1880 PA Census: Washington Co. Union Twp. ed 265, p. 1, lines 43-45
Series T9, roll 1202, dwelling 7, family 7, 1 June 1880

John H. NESBITT, age 45, married, Preacher, b. Penna., father b. Maryland, mother b. Penna.
Agnes R., age 34, wife, married, Keeping House, b. 'K' [sic], parents b. Scotland
George A., age 13, son, at school, b. Illinois
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The Executive Committee of the Alumni Association, The Annual of Washington and Jefferson College, for 1883; A.T. Zeising & Co., Printers, Philadelphia, 1884, pp. 123-124.

REV. JOHN HARVEY NESBITT.

J.H. Nesbitt was born in Indiana County, Pa., August 20th, 1834, on a farm, now owned by his only brother, which has been in the possession of their family for four generations. He joined us in the Fall of '56. Before that, he had been engaged in farming, attending Elder's Ridge and Saltsburg Academies, and in teaching. After graduating at Jefferson, in '58, he spent a year at the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, and two years at the Seminary of the North-West in Chicago, Ill. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Chicago, April 11th, 1860, and the next year, in October, he was ordained as an Evangelist. He was engaged in mission work from '61 to '64; was pastor at Macomb, Ill., from '64 to '69; at Frankfort, Ky., from '69 to '76, when he rested in Western Pennsylvania, for two years, on account of impaired health; was pastor at Mingo, Washington County, Pa., from '78 to '81; and since that time has been preaching at Owensboro, Ky. He has been a faithful, laborious, and successful minister of the gospel. During his pastorate at Macomb, Ill., 131 persons were added to the church; at Frankfort, Ky., 121; at Mingo, Pa., 23; at Owensboro, Ky., the first year, 12; making a total of 287; of whom 164 united by profession. Several of his sermons and addresses have been published.

Although the subjects of Queen Victoria did not sympathize very much with the people of the North during the war, John found one, in those trying times, who was inclined to give him aid and comfort. It was Miss Agnes R. Ross who had come over from Canada to Rockford, Ill. After some meetings and preliminary negotiations, it was agreed between the parties to enter into an alliance "for better or worse." The contract was ratified May 25th, 1864. They have had two children. The first died in infancy. The other, a good and studious lad of seventeen, was, for a while, in attendance at Jefferson Academy at Canonsburg, and more recently at a school in Illinois, and is about ready to enter college. He may become as good but it is doubtful whether he will ever be as great a man as his father, who is 6 ft. in height, and weight 200 pounds.
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Edgar Sutton Robinson, D.D., The Ministerial Directory of the Ministers in "The Presbyterian Church in the United States" (Southern), and in "The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America" (Northern); The Ministerial Directory Company, Oxford, Ohio, 1898.

from Volume I: The Presbyterian Ministerial Directory (Northern), p. 420

NESBITT, John H., Rockford, Ill.--Born, Indiana Co.; Pa., Jef. C., Pa. B.A., 1858; McC. T.S., Chicago, '61; Lic. April 11, '60, Ord. Sept. 25, '61. Pby. of Chicago; Ev. and My., '61-'64; P. McComb, Ill., '64-'69; P. Frankfort, Ky., '69-'76; P. Mingo, Pa., '76-'81; P. Owensboro, Ky., '81-'86; P. Oxford, O., '86-'92; S.S. Prairie City, Ill., '92-'96; author, "Memoir of Rev. Geo. A. Nesbitt;" Ev. '97--
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1900 IL Census: Winnebago Co. Rockford Twp. Rockford City, #523 Fisher Ave., ed 137, p. 14a, lines 16-19
Series T623, roll 355, dwelling 302, family 332, 11 June 1900

John H. NESBITT, Head, Aug 1834, age 65, marr. 36 yrs, b. Penna., father b. Maryland, mother b. Penna., Clergyman
Agnes, wife, May 1846, age 54, marr. 36 yrs, 2 children / 0 surviving, b. Canada, parents b. Scotland, immigrated in 1859, 41 years in U.S.A.
Catherine ROSS, mother, Mch 1811, age 89, widowed, 8 children / 4 surviving, b. Scotland, parents b. Scotland, immigrated in 1838, 62 years in U.S.A.
Archie McDONALD, Servant, July 1878, age 21, single, b. New York, parents b. Ireland
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W.H. Averill, A History of the First Presbyterian Church: Frankfort Kentucky; Monfort & Co., Printers, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1902, pp. 129-133.

REV. JOHN H. NESBITT.

Rev. John H. Nesbitt was born August 20th, 1834, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He received his primary education in Saltsburg Academy, of the same county, and graduated from Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in the class of 1858. His theological training was received at McCormick Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1861. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Chicago in April, 1861, and labored as evangelist and home missionary until January, 1864, when he became pastor of the church at Macomb, Illinois, remaining there about six years. In November, 1869, he was called to the Frankfort Church, and ministered with great acceptance to this congregation until June, 1876, when on account of the precarious state of the health of his only child, a very bright and attractive boy of ten years of age, he was led to resign the pastorate in order to seek a change of climate. After a few years' residence in the mountain regions of Pennsylvania, during which time he ministered to the Mingo Church, Presbytery of Pittsburg, his son's health seemed to be entirely restored, and Mr. Nesbitt, in October, 1881, accepted a call to the church at Owensboro, Kentucky, where he remained as pastor until April, 1886. His next field of labor was Oxford, Ohio, from April, 1886, to 1892, and then he returned to Illinois, and served as stated supply to the church at Prairie City from January, 1893, to April, 1896. Since that time he has been incapacitated for the active duties of a pastor by reason of ill health, but as opportunity offered and his health permitted he continued to preach in the vicinity of his home at Rockford, Illinois.

Mr. Nesbitt was married in May, 1864, to Miss Agnes R. Ross, of Rockford. Mrs. Nesbitt is very pleasantly remembered by all our older members for her many graces of mind and heart, and during her residence here was universally esteemed and beloved.

In the dealings of our Heavenly Father, at times so mysterious, with his children, they are sometimes called upon to pass through the severest affliction. Such was the case of these faithful servants in the death of their only son, George Arthur Nesbitt, who had attained manhood, completed his theological course and entered the ministry from McCormick Seminary in the class of 1892. He was at once called to the pastorate of the First Church, Appleton, Wisconsin, but died in Chicago in October of the same year. He was a young man of great promise for usefulness in the Church, which always is in need of such well-equipped and consecrated young men. His death, which to our finite vision appeared so untimely, was a crushing blow to his devoted parents and a personal bereavement to a wide circle of friends and associates.
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Postville, Iowa: Postville Review, issue of Friday, 15 February 1907, p. 2, col. 2

Rev. John H. Nesbitt died in Rockford, aged 72 years.
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