Zeluff Ancestors

An American Adventure

Branch County, Michigan - In 1860, Cyrus Ames, wife Susan Zeluff, and their children were living in Bronson, Branch County, Michigan. Daughter Emma Helen Ames later married Robert Harvey, a noted historian and surveyor in Nebraska; daughter Mary Elizabeth Ames married John F. Musser, making her home in Auglaize County, Ohio.

Little is known about Cyrus and Susan's origins. A Joseph Zeluff and his wife Betsey, along with Elijah Dewater and his wife Mary Ann, arrived in Michigan in the mid-1830s. The Zeluff family settled in Ovid Township, Branch County, while the Drinkwaters settled their family in Fawn River Township, St. Joseph County. Children of both couples intermarried. Could Susan Zeluff, wife of Cyrus, be related to Joseph Zeluff in some way?

Lagrange County, Indiana - Some information indicates that Elijah Dewater and his wife Mary Ann were living in Lagrange County, Indiana shortly after 1860. After Elijah's death early in the decade, Mary Ann returned to Branch County, Michigan, and married Joseph Zeluff, a widower by this time, in 1867.

By 1866, Cyrus was living in Lagrange County, Indiana, married to Susannah Booher. Cyrus and Susannah were living in Clay Township, Lagrange County in 1870 with Cyrus' son Benjamin, Susannah's children James and Isabelle, and Charlie, a son of Cyrus and Susannah.

Minerva Ames, daughter of Cyrus and Susan, was living as a domestic in Lima Township, Lagrange County in 1870. A year later, Minerva married Eppah Robbins, who was serving in the 35th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

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Updated: Sunday, March 5, 2006