Jonathan Schell, one of the oldest and most respected residents of Jefferson township, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in Berks county, Pa., December 10, 1810, a son of Henry and Margaret (Lesher) Schell, who were also natives of Berks county and of Revolutionary antecedents. Peter Schell and John Lesher, respectively the paternal and maternal grandfathers of Jonathan Schell, were born in Germany, came to America in their young manhood, and both became soldiers in the war for American independence, Mr. Lesher having command of a company and having fought in the battles of the Brandywine and of Bunker Hill. Both these grandfathers finally became permanent settlers of and farmers in Berks county, Pa., where they passed the remainder of their days.
Henry and Margaret (Lesher) Schell, parents of Jonathan, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1820, and located in Miamisburg, Montgomery county, where the father at first followed his trade of cooper; but farming was his principal occupation through life, although in his latter years he engaged in the manufacture of plow points. His death took place in 1864, and that of his wife in 1866, leaving to mourn their loss the following family of children: John; David; Catherine, now Mrs. Anthony Emert; Jonathan; Molly, now Mrs. Fred Yaukey; Sarah, now Mrs. Israel Staley; and Martha, now Mrs. Joseph Kutz.
Jonathan Schell, it will be seen, passed the first, ten years of his life in Pennsylvania. His later youth and earlier manhood were spent in Miamisburg, Ohio, in learning and in working at the cabinetmaker's trade, but later he engaged in farming near that town, and there lived until 1851, when he moved to the farm he now occupies in Jefferson township, on which he has made many substantial improvements, including all the buildings, and which he has brought to a most excellent condition of productiveness. In' his early youth, Mr. Schell helped to break the first furrow for the Miami canal.
The marriage of Mr. Schell was solemnized, in 1831, with Miss Elizabeth Gebhart, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Cramer) Gebhart, the union being blessed with ten children, of whom eight are still living, viz: Peggy (Mrs. Amos Weaver), Henry, George, Martin, Jonathan, David, William and Samuel. Since the age of fifteen years, Mr. Schell has been a member of the Lutheran church-a period of over seventy years--and his seven sons and son-in-law worship in the same faith; in politics, they all are democrats.David P. Schell, son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gebhart) Schell, was born in Miami township, April 19, 1850, and grew to manhood in Jefferson township, where he was educated in the public schools, and at the age of twenty began farming on his own account. Since 1872 he has lived on his present farm of eighty-six acres in Jefferson township, part of which he cleared from the forest and all of which he has improved and placed under cultivation. The buildings, which are modern and substantial, have been erected by him, and the farm, as a whole, will compare favorably with any other of its size in the township.
Mr. Schell was united in marriage December 23, 1870, with Miss Mary M., daughter of George and Margaret (Beachler) Stine, of Jefferson township, and this union has been blessed by the birth of six children, viz: Cora (wife of Charles Brown), Jemima (Mrs. William Hartzell), Clara, Edna, Mary and George. The family are all members of the Lutheran church and enjoy a very high social standing among their neighbors.
Source: Centennial Portrait and Biographical Record of the City of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens Together with the Biographies and Portraits of the Presidents of the United States and Biographies of the Governors of Ohio, ed. by Frank Conover, A.W. Bowen & Co., 1897, pp. 1159-1160.