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1830 – 1880
The Byrkits stand on all three settler lists. George V. Byrkit (Chapman, pp. 805–806), born in Penn Township 20 February 1837, was the son of Edmund Byrkit (b. 1800, d. 1873) and Catharine (Bumgardner) Byrkit, North Carolina natives who came by Ohio and Kentucky; Edmund came to the county in 1830, selected a location, planted apple seeds, went back and brought the family the following year — the township's orchards descend, on the sketch's telling, from those seeds. George was schooled in a round-log cabin, farmed section 14 on 216 acres, married first Jane Boles in May 1860 (their child Jane was a Mishawaka high school graduate; Jane the mother died 30 June 1862 — the Boles tie runs to the settler roll below) and second Mrs. Susan Curtis in 1863. The settler lists' spelling stands flagged: Howard names the incoming brothers Jacob, George and Edward Byrkit; Chapman's sketch father is Edmund. Edward and Edmund are printed as the two books print them and not merged. Barnett Byrkit stands in the Houghton burial roll in the Wars file.
The Curtises: James Curtis (Chapman, pp. 807–808) was born in Miami County, Ohio, 17 January 1807, came to the county in 1831 — he is on Chapman's first-settler list — married Nancy Byrkit 11 September 1829 (the two families interlock at the settlement itself), raised eleven children (ten sons, one daughter), "never had a lawsuit," and died 12 January 1878. His sketch carries one of the township record's most striking survivals, printed here at pointer size because the Tribes and Before-the-City legs own its whole: the grave of the chief Raccoon lay "near the house of Mr. James Curtis, in the eastern part of the township"; Raccoon had been a frequent caller at the Curtis house, was buried on the Curtis farm near the house, and the skeleton was later exhumed by a son and the jawbone taken to Mishawaka. Of James's sons: Alex. Curtis (b. in the county 25 November 1834; section 29, 90 acres; Baptist) and Edwin Curtis (b. Elkhart County 6 December 1836, always resident in the county; California 1859–60, Pike's Peak 1860, the Black Hills 1877; section 21, 120 acres) carry their own Chapman sketches. Howard's 1812 list also names a Ransom Curtis; no text read connects him to James, and they are not connected here.
Sources:
- Chapman, pp. 805–808 (Byrkit; Alex., Edwin and James Curtis), p. 789 (the Raccoon grave in the Penn narrative); Howard, vol. 1, p. 294.