USA > Ohio > Preble County > A Biographical history of Preble County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 63
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This man of mark and many noble deeds was an eccentric character, the like of whom will not be seen again. He was a person of infinite humor who like the Shakespearean
character set many a crowd in a roar of laughter, never omitting a chance to practice a joke or have a bit of fun. He knew no fear and it could well be said of him, "He was brave as a lion and as tender as a woman." His genial and sympathotic na- ture made him a general favorite, and pre- eminently so among the young. In the sense that age is a matter of feeling rather than of years, Mr. Hendricks was young until late in life. He was an attendant at all manner of gatherings in all parts of the county, always welcome, and the hero in work or play. At reunions, log-rollings, house-raisings, wood-choppings, corn-husk- ings, apple-parings, quiltings, wool-pickings and weddings he was ever roady to take a hand, and, whether it was work or fun and frolic, he was well to the front. He could jump, wrestle or sprint with the best. Though small and having a crippled arm, few men were ever able to put him on his back, leap further or outrun him. Both in physical and mental activity, there were few that equaled him. His heart was large and his hand open to help those in need, none of whom were turned away empty when he could give. According to his means he favored as many of his fellows as any one in the county. He did not always wait, but often sought out objects of charity. No doubt he had faults, as none are perfect, but his manifold acts of charity and loving kind- ness were enough to hide many. The good that men do should live after them, and the evil be buried with their dust. So let it be with this benevolent man !
A. H. STEPHENS, M. D.
Dr. Stephens was for many years a prominent medical practitioner of Eaton and died in this city July 2, 1891, at the age of
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seventy-three years, respected by all who knew him. He was a native of this locality and was the second white child born in the county. His father, Isaac Stephens, was a native of Tennessee and came to this town at a very early day, when Indians were still numerous in western Ohio. He was prom- inently connected with the pioneer develop- ment of the county, took an active part in opening up the way for civilization and was. the first postmaster and justice of the peace in Eaton. He followed farming and also shipped produce on flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. I all matters of public concern he took a deep interest and was a recognized leader of pub- lic thought and movement. For many years he served as recorder, and, no matter what political party was in power, his influence was very marked.
Dr. Stephens was reared in a pioneer home and was familiar with the history of the early development and progress of Preble county. He pursued his preliminary educa- tion in the common schools and afterward pursued his studies at Oxford. He pre- pared for his professional career as a stu- dent in the Cincinnati Medical College, in which institution he was graduated. After traveling in Darke county for a time, he lo- cated in Eaton, where he engaged in prac- tice until 1849. He then went to Camden, Preble county, to aid in relieving the suffer- ers from the awful cholera epidemic and continued his residence in that city until the war. Aftor the inauguration of hostilities between the north and the south, he offered his services to the government and in Sep- tember, 1861, was commissioned a surgeon in the Sixth Ohio Infantry, known as the Guthrie Greys, of Mexican fame. He par- ticipated in many battles and had charge of
large stores. He was also in charge of hos- pitals at different times, and during some portions of the war his wife was with him and assisted in caring for the sick and wounded.
Upon receiving an honorable discharge, Dr. Stephens returned to Preble county and was numbered among its most able, skillful and successful medical practitioners until his death. He was an active member of the County Medical Society and was an honor- ary member of the different medical organ- izations. In 1881 he was appointed to take charge of the Soldiers' Home and continued in that position for four years. From the time of the war until his death he served as county coroner, proving a faithful officer. One of the older members of the medical fraternity in Preble county, he was one of the most prominent and at all times he was a student and was not only a close follower of advance but was also a leader in investigation and carried his research into new and untried fields.
On the 12th of September, 1850, Dr. Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Ann G. Hutchins, a daughter of George E. Hutchins. Her father was a native of Mon- mouth, New Jersey, and belonged to an old Quaker family. His father became one of the early settlers of Butler county, Ohio. Mrs. Stephens' father purchased land in Preble county, but she was born in Butler county. She is a consistent member of the Society of Friends, has been active in charita- ble work and is a leading member of the Woman's Relief Corps. She also belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Home Missionary Society and has taken a leading part in its work. Having passed the allotted age of three score years and ten, Dr. Stephens' pro- fessional career was a long as well as an
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active, useful and honorable one. Through- out the county he was held in the highest regard, and his worth as a man, a citizen and a physician was widely recognized.
ALEXANDER BARR.
This representative farmer and progres- sive citizen of Orangeburg now owns and manages a well improved and valuable farm on section 34, Jefferson township, Preble county, Ohio. He was born in that town- ship, December 1, 1832, and belongs to two of the old and honored families of the county, both of Scotch descent. His father, Chris- topher C. Barr, was a native of Pennsyl- vania and a son of Alexander Barr, who was born in Scotland and on his emigration to America, located first in Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Warren county, Ohio, and in 1813 to Preble county. He was a well educated man for his day and taught the first district school in Jefferson town- ship, where he made his home until called to his final rest at the age of fifty-five years.
The father of our subject was quite young, when, in 1813, he accompanied his parents on their removal to this county. In Jefferson township he married Jane P. Johnson, a native of the county and a daughter of Gavin Johnson, who was born in Pennsylvania and took up his residence here in the spring of 1813, his home being in the same school district of Jefferson township where our subject's paternal grandfather settled. Mr. Johnson was the first to lo- cate there and was the founder of Orange- burg, which village he laid out. He was a farmer by occupation and a hard working man, who died at about the age of fifty-six years. After his marriage Christopher C. Barr continued to make his home in Joffer-
son township, until his death, which occurred in 1835, when only twenty-eight years of age. In his family were only two children, the daughter being Nancy Eliza, who died many years ago.
Our subject is the only son and only representative of the Barr family living. In his native township he was reared and edu- cated, and on reaching the age of twenty years purchased the old homestead, which he successfully operated until 1876, when he bought his present farm, known as the Jacob Wisenbarger farm, and here he has since resided. He now owns two hundred and twenty-seven acres of land under a high state of cultivation and well improved, and in connection with farming he is engaged in the manufacture of brooms, to which he has devoted a part of his time for thirty-five years. In both undertakings he has been successful.
On the 25th of October, 1859, Mr. Barr was united in marriage with Miss Achsah Curry, who was also born in Jefferson town- ship, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county, being a daughter of John and Nancy Ann ( Brinley) Curry, who came here from New Jersey about 1820. Our subject and his wife have nine children, five sons and four daughters, namely : Alice J., the wife of William D. Benner; of Jackson township, Preble county; John C. and Clarence P., both at home; Myrtle L., the wife of William Ervin, of Eldorado; Frank A., who is with the Adams Express Company, at Chicago; Mary A., the wife of Herbert Harshman; William A., who is clerking for Marshall Field, of Chi- cago ; Pearl M., a graduate of the high school of New Paris, and Bruce O., at home.
In 1853, when a young man, Mr. Barr left home and during the following six years
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traveled extensively, but at the end of 'that time returned to his native county, with whose interests he has since been identified. He was instrumental in getting the national pike through the county, which was at first known as the Orangeburg & State Line Pike, and has taken an active interest in all enter- prises calculated to prove of public benefit, He was a school director twenty-three years, and clerk of the district most of that time. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat, and in religious belief is a Presbyterian.
JACOB STERZENBACH.
For half a century Jacob Sterzenbach has resided upon his present fine farm in Somers township, two and a half miles east of Camden. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December 9, 1829, and was brought to Somers township in 1831, about sixty-nine years ago. The family is of Gorman lineage. His father, George C. Sterzenbach, was born in Bavaria, on the 12th of December, 1796, and in 1821 came from South America to the United States, locating in Philadelphia. He left his home in Germany when sixteen years of age and traveled throughout the fatherland, working at his trade of coopering, and when about twenty years of age he became a member of the German army and was taken to South America, for the country anticipated war there. Not wishing, however, to remain in the army, he left without asking permission and took passage on board Commodore Perry's vossel. Thus they were brought to Philadelphia, where Mr. Sterzenbach ar- rived about 1820, without means, having spent all he had in getting away from the war-ship in southern waters.
He was married about 1827 to Eliza
Heller, a native of Lancaster county, Penn- sylvania, born in 1807. They located in Somerville, Butler county, Ohio, in 1831, making the journey from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, with a horse and jolt wagon. They journeyed westward with a party, bringing with them some bedding and a few hundred dollars. The latter was invosted in the purchase of a home in Somerville, where the father engaged in coopering, manufacturing barrels and other things along that line. He built up a good busi-
ness, his trade reaching extensive propor- tions. He furnished employment to eight hands and the seventeen years which he spent in Somerville was a prosperous era in his life. In 1848 he came to Preble county and purchased the farm adjoining that upon which our subject now resides. He thus became the owner of seventy-five acres, for which he paid seventeen hundred dollars. Upon the place was a good hewed-log house. He also paid thirteen hundred dollars for eighty acros of land, and upon that farm was also a hewed log-house. In his family were ten children-three sons and seven daughters-and, with the exception of our subject all were born in Somerville. The other chidren were: Susan, who died at the age of seventeen years; Caroline, who be- came the wife of George Haywood and died in 1895, at the age of sixty-two years, leav- ing five children ; Franklin, who died in early childhood; Catherine, who died when seven years of age; Christian, who also died in childhood; Elizabeth, the widow of Alexan- der Wood, of Madison county, Indiana; Charlotte, who died in early womanhood; and George, who was in the civil war, enlist- ing first in Illinois and afterward with a company from Preble county, Ohio. He was married but had no children. The fa-
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ther of these children died in August, 1864, and the mother passed away February 28, 1890, at the age of eighty-three years.
Mr. Storzenbach, whose name intro- duces this review, received but limited school privileges, for during his boyhood he began work at the cooper's trade in his father's shop, his time being largely givon to that pursuit. He was married April 24, 1850, to Rexel Frederika Houk, who was born May 17, 1829, in Stuttgart, Germany, a daughter of Joseph and Caroline (Weinner) Houk, who became residents of Pennsylvania about 1830, and in 1832 took up their resi- dence in Somerville, Ohio. They had six children, but only three grew to mature years. Mrs. Sterzenbach has one sister, Mrs. Sarah Earhart, who is living in Eaton. Our subject and his wife have lost two children, an infant son and Willie, who died at the age of three years. The living are : Caroline, the wife of Adrian Welter, a farm- er of this neighborhood, by whom she has two children ; Samuel E., of Camden, is mar- ried and has three children; Margaret E., the wife of Irwin Roody, of Eaton, by whom she has one son, and Mary Irene, a bright and intelligent young lady, at home.
Mr. Sterzenbach is a quiet, unassuming man who devotes his energies to farming. He has followed the oven tenor of his way as the years have passed by, his attention be- ing given to the raising of stock and grain. He keeps the soil in good condition by the rotation of crops, which are planted in the following order : clover, corn and wheat. He feeds all his fodder to his stock and cuts his cornstalks fine, thereby causing the least pos- sible waste. His large barn is one of the solid old buildings of the county, being con- structed of heavy hewed timbers. It also has a basement which furnishes good shelter
for his stock. In his social relations Mr. Sterzenbach is an Odd Fellow and in poli- tics is a Democrat where national issues are concerned, but at local elections, where no national issue is involved, he frequently votes independently. He sorved as township trustee from 1872 until 1891 and was the first Democrat ever elected to that position in this Republican district, a fact which in- dicates his personal popularity and the high regard in which ho. is held by his fellow townsmen, as well as the trust which they repose in him.
SAMUEL HAWKINS.
Colonel Samuel Hawkins, one of the foremost pioneers of Preble county, was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, in the year 1762, and at the age of sixteen years enlisted in the colonial army and continued his services in the struggle for independence until the close of the Revolutionary war. He married a Miss Washington, a sister of a companion-in-arms, and without returning to his home joined a company of emigrants and went to the territory of Kentucky, settling in Bourbon county. Here he bore the part of a hardy pioneer and was prominent and act- ive in the campaigns against the Indians in Kentucky and Ohio. Soon after Wayne's treaty was made, Colonel Hawkins removed to Ohio and settled on the Miami river in Butler county. In 1799 he removed to Montgomery county and thence to Eaton in 1806. In Eaton he built a tavern and was its proprietor until the war of 1812 came on, and in response to a call for volunteers Colonel Hawkins again gave up the duties of civil life and ongaged in the conflict with the Indians on the frontier. The following is quoted from history :
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
"After the surronder of Detroit, the In- dians, under Tecumseh besieged Forts Wayne and Harrison, and an oxpress being sent to General Harrison, informing him of the danger that menaced these posts, he called for volunteers to join him on his way to relieve the seige. On the 8th of September he was joined by Colonel R. M. Johnson with two hundred men from Kentucky, and on the 9th at the Shawnee crossing of the St. Mary's river, was joined by Colonels Hawkins and Adams with oight hundred men from Ohio. From this point they made their way as fast as possible toward the un- protected forts. Colonel Hawkins was in advance, and when he had reached a creek about nine miles from their destination he called a halt for the purpose of feeding and watering the horses. Just as he was stoop- ing to pour out some oats for the fine animal which he rode, the head of the Kentucky battalion arrived in view, and a soldier in the front ranks, unaware that the other troops had halted, catching sight of the Colonel through the brush, supposed him to be an Indian, and fired upon him. The rifle ball was true to its mark : it struck Colonel Hawkins upon the right shoulder and in- flicted a terrible wound, from the effects of which he died two years afterward ( 1814), at the house of his second son, John J. Hawkins. His wife's death occurred about a year before the Colonel's. And so at an early day passed away this pair of brave, true pioneers."
JOSEPH C. HAWKINS.
Joseph C. Hawkins was born in the year 1784, in Bourbon county, Kentucky. Of his father, Colonel Samuel Hawkins, extend- ed mention is made in the above sketch.
Our subject came to Ohio with his fa- ther's family. He married near Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, and in the year 1806 came to Eaton, whore his eldest child, who became Mrs. Mary Gray, was born the same year, one of the earliest births in the town of Eaton. Mr. Hawkins' wifo, nee Isabella Pogue, died about the year 1820.
Joseph C. Hawkins was for many years 'one of Preble county's best known and most prominent citizens. He held several posi- tions of honor and trust, and was universally respocted by a wide circle of acquaintances. He lived to the age of sixty-five years. During the war of 1812 he was made the captain of a company of Preble county militia called out to defend the frontior against depredations of the Indian allies of Great Britain.
In 1815 Captain Hawkins was elected to the house of representatives, and held the position of representative until 1819, when he was elected county clerk, and this office he filled until 1833. Mr. Hawkins was an ardent Whig and was appointed by the elder Harrison administration register in the land office at Fairfield, Iowa. He died in Eaton, March 12, 1849.
JOSEPH SEVIER HAWKINS.
The subject of this sketch was a native of Eaton, born October 24, 1812. His father was Captain Joseph C. Hawkins, and his grandfather was Colonel Samuel Hawkins. Sevier Hawkins, as our subject was univer- sally called and known, received a common- school education, which was supplemented by a course in the Miami University, at Oxford. At this institution he did not graduate, for he was suspended by the faculty for some youthful error. For a short time thereafter
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
he was employed in tho wholesale dry goods store of Van Ausdal & Gray, in Cincinnati. Returning to Eaton, he began the study of the law in tho office of his brother-in-law, John M. U. McNutt, and in 1834 was ad- mitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in partnership with Mr. Mc- Nutt, which partnership continued until the death of Mr. McNutt, in 1837. After the death of his partner, Mr. Hawkins continued the practice alone until the admission of his brother, A. J. Hawkins, with whom and with William J. Gilmore he was associated in business until the date of his death, August 4, 1852.
Intellectually he was the equal of any of his contemporaries. He was a profound lawyer, able debater, superior advocate be- fore a jury, and was possessed of a wide range of information. In politics he was an active and earnest Whig. In 1840 he was elected a member of the house of representa- tives from Preble county in the state legis- lature, and was re-elected to the same office in 1841, and again in 1843 and 1847, and in the session of 1847 was elected speaker of the house. Again in 1849, he was re-elected to the legislature, and on the assembling of that body he was the Whig candidate for speaker of the house, but was defeated, the Democratic candidate being elected by the union of the Democrats and Free-soilers.
When the Mexican war began Mr. Haw- kins recruited a company for service in the army, and was made its captain; but, al- though he marched his company to the ren- dezvous at Camp Washington, Cincinnati, his company was not accepted, as the requi- sition for the state had already been filled. His company was returned home and disbanded.
In 1833 Mr. Hawkins married Lydia
Hubbell, who died a few years later. In 1848 Cordelia Scott became his second wifo. There were no children by either marriage.
ANDREW J. HAWKINS.
Andrew Jackson Hawkins, a son of Captain Joseph C. Hawkins, was born in Eaton, Ohio, July 15, 1815. After receiv- ing a fair common school education he was employed for several years in the wholesale dry goods house of Van Ausdal & Gray, at Cincinnati. In the year 1835 his father open- ed a dry goods store in Hagerstown, Indiana, and our subject and his father together re- mained there until 1841, when the father was appointed register of the land office at Fairfield, Iowa, and took his son with hin to that place, as a clerk in his office. A few years later young Hawkins returned to Eaton and began the study of law with his brother, and after he was admitted to the bar he was associated with his brother in prac- tice until his death, February 16, 1849. He gained a fair reputation as an attorney, his noted character for candor gaining for him a great prostige before a jury. He was quiet and unobtrusive in manner, respected and appreciated. In politics he was a pro- nounced Whig, but never sought or held office.
At the age of twenty-soven Mr. Hawkins married Miss Mary Elizabeth DeGroot, a daughter of Robert DeGroot, of Eaton.
ISAAC A. TYLER.
Among the native sons of Ohio who through an active business career have been idontified with the Buckeye state and have ever contributed toward its material improve-
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ment, progress and advancement, is Isaac A. Tyler, who now follows farming on sec- tion 4, Jackson township, Preble county. He was born in Newbury township, Goauga county, on the 9th of September, 1832. His father, Cutler Tyler, was born at Western, now Warren, Massachusetts, on the 19th of November, 1794, and his tastes were in the line of mochanical pursuits. In early life he learned the carpenter's trade, and at the age of eighteen bought his time of his father and entered upon an independent business career. He was not only self-reliant and resolute, but possessed great energy and physical power of endurance, as evidenced by the fact that he walked from Western to Boston, a distance of over seventy miles-in a single day, returning the following day.
In 1818, in company with Marsena Munn, his family and others, he came to Ohio, leaving Munson, Massachusetts, May 19th and reaching Newbury on the 28th of June. During the following autumn or winter he returned on foot to the Bay state, and in 1819 again started for Ohio with a horse and sleigh, but was obliged to leave his sleigh and secure a wagon before reach- ing his destination. Hore, while others leveled the forests, he used the timber in the erection of dwellings for the pioneer fam- ilies, and some of the earliest and best build- ings in Burton and Newbury stand as monu- ments to his thrift, industry and capable workmanship. More for the purpose of securing a home than the following of ag- ricultural pursuits, he purchased a farm in the southern part of Newbury township, Geauga county, and on the 13th of Novein- bor, 1825, he was married to Miss Sarah Fisher. The young couple began their do- mestic life in their log-cabin home situated near the site of their frame house which 30
Mr. Tyler afterward built and which he oc- cupied until his death. It is now occupied by his daughter Ruth and her husband, John B. Waterton. Thero Mr. Tyler gradually gave more and more attention to the agricul- tural pursuits, frequently, however, finding use for his carpenter tools in making im- provements on his own and his neighbors' farms.
His work was durable and substantial and many of the structures which he erect- ed still stand as monuments to his handi- work and bid fair to outlast even another generation. Such was not only the nature of his work but also of his word, which was as good as a "gilt-edged bond. He was just and fair in all his dealings and his opinions and judgments commanded the re- spect and confidence of all. For several years he filled the office of justice of the peace, and on other occasions filled different township offices. He reluctantly accepted these and never sought politi- cal preferment, but his fellow towns- men, recognizing his ability and his integrity in the discharge of official duty, greatly de- sired that he should serve them in some such capacity. When between the ages of forty and fifty years he made a public profession of religion and was baptized, but united with no church. He was, however, a firm be- liever in Christianity, was a liberal contrib- utor to the support of the gospel and main- tained family worship in his own home. His wife was an active and devoted Cliristian woman, holding membership in thie Congre- gational church. They were also warm friends of the cause of temperance, of educa- tion and of true reform, and not only minis- ters but temperance and scientific and anti- slavery lecturers also enjoyed thie generous hospitality of 'Squire Tyler's home. Reared
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