Jacob Dempster JOHN WESTLEY DEMPSTER, farmer, P. O. Dempster, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, August 7, 1817. His parents are Robert and Elizabeth (Hunter) Dempster, both natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch lineage. He was brought up on a farm and educated in the common schools of Harrison County, Ohio, whither his father had moved when our subject was but two years old. On March 29, 1838, he was married to Florania, daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Crabtree) Huston, a native of Harrison County, but subsequently a resident of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. They have five children living, viz.. Robert Anderson, born November 13, 1839, married to Mary Jane Posnet, of Cincinnati, Ohio: Alexander, born May 16, 1841, married to Rachel Dunlap, of Round Head; Jacob, born November 24,1844, married to Samantha J. Austin, of Allen County, Ohio ; Catharine, bornNovember 30, 1844, wife John Austin, of Nebraska; and William Perry, born February 24, 1852, of whom a sketch will be found in this history. Mr. Dempster and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which the former has been Steward and Trustee. He came to Hardin County in 1847, and entered 237 acres of land in Sections 18 and 19, on which he has since resided. He has served his township six terms as Justice of the Peace, seven years as Township Treasurer, and twenty-four years as School Director. Squire Dempster gave a very liberal support to the Union in the late rebellion ; his son Robert served three years in the Thirty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Jacob, a younger son, two years in the Forty-fifth Regiment, and he paid about $400 in bounties. The Dempsters are among the most intelligent families of the pioneers of Hardin County, and have given a good education to their children. Pg. 949 (The History of Hardin County Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1883)

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