Rev. Philip Lemasters (1836-1915)

Last night I took one of those detours in my online searching and began looking for census records at Ancestry.com for my paternal 2nd-great granduncle, Philip LEMASTERS.  Philip was the son of Rev. Luman Walker and Nancy (YOUNG) LEMASTERS.


Philip was the oldest son of the family and was a Methodist minister.  Surprisingly, I discovered I didn't have much information about him in my database.  The last post I had written regarding Philip was his 1900 census record when he was in Allen County, Ohio.


The USGenweb Project posted a biography of Philip that was transcribed from History of Allen County, and Representative Citizens, edited by Charles C. Miller, published by Richmond & Arnold, Chicago, Illinois, 1906:

Rev. Philip Lemasters

Rev. Philip Lemasters, one of Spencerville's most
venerated citizens, whose ministerial life covered a most interesting
period of the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio, is as
well and widely known as any clergyman of that religious body.  He is a
native of Ohio, born June 10, 1836, in Shelby County, near Fort
Jefferson, and is a son of Luman W. and Nancy (Young) Lemasters.  
      The Lemasters family is of French extraction.  The father of our
subject died in 1888. The mother was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, and
at her death, in 1904, was in her 92nd year.  Their nine children all
survive and are as follows:  Philip, of Spencerville; Mrs. Rachel
Cunningham, of Salamonia, Indiana; Mrs. Catherine Wehrley, of Portland,
Indiana; L. W., of Salamonia, Indiana; Jacob, of Nebraska; Mrs. Phoebe
Wilson of Fort Recovery, Ohio; Mrs Mary Petrie, of Salamonia Indiana;
Mrs. Martha Loofborrow, of Ord, Nebraska; and John of St. Paul,
Nebraska.
        Philip Lemasters attended the public schools of Shelby County
and later enjoyed academic and collegiate training at Liber College, in
Indiana.   He taught school in Butler and other counties in Ohio, in the
meantime preparing himself, by special study, for entrance into the
Methodist Episcopal Conference of Central Ohio.  This had been his
ambition almost from the age of 16 years, when he joined the church, and
the desire to devote the energies of his body and the powers of his mind
to spreading the Gospel grew with his growth and increased with
unfolding opportunity.  In 1870 he was ordained a deacon by Bishop
Clark, and in 1872, an elder, by Bishop Harris. 
          The first charge to which the young minister was sent was that
of Columbus Grove, and his subsequent charges, in order of incumbency,
were: Spencerville, Salina, St. Johns, West Cairo Mount Victory, Quincy,
Ansonia, Huntsville, Bettsvlle, Weston, Mendon and the back to
Spencerville among old friends and esteemed members of his former
congregation.  He located at this point in 1891, and after a service of
three years preached one year at Allentown.  In 1895 he was placed on
the supernumerary list, after almost a quarter of a century of faithful
and consistent work in the ministry.  In the early days his charge,
included a number of preaching appointments, miles apart, sometimes as
many as eight, and every day of the week would be filled, with three
services every Sunday.  This entailed much riding, often over rough
country and the acceptance of hospitality in many different homes.  He
preached his last sermon at Spencerville on November 12, 1905, in the
absence of the regular pastor, with much of his old-time fire and
conviction. 
        At the close of his second year in the ministry, on September 1,
1870, Mr. Lemasters was married by Presiding Elder Roberts to Elizabeth
Hover, who was born at Lima, Ohio, in 1846.  At the age of 17 she joined
the church of which she has been a faithful member ever since.  Her
parents were Cyrus and Martha (Post) Hover, the former of whom is
deceased, his death taking place March 8, 1896, at the age of 74 years
and three days.  He was the second of four brothers who located in the
vicinity of Lima, coming in 1833 from Trumbull County, Ohio.  On August
4, 1847, Cyrus Hover married Martha Post, who still survives and lives
with her daughter, Mrs. Hitchcock, at Lima.  Her parents were C. C. and
Elizabeth (Bryant) Post, a well-known family of this section.  Mrs.
Hover is the oldest surviving member of this branch of the Post family.
She was born in Knox County, Ohio, August 7, 1827.   The children of Mr.
and Mrs. Hover were: Elizabeth, wife of our subject; Mary, wife of R. H.
Gamble, of Lima; C. A., who is in the loan and real estate business at
Lima; Kate, wife of D. H. Crites, of Elida; B. G., of Lima; Minnie, wife
of James Cochrun; Florence, wife of F. W. Newell, of Hammond, Indiana;
and Martha (Mrs. Hitchcock), of Lima.  Mr. and Mrs. James Cochrun reside
in the old Hover home in Spencerville.       
         Mr. and Mrs. Lemasters have but one child, a daughter, Bessie,
who in 1903 was married to A. E. Henry.  They have one daughter, Nellie
Elizabeth, born January 4, 1906.   Mr. and Mrs. Henry reside in the
pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Lemasters of Spencerville.

Noting that the biography stated that Philip taught school before becoming a minister, I decided to see what I could find on Ancestry.com.  Realizing that I didn't have record of him in the 1860 census (the earliest when he would be on his own), I began my search there.


I was able to locate Phillip living in the Henry STALEY household in Jackson Township, Shelby County, Ohio.  He was listed as Philip Lamasters, age 24, teaching common school, born in Ohio with a personal estate valued at $ 400.

I'm not yet sure what the relationship between this Henry STALEY and the John STALEY who married Catherine YOUNG (daughter of Phillip & Nancy Ann (McLANE) YOUNG), who was Phillip's aunt.