George Layman, who is one of the prominent citizen and representative farmers of Chester Township, is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Kretzinger) Layman, who settled in this township in 1866. The parents were natives of Virginia and of German descent, the father born in 1801. They were reared and married in their native State, and in 1836 removed to Union County, Ohio, where Mr. Layman cleared and improved a timbered farm, living there seven years. He then sold out and came to Illinois, locating near Palestine, but the following year he removed to Parke County, Indiana. In 1846 the family returned to Illinois, locating in Mason County, where Mr. Layman purchased an unimproved farm, which was the home of the family about twenty years. Henry Layman came to Logan County in 1866, and with his sons, Samuel and George, bought a tract of about 600 acres of land. The father made the homestead on the northeast quarter of section 15, where he lived till his death, in 1868, and where his widow still resides. Henry Layman and wife had a family of nine children, of whom five sons and two daughters are living. Two daughters are deceased. Samuel, the eldest son, lives near Salem, Oregon; Isaac and Lewis live In Champaign County, Illinois. George Layman, the second son, was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, July 26, 1835. May 30, 1861, he was married to Elizabeth Plaster who was born and reared in Illinois, the date of her birth being November 6, 1843. Her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Plaster, were early settlers of Illinois, and are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. George Layman have three children—Mary, wife of Charles Blackburn; George Edgar, lost his sight in May, 1884; and Lewis Wolf. George Layman has a fine farm on section 14, Chester Townships containing 320 acres, where he resides. His farm shows good care and is under fine cultivation, and his residence and farm buildings are noticeably good. His land when he first located here, in 1866, was wild prairie land. Andrew, the youngest son of Henry Layman, resides on the northwest quarter of section 14. The two surviving daughters of Henry Layman are—Delilah, who lives at the homestead, and Mary, wife of William Young, living in Champaign County, Illinois.

Lewis Kretsinger
 

Isaac Kretzinger

Samuel Kretsinger