Levi Tracy
Wornel, Solomon and William Tracy, sons of John Tracy, of the State of Maryland, came to Ohio about the year 1805, and settled first in Jefferson County, and each took a part in the war of 1812. John, the father, resided thirty miles from Baltimore, and it is said of him that he rolled into the city the first hogshead of tobacco ever offered to the market.
Wornel, the father of our subject, married his first wife, Lernmons, in Maryland. She died in that state, leaving three children, Sallie, John, and Ternpy. After coming to Ohio he married a Babb, by whom he had nine children, Rebecca, Jasper, William, Levi, Elizabeth, Hannah, Joseph, Nancy, and Mary. The Tracys were of Scotch descent; the Babbs were from Switzerland.
Our subject was born near New Martinsburg, Fayette County, Ohio, May 4, 1811. His education was of the pioneer kind, and was obtained in light doses, in attending the old-fashioned log school house. More attention was given to clearing up the farm than storing the mind with knowledge. He was married May 17, 1832, to Catherine Smith, daughter of Peter Smith, native of Kentucky. She died September 16, 1864, having borne eight children: Harriet, Martha, Lydia, Wesley, Asbury, Maria, Miranda, and Lawson.
Mr. Tracy married his present wife, January 23, 1866. She was Mrs. Lydia Branch, nee Brown, daughter of Lemuel G. and Anna (Trowbridge) Brown. The Browns were among the early settlers of Marietta, Ohio. She was born May 19, 1826. By her first marriage she had five children: Henry, Charles, Lemuel E., John, and Lucy. Two daughters have been the fruits of her marriage to Mr. Tracy.
Our subject located where he now lives in the year 1832, having partially cleared the tract some years previous. He is thoroughly versed in the usages and customs of the early days, and never tires in reciting the thrilling incidents of his backwoods experience. At his first marriage, he began the erection of a house in which to move, and, without assistance, had it ready for occupation in thirty days. He was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, February 25, 1846, and has ever since been found in his place, bearing a large share of the burdens of the Cochran society, in which he held, for many years, the position of leader. He has lived to see the wilderness of his boyhood blossom and bear rich fruit as the results of honest toil on the part of the hardy pioneer and his successor.
From R. S. Dills' History of Fayette County