Elder, John (b. 3 AUG 1757, d. 27 APR 1811)

Note: He was educated under Joseph Hutchinson , a celebrated teacher in his day, and gave special attention to land-surveying. He was a farmer. At the commencement of the Revolution, although a youth of eighteen, he was enrolled among the associators, and was an ensign in Colonel Burd 's battalion, 1775. On the 18th of April, 1780 , he was appointed deputy surveyor, and for several years filled that position. He was elected sheriff of the county of Dauphin in 1794 , serving from the 19th of November , that year, until October 17, 1787 . Like the majority of persons who have filled that responsible office in this locality, he came out of it the poorer. Captain Elder m. December 16, 1778 , Elizabeth Awl , b. November 18, 1781 ; d. about 1850 , at the residence of her son-in-law, General John Forster

Captain in the Revolution, County Sheriff for 3 years.

Note: Elizabeth AWL was born in Lancaster (now Dauphin) County, PA in 1761. She married John ELDER, Jr. in 1778. Elizabeth was the daughter of Jacob AWL and Sarah STURGEON. Jacob was born in County Antrim, Ireland in 1727. He served during the Revolutionary War, and also during the Fronteir Wars, taking part in the Battle of Bushy Run. He was one of the five commissioners who laid out the town of Harrisburg. He was a relative of John HARRIS for whom Harrisburg is named.

Note: received a thorough English and classical education, learned the art of printing at Lancaster , and in 1802-1805, and continued for 6 years, commenced the publication of the Dauphin Guardian, one of the most influential newspapers published in the early days of Harrisburg, as it was the first Democratic English newspaper there. HIs paper merged into the Republican in 1811. In 1815 , he prepared and published "A History of the Late War," and was the author of a preliminary work on the history of the United States . Under his arduous literary labors, Mr. Elder 's health failed him, and he died at the early age of thirty-three years. He never married. His entire life was an active and busy one, and he exerted a great influence in the times he lived.

Note: Eliza ELDER was born about 1798 to John ELDER, Jr. and Elizabeth AWL in Dauphin Co., PA. She married Henry ALWARD and they moved to Pittsburgh, PA. She apparently lost her husband sometime between 1840 and 1850. John ELDER, Jr. was a son of Rev. John ELDER ("the Fighting Parson") by his second wife, Mary SIMPSON. John ELDER, Jr. fought in the Revolutionary War. He made the rank of Captain. He was a farmer, teacher, surveyor and sheriff. It is said he erected the first steel plant at Middletown, PA. His father, Rev. John ELDER was a Presbyterian minister at the Paxtang Church. He went to school at Edinburgh, Scotland and was the son of Robert ELDER and his wife Eleanor.

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Lancaster, North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Lancaster Ward2, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1880
Place: Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Note: He graduated at Yale College, and after completing his law studies at the celebrated law school under Judge Reeves , at Litchfield, Conn. , he came to Harrisburg , and continued his studies under Thomas Elder , and was subsequently admitted to the bar at the December term, 1808 . He was commissioned deputy attorney general for the county of Dauphin , January 13, 1809 , serving until 1812 , and represented Dauphin county in the Legislature from 1812 to 1814 . He was appointed, by Governor Snyder , president judge of that judicial district, July 3, 1815 . In 1814 , he accompanied the volunteers to Baltimore , as an aid to General Forster . On the 30th of December, 1816 , he resigned to accept the position of Attorney General of the State, serving to 1819 . In June, 1821 , he removed to Lancaster , resuming the practice of his profession. He was the anti-Masonic candidate for Vice-President of the United States in 1832 . "Mr. Ellmaker ," says Mr. Harris , in his "Reminiscences," "was reported to be a good lawyer, and his addresses to the jury, when at the bar, were clear, distinct, and argumentative." As a gentleman, he possessed, in an eminent degree, those characteristics which distinguish men of rare endowment. He was well-informed, and of a lively social disposition, and in all the relations and positions of life was a model worthy of imitation.

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Note: Lawyer at Lancaster, Pa.

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Lancaster, North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Lancaster, North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Census: Date: 1850
Place: Lancaster North East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania