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Samuel Johns, one of the early settlers of Clover Twp., was born on August 12, 180l supposedly in Ireland. He was of
Welsh descent and came to the U.S. as a baby. Little is known of his early years except that his mother died when he was very young. He must have settled around Lebanon, PA as he found his life
partner there and was married on March 11, 1821 to Miss Magdalena Nagel. Together they helped to found the Trinity Lutheran Church of Lebanon which is still in existence today. Fourteen
children were born to this couple of which 13 were born before the family moved to Jefferson Co. The names of the children are as follows: Jacob, Isaiah, Samuel Jr., Cyrus, Elizabeth who married Michael
Brosius, Lydia who married Ben Thomas, Isaac, Joseph, Mary who married Jacob Lehman, Moses, twins Eli and Henry, Leah who married John Burns, and John.
Samuel was an industrious person and became a prosperous farmer. Originally the large family lived in a one room cabin
on Rollercoaster Road in Clover Twp. which had a large loft that became the sleeping quarters for the children. Later a frame house was added and an imposing barn which stood until a few years ago when
arsonists destroyed it.
Samuel and Magdalena were charter members of the St. John's Lutheran Church at Windy Hill which was located just east of
their farm, but over in Rose Twp. The church and school have been removed, but a well-kempt cemetery remains there with Samuel and Magdalena having imposing tombstones there as well as those of many of their
descendants. Samuel died on April 23, 1882 and Magdalena died July 24, 1881. Their descendants still meet annually for the Johns reunion on the 4th Saturday of July.
Family information was compiled by
Francis and Jeannine Johns.
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