The Orders Family History - Part 1

The following is reprinted from “Reflections II”, a collection of local stories available at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum. All information below is based on a sketch in the centennial biographical history of Columbus and Franklin County, except for the dates of military service for Jonas (I) and Jonas (II), which are from the Military History of Ohio. Any opinions made in the article are from the author.)The first member of the orders family of Jackson Township in Franklin County came to America in about 1770. Although his first name is uncertain, this man was born in England and married there. After the birth of at least two children in the death of his wife, he immigrated to Virginia with his two sons Job and Jonas (I). Jonas (I), who actually founded the family in this Township, was reared in Virginia and enlisted from Virginia as a member of the Cavalry of the United States Army in 1792 during the first term of George Washington. After several defeats of the U.S. Army by the Indians in the early 1790s, a new American army of 2,500 men was assembled near Pittsburgh under the command of General A. Wayne and proceeded to Cincinnati in the spring of 1793. Jonas Orders was a member of this force, and he underwent several months of training and preparation there in the summer of 1793. Jonah spent the winter of 1793-1794 in training at Fort Greenville and perhaps in the construction of Fort Recovery. In May of 1794, as a member of Wayne's Army, he participated in the advance of the force northward through western Ohio. After the construction of Fort Defiance, he participated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20th, 1794 against the forces of Blue Jacket. In the late summer, Jonas was present during the construction of the new Fort Wayne and was probably back at Fort Greenville by November of 1794. The following June he was present at the signing of the Treaty of Greenville which closed Indian warfare in Ohio for nearly 20 years. Jonas's army service came to an end about 1798.In 1805, Jonas decided to return to the west and made his way by foot to Ohio. Shortly after arriving in the Franklinton area, Jonas was stricken with a fever and was ill for several months. At about this time, Jonas met Sarah Ford (daughter of Frederick and Margaret Benjamin Ford who had settled here from Maryland), and on January 30, 1806 they were married. They settled on the Fullerton Farm south of Columbus (on modern Route 104). Jonas and Sarah bought their own Farm in 1829 or 1830 (on the south side of Route 665 near the I-71 interchange) and had a family of ten children (seven sons and three daughters).They were members of the Universalist Church. Jonas was active in local affairs, was a founder of Jackson Township in 1815, and a strong supporter of the preservation of the Union during the Civil War era. At the time of his death in 1864 at age 97, he was the oldest man in the county.(The conclusion of this story in the next blog entry).