Submitted by Chester Mack, Jr.

Huron County First Family Member #4; Ohio Genealogical Society First Family Member #1266

DANIEL MACK, son of Captain Elisha Mack of Revolutionary War fame, and Diadema Rathbone, a double Mayflower descendant, was born in either Westmoreland, NH, or Deerfield, MA, on 17 December 1784. His direct paternal ancestor was John Mack who immigrated from Scotland ca 1665 and settled in Salisbury, MA. His maternal Mayflower ancestors were Stephen Hopkins and Thomas Rogers.

HOPESTILLE TOLBERT, daughter of Job Tolbert and Elizabeth Peyton, was born in Avon, CT. on 17 July 1780. She was apparently a direct descendant of Jared Talbot, a first settler of Taunton, MA, and Sarah Andrews, whose father, Henry, was a first settler of Taunton.

Daniel and Hopestille were married in the W. Avon, CT, Congregational Church on 24 November 1803. From 1806 to 1812 they lived in Ellington CT, where Daniel operated a sawmill.  They apparently returned to Deerfield, MA, by 1812/13 as a deed is recorded to Daniel Mack of Ellington and his wife Hopestille on 6 August 1812 for several acres of Pine Nook.

In 1815, Daniel Mack & Charles Lee of Franklin County MA purchased 820 acres of land in Vredenburgh, Huron County, OH, from Isaac & Abigail Mills of New Haven, CT, and Hopestille Mack, wife of David (sic) Mack (Franklin County MA) bought 191+ acres in the town of Townsend, Huron County Ohio from Kneeland Townsend of New Haven, CT. She also purchased 200 acres in Vredenburgh from Isaac Mills.

According to Williams "History of the Firelands," Daniel and Hopestille arrived in Peru Township in the fall of 1816, probably taking about 50 days to travel from Deerfield. He apparently built a log cabin first, then soon built the first sawmill in the township, on the East Branch. Soon after, he added a run of stone for grinding grain, and later added a grist mill. In 1819, he platted and named the town Macksville (now Peru), which was the only village in the township for many years. He also served as a juror in the trial of the Indian Nagoneba, the first important trial in Huron County, and the first execution in Norwalk. 1820 was a busy year: Daniel built the first frame house in the township (still in use until about 25 years ago), and was elected as a fence viewer.

By 1822, they had moved to Cold Creek, near Castalia, where in the fall he erected a sawmill, and in 1824 he built a substantial grist mill which he operated until his death on 12 February 1826. Both his obituary and that of a daughter who died in 1823 list him as Major Daniel Mack, but no military record has yet been found.

Hopestille married ca 1828/29 Amasa Potter, and died in Castalia, Margaretta Township, Erie County, on 29 May 1855. Daniel and Hopestille had nine known children, four of whom died young. The youngest of these was DANIEL TOLBERT MACK, born 3 November 1820, probably in Macksville. On 10 August 1845, he married Sarah, daughter of Alonzo Smith, in Erie County, Ohio. Five children were born of this marriage.

In 1855, Daniel T. and Sarah settled in Marshalltown, IA, where she died on 28 May 1860. Daniel T. was a carpenter by trade, and in 1859 made the Gold Rush trip to Pike's Peak, CO. He apparently moved to Denver, CO., after the 1860 census was taken, as he enlisted there in Company G, 3rd Reg't, Colorado Infantry on 15 March 1863, and was promoted to Corporal, Company M, 2nd Colorado Calvary by January 1864. From 4 November 1863 to 14 February 1864, he marched from Denver, CO, to Kansas City, MO, encountering blizzards across the plains, which hospitalized him in Kansas City. In September 1864, he was injured "getting Quartermaster and Commissary stores upstairs to keep them from being stolen." He was mustered out 23 September 1865.

On 21 June 1866 in Independence, MO, he married Rebecca Anne (Nelson) Johnson, daughter of James and Mary Ann (Sipple) Nelson of VA & KY. From this marriage came two more children, the younger being William Jay Mack, grandfather of Chester F. Mack Jr., the submitter.

Originally published in Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1988, Kinologist  by the Huron County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

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