Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 30 May 2003

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REV. RICHARD SIMONTON, deceased, better known among his contemporaries as Elder Simonton, was born on the 31st day of January, 1787, in Iredell Co., N.C.; his parents were natives of the North of Ireland, but were of Scotch descent. While the subject of this sketch was yet very young, the family moved to Ohio and settled in what is now Warren County, enduring all the hardships and privations incident to the lives of the early settlers. At the age of 21, he was married to Miss Mary Hatfield, belonging to a family who came to Ohio from New Jersey at a very early date; shortly after his marriage, he with his wife moved to Preble County, where he purchased a farm, near Eaton, of 147 acres of Francis Dunlevy, paying therefor $3.50 per acre; being dissatisfied with the locality, however, he soon returned to Warren County and bought land southeast of Lebanon, on the road leading from Lebanon to Morrow. In the war of 1812, he served as a private in Capt. Reeder’s company of dragoons, and upon the expiration of his term of service returned to his occupation of farming. He professed the Christian religion when quite young, and at a time when there was a general revival of religion in Ohio: he very soon became zealous in the cause of Christ, and took an active part in social meetings; on the 18th of October, 1821, at Bethany Church, which he had been mainly instrumental in organizing, he was regularly ordained and set apart to the work of the ministry by fasting, praying and laying on of the hands of the Elders; he was soon chosen pastor of several churches, for in those days no one country church was able to support a minister. and hence services were held fortnightly and monthly, thus making the work of the pastor an arduous task. The church at Bethany was under his care; he also had charge of the Burlington Church, in Hamilton County, where he labored with great success, and for many years he was Pastor of the Fellowship Church. On the 31st of August, 1843, he lost his wife, whose death was caused by cancer in the face; she suffered long and severely, but her sufferings were borne with Christian patience; after remaining for some years a widower, he married Mrs. Ede Smith, a widow lady of Hamilton County, who still survives him. Elder Simonton’s manner of preaching was peculiar to himself: he was careful to mature his sermons well; he generally had his proof, texts marked in his book, and