| Notes |
- ID: I21121
Name: Aaron DRULLINGER
Surname: DRULLINGER
Given Name: Aaron
Sex: M
Birth: 1812 in North Carolina
Death: Apr 1897 in Keeler, Van Buren, Michigan
Burial: Keeler Cemetery, Keeler, Van Buren, Michigan
!REF: 1870 US Census, Keeler, Van Buren, Michigan, p 23, Aaron DRULLINGER 59 NC 2000/2500, Elizabeth 56 VA, Viola 22 OH, Henry 20 OH, Ellen ?? IN, Leander 25 OH, Jennie 18 MI.
Tombstone, Keeler Cemetery, Keeler, Van Buren, Michigan (same plot....Millie Shockney 1835-1909).....Aaron buried 4-16-1897 ae 84y19d
Aaron's mother, Barbara, lived with her married daughters in 1830 and 1840, leaving her sons Aaron and Gabriel to find lodging elsewhere. Gabriel is known to have worked as a hired hand, getting room and board with another family and the same is probably true for Aaron. Unlike Gabriel, though, Aaron remained in Darke County for some time even though he does not appear on the available Darke County tax lists when he would be expected to be taxed. He had married the twenty-one year old Elizabeth Mikesell on New Year's Day in 1835 and he was there in 1837 when the sheriff served him with a subpoena to appear in court with regard to his uncle's estate. He ignored the subpoena. He is not enumerated on the 1840 census in Darke County, so one begins to suspect he avoided officials whenever possible. However, the enumerator for the1850 census in Wayne County, Indiana, found him and his growing family. The birthplaces for all of his seven children, including a six month old baby, are listed "Ohio," so he had only been in Indiana a short time. Wayne County borders Darke County, so he did not move very far. Because the Darke County, Ohio, deeds and indexes have been inaccessible, it is not known for certain that he was a property owner before 1853 in Wayne County, Indiana, but his habits from 1853 on indicate that he always owned land and that he seemed to be an astute real estate investor.
What is known is that he bought 119 acres on 20 September 1853 and that the deed says he was "of Wayne County, Indiana." He purchased the land for $2,500 . Six weeks later he sold the same 119 acres for $4, 000 and this deed says he was "of Randolph County." His oldest son, John R., died on the 30th of September 1853 and although that may have influenced his decision to sell, it is more likely the impetus was pure profit. Both deeds were recorded on 2 January 1854. As far as can be determined, he did not buy more property until April of 1854, so it seems that these 119 acres were not where he lived. Randolph and Wayne County are contiguous north and south with each other and east with Darke County. So Aaron was operating in a narrow geographic area that he knew very well. The fertile land in these counties was good for farming then, just as it is today, and as more settlers moved in, towns began expanding. Aaron's April 1854 land purchase was 190 acres just outside the small town of Bartonia. The property description says that it excludes a number of lots 3-8 in block 4 and lots 5-8 in block 1 as well as a small piece conveyed to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bartonia. Because the land boundaries are given as two roads that still exist, it is easy to place the land generally on a modern road map. Two months after this purchase Aaron sold off 47 acres from this holding. The day before he sold those acres, he bought lots 5 and 6 in block 1 in Bartonia from the same individual.
Sixty adjoining acres became available in 1856 and Aaron consolidated his holdings. Interestingly, these last acres are described in metes and bounds, a bit unusual for this time and place, but occasionally used to describe an odd shaped piece within a rectangular survey. Aaron raised a little cash in 1858 when he let one of the town lots go for $100. The 1860 census shows Aaron living in Wayne Township, Randolph County, with real estate valued at $5,500 and personal property of $800. Although this census indicates that Aaron could not read or write, deed executions indicate that he could sign his name although Elizabeth could not.
Late spring and early summer of 1866 was a busy time in the Drullinger household. Aaron sold his Randolph County land 16 April 1866 and bought a new farm of just under 160 acres in Van Buren County, Michigan, on 14 May. His Indiana land sold for $9,200, about $44 per acre. As is common in a move, his new home territory cost a little more, about $49 per acre. But he had a few less acres, so his total was $7,850. He had the cash in hand from his sale, so he could pay off the mortgage on his new property as stipulated in the deed.
Aaron's sister Mary B. Harkrider and her family lived for a time in the Michigan counties adjoining Van Buren, and although they had left by the time Aaron arrived, they may have influenced his decision to move. The climate in that southwest corner of Michigan was favorable to fruit trees. Van Buren's frontage on Lake Michigan means lake breezes that create a springtime lag in warming temperatures, protecting the buds. Fruit trees have a tendency to burst into bloom during the first warm spell only to have the blossoms freeze as winter gasps its last spate of frigid weather. With lake breezes moderating the temperatures, the buds open later, usually saving the crops. In the fall these same breezes protect from frost, so there is a long fall - good for tree-ripening fruit. Even if Aaron did not raise fruit for commercial purposes, he no doubt had enough trees to provide a variety of fruits for the family in an area still known for its orchards.
A search of deed books through number 109, which runs through 1901, turned up only one more deed for Aaron and that was when he brought 80 acres with his son Leander in 1874. He and Elizabeth then sold their share of that parcel to Leander in 1881. There was evidently some devaluation in Van Buren county land between 1866 and 1874 because Aaron's land was some $49 an acre where as this 80 acres in the same section was only $8.75 per acre and just over $10 per acre when Leander bought out his dad in 1881.
Aaron had not been quick to move to Keeler Township of Van Buren County, but having done so, he settled in, remaining there 31 years until his death at 85 in 1897. Like his siblings, he can be considered successful, especially for someone of limited education. Although there are more record series to be checked for information about Aaron, his history thus far suggests that he did not believe in going into debt, never mortgaged his property, and nearly always made a good profit on his land deals.
There is no recorded will for Aaron in the appropriate will book, but it is not known if there are probate files. None are on film and the few hours of onsite research time were consumed by searches of vital records and deeds. Presumably, Aaron still had property that passed to his children when he died unless he had disposed of it earlier.( Also unknown is his final resting place, but there may be a clue in his 1866 deed. The land described is 160 acres with a three-quarter acre exception for a fenced burying ground. See above note) It would be logical for Aaron to be buried there, but it is not known at this time what the name of the cemetery is, nor who might be buried there. Other than census enumerations and her mark on Aaron's wheeling and dealing real estate transactions, there is not another scrap of information about Elizabeth. Aaron's death record lists him as a widower, so she died sometime between her mark on the 1881 deed and his death in 1897. More information on both of them will be found in another onsite research excursion because the family put down deep roots here, with Aaron and sons Leander and Charles owning land in sections 2, 3, and 11 of township 4 south, range 4 west. The daughters and their families also stayed in the vicinity, so there may well be living descendants in Van Buren County today.
Kay Germain Ingalls 2003
U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists
Name: Aaron Drullinger
Tax Year: 1865
State: Indiana, USA
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1812 - 1897 (85 years)
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