My Genealogy Hound

DANIEL DISINGER is the owner of one hundred and fourteen acres of productive farming land, located on the west bank of Cayuga Lake. It lies in the town of Fayette and was the old homestead of his parents, John and Elizbeth (Ernsberger) Disinger. On this place our subject was born October 9, 1823.

John and Elizabeth Disinger were born in Pennsylvania, and the father came to Seneca County in 1804, when about twenty-three years of age, and before his marriage. Locating on a farm in the town of Fayette, he held the same for about a year, and then sold it and invested his means in another piece of property, which he retained in his possession for five years. At the expiration of that time he traded it for the estate on which our subject is now residing. At that time it was all covered with timber, with the exception of four or five acres which had been cleared by the Indians, and about forty acres on the banks of the lake, which, it is presumed, had been settled upon by whites.

The mother of our subject came to this county when in her twenty-first year, and soon afterward was married to John Disinger. They started out in life in limited circumstances, but success attended their every effort, and at the time of his death the father of our subject left a tract of five hundred acres, which was divided among his children, of whom there were six in number. Of this family all grew to mature years and became heads of families, but only two are now living, Samuel and our subject. The father lived to be eighty-seven years of age, and his good wife passed her seventy-ninth birthday. They were members of the German Reformed Church, in which the former was Elder for a long term of years. In politics he voted for Democratic candidates.

The subject of this sketch spent the first eighteen years of his life on the old homestead, and when his parents moved to a tract south of Waterloo he accompanied them to their new home. He had been given a fair education, and when ready to establish a home of his own was married, October 17, 1844, to Miss Catherine Eshenour, who was born in the town of Fayette, near Seneca Lake, in 1824. Mr. Disinger moved to his present place, which is part of the old home farm, soon after his marriage, and here his wife died, February 28, 1850. They had one son, William, who was born May 26, 1846, and who is now a well-to-do farmer in this town. July 3, 1851, Mr. Disinger married Miss Christiana Schroyer, of the town of Fayette, who was born here January 27, 1829. To them have been granted three children, namely: Peter E., John E. and Sidney F., and all are well educated.

In politics our subject upholds Democratic principles, and voted for James K. Polk when casting his first Presidential ballot. At one time Mr. Disinger possessed one of the largest and finest estates in the county. It comprised four hundred and fifty-one acres, one hundred and fourteen of which formed part of the old homestead. For this he paid his father $1,350. As soon as his children were grown up and ready to start out in life, he gave each of them a portion of his property, so that now he has but a moderate himself. This he keeps under excellent tillage and reaps good returns acreage for the care bestowed upon it. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, of which he has been a warm supporter for many years. Mrs. Disinger is an active member of the Reformed Church.

Grandfather Nicholas Disinger came to Seneca County about six years after his son John came, purchasing twenty acres of land, and here passed the remainder of his days. He lived to be eighty-four years of age, while his good wife reached the age of eighty-eight. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, as did also two of his brothers, William and John. They never returned, however, and the natural supposition is that they were killed in battle, but there is no certainty on this point. John Disinger was drafted into the War of 1812, but considered it his duty to remain at home and hired a substitute.