Allen S. Forsyth
James Forsyth, father of the above, was born in Pennsylvania in 1776. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Shelby County, having settled here as early as 1820, first locating in the town of Sidney, where very shortly afterward he was elected treasurer of the county, which position he filled some eight years. In 1824 he moved to Perry Township, where he died in 1837. Allen S., the subject of this sketch, was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, in 1818. When but a few days old his mother died. His father married again when Allen was about three years old. When he was four years of age his father bound him out to his brother-in-law, who lived in Licking County, until he should be twenty-one years of age. He lived with his brother-in-law until he was nine years of age, when on account of bad usage he ran away, and started to find his father. Barefoot and alone, without money or help, and not knowing where his father lived, he fled as fast as he could, not caring which way he went, only so that he was not caught and taken back. Without food all the day he trudged along, and before night he was in Columbus. Wandering along the street tired, hungry, and forlorn, he was observed by a man, who soon saw that he was running away. The man stopped him, asked him where he was going, where he came from, and many other questions, all of which young Allen answered honestly. The man took him home with him, gave him his slipper and a good bed; but the boy mistrusted that the man intended to return him to his master in the morning; and being determined not to go back, he was up in the morning before any of the family, quietly slipped out of the house, and was again on the road. Before leaving town he heard of a horse-race that was to be run that day, several miles out in the country. Having been trained as a jockey to ride races, he thought to himself he would go to the races, and perhaps he could get a chance to ride one of the horses and make some money to help take him on his way. After arriving at the race ground he met a man who had a horse hlere that he knew; the man also knew the boy and had seen him ride. He agreed to let the boy ride his horse. While they were talking, another man who was standing by asked the boy his name; he told him Allen Forsyth. He then asked him if he was any relation of James Forsyth, of Sidney. As quick as Sidney was mentioned he then remembered that that was where his father lived. He then learned the direction and the road, did not stop to ride the race, but made his way as fast as he could toward Sidney when night over took him. He stopped at a house, and asked to stay over night. The man asked him his name, and where he was going. He told him his name, and that he was going to his father in Sidney The man told him his father did not live in Sidney, but had moved on to a farm. This man was Henry Sturm, of Green Township. He took the boy in, kept him all night, and the next day (as it was rainy). The following day Mr. Sturm took his horse, and told the boy he would go with him, as there was no road and was woods all the way. Mr. Sturm went with the boy to within sight of home, when he left him. This was in the north part of Perry Township. When the boy entered his father’s house he did not know him at first, but soon recognized him. He heard the boy’s story of misusage without reproving him, kept him a short time, when he was again sent away from home, and from that time on he made his way through the world without the advice or assistance of parents or friends. For a number of years he made his home with Isaac Wilkinson. In 1841 he married Elizalieth Smoot. By this union they had three children, only one now living, viz., Jacob M., born 1845. Mr. Forsyth for many years followed buying and shipping stock, but has now retired from active life, having seen all the hardships of an orphan boy raised in the woods, he having spent sixty-two years in Shelby County.
From History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883