William Skillen
On that 12th of May, 1769, or a few years before the Revolution, a child was born to parents who were then in mid-ocean seeking the American shore. The parents were Irish, and the child of the ocean was Samuel Skillen. That child grew up, married, and reared a family in Pennsylvania. One son. William, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania June 28, 1793. He was thus a child of that dark and stormy period of the northwest which became his home. It was the period of Harmar, St Clair, and Wayne, the period which, after sacrificing one army, recruited another, subdued the savages, and for a time gave repose to the northwest. William Skillen married Miss Elizabeth Gray, of Westmoreland County, Pa., and in 1816, with his wife and two small children, moved to Ohio, and settled in the vicinity of Cincinnati. Late in 1817 he moved his family to Shelby County, and located in Loramie Township. For a short time the fainily lived with Mr. Skillen’s aunt, Mrs. Rachel Flinn, but this was only until a cabin could be erected. He entered the west half of the northwest quarter of section 8, where he made improvements, and moved his family in November, 1817. The remainder of his life was passed in this township, his time being devoted to farming, his life pursuit. As one of the very early settlers, be contributed largely to the development of the new country, and the advancement of. the new community. He reared a. family of six children, named Samuel, Thomas, David, James, Sarah J., and William W. Three of these, Thomas, Sarah, and William, are still living. Mrs. Skillen died September 3, 1828, while Mr. Skillen survived her some fourteen years, his death occurring in November, 1842.
From History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883