Peter C. Prugh
Rev. Peter C. Prugh, minister, Germantown. Among the early settlers of Montgomery County was John Prugh, a native of Carroll County, Md., born near the town of Westminster in 1795; there grew to manhood and married Catherine Haynes, who was born in 1791, of which union ten children were the issue, six of whom are now living, viz.: Jesse, Gideon G., Jacob H., Peter C., Thomas L., and Mrs. Samuel Fauver, of Dayton. In 1818, Mr. Prugh and family came to Ohio, locating on one hundred and sixty acres of land five miles south of Dayton, in the present township of Van Buren, upon which he and wife spent their lives, she dying in 1876 and he in 1879, being faithful members of the Reformed Church. Peter C. was born on the old homestead, September 13, 1822, and after receiving a knowledge of the common branches in the district school, he attended the Dayton Academy, where he prepared himself for a collegiate course. In 1844, he entered Marshall College, located at Mercersburg, Penn., and in due time graduated and received his diploma; then entered the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, under the Professorship of Rev. J. W. Nevin, D. D., and Rev. Philip Schaff, D. D., where he completed his studies. He received a call from the Reformed Church of Xenia, Ohio, took charge of that and the Beaver Creek congregation, and remained there for twenty-five years. He was married, April 2, 1852, to Miss Charlotte Hassler, of Mercersburg, Penn., born April 11, 1828, and daughter of Jacob Hassler, who was a musician in the war of 1812. They have had eleven children, seven now living, viz.: Edwin N., John H., Daniel K., William S., Etta K., Mary A., and Frances Grace. During his sojourn in Xenia, our subject was instrumental in having the Soldiers' Orphans' Home located at that point and was appointed Chairman of the local committee to confer with the Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic at their first meeting, and $25,000 were raised in Greene County toward building the Home. When it was completed he became Chaplain and remained there two years, and in 1874 accepted a call from the Church of the Cross, located on the corner of Finley and Baymiller streets, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained three years; then came to Germantown, and now has charge of the Reformed Church at that point. Mr. Prugh resides on a farm of seventy acres one-half mile west of the town and is a man of upright Christian character, who is honored and respected by a large circle of Montgomery County's most worthy citizens. His son, John H., is Pastor of Grace Reformed Church, Pittsburgh, Penn., is recognized as a man of superior ability, a scholar, a theologian and an orator, who, since taking charge of that church, has secured one of the largest Reformed congregations in that city.
From History of Montgomery County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1882