John B. Gorsuch
John B. Gorsuch, formerly one of the most highly regarded citizens of Island Creek Township, where many years of his useful life were passed. died on his farm here on April 5, 1902. His birth took place in Brooke County, West Virginia, March 28, 1824, and his parents were Nicholas and Jane (Inzer) Gorsuch, who were natives of Maryland.
John B. Gorsuch was mainly reared in Hancock County, West Virginia, in his youth attending the subscrijition schools. Throughout his life he was fond of read and purchased good literature and also was a Bible student and probably was one of the best informed men in his community. In his eighteenth year he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and lived a life consistent with his profession.
In West Virginia, November 13, 1852, Mr. Gorsuch was married to Miss Mary Elliott, who was born in Brooke County, West Virginia, April 20, 1835. Her parents, who were James and Elizabeth (Marsh) Elliott, having died when she was in her eleventh year, she went to live with her aunt, Miss Mary Marsh, in Brooke County, where she remained under that good relative's care until she was nineteen, when she was married to the late John B. Gorsuch. To this marriage twelve children were born and there are three survivors: John C, who is a physician at Denver, Colo.; Edward E., who resides on the home farm of 168 acres, which he cultivates for his mother; and Wilbert J., who resides in Jefferson County, about two and one-half miles from Bloomfield.
During the Civil War, John B. Gorsuch was a member of the organization known as the Home Guards. Shortly after the close of the war he moved with his family to near Montezuma, Iowa, but conditions did not suit them there and in a few months Mr. Gorsuch moved to Van Wert, O., and from there to Island Creek Township, where he remained during the rest of his life, settling at that time on the farm on which his widow and one son reside. Farming and stock raising are carried on here, a specialty being made of sheep. Mr. Gorsuch was an able business man and he was also an honorable one. In the neighborhood in which he lived so long he was regarded with the utmost respect and his fellow citizens felt that his death was a loss to the community. He was active in the cause of temperance and identified himself with the Prohibition party. Mrs. Gorsuch is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Richmond, O., of which her late husband was a trustee, and she is a member also of the missionary society connected with this church.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910