Person:Eliza Sweetser (1)

Eliza was the daughter of William Sweetser and Delight Pierce, born Jan 14, 1801 in Vermont. Her father must have had an adventuring spirit, for he packed up the family and moved them to the wilds of Ohio in 1815. The History of Delaware County reports that, "Mr. Sweetser came from Dummerston, Vt.. in the fall of 1815, after a forty days' journey through the wilderness. He had a family of five boys and three girls, the youngest child only six months old, when he came into Delaware. The journey was full of such mishaps as breaking the wagons or harness, causing at times a tedious delay of days to effect repairs. The family came in two wagons, Mrs. Sweetser driving a single horse all the way from the East, caring for her young babe beside most of the time. When they arrived in town, they went to the house of Thomas Butler¦where they remained during the winter. The next spring they moved on to their farm, where but little clearing had been done. In 1823, he laid the foundations, and partially completed a brick house on the river road. There is nothing now left of the original buildings to mark the spot save an old stone spring house. With the Sweetser family, came the family of Hosea Miller, and two young men, Solomon and Wilder Joy." Eliza would have been about 15, and her future husband, Solomon Joy, was barely 17.

1. ↑ Sweetser, Philip S. Seth Sweetser and His Descedants. (Philadelphia: Integrity Press, 1938)
   p.266.
2. ↑ Cemetery Records.

   Peoria Cemetery, Peoria, Mahaska Co, IA