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Surnames: Dryer, Gregory
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Hi.2ADI/1679.2
Message Board Post:
This is rather long, and if you want more details, email me privately.
I have found three John A. Dryers with connections in Tippecanoe County, but only one of
them has a Missouri connection.
John A. Dryer number 1 is listed as a grandson in the will of Simon Dryer (will record 1,
p. 47, dated Sept. 28, 1835, probated October 21, 1835). This means he would be older than
your John A. Dryer. Heirs of Simon Dryer are sons Herman F., John W., James E., Simon D.
C., and grandchildren Maryette and John A.
John A. Dryer number 2 was born in 1872, after your John A. Dryer. He is the son of Andrew
W. and Mary J. Dryer, the grandson of Edward and Margaret (Gregory) Dryer in the census
listings already posted here. This means he would be younger than your John A Dryer.
John A. Dryer number 3 is mentioned in a quit claim deed for a lot in Dayton, IN in 1884.
He is married to Margaret A. Dryer and they live in Missouri. The lot in question was
purchased by Harriett Dryer Perry in 1865 and sold to George Kellenberger in 1866. When
Mr. Kellenberger tried to sell it in 1884, he apparently needed a quit claim deed. For
some reason, he got one from John A Dryer of Missouri, although it appears that Harriett
was still living, and in Dayton. I don’t know what the relationship between Harriett and
John is, but there must be one. Harriett C. Dryer (1818-1895) is the daughter of James
Dryer and Catherine Cronover. She married Joseph S. Perry (1812-1899) in Tippecanoe County
in 1837. They went to Missouri during the Civil War, then returned to Dayton (source: bio
of Joseph S. Perry, Biographical History, p. 407). Harriett and Joseph don’t seem to have
had any children (at least none are mentioned in the bio), but she raised her niece, K!
ate Stanley, the daughter of her sister Mary A. (Dryer) Stanley. There is a James E. Dryer
on the 1840 census in Sheffield township. Perhaps this is Harriett’s father. This makes
James look like the James E. Dryer listed as one of the sons of Simon Dryer of the will
mentioned under John A. Dryer number 1 above. This Simon Dryer may be the brother of
Edward Dryer who married Margaret Gregory, whose family is listed in the censuses already
posted (Edward died about 1836). This could explain why there is a John Dryer in her
household in 1860 who is the right age for your John A. Dryer. It looks to me as if your
John A Dryer fits in this family, but the dates don’t work, and I don’t know what the
relationship is. Could the birth date you gave be wrong?
If this is the right family, I may have the names of the next generation back as well. A
correspondent gave me these names, but she listed 17 children, so some of them may belong
to another family.
Susan