Elias Crites
Elias Crites and his wife, Leannah (Mowery) Crites, are both natives of Pickaway County, and their children were all born in that county, viz.: Mary Celena, born June 25, 1852; John Daniel, born September 23, 1855; and Willison Williard, born May 3, 1858. Mr. Crites was born June 25, 1825. He is a son of John Daniel Crites and Catharine Crites, and brother of Charles, Jacob, etc. Mrs. Crites is a daughter of John and Rachel Mowery.
From 1875 Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, by H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers, Chicago.
Elias Crites, one of the esteemed citizens and substantial residents of German township, where he owns a finely improved farm of 228 acres located in sections 7 and 8, was born June 21, 1825, in Salt Creek township, Pickaway County, Ohio, and is a son of John D. and Catherine (Peters) Crites.
John D. Crites was born in Linn township, Northhampton County, Pennsylvania, and moved from there to Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he married Catherine Peters and later moved to Salt Creek township, Pickaway County, Ohio, where both died in the course of time. They reared a family of 13 children, 10 of these reaching maturity, our venerable subject being the only survivor. John Crites and his wife were consistent members of the German Reform Church, in which he was a ruling elder.
Elias Crites was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools. His mother died when he was 17 years of age and he left home and learned the carpenter and cabinet-making trade at which he worked for some eight years. He then engaged in farming in Pickaway County, Ohio, until 1871, when he came to Allen County and bought 228 acres of land just north of Elida. This land he has placed under a fine state of cultivation and he has improved it with substantial houses and barns. He served eight years as trustee of Salt Creek Township and for eight years was a trustee of German township.
On June 18, 1851, Mr. Crites was married to Catherine Mowery, who was a daughter of John Mowery. She died May 3, 1862, leaving three children- John D. and W. W., who operate the home farm; and Mary Selena, now deceased, who was the wife of Alvin Davis, of Elida. On October 5, 1862, Mr. Crites was married to a sister of his first wife, Mrs. Leannah (Mowery) Reichelderfer. Mrs. Crites by her first marriage had one son George S. Reichelderfer, a resident of Pickaway County, engaged in the banking business at Laurelvlle, Ohio; and one daughter, Sarah Jane, deceased, who was the wife of Hon. S. D. Crites, of Elida. Elias Crites is a member of the German Reformed Church, while his wife is a Lutheran.
From History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 2, Edited & Compiled by Charles C. Miller, Ph. D.; Richmond & Arnold, Publishers, Chicago, 1906