Lemuel was born 6 June 1827 in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. The 1850 Census shows that he was living at home with parents and siblings, and working as a broommaker at age 23. Five years later he married Samantha McWilliams in Lawrence County, PA.
As of the 1860 Census Lemuel is farming with real estate valued at $1460 in Mahoning Township and a personal estate of $500. Samantha and two daughters are at home, plus James McWilliams, a farm laborer (brother-in-law), with his six month old son, James F. McWilliams, reside with them. In 1863 Lemuel registered for the Civil War Draft at age 36.
After the war the 1870 Census shows the family continues to reside in Mahoning Township, Lemuel is a farmer with a personal estate of $1100, and there are six children at home. Little has changed by the 1880 Census except that only four children reside at home. Rose, who would have been 14 at the time is missing. Is she deceased?
The 1900 Census shows some big changes. At 73 Lemuel works for the railroad as a laborer; he lives with wife Samantha in a home they own in Mahoning; only four of their twelve children are still living. Samantha died in 1900 and Lemuel in 1906. Lemuel's death certificate states cause of death: "general debility from old age." They are buried together in the Mahoning United Presbyterian Church Cemetery.