The William Pontious Family

Here are many spellings of the name: Pontius, Ponteus, Pontzius, Puntius, Punches, etc.

The known history of the Pontious family starts with Niclas Pontious who resided in Dienswiller, Germany, and was born about 1570. He had seven children, one of which was Velten, born March 26, 1606, died April 16, 1685, who married Eva Kraus. They had 7 children of which one was Hans Nickel who was christened July 14, 1632, and married Margaretha Anthonius. They had 10 children of which one was John Peter who was christened February 6, 1685, and who married Anna Rosina Catharina Hauch. They had 7 children of which one was Johannes, born August 18, 1717, who came to America on the Ship Glasgow and landed at Philadelphia on September 9, 1738. With him was a younger brother Johan Nickel or Nicholas. On January 14, 1743, Johannes or John was married to Anna Catherine Zeller. In 1753 he was taxed as John Pontsius and in 1754 as John Puncius, all in Tulpehocken Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Prior to November 22, 1749, Johan Nicholas (Nickel) Pontious was married to Anna Margaret Schuey.

After the French and Indian War, John moved from Berks County with his six sons, George, Henry, Andrew, Nicholas, John Jr., and Frederick to Buffalo Valley, Northumberland County. In the present Union County, John and all six sons are on the tax list from 1781 to 1787.

Dr. Charles A. Fisher, historian and genealogist of Selins Grove, Pennsylvania, in a history of the Pontius family, says that all seven sons of John, Sr. served in the Revolutionary War. Around 1770, George and four of his brothers located along Hanna Creek, some of which is now in Union County and some in Snyder County.

In the spring of 1808 George Pontious and Christina and five of their seven children came from Centre County, Pennsylvania, to Pickaway County, Ohio. They were on the road three weeks and it rained every day except three. (George's first wife, who was mother of all his children was named Catherine, but none of the researchers have been able to find her last name.) The other two sons had preceded them. George's family came to Walnut Township. While others carrying the Pontious name came to Pickaway and Ross Counties, George's family became the ancestors of Pontiouses scattered all over the United States.

Pontious Family, 1900, Harry M. (1893), Israel (1862-1955), Wm. (1825-1908), Ella Frankforther Pontious (1861-1935), Catharine Foster Pontious, Byron E. (1888-1932)

Pontious Family Christmas, 1967

One of his sons, Samuel, first married Amelia Sara Ernst, and they were blessed with 10 children. She died and he later married a widow, Susanna Spahr McLain who had 6 children. To this union 6 more children were born, making a family of 22 children of which Samuel was the father of 16. Of the 16, 9 were sons. Three sons, David, Samuel, Jr. and Simon came to Fulton County while William married Christina Leist and came to Liberty Township, Henry County in 1846. He purchased 80 acres of land from his father-in-law, David Leist. This became the Pontious homestead for many years. The following are all of William's children, six by his first wife: Charity, who married Andrew Hoffman; Edson B., who married Emily Stevens; Cornelius T., who married Mary Elizabeth Fink; Lovica, who married Charles Lorette; Orpha N., who married Clarence Cunningham; and Elizabeth who died in infancy; and three by his second wife: Catherine Foster; John, who died in infancy; Israel, 1862-1956, who married Ella Frankfather; and Clara who married George Shoemaker. In 1893 he deeded the 40 acres, including the home to his son, Israel, who purchased the other 40 from Clara. Israel also purchased another 40 acres from Edson. He operated the farm and a saw mill in partnership with a neighbor, H. L. Whiteman.

Edson went to Michigan, Lovica to Toledo, Orpha and Cornelius to Fulton County. William and Catherine lived with Israel on the farm until their deaths in 1907 and 1908.

Israel and Ella had two sons, Byron Ernest, born in 1888, and Harry Milton, born in 1893.

Byron received his Doctorate at Wisconsin University and taught at Purdue University.

Byron married Carrie Clifton and they had two daughters, Jannette, who married William Stinchcomb and lives in South Bend, Indiana, and Priscilla, who married James R. Reubenzer and lives in West Bend, Wisconsin.

In 1914 Harry married Orilla Alice Myers and to this union were born one daughter and four sons.

Harry lived on the farm with his parents and farmed until 1925 when he moved to Napoleon to better take care of his responsibilities as secretary- treasurer and service manager of the Henry County Farm Bureau. In 1929 he was hired by the then Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company as a claims adjuster. That winter he was sent to Concord, New Hampshire, to serve New Hampshire and Vermont on a temporary basis. He returned to Columbus, April 1 and was assigned as a specialist on personal injury claims. On November 1 he was assigned to Pennsylvania and spent five years working out of the Harrisburg office. In December, 1934, he was moved to the Home Office in Columbus as a supervisor. In 1936 the company, which had changed its name to Nationwide Insurance, decided to organize a safety program and he was given the assignment of developing and conducting such a program.

He developed a program consisting of a lecture and a street demonstration of measuring the stopping distance of cars at various speeds which was given to Farm Bureau youth groups and high schools. The stopping distance was demonstrated with three guns loaded with paint bullets mounted on the front bumper. The first gun was fired as a signal for the driver to make an emergency stop. When he hit the brakes that automatically fired the second gun, and when the car stopped, the third gun was fired. Those spots showed vividly how far the car traveled before the driver could get his foot on the brake and how far after the brakes were applied.

This program caught on and the demonstration was given in states from Vermont to South Carolina and the demand was such that two men were hired to give the program.

For a number of years Harry was listed in A. N. Marquis' Who's Who in the Midwest.

Harry's first wife, Orilla, died in 1938, and in 1942 he married Ruth Covert.

Harry's daughter, Ruth, B. 11-41914, earned her Registered Nurse degree in Polyclinic Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Then she got her Bachelor's degree in nursing education at Ohio State University. She taught and was then head of the nursing school at Martins Ferry Hospital. She remained there until 1961 when she came to Columbus and since that time has taught nursing to the nursing school at Grant Hospital in Columbus. She married Richard Bryner in 1952. Richard died of a heart attack in 1961. There were no children.

The oldest son, Harry Lowell, B. 2-61918, took electrical engineering at Ohio State University, also R.O.T.C. He received his commission as second lieutenant and was called into active service in World War II. He spent some time at Fort Knox and then in the Pacific where he participated in the invasion of Saipan and Iwo Jima. He was promoted to major on Iwo Jima. After his transfer to inactive duty in March, 1946, he completed his work at O.S.U. to get his B.E.E. He also took additional work and received his B.M.E. He, immediately upon graduation, went to work with North American Aviation, where he is still employed. In the meantime he earned his M.M.E. from the University of Southern California. He had an important role in the building of the Apollo Missile that carried our men to the moon.

He married Eileen Bradley in 1949. They have three children: Leslie Ann, B. 9-9-1945; Bradley Lowell, B. 12-11950; and William Blaine, B. 7-171952. They live in Fullerton, California, where they are active in the First Lutheran Church.

The second son, Paul Myers Pontious, B. 1-25-1920, got a B.S. from O.S.U. in 1942 and D.D.S. in 1945. He has a dental office at 2634 West Broad

Street in Columbus. He served in the Naval Dental Corps at Opalocka, Florida, and Guantanamo Naval Base. He married Maribel Maxwell and they have two sons, Phillip Wayne, B. 8-211947, and Donald Maxwell, B. 10-51948.

Paul is active in youth work through the Hilltop Optomist Club and active in the Westgate Methodist Church. He is chairman of the Administrative Board and one of the trustees of that church.

The third son, Richard Byron, B. 1217-1921, received his M.A. in social administration from Ohio State in 1951. He served at Welsh Convalescent Hospital at Daytona Beach, Florida, as a psychiatric social worker with a rating of staff sgt. He served as field secretary of Big Brothers in Columbus, Ohio, executive director of United Appeals in Licking County, Ohio, and Durham, North Carolina. From there he went to New Orleans United Fund for three years and presently is executive director of the United Fund in Beaumont, Texas. He is married to Anna Dorcas Chaney and they have two sons, Stephen Lee, B. 522-1949, and Michael Allen, B. 10-131953. He is active in the United Methodist Church of Beaumont.

The youngest son, David William, B. 1-6-1927, spent two years at Ohio State. He was a Sgt. Major in the Army and assigned to Ships Compliment, Transportation Corps, and engaged in transportation of troops both in the Atlantic and Pacific. He manufactures and distributes marker loads used in traffic safety demonstrations all over the United States. He has a successful business as an agent for Nationwide Insurance. He married Jayne DePugh. He is a member of Epworth United Methodist Church and Capital City Masonic Lodge. They have one daughter, Susan Lynn, B. 11-17-1950, graduate of O.S.U., married to Lt. James Whitmer, and two sons, Lawrence Milton, B. 6-14-1948, married to Kathleen Lewwe, and Timothy Lee, B. 5-121958. The daughter has a son, Daniel Clifton, B. 11-17-1973. They presently are living on the base at Ft. Lee, Virginia. David lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Lawrence Milton and Donald Maxwell both served in the Navy and Bradley Lowell in the Air Corps during the recent Vietnam War. Lawrence Milton received his B.E.E. from O.S.U. in 1975.

Submitted by Harry Pontious