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- 14 c i Warren township but were returned to German Township's Cleveland /Lynnwood Cemetery for burial. Aaron and Elizabeth (Hardman) Miller settled in German township in 1831. Aaron was born 4/8/1785 in Virginia and moved with his parents to Ohio in 1800. He married Elizabeth Hardman in December of 1805; they had 7 sons and 4 daughters. In 1818 he and his family moved to Wayne Co. Indiana and came to South Bend, then an unincorporated trading post, in 1829. In 1831 they moved 4 miles north of South Bend and settled section 23 of German township where David Miller, Aaron's brother, had settled the previous year. The Miller brothers were heavily involved in the early politics of the county. Aaron was the county's second treasurer, appointed in September of 1831 and held the office through 1833; David was one of the 1st County Commissioners. He also organized the first German Baptist congregation in the area and became its first pastor;. Aaron was one of its first preachers. Aaron died 4/12/1839; Elizabeth died in 1861. Both are buried in the Cleveland /Lynnwood Cemetery. David Miller is buried in German Township's Mount Pleasant Cemetery. John (Sr.) and Eva ( Roof) Cripe- are listed as early settlers of that part of German township which was later incorporated into Clay township. In 1830, they settled along the west side of the St. Joseph River and eventually acquired acreage along both banks. John was born August 5, 1798 to farming folk in Pennsylvania. He married Eva Roof, daughter of Peter and Margaret Roof on December 26, 1813. They had 12 children. The Cripes moved to Montgomery County, residing on a farm there until they moved to St. Joseph County's German township where they entered 380 acres - of land. Within two years their holdings included approximately 900 acres of land in the County. In 1844, they donated the land for the burial ground that is referred to in this text as the Cleveland /Lynnwood Cemetery. John died in February of 1847 at the age of 58. Soon after, Eva began to sell off the numerous acres that she and her husband had acquired. Deed records show land transactions between herself and Alexis Coquillard, Jacob and David Cripe. Eva died in December of 1863. Although not currently visible, recent field surveys [3] attest to the existence of John's grave marker in the Cleveland /Lynnwood Cemetery. The existence of Eva's burial site has not been verified by these surveys although a local history text [41 notes the burial of both John and Eva within German Township. Samuel Witter settled in German township in 1831 on section 16 near Mount Pleasant. He was the eldest son of John and Anna (Mayer) Witter. He married in Union County, Indiana, settling in Cass County, Michigan in 1830. Samuel served on the Grand Jury of the St. Joseph Circuit Court in 1833. He is listed as an incorporator on the roster of the county's first agricultural society (1841). He was elected