Christian Y Wyant
CHRISTIAN YERTY WYANT, late of Washington township, was one of the successful farmer citizens of that section of Armstrong county in his day. He was born in that township Oct. 19, 1834, son of Adam and Sarah (Yerty) Wyant.
Martin Wyant, his grandfather, was from Bedford county, Pa. He and his wife Christina (Bokher) had the following children: Adam, Bartholomew, John, Martin, Henry, Fred, Jacob, Catherine, Julia Ann, Susan, Christina and Elizabeth.
Adam Wyant, father of Christian Y. Wyant, was born in Westmoreland county, Pa. He was twice married, his first union being with Sarah Yerty, by whom he had seven children: Christian Yerty, born Oct. 19, 1834; Martin, born Feb. 29, 1836; Andrew, born in 1839; Archibald, born in 1843; Elizabeth, born in 1845; and Rachel and George, who died in infancy. The only survivor of this family is Elizabeth, who married Henry Frick. For his second wife Adam Wyant married, on March 25, 1845, Sophia Bowser, who was born May 29, 1828 in Franklin township, Armstrong county, and still lives on the old farm in Washington township. Ten children were born to this marriage, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Mary, March 2, 1848; Delilah, Sept. 23, 1849; Eli, Aug. 9, 1851; Teney, April 13, 1853; Benjamin W., Sept. 4, 1855; Emma, Feb. 4, 1858; Catherine, March 13, 1860; John B. F., Aug. 7, 1863; Margaret, Sept. 4, 1866; and Susanette, June 3, 1869.
Christian Yerty Wyant was a lifelong farmer. Shortly after his marriage he moved onto the tract of 160 acres in Washington township which has ever since been the home of his family. At that time there was only one old log building on the place, but he carried on the work of improvement steadily to the end of his days, converting it into a valuable property, with handsome modern buildings. He took a public-spirited interest in the welfare of the community, and served his fellow citizens as township assessor and overseer of the poor. In political sentiment he was a Republican. His church connection was with the Brethren in Christ. Mr. Wyant died March 24, 1910, aged seventy-five years, five months, five days.
On Feb. 25, 1858, Mr. Wyant married Elizabeth John, who was born Oct. 6, 1834, a half mile from the farm where she now lives in Washington township, daughter of Martin and Mary (Christman) John. Eight children were born to their union: One died in infancy unnamed; Mary Ann, born March 20, 1860, married C. Phillip and resides in Butler county, Pa.; Rosa Elvira, born April 1, 1862, married Cash Cramer, a resident of Oil City, Pa.; Sarah Margaret, born Sept. 4, 1864, died June 4, 1865; Andrew Robert Elmer, born May 20, 1867, is a minister and physician of Chicago; Adam Martin, born Sept. 15, 1869, is an attorney, located at Greensburg, Pa.; William Whitfield, born May 20, 1873, is a physician of Farrel, Pa.; Florence Bell, born July 15, 1876, a physician of Sharon, Pa., married John Matta.
Martin John, grandfather of Mrs. Christian Y. Wyant, was from Bedford county, Pa. It was he who hewed the logs for and built the Jonas Bowser cabin in Washington township still standing, and illustrated elsewhere in this work. He and his wife Esther had children as follows: John, Peter, Martin, Elizabeth, Esther, Catherine and Christina.
Martin John, son of Martin and Esther, was well known in his section as "Red Martin." He was born in 1797 in Bedford county, and coming to this region with his family passed the rest of his life engaged in farming in what is now Washington township. He was prominent in politics as a member of the Republican party, and took an active part in local affairs, serving as president of the township board when his portion of Washington township was included in Sugar Creek township. He belonged to the Brethren Church. His death occurred in 1856, and his wife Mary (Christman), born in 1799, died in September, 1871, aged seventy-four. They had children: Jacob, who died when one year, nine months old; Christina, who died aged eighteen years; Esther; Ann; Michel; Elizabeth, Mrs. Wyant; Catherine; and Christman.
Source: Pages 668-669, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 1998 by James R Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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