Biography of Jonathan Boyles, pages 515 / 516 / 517.  History De Kalb County, 
Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

Jonathan Boyles, one of the first settlers of Concord Township, was born in 
Knox County, Ohio, Feb. 12, 1815, a son of John and Nancy (Merritt) Boyles, 
the former a native of West Virginia, son of Jonathan Boyles, of English and 
Irish descent, and the latter a daughter of Moses Merritt, of Irish and Welsh descent.  In 1825 his parents moved to Morrow County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood.  His father being in feeble health, he was obliged to take charge of the family, and before he was twenty-one years old had cleared and fenced sixty acres of land and built a good house.  He was married Feb.25, 1836, to Elizabeth Oliver, daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Alman) Oliver.  In the fall of 1836 his house and all its contents were destroyed by fire.  Soon after he left home and came to De Kalb County, Ind., and entered eighty acres of land on section 
17, Concord Township, and again began to make a home.  He returned to Ohio, 
and in August, 1837, moved his family to their new home.  In company with 
Henry Brown and family, Isaac Brown and family, his father and mother, 
grandmother Knight, James Herrod and son James, in all sixteen in the 
company, with two wagons with three horses to each, they were eleven days 
on the way, camping out nights and cutting their roads through the unbroken 
forest.  On arriving in the vicinity of Brunersburg the company stopped at 
the cabin of a pioneer to water their teams.  There was no door to the 
cabin, a quilt serving its purpose.  His father and James Herrod went to 
the door and pulling aside the quilt found no one at home, but discovered 
a quantity of meat hanging from the walls.  They concluded it to be venison, 
and thought they could not go on without a supply.  Securing what they 
thought sufficient for their purpose, they deposited money to pay for it 
on the table.  After traveling a few miles they met a man and his wife, 
who, upon inquiry, they learned were the owners of the cabin, who informed 
them that it was part of an ox that had broken his neck by turning the yoke.  
Pursuing their journey, they arrived at their destination on Saturday, the 
first day of September, 1837.  Having no house, they stopped at the cabins 
of David and Michael Knight, who had preceded them with their families.  
Within one week after they arrived twelve out of the sixteen were down 
sick with the ague, including the entire family of Mr. Boyles.  He had a 
chill each day for sixty-three days.  He had but $10, and sold forty acres 
of his land, and had built a cabin about twelve feet square.  His wife and 
her small brother sawed timber and split it in shape, laid the floor, 
chinking and daubing the best they could; they then carried him to it, he 
being now afflicted with dropsy.  Their only window was a log sawed out with 
sticks crossed in it and greased paper pasted over them.  The door was made 
the same way, with a quilt hung over it.  During the winter his wife cleared 
five acres of ground up to trees of one foot, the tender twigs serving as 
the only feed by which he wintered two cows and one horse.  By the month 
of April, 1838, their scanty supplies were exhausted, and he, in company 
with three others, secured a pirogue and started for Fort Wayne down the 
St. Joe River, without a cent of money, in quest of food for their starving 
families, leaving them to subsist for four days upon one meal of thickened 
milk and a few dried pumpkins.  They applied to Thomas Swaney for corn, 
who, upon finding they had no money, refused to supply their wants.  They 
then applied to Col. Spencer, who, after inquiring their names, and where 
they were from, and the amount of their probable wants, directed them to 
“go down the Maumee River six miles, shell what they wanted, and pay me 
seventy-five cents a bushel when you can.  And if any of your neighbors 
are in need, they shall not starve while I have anything to supply them 
with.”  They lived upon parched corn while away from their families.  
During his absence on this expedition, the wolves surrounded his house at 
night, fighting his dog.  Mrs. Boyles sallied forth armed with a fire 
shovel, and with the assistance of the dog drove them away.  He has 
undergone all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, but by 
persistent effort has accumulated a good property, having a pleasant home 
where he has now lived forty-eight years.  His wife died Feb. 165, 1849.  
They had a family of seven children, four of whom are living---Nancy C., 
Martha J., Newton, and Emma.  The three eldest are deceased---John and 
William (twins) died in infancy, and Artemus, while a soldier in the war 
of the Rebellion. June 30,1850, Mr. Boyles was married to Susan Rummel, 
and to them have been born three children---Maggie M., Anna Eliza, and 
Elnora M.  Mrs. Boyles died Feb. 10, 1870.  In politics Mr. Boyles was 
formerly a Democrat, but since the war has affiliated with the Republican 
party.  He has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church for 
nearly half a century, and assisted in the organization of the first 
Methodist church in the township.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com