Lamar, Mo., Dec. 21.  Funeral services were held at the home of her son William in Alva, Dec. 23. She was married to Mr. Brunstetter of this township on Mar 1, 1869, and 60 years ago moved from here to Nebraska and later to Kansas and Oklahoma. She was a sister to the late Sylvanus Pennell of Girard. Three sons and one daughter survive.

. . . Joseph and Lucy (Brunstetter) [granddaughter of Jacob] McCaughtry. Joseph McCaughtry was distinguished by a long life and by many unusual attributes of character and service. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1819 and died in 1913, in his ninety-fifth year. He maintained much of his vigor of physique and spirit to the end.

His father died in Pennsylvania, and in 1835, when he was sixteen years of age, he crossed the mountains to Ohio with his widowed mother and two sisters. Considering the poverty of his boyhood and the time in which he lived he had practically no opportunities for education. A thirst for knowledge burned within him, and he taught himself to read and eventually commanded a fluent use of both the English and German languages. Joseph McCaughtry from boyhood was extremely handy with tools, and as a young man is Eastern Ohio he learned to make ladles, dippers and skimmers from copper. Later he acquired all the technique of the coppersmith's trade by practical experience and association with other workmen.

Moving to Austintown, he conducted a tavern known as the Indian Queen, also opened a store, and conducted a very prosperous business. He also owned two farms. The tavern was on the old Plank Road, a noted thoroughfare traveled in the early days by the stages. Joseph McCaughtry, whose father came from the north of Ireland, was a member of the German Reformed Church and as a young man it was his desire to be a minister. He was a strict prohibitionist in his later life and a democrat.

His first wife was Lydia Miller, who came from Four Mile Run, Ohio. Joseph McCaughtry married for his second wife Lucy Brunstetter, who died in 1918, at the age of seventy-eight. They had half a century of married life. Her father, Henry Brunstetter, was a Pennsylvanian German. By the first marriage there were three sons and two daughters. The only living son is Caldwell Porter, who was named in honor of Caldwell Porter, one of the first mill men in Northeast Ohio. The only living daughter is Barbara, wife of Austin Crum, of Girard. By his marriage to Lucy Brunstetter, Joseph McCaughtry had two sons and two daughters, Charles A. being the oldest; Lydia, wife of John Peck, of Warren; Miranda, unmarried, who made her home with her parents as long as they lived and is now a resident of California; and Raymond, a machinist with the Peerless Electric Company at Warren.

Joseph McCaughtry after his second marriage moved to Niles, where he owned the old Sanford Hotel and a store, and about 1869 moved to Lords- town, where the family home remained thereafter though Joseph McCaughtry again did merchandising at Niles, selling goods to the employes of the Ward plant.

History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio
 By Joseph Green Butler