My Genealogy Hound

J. A. KERR, attorney, Tippecanoe City; was born in Chambersburg, Montgomery Co., July 7, 1853, and is the son of J. T. Kerr, and a direct descendant of George Kerr, the pioneer; J. T. is a farmer by occupation; born in this township March 11, 1828, and married Feb. 10, 1851, to Matilda, daughter of Col. Westlake, an early settler; by this union he had a family of five sons and one daughter; one son died in infancy. He is the son of James and the grandson of George Kerr, who was born in the county of Kerry, Ireland, near the Lake of Killarney and the Eagle’s Nest; he married Martha Newel, of the same place, and came to America with his parents just previous to the Revolutionary war, in which struggle he took a part; was one of the first settlers in Marietta, Ohio, and, in 1813 or 1814, moved to Lebanon; his father was brutally murdered by the Indians; he had six sons and one daughter. Our subject is the second child of the family; he passed his early life on the farm, attending the common school till 16, when he entered the National Normal, of Lebanon, Ohio, and attended it for two subsequent winters, where he learned the science of surveying, which he has since practiced; as early as 1868, he turned his attention to the study of law, and, in 1873, was admitted to practice in the State, and, at the age of 23, was admitted to the United States Courts; in the fall of 1873, he located in Tippecanoe, where he has since been engaged in the practice of law; he has, by careful attention to business, won the confidence and esteem of the public, and is one of the promising and energetic young attorneys of Miami Co.; in politics, he is a Democrat, and a member of the City Council. He was married, at the age of 20, to Elizabeth, daughter of Lemuel Coat, a descendant of Samuel Pearson, a pioneer; one daughter has been the issue of this union.