George Delo (1773 – 1848) – George Delo, the son of Michael and Mary (Keiffer) Dillow, was born in 1773. When he was about nine years old (August 1782), George’s father was killed and his brother John captured in an Indian attack while they were clearing land in southwestern Pennsylvania.[1] After her husband’s death, George’s mother, Mary, moved to Westmoreland County, where she had relatives. There she married Jacob Smith.
George married Eva Catherine Kuhns sometime between June 1798 and 1799. Eva Catherine Kuhns was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in 1778. Eva was the daughter of Bartol and Anna Christina (Heisler) Kuhns. Her parents came from the Palatinate of Germany. Records of old Harrold’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Westmoreland County show that she was confirmed there on April 20, 1794 at the age of sixteen. George and Eva had ten children.
George’s land transactions indicate that he remained in Westmoreland County until at least 1805 and that he was a distiller in 1798. In 1806 George, Eva and their four children left for the newly opened lands of Clarion County (then it was part of Venango County).[2] It would have been a difficult journey of at least ten days. They probably made the journey with a number of Smiths and Keiffers (relatives) since their names are found as neighbors of George in Clarion County.
George built a sawmill at the mouth of Canoe Creek[3], said to be the first saw mill west of the Allegheny Mountains. He also built a boat bottom scaffold a half mile south of the mill at a place known as Delo’s Eddy, went into the lumber business and flourished financially.[4]
George served his country in the War of 1812, even though he was forty years old and the father of six children. He served as a private with Dale’s 132nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, a member of Captain Henry Neely’s Company.[5] (Henry Neely and his men were from Venango, now Clarion County – George’s neighbors and relatives.) They were sent to Lake Erie by order of General David Mead, 6th Division. Frank S. Delo states: “George Delo was one of the organizers of the Minute Men of Beaver Township, Clarion County, for the defense against the Indians and the English. George and Jacob Keiffer were members of the same company. Their first call to action came August 1813 to go to Lake Erie. The second call was again to Lake Erie, from January 3rd to February 11th, 1814, to protect the builders of Commodore Perry’s victorious fleet. George returned from the excursion a Sergeant.”[6]
On February 20, 1820, Eva Delo died from Tuberculosis. Her infant son, Henry, died about the same time and they were buried together. George then married Eve Hummel Laughnor, the widow of Daniel Laughnor. Daniel Laughnor was killed in 1812 at the mouth of the Kiskiminitas. Eve was the daughter of Christopher Hummel of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. She brought her four sons and two daughters from her first marriage with her. George and Eve had four more children. It was a very large household!
George’s name is found in the Journals of the History of the Pittsburgh Synod as a member of the building committee to erect the first church in Beaver Township. The church housed both the German Reformed and the Evangelical Lutheran congregations.
In 1842 George purchased 300 acres at Walnut Bend on the Allegheny River, there he planned a trading center and called it Georgetown (He was 70 years old at the time he was starting a new business venture!).[7] His daughter Esther received 160 acres of that land when he died.
George died on March 11, 1848, he was seventy-five. He was buried next to his first wife Eva in Union Cemetery, Beaver Township, Clarion County.[1] The Delos, An American Family, Rev. Frank S. Delo, 1946
[2] Venango County opened for settlement in 1800. The southern portion of the county became the northern half of Clarion County in 1840. George settled there just west of Clarion.
[3] History of Clarion County, Chapter 44, A.J. Davis, Editor, 1887
[4] The Delos, An American Family, Rev. Frank S. Delo, 1946
[5] History of Clarion County, Chapter 8, A.J. Davis, Editor, 1887
[6] The Delos, An American Family, Rev. Frank S. Delo, 1946
[7] The Delos, An American Family, Rev. Frank S. Delo, 1946
__________________________________________________________________________
Father*
Michael Dillow
(
, d. 1882)
Mother*
Mary Keiffer
__________________________________________________________________________
Birth*
__ ___ 1773
Marriage*
cir __ ___ 1798
Eva Catherine Kuhns
(b. 1778, d. Feb 1920)
Son:
09 Dec 1799
Daniel Delo
(b. 09 Dec 1799, d. 19 Dec
1877); Hempfield Twp., Westmoreland County, PA.
Son:
__ Nov 1801
Joseph Delo
(b. Nov 1801, d. 1887);
Hempfield Twp., Westmoreland County, PA.
Daughter:
__
___ 1803
Anna Delo
(b. 1803, ); PA.
Daughter:
15
Aug 1805
Elizabeth Delo
(b. 15 Aug 1805, d. 1847);
Westmoreland County, PA.
Son:
__ Aug 1807
Jacob Delo
(b. Aug 1807, d. circa
1869); Clarion County, PA.
Son:
08 Dec 1809
George Peter Delo
(b. 08 Dec 1809, d. 1889);
Clarion County, PA.
Daughter:
05 Jun 1813
Esther Delo
(b. 05 Jun 1813, d. 15 Dec
1908); Clarion County, PA.
Son:
__ ___ 1814
John Delo
(b. 1814, d. 1848); Clarion
County, PA.
Son:
18
Oct 1817
David Delo
(b. 18 Oct 1817, d. 1902);
Clarion County, PA.
Son: __ Jul 1819 Henry Delo (b. Jul 1819, d. 1820); Clarion County, PA.
Marriage*
__ ___ ____
Eva Hummel
(b. 1786, )
Daughter:
__
___ 1822
Catherine Delo
(b. 1822, d. 1883); Beaver
Twp., Clarion County, PA.
Son:
02 Mar 1824
Henry Jackson Delo
(b. 02 Mar 1824, ); Clarion
County, PA.
Son:
__ Dec 1825
Lewis Delo
(b. Dec 1825, d. 1890);
Beaver Twp, Clarion County, PA.
Son:
__ ___ 1827
Reuban F. Delo
(b. 1827, d. 1897); Beaver
Twp., Clarion County, PA.
Death*
11
Mar 1848
Beaver Twp., Clarion, PA.
__________________________________________________________________________
Written by Bob Krepps © 2001 all rights reserved. Permission granted to copy for personal & non-commercial purposes only.