Meet the Family: Episode 7- Cornelius and Rosanna Styer

Cornelius Tyson Styer (1807-1872) and Roseanna Fairchild (1815-1892) were married sometime around 1835. Cornelius was born September 18^th in the year 1807 in Montgomery County, PA.[1] This generation is important because they were our first ancestors to move to Montour County, PA. They purchased and built what we know as the old Styer Home Place, on Columbia Hill Road: The Clover Hill Farm. They are the first of our line to be buried in the Columbia Hill Cemetery. Roseanna Fairchild Styer is the first of our ancestors to be photographed. They are indeed a significant generation of Styers.

Cornelius was born in 1807 in Montgomery County just before his parents, Leonard and Mary Tyson Styer decided to move to Luzerne County, PA. Cornelius grew up on his parents farm in “Newport Township about one mile from Lily Pond.”[2] At some point he met Roseanna Fairchild, the daughter of pioneer Connecticut settlers of Newport Township.

Rosanna Fairchild Styer, photo taken from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29077085/rosanna-styer#view-photo=26157529

Cornelius and Rosanna worked the Newport Township farm until the birth of their first child, Ezra, in 1835. At this point they moved to West Hemlock Township in what is now Montour County, where they purchased a 150-acre farm on Columbia Hill Road. He was considered to be a man of “sound principles and good judgement” and served his community as the overseer of the poor and as township supervisor. He built a one-room schoolhouse on his estate that became known as the Styer school.

The old Styer home place on the Clover Hill Farm at the intersection of Styer Road and Columbia Hill Road. The current owner, Nancy Styer, was kind enough to allow me to take some photographs. Nancy is the widow of Paul Styer, whose father was Charles Styer’s brother Peter.

The Styer Schoolhouse on Kitchen Road. Many of the older generation of our Styer ancestors got their education here. Cyrus Styer was a teacher here for a while.

Politics and Religion

Cornelius is recorded as being an active member of the Columbia Hill Presbyterian congregation (since merged with the St. Peter’s Lutheran congregation who currently occupies the building across from the Columbia Hill Cemetery), where he served at different times as an elder and deacon. Roseanna came from a Presbyterian background and together they established a faith legacy which has carried down to modern times.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Columbia Hill. This used to be a Union Church, shared between a Presbyterian and Lutheran Congregation. Kay Heim had several stories about growing up in this church. We have well over 100 cousins and ancestors buried in this cemetery.

According to the Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Cornelius Styer was originally a member of the Whig party, and made the switch to the newly-formed Republican Party during the time of Lincoln. Grandad Cornelius was not just a Republican voter, he was an important political player in the Danville area. On November 5^th, 1864, a great parade took place in Danville. It was the night before President Lincoln’s 2^nd election- the procession was replete with several brass bands and a float upon which rode women dressed to represent each state in the Union surrounding a lady dressed as the Goddess of Liberty, draped with Old Glory and carrying a liberty hat on a pole. This all went on during an awful wintry mix of snow and sleet. At the end of the parade, there was an outdoor rally, and among these die-hard Lincoln supporters was our grandfather, Cornelius Styer. He served as one of the vice presidents of the local Republican organization that arranged the parade. Citizens like him helped to garner an electoral victory for President Lincoln and the Union cause during one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history.

Cornelius and Roseanna worked hard to improve the land on what became known as the Clover Hill Farm the rest of their lives until their deaths in 1872 and 1892. They rest in the Columbia Hill Cemetery, among many of our other ancestors. This farm is still in the family and retains 104 of the original 150 acres. The barn burned earlier in the twentieth century, the old Styer farm store building has collapsed with age, but the main house, tenant house, schoolhouse, and corn crib remain.

The graves of Cornelius and Rosanna Styer at Columbia Hill. It is hard to get good photos of many of the old Styer graves because they rest beneath a grove of cedar trees which keep them permanently in the shade.

The children of Cornelius and Rosanna Styer are as follows.

1st Child: Ezra Leonard Styer (1835-1882): It does not appear that he ever married or had children. According to the 1880 census, he was a storekeeper, so he probably ran the Styer produce Store which once stood across Styer Road from the main house.

The tombstone of Ezra Leonard Styer at Columbia Hill.

I apologize for the picture quality. This is a painting of the old Styer Store before it collapsed. Ezra Styer worked here until his death. It stood across Styer Road from the main house.

2nd Child: Tacy Elizabeth Styer (1837-1910), married Sylvester Flick (1834-1918), a farmer. They had a very large family, on par with Charles and Emily Styer’s, as in 12-14 children.

Tacy Styer Flick and her husband, Sylvester. Sylvester Flick makes an appearance in the Grandmother Styer Diary.

Mary Pastorius Styer (1839-1881), married Jacob Karns. You can tell the Styers were proud of their ancestry by the fact that they gave Mary this middle name. Francis Daniel Pastorius, the leader of the first Germans to Pennsylvania in 1683, is a very distant relative indeed- his great-grandson having married one of our Styer cousins back during the eighteenth century.