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47. Meek Steely (Married Martha (Patsy) McCutcheon (McCutchen) (48), later remarried.(According to an e-mail on December 8, 2002 from Mary Hammersmith, a descendent of Martha McCutcheon's sister (Nancy), to Susan Leach Snyder (#2), a McCutchen family Bible in Mary's possession states the wedding was 2 November 1824.) Pickaway County, Ohio, Marriage Records 1810-1862 p. 45 states that he married Martha McCutcheon on 1 November 1824 and Rachel Hickenlooper on 2 April 1846.

Born: 1798 in Pennsylvania of Gabriel Steely (93) & Mary Meek Stewart (Sturat) (94).

Died: 23 April 1865. He is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Kingston, Ohio. (This has been confirmed by visits to the gravesite by Susan Leach Snyder (#2). (GPS: 39° 27.750' N, 82° 55.792' W)

According to History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio, published by Williams Bros.,1880, p. 268, Steely is spelled both as Steely and Steeley. This book claims that Meek had six siblings. This is verified on a plaque on the tombstone of Gabriel Steely, his father, at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Kingston, Ohio.

 

[His siblings were:

John Steely (Married Margaret Emerson (Emmerson) on 30 September 1808; She died July 1847 at age 60 years and 19 days and is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Kingston, Ohio next to John) (This has been confirmed by visits to the gravesite by Susan Leach Snyder (#2). Born: 17 October 1785 in Pennsylvania, Died: 6 August 1842, aged 56 years, 9 months, and 19 days and is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Kingston, Ohio (Source of his birth and his death are his tombstone.) [One of John's children, Nancy Steely, married Anthony Rice's (#23) brother, James. One of Meek's children, Susanna Steely(#24), married Anthony Rice (#23). This means that first cousins Susanna and Nancy married brothers James and Anthony.]

Eliza (Elizabeth) B. Steely (Married (1) George Ray; (2) Benjamin Davis 30 December 1813, (3?) James Williams 6 October 1868..source "Steely Marriages in Pickaway County, Ohio"... a document provided by Robert Steely) Born: 1 August 1811 (1811) at Kingston, Ohio. Died: 17 April 1880.

George Steely ((Betsey) Elizabeth Emerson 22 October 1811 in Pickaway County, Ohio. Born: at Kingston, Ohio. (20 May 1788 according to both April Pott and Richard Shelby), moved to Troy Township, Fountain County, Indiana in 1823-24; Died: 26 February 1848, Buried 2 miles north of Covington, Indiana. Military Service: War of 1812. George laid out and donated the land for a cemetery for the Bend Community. At that time George was the largest landowner in Troy Township of Fountain County, Indiana. Buried in Steely (now Bend) Cemetery, 4 miles north of Covington, IN.

Isabella (Isabell) (Isabel) Steely (Married Thomas K. Duncan, Kingston Ohio. T. K. Duncan died 2 April 1837, aged 46 years, 9 months, and 9 days) Born: 10 March 1800 at Kingston, Ohio. Died: 29 January 1849 at age 48 yrs, 10 months and 19 days. She and her husband are buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (This has been confirmed by visits to their tombstones by Susan Snyder (#2).

Reuben Steely (Married: Eliza Raub -Elizabeth Raub on 22 March 1827 in Pickaway County, Ohio) Born: 1802 (1802 at Kingston, Ohio) (1807 in Pennsylvania) Died: (13 January 1868 at West Point, Indiana). Buried at West Point Cemetery, West Point, Indiana. Military service: 1861, Civil War-Union-member of the Tenth Infantry, Company G.; disability discharge December 1862 as result of an injury to the left side of his chest from a fall October 5th, 1861.

Sarah Margaret Steely ("Sally") (Married: Joseph Shelby on 18 June 1811) Born: 1813 at Kingston, Ohio. (25 November 1793 in Union County, Pennsylvania) (25 November 1793..Sarah, 1813 Sally), moved to Troy Township, Fountain County, Indiana in 1823-24; Died: 22 May 1860 in Fountain County, Indiana. Buried at Bend Cemetery, Fountain County, Indiana. Buried in Steely (now Bend) Cemetery, 4 miles north of Covington, IN.]

 

Miscellaneous: Meek was a doctor. According to the Ohio 1830 Federal Census Index, page 19, Meek was living in Pickaway County in Pickaway Township. His ID # is OHS3a1760714.

In December 3 1842, Meek made a purchase from Keturah Graham and wrote him a promissory note to pay twenty seven dollars and fifty cts on the seventh day of November 1843.

A map dated 1844 of Pickaway Township in Pickaway County shows that Meek owned land in Section 29.

In the 1850 Federal Census Index, page 249, there are two Meek Steeley’s listed as living in Pickaway County, Pickaway Township: ID# OHS6a2781242 and ID # OHS9a8927912.

 

In Pickaway County, Ohio Probate Court Abstracts From Order Book 1 1852-1858, Weaver, 1994, Meek’s name is mentioned twice:

• p. 5: “John Creviston dec’d. John D Sharp Exec. Sale of real estate to pay debts. William Raub, Henry Bell, Meek Steely appraisers. Comfort Creviston widow. 2 Aug. 1852.”
  
• p. 91: “Mary Kendrick wid/o Samuel Kendrick declined administration, requested John Boggs Admr., Meek Steely, Moses Boggs, James T. Boggs appraisers. 27 Jun 1857.”

 

A map dated 1858 of Pickaway Township in Pickaway shows that Meek now owned 80 additional acres of land in section 20. Note that in 1805, Gabriel (Meek's father owned 480 acres in section 20 (80 of which Meek owned in 1858). The 1844 map shows that those 80 acres were owned by J. & M.J. Steely. "J" may have been Meek's brother, John. According to History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio by Williams Bros 1880, page 268, "John [Meek's brother] resided where Abram Penn now lives, and Meek on the homestead."

Also note that the 1844 and 1858 maps show land owned by J. E. Rice in section 11. Meek's daughter (Susanna Rebecca Steely) would marry James E. Rice's son (Anthony C. Rice) on 12 March 1861.

Meek had 8 children: Six with his first wife, Martha, and two with his second wife, Rachel. His children with Martha included Susanna R. (24, Elizabeth E., Eliza J., Mary, Isabella, and William M.; those with Rachael were Rosa and Adele.

Meek's land in 1844 and 1858 can be located on modern maps of Circleville, Ohio.

Meek died 23 April 1865 and was buried at the family burying ground. His and his wife's remains were later moved to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery at Kingston, Ohio by their great granddaughter Emma Deane of Chillicothe. This is documented in the article Family History of Early Settlers Recalled.

The administrator of the Meek's estate was Josiah Reed. On July 3rd, 1865, Josiah paid $25.00 for a "coffin to attendance at funeral." The valuation of Meek's personal property was $794. On Dec 19th 1865, Josiah Reed paid personal property tax of $10.96 to the Treasurer's Office of Pickaway County. As part of his duties as administrator, Josiah Reed paid a bill to Dr. R. W. Shannon for $19.25, which was the medical bill for Meek's last sickness April 22nd, 1865. Josiah paid a variety of other bills that involved the estate, including one for $24.50 for a sale of land on December 24, 1866.

The property that went to his widow, Rachel Hickenlooper, was valued about $160.00. The Sale Bill of the estate of Meek lists items, values as inventoried, the name of the person who purchased the item, and the price. The word "do" on this list means "ditto."

 

 

Left: Meek’s tombstone at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Kingston, Ohio states:

"Meek Steely

Died

April 23, 1865,

Aged 67 yrs.

My buried friends shall I forget
For shall the Grave eternal sever
They linger in my memory yet
And in my heart they live forever”

This photograph was taken on 11 September 2005 after Jim and Susan Snyder uncovered and cleaned the stone. The stone is laying flat on the ground and slightly below ground level. It appears that at some time in the past, it was imbedded in cement.

 

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The additions in green above were added as a result of e-mail correspondence in September 2001 with April Potts, another Steely family researcher.

The additions in purple were added as a result of e-mail correspondence in August and October 2005 with Richard V. Shelby, another Steely family researcher.

The additions in the light brown color were added as a result of e-mail and snail mail correspondence in April 2007 with Robert Steely, another Steely family researcher.