Biography of George Rinehart

George Rinehart was a successful farmer from Jackson Township, owning 240 acres of well-cultivated land. Born on March 6, 1835, George grew up in Rose Township, Ohio, assisting his father in agriculture. He married Harriet Walls in 1856 and later moved to Kansas, where he experienced personal loss with Harriet’s passing in 1864. He remarried Martha Walters in 1865, and together they had three children. Known for his hard work and community respect, George Rinehart’s legacy continues to be recognized in genealogical records.

GEORGE RINEHART, a prosperous farmer of Jackson Township, owns two hundred and forty acres of good land on sections 22 and 23; one hundred and sixty acres on the former, and eighty on the latter section. His entire farm is under high cultivation, is well improved and stocked, and fully supplied with all necessary buildings. His family residence, barns and other buildings are all frame structures, erected in a tasty and substantial manner, and are a credit to his enterprise. His success in his chosen vocation is owing to his unremitting energy and intelligent adaptation of necessary means to secure the desired results. He holds a high place in the neighborhood as a man and friend, and is entirely worthy of the esteem which he receives from all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

David Rinehart, father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, it is thought in Northumberland County. His father, Valentine Rinehart, was a native of Pennsylvania, and thence removed to Ohio while the latter State was in the first stage of its settlement. They crossed the mountains in wagons drawn by horses, and wound slowly along through the almost trackless forests till they reached their destination in the county of Stark, where they were among the very first settlers. Upon his arrival in the county he took up a tract of Government land, a portion of which was heavily timbered and the rest oak openings. It was hard work clearing the land, but he persevered until he had a nice farm, upon which he lived till he fell asleep to awake in that land where the inhabitants never grow weary or faint with the toil which is the common lot of man on this sphere.

The father of our subject was eighteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Ohio. He remained under the parental roof till he married and set up in housekeeping for himself. Following his marriage he removed to Carroll County, Ohio, where he bought a tract of heavily timbered land, which he proceeded to clear and fit for agricultural purposes. His first care, however, was to build a house, which he constructed out of logs. It was only a humble cabin, but it sheltered a noble heart, fired with the resistless spirit of progression, which has made the American name famous over the whole world. Mr. Rinehart split puncheon for the floor of his little cot, and constructed a chimney out of earth and sticks. This lowly abode was the birthplace of the subject of this sketch, and in that vicinity he grew to manhood.

Timber was of no appreciable value in that part of the country during the youth of George Rinehart, consequently they rolled large logs together and burned them to get them out of the way. Diligent labor on the part of the father of our subject was rewarded with a fair measure of success, and he was soon enabled to abandon the “little old log cabin” for a substantially built two-story house of hewn logs, in which he passed the greater part of his life. There were no railroads in that neighborhood during the youth of our subject, and they were obliged to carry all their produce to the town of Bolivar, on the Ohio Canal. In 1883 David Rinehart sold his farm, but purchased another in the same township, where he removed and resided till his death, April 7, 1886.

The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Elizabeth Snyder. She was born in Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of John Snyder. She is an estimable woman, and still lives on the homestead in Rose Township, Carroll County, Ohio. The union of Mr. and Mrs. David Rinehart resulted in the birth of six children, of whom four survive, and are named as follows: George, Sarah A., Valentine and James H.

The subject of this sketch was born in Rose Township, Carroll County, Ohio, March 6, 1835. He was reared in his native township, and received such education as was afforded by the schools of his district. There were no free schools in his neighborhood in those days, and the people were obliged to maintain such centers of education as they desired at their own expense. The first school that George attended was taught in a log building, heated by an open fireplace. He was an industrious youth, and early began assisting his father in clearing and cultivating his land. Upon reaching his majority he took to himself a wife in the person of Miss Harriet Walls. Their nuptials were celebrated March 18, 1856, and they went to housekeeping on eighty acres of land in Rose Township, which was given to Mr. Rinehart by his father, and which had a log house already built upon it. Mrs. Rinehart was a native of the same township as her husband. Her birth occurred October 17, 1835, and her active life was spent in her native place.

In 1863 Mr. Rinehart removed from Ohio to Kansas, locating in Sumner County, where he now resides. In the year following, on the 3d of September, his wife departed this life for a better, leaving four children to the care of their bereaved father. They were named respectively: Sarah E., David O., John E. and Hugh M. The second marriage of our subject took place October 19, 1865, to Miss Martha Emily Walters, a native of Coshocton County, Ohio, and daughter of George and Martha (Thompson) Walters. This union resulted in the birth of three children, whose names are Edward E., Walter O. and Emma A.

Mr. Rinehart was reared in the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Rinehart was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but since taking up their residence in Sumner County they have both united with the Presbyterian denomination which worships at Rome. They are highly respected in the community for their many good qualities, and have a large circle of friends. Mr. Rinehart is a stanch Republican in politics, but does not usually take a very deep interest in purely political affairs.