William Fast ^{1 3 4 5 6 7 8}

  General Notes:

Source: By Way of Rotterdam, 1952, Reprint 1976, Reprinted 1983; 182, 220, 261, 262, 281, 364; Robert G. Fast, 2309 Jonathon's Landing, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804

"William, the sixth child of Christian and Anna Barbara (Mason) Fast, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, 24 Mar 1794. In the fall of 1814, in company with his eldest brother, Martin, he visited the country around Orange Township, Richland County, Ohio, with a view to selecting and entering land for their father. While in this neighborhood, they made their home with the family of Jacob Mason. At one time he, Jacob Young, and Martin Mason went to Fealty Smith's, five miles east of Wooster, where they purchased frost-bitten corn at $1.25 per bushel and took it to Stibb's mill and had it "mashed". The musty odor of the corn meal was offensive at a distance of a yard: yet being the best and only bread-stuff that could be obtained, it was highly prized.

After they had made their selection of land, Martin and William Fast received intimation that a man named Cuppy, in behalf of some relatives, contemplated making an entry of the very tract of land which they themselves had chosen. The contest, then, would be decided by the relative speed of the horses of the contending parties. The brothers were on time; and just as they had concluded their business at Canton, Cuppy and his friends were seen making their entrance into the town. The land then purchased was the west half of Section 18. Not long after William Fast's moving to Richland County, he was joined by his parents and brothers and sisters. At first they built a log cabin, later a brick house; and still later in 1846, William Fast built the stone house which is still standing. On either side of the rise of ground on which this house was built is a spring of good water. One of these springs drains eventually into Lake Erie and the other into the Ohio River, for the house was built on the water divide. A stone set in the gable of the house bears these words: "W. Fast 1846".

In the year 1817, William Fast was married to his cousin, Catherine Elizabeth Fast, daughter of Francis Fast. She was born in 1795 and died 10 July 1869. William Fast died 31 May 1882. They both are buried on the old Christian Fast farm in Ashland County, Ohio."
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1850 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 19 October 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 490B, Roll 658, Dwelling 224, Family 227
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
William Fast..56..PA..Farmer
(Living with wife and 6 children.)
.

• He appeared on the 1860 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 13 July 1860. ⁵

1860 US Census
Page 86, Roll 930, Dwelling 701, Family 676
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Wm. Fast..66..PA..Farmer
(Living with wife, 3 children, and 2 grandchildren.)
.

• He appeared on the 1870 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 23 July 1870. ⁶

1870 US Census
Page 9, Roll 1169, Dwelling 66, Family 62
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
William Fast..76..PA..Farmer
Jonas Fast..33..OH..Manager of farm
Mary A. Fast..27..OH..Keeping House
Clement Fast..6(?)..OH
Clay Dean Fast..2..OH
Sarah Fast..46..OH
Ida Sheffard..19..OH..School Teacher

(William was widowed and living with his married son, Jonas, and his family.)
.

• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 8 June 1880. ⁷

1880 US Census
Page 187C, District 89, Family 89, Roll 991
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
William Fast..Father..87..PA
(Living at the home of his married son Jonas and his family.)

NOTE - If his birth date was 24 Mar 1794, then his age should have been 86 instead of 87.
.

• He was buried after 31 May 1882 in the Fast Cemetery in Bailey Lakes, OH.

William and his wife, Anna, share one common gravestone in the Fast Cemetery which is a vaulted top short obelisk of white sandstone. The inscription on his side reads "William Fast, Died May 31, 1882, Aged 88y 4m 5d".

It is interesting to note that the inscription apparently gives the wrong age in that it points to a birth date of 26 Jan 1794. According to court documents purporting to be the "family Bible" transcriptions, his correct birth date was 24 Mar 1794 which would give an age at death of 88y 2m 7d.

The actual cemetery as it stands today is a "consolidation" of gravestones and sits in the middle of a farmer's field on a small area surrounded by a rope or chain link fence. The gravestones are not in their original locations. The exact location is now in Ashland County, Ohio only a few hundred feet away from the Richland County border. Originally the area was all within Richland County. My conversations with the current landowner in 2000 somewhat skirted the issue as to whether there were still any actual graves under the gravestones but I am led to believe that any graves may have long been plowed over and the current gravestones are merely a memorialization.

Find A Grave Memorial #22508844
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. ⁸

William married Anna Catherine Elizabeth Fast, daughter of Francis Fast and Elizabeth Yeager, in 1817 in , Fayette County, PA.^{1 2} (Anna Catherine Elizabeth Fast was born on 15 July 1795 in Pennsylvania,^{9 10} died on 10 July 1869 ¹⁰ and was buried after 10 July 1869 in Fast Cemetery, Bailey Lakes, Ashland, Ohio, United States ¹⁰.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 19 October 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 490B, Roll 658, Dwelling 224, Family 227
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
William Fast..56..PA..Farmer
Catherine E. Fast..55..PA
Sarah Fast..25..OH
Jesse Fast..20..OH..Farmer
Nicholas Fast..17..OH..Farmer
William Fast..15..OH
James Fast..12..OH
Joshua Fast..9..OH

NOTE - Where was the son, Jonas Fast, who would have been about 14 years old at the time of this census?
.

• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Orange Township, Ashland, OH on 13 July 1860. ⁵

1860 US Census
Page 86, Roll 930, Dwelling 701, Family 676
Orange Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Wm. Fast..66..PA..Farmer
Anne K. E. Fast..--..PA
Sarah Fast..33..OH..Domestic
Jonas Fast..23..OH..Farm Laborer
Joshua Fast..19..OH
Anne K. Silence..19..OH (Granddaughter)..Works by week
Seth J. Silence..8..OH (Grandson)

NOTE - Anna and Seth Silance were children of daughter Anna C. E. Fast who married William Nicholas Silance. It is believed that both of the Silance parents died between 1850-1860 thus Anna and Seth Silance were orphaned and living with their maternal grandparents.
.

  Marriage Notes:

Anna Fast and William Fast were 1st cousins.
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