Person:Jacob Sheets (2)

Philip Sheets, deceased, a prominent and worthy pioneer of this county, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, July 23, 1801. His parents, Jacob and Barbara (Lindamude) Sheets, were natives of Pennsylvania, and of German ancestry. He was married February 16, 1826, to Miss Mary Shafer, born June 28, 1804, daughter of Daniel and Catharine (Michael) Shafer, and granddaughter of John Michael, of German descent. Philip followed shingle-making until he was old enough to learn the joiner's trade, which he followed until he emigrated to Indiana in September, 1835. He rented a house in Frankfort from a man in Virginia. His first work was to assist David Gear in finishing his residence on the lot where N. J. Gaskill resides. The following spring he moved upon a farm south of the old graveyard, and the first year he worked in the cabinet shop with David Gear. For six years he lived there, and farmed land here Andrew Gear now lives, on the Twelve-Mile Prairie. In 1841 he moved his family and settled upon land he had entered from the Government in 1836. With the assistance of his sons he cleared and improved the farm, and engaged in agricultural pursuits the remainder of his life. He added eighty acres to his entry in the West. Mr. and Mrs. Sheets were the parents of twelve children; ten reached maturity and eight are living — Michael, David, Jacob, Mary, Sarah (deceased), James, Andrew (deceased), Catherine, Isaac, Abraham and Nancy; one died in infancy. Both were members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Sheets read the Bible through twenty-four times. His wife died February 2, 1847, and he died March 1, 1873. Politically he was a Republican, was formerly an old-line Whig.

Note: the following Familytreemaker site claims that Jacob Sheets is a son of Frederick Sheets, b. 1735 (no sources listed, needs research):

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/t/Cheryl-R-ROTTON/GENE5-0006.html

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