Bridges in the USA

Simon may have had a twin brother, Samuel, who died young. Simon was baptized at Christ Luthe ran Church in York County, Pennsylvania, in March 1771. Before 1785, Simon and his parents ha d relocated to Fayette County, in extreme southwest Pennsylvania. In about 1793 he married Ma ry DeBolt, whose family also lived in the German township of Fayette County. In 1809, Simon a nd Mary moved to Licking County, Ohio, where they settled 262 acres of land in the Newton tow nship. Simon was a house carpenter and later the Justice of the Peace in his township, a posi tion he held from 1816 until his death.

In a 1924 family report, Norman Fuller Overturf wrote the following passage about his ancesto r: "Simon was a wood mechanic, a cabinet maker, and it must have been well steeped in his blo od and spirit, as the ability oozed out graciously and almost universally in his descendants , as natural woodworkers. The family was regarded as Pennsylvania Dutch, and the older member s made frequent utterances in that tongue, without any German accent." And, regarding the Ove rturfs, he remarked that some Irish blood may have been mixed in the Overturf blood, "as th e sandy complexion and occasional red head and usual quick, keen retorts give the strong indi cation of Erin quality."

Simon and Mary had ten children: Solomon (1794), Elizabeth (1796), George (1798), Eli (1801) , Simon (1803), Minerva (1806), Orpha (1807), Jeremiah D. (1811), Mary (1813), and William Ma rtin (1815). Simon is buried in the Evans Cemetery, in Licking County.

After her husband's death, Mary DeBolt Overturf maintained the family home until 1832, when s he joined her youngest son in nearby Delaware County. She is buried in the Old Eden Cemeter y in Delaware County, just north of Kilbourne.