Rachel Elizabeth Demuth, daughter of Christopher and Susanna Catharine Maria Klein Demuth, was born on March 15, 1788 in the community of Gnadenhutten, Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. She had two brothers and six sisters.

Christopher and Susanna moved their family to Gnadenhutten, Tuscarawas County, Ohio in 1803.

According to the Diaries of Gnadenhutten Moravian Church, July 16, 1800 to Aug 5, 1805, by Ludwig Huebner, pastor, translated by Allen P. Zimmerman, page 87: On Dec. 26, 1803, the older girl Rachel Elizabeth Demuth was received into the congregation and was commended to the Saviour's blessing in prayer on our knees. On page 118: Rachel Elizabeth Demuth was received into the choir of unmarried sisters.

On January 19, 1808, Rachel married Richard Ferguson in Muskingum County, Ohio, and they are known to have had seven children; however only five have been determined: Nancy, John, Abigail, Matthias and Obediah.

Richard and Rachel moved their family to Washington Township, Coshocton County, Ohio about 1830. Richard farmed, and their children John and Abigail married and began their families in the same community.

The story passed down through the family is that Richard left for the goldfields in 1849, and was never heard from again. Rachel and youngest son, Obediah remained on the farm in Washington Township, Coshocton County, Ohio according to the 1850 census. The value of the property was $200.

Rachel and Obediah may have left Coshocton County as early as 1854. They were found to reside in Chenoa Township, McLean County, Illinois according to the census records of August 23, 1870. Rachel is listed as keeping house and 85 years old, born in Pennsylvania. Her personal property value was $300. Obediah, her son, born in Ohio, was 40 years old. According to census records he had a mental disability of some kind.

The McLean County tax records compiled between 1850-1900 no longer exist because of a terrible fire. From the Panagraph newspaper, "Just after midnight on June 19, 1900, a great fire began sweeping through much of the city's downtown. By 8 a.m. the next morning, stunned residents struggled with the enormity of the devastation - 45 buildings and 4 1/2 blocks reduced to little more than smoking rubble."

The Death and Burial Records for the Old County Farm Cemetery, McLean County, Illinois which cover the years from 1860 – 1930, tell the final story. Obediah, from Chenoa, was received as a resident of the County Farm on April 11, 1871 at the age of 40, and died there on February 3, 1872 at the age of 41 years. Rachel E. Ferguson, from Chenoa, became a resident of the County Farm on July 15, 1871 at age 86, and died on November 6, 1872 at the age of 87 years.

There is no public access to the cemetery. The grave stones that are still standing are simply marked with numbers. According to a Chenoa, McLean County researcher who found the above documentation on Rachel and Obediah, she also read that the inmates were well-fed having both beef and chickens, vegetables and fruits, and a bakery on the farm. Everything was raised on the property. About 10,000 cans of vegetables were put up each summer. Coffee was served two times a day, and each inmate had a place to sleep. Later, the County Farm was transformed into the McLean County Nursing Home, and today, it is a private residence with just the main house and one barn.

Obituary - Bloomington Pantagraph (Mon, Nov 7, 1872) - Death at the Poor Farm - On Sunday last an old woman named Ferguson, 80 years old, an Inmate of the poor house, by a misstep fell down one step of a flight of stairs, dislocating the shoulder and producing a concussion of the brain, from which she died on Monday. She was formerly a resident of Chenoa.