My family's heritage can be traced back to John Ferree, who was born to Philip and Sarah (Evans) Ferree on May 27, 1761, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. He served as a private in the American Revolution, fighting under Captain John Slaymaker's Company of the 7th Battalion in the Lancaster County Pennsylvania Militia. He wed Miss (Nancy) Rebecca Marsh on January 1, 1792, in Augusta, Kentucky.

John was a Methodist Circuit rider, traveling by horseback across Southwestern Ohio. He attended a seminary in Augusta before relocating to Ohio with his family. The Methodist church in Boston (now Owensville) was established in John's home, where preaching took place until a church was constructed in Boston in 1831.

John and Nancy Ferree had twelve children. Their eighth child, Snowden Ferree, was born in 1804. Snowden married Charlotte Goldtrap, and their third child, Richard Lewis Ferree, was born in 1832 in Owensville, Ohio. On March 12, 1854, at the age of 22, Richard Ferree married Nancy Amanda Snider, the daughter of Sarah Wilson and David Snider.

At the onset of the Civil War on July 27, 1861, Richard Ferree enlisted in Company C of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, Ohio Volunteers. He fought alongside his two brothers, John Ferree and George W. Ferree. When he went to war, his older brother, William G. Ferree, assisted in caring for his wife and children. William was in poor health and did not participate in the war.

On September 19, 1863, in the Civil War battle at Chickamauga Creek, John Ferree was killed, and George W. Ferree was wounded while carrying John's body from the battlefield. Richard Ferree was among 35 Union soldiers captured that day, all of whom ultimately died at Andersonville prison. Richard died on August 10, 1864, at the age of 32 and is burried in a trench grave #5249 alongside 13,000 soldiers who perished at Andersonville Prison.

Meanwhile, on October 26, 1785, in the Tyrolean region of Austria, Jean Christian Iuen was born to Jean Joseph Iuen and Barbe Berthold Iuen. Known as Christian, he married Marguerite Natherer, the daughter of Francois Xavier Natherer and Marie Ursele Natherer of Belfort, France. Christian and Marguerite had eight children, three boys and five girls. Tragically, four of the girls died before reaching the age of two, and Marguerite passed away at the young age of forty-four.

Christian arrived in New York on May 23, 1838, aboard the bark Dido, accompanied by his second wife Catherine, his three sons, and his only daughter, Ursala Iuen. He settled in Boston (now Owensville), Clermont County, Ohio, dedicating his life to farming.

The Iuens were among the earliest settlers in Owensville, Ohio. Francis X. Iuen established a store and constructed a hotel, one of the first brick buildings in Owensville. Along with his brother Joseph, he owned a mill in nearby Stonelick Township. Joseph Iuen would later own a farm, tavern, hostelry, and stables in Terrace Park, Ohio. John B. Iuen founded the Milford National Bank (now part of Bank One), the Valley Enterprise newspaper, and the Terrace Park Country Club.

Ursala Iuen married John Peter Fetter, who operated a horse-drawn bus service between Fayetteville and Perintown, Ohio. Their son, John Christian Fetter, opened a store in Owensville, Ohio, selling farm implements and running a dry goods shop across the street. John Christian's younger brother, Joseph Fetter, married Jennie Ferree, the daughter of Richard Ferree. Joseph Fetter and Jennie Ferree are my great-grandparents.

In the winter of 1839, another family set sail for America. John Peter Craver and Elizabeth Sibile Zumbro Craver, along with their four children and friends, embarked on a sailing vessel from Havre to America. Peter Craver was born on September 8, 1801, in Trisch, Kingdom of Prussia, and married Elizabeth, also from Trisch.

After a sixty-day voyage during which they faced several storms, they safely arrived in Baltimore in early spring the following year. Peter and Elizabeth settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they found a few brick houses and log cabins. Dissatisfied with the location, they moved to a farm in Stonelick Township, where their youngest child, Jacob, was born.

Peter Craver engaged in chopping wood, converting it into charcoal, and shipping it to the Cincinnati market. By 1849, Peter and Elizabeth owned a comfortable home in Boston (now Owensville), Clermont County, Ohio, which they purchased from Henry Kline. Their son Jacob married Margaret Schmidt, and on July 8, 1867, Rose Craver was born.

Rose Craver married Joseph Sebastian Brown, the son of Phillip Braun and Annamarie Seifert. Joseph was a successful banker who changed the family name from Braun to Brown to align with its American pronunciation. Their eldest son, George Jacob Brown, married Clara Edith Fetter, the daughter of Joseph Fetter and Jennie Ferree.

George and Edith Brown are my maternal grandparents. They had four children: George Joseph Brown, Margaret Ellen "Peggy" Brown, Rita Jane Brown, and Donald Robert Brown. Joseph passed away at the young age of 31. Donald, their youngest child, survived World War II after being critically wounded during The Battle of the Bulge. Their youngest daughter, Rita, married Robert Brandner.

Their eldest daughter, Margaret Ellen "Peggy" Brown, married Richard Tyrrell, who was born on March 30, 1917, in Canada and adopted by Charles Tyrrell and Julia Mitchel of Terrace Park, Cincinnati, Ohio. Dick Tyrrell served in the Merchant Marines during WWII. After the war, he worked at Autolite Manufacturing until he became part owner and the meat cutter at J & R Foods.

Peggy Brown and Richard Tyrrell are my parents. I have a younger sister, Donna Sue Tyrrell Juniet, and a younger brother, James Mitchel. As adults, we lived far apart, raising our children in different states.

Jim married Ina Dorst, who was the mother of his four children. Ina passed away in 1988 from lupus, and Jim remarried. He remained in Cincinnati until the loss of his second wife, Marilyn, and his declining health prompted him to move to Medford, Oregon, to be with his youngest daughter, Angel.

Donna married Robert Juniet and raised her three sons in Florida. In retirement, Donna and Bob settled in Valdosta, Georgia.

Meanwhile, I married Arlene A. Hart from Massena, New York, while stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York. My eldest son, Robert, was born in Plattsburgh. However, the end of my military service led us to relocate to Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where my youngest son, Joseph, was born.

  If you would like to challenge your high school or college education against a 19th century elementary school education, here's your chance!

I published this exam in my original autobiography and decided to keep it as part of History. I copied the exam word-for-word from the original 1895 Salina, Kansas 8th grade final exam because I believe that many people would struggle answering the first question on any subject.

Certain terms have nearly disappeared, so I have provided the following clues: 1 bushel of wheat equals 1 cubic foot and weighs 60 lbs. A rod measures 198 inches. Additionally, orthography is the study of spelling and the way letters combine to represent sounds and create words. Most of us no longer write checks, promissory notes, and receipts, but the other questions related to arithmetic serve as a good exercise in taxes, interest, and discounts.

I believe we could focus less on Free College if we resumed teaching arithmetic, grammar, history, and geography in Elementary School. We could prioritize science, such as basic physics, over subjects like sexual orientation.

Denying that Christopher Columbus discovered America because it was already inhabited is akin to denying the discovery of gravity or atoms simply because they already existed. Nevertheless, Columbus did discover a continent between Europe and Asia that was previously unknown, and his journey was an extraordinary venture into the unknown.

Moreover, the indigenous people living on the American continent were unaware of the existence of other continents, specifically Europe, Asia, and Africa. If you struggle to answer the first questions under Geography, it may explain why you are inclined to believe that climate change is solely a 21st-century CO2 issue.



  Moses Mendelssohn was the grandfather of the well-known German composer. Along with a rather short stature, he had a dreadful hunchback and was far from being handsome.

One day Moses visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Fromet. He fell hopelessly in love with her but Fromet was repulsed by his misshapen appearance. When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to look at him.

After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, "Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?" "Yes," she answered, still looking at the floor. "And do you?"

"Yes, I do," he replied. "You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me and the Lord said, 'but your wife will be a hunchback.'"

"Right then and there I called out, 'Oh Lord, a hunchback woman would be a tragedy. Please Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful.'"

Then Fromet looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife.