A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 28

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 806

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his entrance money, eighty dollars, to John Compton, of Dayton, for sixteen hundred dollars, and took his pay in a stock of goods at retail price, and opened out a store. In the summer of 1821 Scribner lost his first wife. and, after an interval of a few weeks, married a second wife, Miss Jane Ireland, of the vicinity of New Paris, who also died in the summer of 1822. After the death of his second wife, he sold out his stock of goods, and having placed his children among friends, went to the Maumee, where he pur- chased land in Henry county, and squandered his money in half clearing some land, and having several thousand rails made, con- cerning which, five years afterward, Jacob DeLong wrote to him that "they were lying in the woods and getting no better very fast. ' In a few months he returned to Greenville and resumed the mercantile business, in which he continued the residue of his life. In January, 1825. he married his third wife. He died in March, 1847. in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Scribner was a pecu- liar character. During ten or twelve years of his life he was the power of the county. He was the autocrat and ruler of the Dem- ocratic party, and discharged all the func- tions of caucuses, primary elections and nominating conventions. Those he allowed to run for office ran and were elected, and those he forbade had to keep shady and hold their peace. But at last he switched off from Jackson Democracy. although he would be "right in line" now among Democrats, for he was an uncompromising adherent to the resolutions of 1798. His last wife died several years ago, as did Mrs. S. J. Arnold, who was the last of the children of his first wife, and was the wife of Henry Arnold, deceased, for many years a successful dry- goods merchant in Greenville.

ABRAHAM STUDBAKER.

A pioneer of Darke county. Ohio, Abra- ham Studabaker was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1785, and died in Darke county, Ohio, March 16, 1852. He was brought with his father's fam- ily to Ohio in the year 1793, and passed his youth in Clinton county, where his parents died. In the spring of 1808 he became one of the first settlers of Darke county, which was then a wilderness, inhabited by wild beasts and Indians. At this time there were but two habitations in the territory that now com- pries the county. He erected a third rude log cabin, having a chimney built of sticks cemented with mud, as a home for his fam- ily, a wife and one young child. Mr. Studa- baker's experience was a good illustration of some of the difficulties that disheartened the early settlers. He brought with him a horse and cow, and after awhile his little stock of domestic animals was increased by the birth of a calf. During the first year he cleared an acre or two of ground, which he planted in corn. He had just gathered his little crop when his faithful horse died of niilk-sickness, and shortly afterward the calf was killed by wolves. Hoping to catch some of these ravenous beasts, he baited a wolf trap with the mangled remains of the poor calf, and the cow, in hunting for her lost baby, put her head into the trap which fell and broke her neck. Soon after the breaking out of the war of 1812, he erected a block-house in the vicinity of Gettysburg, as a protection against the Indians. All other families fled the surrounding part of the country, but he remained through the dan- gers of the struggle. He used to remark that he was too poor to get away. For about two weeks after dangers began to thicken

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he was housed up in his wooden fort, himself, wife and one young child being the only oc- cupants, threatened with ail manner of bar- barities and outrages by the frenzied Indians, against which as a means of defense he had but two rifles and a small amount of ammu- nition. The second (or garret ) story of this structure projected on all sides a few feet over the first or ground story, thus giving its inmates a fair chance to repel parties at- tempting to break in, or to fire the building from below. For protection against this lat- ter mode of attack on the part of the Indians, he kept constantly ready two hogsheads filled with water. After he had for about two weeks been in this isolated and danger- ous condition, the government, greatly to his relief, sent six soldiers with arms and ammu- mition for the protection of his little family. This block-house, which Studabaker had charge of during the war, served as an inn, a port of refuge, official headquarters and other valuable purposes. Upon one occasion he captured five armed Indians and turned them over to the government officer. They, however, subsequently escaped and killed two United States soldiers near Greenville, named Stoner and Elliott. While Abraham Studabaker and his family escaped the bar- barities of this savage conflict, his brother David was murdered by the Indians near the site of Fort Wayne, Indiana. After the war closed Mr. Studabaker was employed by the government to furnish cattle to feed the In- dians till the treaty of peace could be con- summated. Upon the organization of Darke county in 1817, he was placed on the first board of commissioners and served with it for thirteen years. He was also a captain in

early day militia. He was reared and lived amid scenes of pioneer privation and hard- ships, and as a natural result his education was exceedingly meagre. He was, however, endowed with fine natural business abilities, and had a most successful financial career. He was largely instrumental in securing the first railroad through Darke county, for- merly the Greenville and Miami, now the Dayton and Union. He also advanced the money to build the first court house in the county. He was a man of excellent judg- ment, great sagacity, large hospitality, and of unquestionable integrity. He spoke his mind without reserve, and was very decided in his opinions, and in politics strongly Democratic. His first wife was Mary Town- send, daughter of William Townsend, of Clinton county, Ohio, and she bore him seven children. His second wife was Eliza- beth Hardman., of Butler county, Ohio, who bore him five children. She died in the fall of 1868. David Studabaker, second son of his first wife. was born in the old block- house, September 17, 1814. On February 13, 1835, he married Maria, daughter of Will- iam Folkerth of Darke county, who bore him five children. Mrs. Studabaker died in April, 1846. On December 13, 1849, he married Jane, daughter of Samuel Culbertson, of the same county. David Studabaker was one of the movers in the organization of the county agricultural society, also a prominent par- ticipant in securing the first railroad through the county, and for two years was president of the company. By occupation he was a farmer, and a very active, industrious and a good citizen. He also held the office of county commissioner, being elected on the

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Democratic ticket. This office he filled with honor : no better financier, and no one more honorable and trustworthy than he, has ever filled the responsible position ; he died several years ago.

JOHN DEVOR.

John Devor was born in Pennsylvania and came to Darke county in 1808. He died in Greenville in the year 1828. He and one Rachel Armstrong entered the first half-section of land within the present limits of the county, being the west half of section 35, township 12, range 2 east, and laid out the town of Greenville in 1810. The legis- lature of Ohio, in session at Zanesville, by their act of January 3. 1809, created the county of Darke out of the territory pre- viously forming a part of the county of Miami and, within a year afterward, a com- mission appointed by the legislature estab- lished the seat of justice of the newly formed county at Terry's, town of Greenville, north of Greenville creek; but there being some dissatisfaction, it may be well to state that by the enactment of the legislature at its ses- sion of 1810-11 a new commission was cre- ated, to whom was confided the duty of re- locating the seat of justice of the county. This commission consisted of two members from Miami county and one from Preble, and after considering the proposition of Terry, Briggs, and that of Devor and Mrs. Armstrong, and looking to the material benefits to the county, as proffered by the parties, accepted the proposition of Devor and Mrs. Armstrong, and selected as the future county seat the town laid out at Wayne's old fort of Greenville. The ac- cepted proposition covenanted to donate to the county one-third of all the town lots then laid out, or that they or their heirs might

thereafter lay out, on the adjoining lands in the west half of said section 35, in which their town plat was located. Some years after, Mrs. Armstrong having died in the meantime, Devor, for himself, and on behalf of the heirs of Mrs. Armstrong, pursuant to the order of the court of common pleas, exe- cuted their contract so far as the lots then laid off was concerned, by conveying to the commissioners of Miami county in trust for the county of Darke, when it should there- after be organized, thirty-two of the ninety- six lots then laid out, but, although addi- tional town lots on the adjacent land of the half-section have since been laid out by the heirs of Devor, and also by the heirs of Mrs. Armstrong, no further donation or convey- ance has ever been made, nor have the com- missioners of Darke county ever demanded or required any further performance of their covenant. John Devor's son, James, was born near Maysville, Kentucky, while their family were on their way from Pennsylvania, in 1795. He learned surveying from his father and for a number of years was county surveyor of Darke county. He was the first auditor of Darke county, from May, 1844, to October, 1847, he was county treasurer, and for a number of years was a justice of the peace; he died in October, 1855. His wife, Patience Dean, was a daughter of Aaron Dean, one of the early settlers of the county. They were married March 1, 1828, and ten children were born unto them, of whom five now survive, John and Elijah be- ing prominent attorneys of the Greenville bar, the latter being also a referee in bank- ruptcy, under the late United States bank- ruptcy law. John Devor is a prominent politician, an unswerving Republican and a warm personal friend of Hon. John Sher- man. He was the Republican elector for the

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fourth congressional district in 1888 and had the honor of casting his vote for Hon. Ben- jamin Harrison for president of the United States.

JOHN LEOPOLD WINNER.

Merchant, banker and legislator of Green- ville, Ohio, J. P. Winner was born in Frank- lin, Warren county, Ohio, November 19, 1816. His parents were Isaac and Mary ( Powell) Winner, natives of New Jersey. They were married in Philadelphia and in 1816 came to Ohio, where they passed their lives. Mrs. Winner died in April, 1832, and her husband in October, following. For about four years subsequent to his father's death our subject worked at the cooper's trade. In April, 1836, he came to Darke county and located in Greenville, where he extensively identified himself with the busi- ness of the community and also held promi- nent places in the political councils of the county and state. In November, 1837. he married Miss Charlotte Clark, daughter of John Clark, Esq., of Warren county, Ohio. For some five years Mr. Winner was in the grocery business. Eight years he kept a hotel. Four years he kept a drug store. In 1853 he engaged in banking in company with the late Colonel J. W. Frizell. and thus con- tinued till May, 1865, when he became a stockholder in the Farmers National Bank of Greenville. and in January, 1866, he was made cashier of that institution, which po- sition he held until January, 1872. In April, 1873. he opened the Exchange Bank of Greenville and conducted the business of that flourishing institution. His wife died August 12, 1863. She possessed in a high degree those noble qualities of mind and heart so essential to a true wife, and was revered in the community for her sweet-

ness of disposition and sympathizing charity for the poor and unfortunate. She left an only daughter, Hattie, who inherited the sterling qualities of her mother, but the loss of her mother so affected her that she sur- vived her but a few weeks, dying at the age of fifteen years. On April 1, 1867, Mr. Winner married Mrs. Jane Crider, of Green- ville, daughter of John W. Porter, of the same place. In 1863 Mr. Winner became a member of the firm of Moore & Winner, which for a long time was one of the leading dry-goods firms of the county. In 1846 he was appointed auditor of Darke county, and from 1857 to 1861 he represented Darke county in the legislature of the state, and from 1867 to 1871 he served in the state senate. In 1874 he was elected mayor of Greenville and served two years. In politics he was a Democrat. Although his school advantages were very meager, his active mind grasped a knowledge of men and things that fully compensated the loss. During the years 1861-63 he was treasurer of the committee to secure a county fund to encourage enlist- ments in the Union army and gave the sub- ject much attention. He died several years ago.

W. A. WESTON.

Washington Allen Weston, deceased, of Greenville. Ohio, was born in Alexandria, Virginia. March 3, 1814. and died at Green- ville, Ohio, April 24, 1876. His father, William Weston, was a sea captain and perished at sea. His mother, Rebecca Con- yers, was an English lady, and died soon after the death of her husband. When an orphan boy of fifteen he came to Ohio, and was six years a salesman in a mercantile house in Dayton, Ohio, where he made a record for fine business talent, industry and

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honesty. About 1835, with a small capital, he began business in Piqua, Ohio, but the financial crisis of 1836-37 swept away every dollar he possessed. Nothing daunted, how- ever. he soon began again in Covington, Miami county, where he prospered and be- came leader in the public affairs of the com- munity. In 1847 he was elected on the Whig ticket to the general assembly of Ohio and acquitted himself with credit. In the fall of 1848 he located in Greenville and opened the first hardware store of the place. In 1856 he purchased the Dayton Paper Mills and for seven years conducted a thriving business in that city. In 1863 he returned to Greenville, resumed the hardware trade and in January, 1866, became one of the or- ganizers of the Farmers' National Bank of Greenville and president of the same, re- maining such until his decease. He was prominently active in the local enterprises of the community and his generosity was as universal as mankind, with a heart ever open and hand ever extended to relieve the necessities of the poor and unfortunate. He possessed a fine literary and scientific taste and had a very fair education ; was a good conversationalist, excelled as a writer and contributed a number of timely articles to the public press of the day. The guiding principle of his life was the golden rule and he practiced its teachings in his daily busi- ness. Ever industrious and careful, he ac- cumulated a large competency. provided well for his family and was respected by all who knew him. In his death this community suffered the loss of a good financier and a worthy citizen.

W. M. WILSON.

William Martin Wilson, lawyer, judge and legislator, was born near Mifflin, Juniata

county, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1808, and died in Greenville, Ohio, June 15, 1364. His parents were Thomas Wilson and Jane Mar- tin and in ISII they came to Ohio, passed about a year in Fairfield county, and in 1812 settled in Butler county, where Mr. Wilson was raised. He was educated in Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, studied law with the late Hon. Jesse Corwin, of Hamil- ton, Ohio, was admitted to the bar in 1832 and then began practice in that place. In the fall of 1835 he located in Greenville and at once took a leading position as a lawyer. For a number of years he served as prosecut- ing attorney of Darke county. On Septem- ber 19, 1837, he married Miss Louise Dosey, of Greenville, Ohio. She was born in But- ler county April 23. 1815, and died August 2, 1856. In December, 1837, he started the Darke County Advocate, which, with a change of name, is now the Greenville Jour- nal. In October, 1840, he was elected auditor of Darke county and was twice re- elected, thus serving six years. In the fall of 1846 he was elected to the Ohio senate, from the district composed of the counties of Darke, Miami and Shelby, and held the seat two years, during which time he rose to a very prominent position in that body, and came within one vote of being elected state auditor, having already gained the reputation of being one of the most efficient county auditors in the state. This one lack- ing vote he could have supplied by voting for himself, a thing which his manly modesty forbade. In the fall of 1856 he was ap- pointed by Governor Chase as common pleas judge of the first subdivision of the second judicial district of Ohio to fill a vacancy. His decisions were distinguished for great research and ability. Being too old to enter the service during the war for the Union,

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he was, nevertheless, as a member of the military committee of his district, an active and earnest supporter of the government. He stood for many years at the head of the Greenville bar and was regarded as one of the best jurists in Ohio, and by his moral worth gave a higher character to the profes- sion. He was a man of unusually quiet and retiring disposition ; his words were few, but well chosen, and his sarcasm and repartee were like a flash of lightning on an op- ponent. At the same time he bore a heart of the warmest and tenderest sympathies. For a number of years he hield the office of elder in the Presbyterian church of Green- ville. He lived and died an honest, upright man, in whom, as friend, neighbor and citi- zen, the community had the fullest con- fidence.

THOMAS DUNCAN STILES.

This gentleman, physician, surgeon and legislator, at Fort Jefferson, Darke county, Ohio, was born near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1809. His father was Edward James Stiles, and his mother, Ann Stiles, was a daughter of Thomas Duncan, who for many years was one of the supreme judges of the state. In his early days our subject attended school at Carlisle and was then admitted to Mount St. Mary's College. near Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he spent nearly three years. During this time Rev. Eagan McGeary and Rev. John B. Purcell were presidents. He subsequently entered a military school at Mount Airy, German- town, Pennsylvania, taught by Colonel A. L. Roumfort, where he remained until he was appointed a cadet to the military acad- emy at West Point. Remaining there for over two years, he returned to Carlisle, con- menced the study of medicine under Dr. D.

N. Mahon and attended medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. After com- pleting his medical studies he located at Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained about eighteen months, and then went as surgeon on the whale-ship North America, of Wilmington, Delaware, which vessel, after an eight-months cruise, was lost on the coast of Australia. After the wreck of this vessel he made his way to China and engaged in the opium trade about two years, when he returned to the United States. Finding his mother dead and his home broken up, he again went on a voyage to Montivideo, in South America. On the arrival of the vessel at that port he quarreled with his captain, left the vessel and went to Buenos Ayres. Finding that country engaged in war with Montivideo he entered the army as a cap- tain, but not having received the stipulated salary he resigned, and returning to Monti- video entered the naval service of that coun- try. Finding the prospects of payment no better than before, he withdrew and returned to the United States in the sloop of war De- catur, under command of Captain, after- ward Admiral. Farragut. After spending a few months with his friends in Philadelphia he went to the Rocky mountain country, and for more than a year was engaged in trading with the Indians. Returning to the United States he resumed the practice of medicine near the mouth of Red river, in the state of Louisiana, but finding the climate injurious to his health he remained but a short time, and in 1843 came to Ohio, set- tling at Fort Jefferson, Darke county, where he resided until his death, which occurred several years ago, with the exception of a few years passed in Lewisburg, Preble coun- ty. While in Lewisburg he served in the capacity of mayor, and upon his return to

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Darke county he was elected to the Ohio as- sembly, in 1872, and served two years. Upon the opening of the civil war Dr. Stiles en- tered the three-months service in the Eleventh Ohio as a private, although his mil- itary qualifications would have secured for him a high official rank. In August, fol- lowing, he enlisted in the same capacity in the Fifth Ohio Cavalry and after one year's service was discharged on account of ill health. Upon the invasion of his native state by the rebels, in 1863, he enlisted in the heavy artillery service in the Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served one year, when he was honorably dis- charged. In 1878 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Bishop one of the trustees of the Day- ton asylum for the insane and on the or- ganization of the board was elected president. He was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Jane DeCamp, whom he married in 1846. She died in 1854. having been the mother of three children, all now deceased. In 1856 he married Mrs. Eliza, widow of Samuel Hannah, and daughter of Thomas and Mary Beatty. The result of this union were two children, a son, James Buchanan Stiles, a teacher by profession, and a daugh- ter. In politics Mr. Stiles had always been a firm and consistent Democrat. Dr. Stiles when advanced in years was remarkably hale and hearty. and buoyant and mirthful in spirit. He was a man of clear head, strong feelings, independent but conscientious in his opinion, which upon proper occasion he ex- pressed without reserve.

WILLIAM HENRY EMERSON,

general of militia and a banker, was born in Butler county, Ohio, May 8, 1808, and died in Greenville, Ohio, December 11, 1877. His parents were James and Eve Emerson ;

the former born in Vermont, July 17, 1783. died January 31 1853; the latter born April 3, 1788, died May 13, 1847. He was a distant connection of the American author and lecturer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. When our subject was eight years of age the famı- ily settled in Darke county, Ohio. His wife, Catharine Buckingham, was born near Baltimore, Maryland, November 6, 1807, and he married her in Fort Nesbit, Preble county, Ohio, November 2, 1826. From this marriage were born one son, Martin Van Buren, and four daughters, Malinda, Sarah Ann, Mary Jane and Elizabeth. Mrs. Emerson's father was Mash Buckingham, born in Maryland, June 31, 1785. At an early day Mr. Emerson held the position of brigadier-general in the militia, and was also for a number of years justice of the peace. For several years he conducted the business of a banker in Hollansburg, Darke county, and in 1865 moved to Greenville, where he became a director in the Farmers' National Bank of that place, of which for nearly two years he was president, holding the position at the time of his decease. He was also for several years president of the Darke County Pioneer Society. He was a man of very decided traits of character, and was conceded to be a leader in all circles in which he moved. In natural ability he was far above the average, but his early oppor- tunities were such as to afford him nothing more than a very ordinary education. He possessed unusual good sense, and was a very superior counselor. All his business transactions were characterized by the great- est particularity and caution, as also by im- partial dealing. He was plain, prompt and positive in all he did. His social qualities were attractive, and his powers of imita- tion wonderful. He would have made a

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first-class comedian. His memory also was very remarkable. He is said to have been the shrewdest financier that Darke county ever had. He was exceedingly careful in his business and accumulated a handsome for- tune.

ANDREW R. CALDERWOOD.

Andrew Robeson Calderwood, attorney- at-law of Greenville, and one of the old settlers of Darke county, was born in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, September 14, 1818, and died at Greenville several years ago. He was a son of George and Margaret ( Robeson) Calderwood, natives of Hunt- ingdon county, Pennsylvania. They were married September 14, 1811, and in the fall of 1817 moved to near Dayton, Ohio, going thence in 1832 to Darke county, where George Calderwood died September 7, 1849. His wife survived him until August 12, 1873, when her death occurred. George Calderwood was of Scotch parents and though uneducated was a man of sound judg- ment, great firmness and courage, of large stature and possessed of an iron constitu- tion. He was kind and generous to a fault. Margaret Robeson descended from Scotch, Welsh and Irish ancestry, and was a woman of remarkable good sense, fine natural tal- ent and great kindness. Our subject was employed in early life upon a farm, digging ditches, mauling rails, etc. His education was meager, but being called upon to serve as juror, he was so inspired by the eloquence of some of the attorneys in the case that he resolved to become a lawyer and at once commenced the study of law, being admitted to the bar and beginning practice in 1851. He was elected probate judge in 1854 and after serving three years he entered the

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A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 28

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 806

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 806