David Hanselman

David Hanselman was born in Union Co. Penn. Feb. 3, 1833, son of John and Margaret Durlin Hanselman. He had four brothers and five sisters. They moved to Ohio where his father farmed in 1843. On March 13, 1856 he married Nancy Thorne, who passed away in 1886. Seven children were born to them. On August 14, 1889 he married Frances E. Ayers who passed away July 19, 1918 and two daughters were born to them.

He had been a long time sufferer of arthritis and cancer. Although suffering intensely, he retained his mental faculities until the last. Possessed in life of a robust physique, a strong mentality and character, he lived to have seen where once the blue stem and red top held sway, heavy growths of domestic timber rise to dot the prairies. In the early days, jerked (dried) buffalo meat was a chief article of subsistence and he experienced the hunt and slaughter of buffalo, being gored by one. He could be seen riding a home made wooden cross saddle, every part of which was constructed by his own hands. The events of his early experiences of frontier life in conquering the soil, correlated, placed in proper sequence and depicted upon the silent stage would present a panoramic view of life's drama, startlingly vivid. He will be greatly missed.

Services were held from the Christian Church. Representatives from the Grand Army of the Republic acted as honorary pall bearers and the G.A.R. ritualistic burial service was repeated at the open grave. Interment was in the Burrton cemetery. The City flag was flown at half mast in honor of the dead veteran.