A biosketch reports: "John went to Butler County, Ohio in 1808-1809 then to Rush County, Indiana, 1821; and Marion County, Indiana 1846. He was a large man … with a very cheerful/happy disposition. He was left handed." [1]
Another sketch reports [2]:
John was the first child of Christopher and Ann Hornaday to travel West probably leaving in 1807 or 1808.
Christopher's eldest son, John, married Naomi Ward (a cousin of his sister in law Sally Free) when Naomi was only 14. John himself 21 years of age. Their worldly possessions were few and as there was much talk about of the rich land to be had for the asking in the new West, they got the fever to go to Ohio and enter land. They decided to leave his young wife behind as he traveled on horseback to find a place in this new country. There were no real roads, only trails and few settlers and many Indians. After he had been gone many weeks without being heard from … They gave him up as lost, thinking that he had been killed by the Indians or been the prey of wild beast. The young wife mourning for her lover was surprised to see him ride home on his horse very pale and thin. He had fallen ill with fever in the new country and it took him many weeks to recover sufficiently to make the trip back home. What a shock of delight Naomi must have felt when she recognized the rider coming toward the house!
We believe that John's prospective journey took place about 1805. John and Naomi Hornaday's first children were born in North Carolina in 1807 and 1808. We think that after the children were born the whole family left for Ohio, possibly in the company of John's uncles, Nathan and John Hornaday.
From Ohio, Naomi and John went on to Rush County, Indiana in 1821. Rush County was then almost complete wilderness. John's grand daughter tells how their "animals were in constant danger day and night. Despite their vigilance the Indians stole their extra horse. The cow died supposedly from eating something poison. The wolves took the sheep in spite of the fact they almost slept with them. That their only source for clothing and I've heard GrandMother tell of the hard and discouraging winter when the children had one suit each of clothing. On Saturday nights she would put them all to bed, build a big fire in the fireplace, heat the water and wash all their garments and dry them and have them ready to put on in the morning." Naomi was at this time perhaps 18 or 19 years old. John is one of the few early Hornadays about whom we have any personal description. His Granddaughter remembered him as a large man, left handed, and always very cheerful. Like his father, John reached a great age. He died in 1868 at the age of 85.
[1] page image at Ancestry labeled "Descendants of John Hornaday", page 5 of 7 (scan 66), [URL].
[2] page image at Ancestry, labeled "Descendants of John Hornaday", page 6 of 7 (scan 76), perhaps a later version of above, [URL].