USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 16
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Since leaving the office of sheriff, Mr. Blacker has applied himself to the management of varied business interests. He was in the real estate business at Chillicothe for three years, and is an extensive land owner in both Pickaway and Ross counties. He was one of the men who purchased the Harrison Building on High Street in Columbus, a twelve-story office building, and one of the most modern structures in the capital city. In 1907 he became one of the organizers of the Valley Savings Bank at Chillicothe and was elected its first cashier and has been closely identified with the management and detail of the institution ever since.
On July 6, 1885, Mr. Blacker married Miss Mary M. Rankin, who is
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a native of Ross County. Their children are Marian, Coit, Neal and Stanley. The last named is now deceased. Mr. Blacker is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
A few items of interest should also be mentioned concerning Mr. Blacker's mother's people. Her father was Anthony Bowsher, a native of Bieber Township, Pennsylvania. His father was also named Anthony Bowsher, and was born either in Germany or in Pennsylvania of Ger- man parentage. Anthony, Sr., came to Ohio more than a century ago, accompanied by his family. He arrived in this state in 1813, and acquired a tract of government land in what is now Circleville Township of Pickaway County. His great-grandson, Mr. Blacker of Chillicothe, now has the patent, a piece of parchment, which was issued by the United States Government and was signed by James Madison, then President of the United States, and Edward Tiffin, Secretary of the Interior. On that land Anthony Bowsher made the first improvements, and occupied and cultivated it until his death at the age of sixty-five. He was a man of good education and stood high in the community. He wrote German, and Mr. Blacker now has a record of the birth of all his children written in the German script, and evidently with a goose quill and with "poke- berry" juice for ink. Another fact concerning this early Pickaway County settler that will always have special interest for his descendants was his Revolutionary record. Mr. Blacker also has his certificate grant- ing him a pension of $20 per year for his services as a soldier during the war for independence. This patriot and Ohio pioneer married Christina Maria Reicheldorfer, who died at a good old age. Anthony Bowsher, Jr., maternal grandfather of Mr. Blacker, came to Ohio with his parents, and succeeded to the ownership of the homestead above mentioned, and lived there until his death, July 28, 1861, when he was sixty-nine years four months and twenty-three days of age. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Reeder, who died August 12, 1834, aged thirty-seven years ten months and nineteen days.
JAMES D. WITHGOTT. A rising young attorney of Chillicothe, James D. Withgott has a natural aptitude for his work, and is fast winning for himself a prominent and honorable name in the legal circles of Ross County. He was born on a farm in Pickaway Township, Pickaway County, February 11, 1883, a son of James F. Withgott. His grand- father, Reuben Withgott, was born in Maryland, and came from that state to Ohio with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Withgott, in the spring of 1800. Thomas Withgott was accompanied not only by his own family when he journeyed across the country to Ross County, but by Henry and Thomas Bowdle and their families. Settling on Dry Run, in Union Township, he improved a farm from the forest, and there resided until his death in 1836, in the seventieth year of his age.
Reuben Withgott embarked in agricultural pursuits as a young man, and having purchased land in Union Township, near Dry Run Church, was there successfully engaged in general farming during his remaining
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years, dying in 1861. He married Sally Bowdle, a daughter of William Bowdle, and she, too, spent her last days on the home farm. Seven children were born of their union, as follows: Jesse L .; James F., father of the subject of this sketch; Thomas M .; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Rev. Reese Wolf, and settled in Iowa, where both died; Margaret married a Mr. Nichols, and lived near New Holland until after his death, when she went to Kingston to make her home with her two unmarried sisters, Catherine and Lucretia.
James F. Withgott was born on the parental homestead, on the Egypt Pike, near the Dry Run Church, Union Township, Ross County, March 16, 1835, and was there brought up and educated. A natural mechanic, skillful in the use of tools, he learned carpentry when young, and was busy at his trade when the outbreak of the Civil war occurred. On August 13, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Four- teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned sergeant of his company. In November, 1864, his regiment was consolidated with the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he was transferred to Company F, of which he remained a member until the close of the conflict. He took an active part in many engagements of note, among the more important having been those at Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post, in Arkansas; the battles at Thompson Hill, Champion Hill, and Big Black River, in Mississippi; and the siege and capture of both Vicksburg and Graham's Plantation, in Louisiana. He was honorably discharged with his regiment in July, 1865. Returning home, he resumed work at his trade, and as a contractor and builder erected the Methodist Episcopal Church at Brown's Chapel, the Pres- byterian Church at State Mills, and the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bourneville. After his marriage he located in Pickaway Township, near the Ross County line, and was there prosperously engaged in farming and stock raising until his death, October 5, 1902.
The maiden name of the wife of James F. Withgott was Mary A. Rittenour. She was born in Ross County, a daughter of Isaac Rittenour, and granddaughter of Jacob and Ann (Claypool) Rittenour, of whom further mention is made in the sketch of George Rittenour, on another page of this volume. Isaac Rittenour, a lifelong farmer of Ross County, married Sarah Orr, a daughter of Thomas Orr, and granddaughter of James Orr, the founder of that branch of the Orr family to which she belonged. Born and brought up near Belfast, Ireland, James Orr emigrated to America in 1770, locating in South Carolina, where he was engaged in business for some time. On account of ill health he removed to Virginia and resided in Hardy County, near Moorefield, until 1797. Coming in that year to the Northwest Territory, he was one of the first settlers of Ross County, locating first near High Bank Prairie, and later on Dry Run. He was well educated, an expert sur- veyor, and for a time taught a private school in the Dry Run neighbor- hood, where he remained a resident until his death. He married Sarah Eyemon, who survided him, and at her death was buried beside him
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in the Schooley graveyard. They reared four children, Zebulon, William, James and Thomas.
Thomas Orr, father of Sarah Orr, was born in Virginia, and in 1797 came with his parents to Ross County. Growing to manhood on the homestead, he became a farmer from choice, and was engaged in his free and independent occupation throughout his life. He married first Rebecca Alexander, who died two years later, leaving one son. He married, second, Mary Jones, who bore him eleven children, namely : Rebecca ; Elizabeth ; Thomas; Sarah, who married Isaac Rittenour, grand- father of our subject; William; Jeremiah, Pressley ; Zebulon; Simeon; Wesley, and Mary A. Of the union of James F. and Sarah Withgott. four children were born, as follows: Cary R .; Walter F .; James D., the subject of this sketch, and Reece B.
After leaving the rural schools, James D. Withgott attended the Circleville High School a year, and in 1900 was graduated from the Kingston High School. Going then to Ada, Ohio, he entered the Ohio Northern University, and was graduated from the College of Arts in 1904. Three years later, in 1907, he was graduated from the law depart- ment of the Ohio State University, at Columbus. Admitted to the bar in June, 1907, Mr. Withgott began the practice of his chosen profession at Chillicothe in October, 1907, and has met with encouraging success from the start, winning a noteworthy position, not only as a lawyer, but as a popular and esteemed citizen. -
On June 8, 1910, Mr. Withgott was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Marie Steel, who was born in Chillicothe December 17, 1887, a daughter of James G. and Alice M. Steel, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. Politically Mr. Withgott is a republican. Fraternally he is a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and also belongs to Acacia Fraternity of the Ohio State University. While a student at the Ohio State University he was a member, in 1906, of the debating team which won the victory in the contest with the competing team of the Indiana University.
HENRY RENICK BROWN, M. D. Noteworthy for his keen intelligence and high mental attainments, Henry R. Brown, M. D., holds an impor- tant and influential position among the skillful and faithful physicians and surgeons of Chillicothe, where he is enjoying an excellent patronage, his practice being quite large. A native of Ross County, he was born August 10, 1878, in Deerfield Township, which was likewise the birth- place of his father, Austin H. Brown. He is a descendant in the sixth generation of the immigrant ancestor, who came from England to America in colonial days, settling in Delaware, the line of descent being traced through James (2) Brown, White (3) Brown, William White (4) Brown, Austin H. (5) Brown, to Henry Renick (6) Brown.
White Brown, the doctor's great-grandfather, was born in Delaware in 1749, on his father's farm. A faithful student, he acquired a good education, and having become proficient as a surveyor, made the first plat of Sussex County, Delaware. He served as a soldier in the Revo-
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lution, and was a conspicuous worker in the early history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. He visited the Northwest Territory in 1799, and soon after became a permanent settler in Ross County. From a history of Ross County, which, with Highland County, was published in 1880, we quote as follows:
"White Brown, if not actually the first white settler of Deerfield Township, was first in matters of public improvement. He was a man of intelligence and very strong religious belief. He had, in 1781, built a Methodist Meeting House in his native state, it being known as Brown's Chapel. In 1799 he came to the Northwest Territory and explored quite a section, including Ross County. In 1801 he returned to Ross County, accompanied by his sons and slaves (forty in number), which he later freed. He bought 500 acres of land in what is now Deerfield Township, which was then an unbroken forest, and pending the time when it should be cleared his sons and negro servants raised a crop of corn on the land now occupied by the Ross County Infirmary. In 1802 he built a log house on his land, and in 1803 the remainder of his family joined him, and in that year he built a commodious log barn. In that building, from 1803 until 1818, were held the services of the pioneer Methodist Episcopal Church of Deerfield. His son-in-law, Steven Timmons, was the first to preach there. Later Bishops Francis Asbury, Whatcoat, and McKendry, also George and Lorenzo Dow, and the Finleys, father and son, preached there.
"In 1805 he erected a saw mill on his farm on Deer Creek, it being the first mill in Deerfield Township. He dammed the stream by felling a tree across it and then filling in with brush. He kept the first silver dollar he earned in this mill. It was a Spanish coin and bears the date of 1781. The initials W. B., and the date 1805, are marked on the face, and it is still preserved by the family. In addition to other interests Mr. Brown engaged in shipping supplies to New Orleans. He was also a member of the first board of township trustees. He was a man of great force of character, well known in his native state as well as in the state of his adoption." He died March 23, 1842, aged ninety-three years. He was three times married, by his first marriage having five daughters, by his second union having a son and a daughter, and by his third marriage having three daughters and two sons.
William White Brown, the doctor's grandfather, was born in the State of Delaware, March 22, 1799, but was brought up on the home farm in Deerfield Township, Ross County. Choosing the free and inde- pendent occupation to which he was reared, he was engaged in agricul- tural pursuits in that township until late in life, when he removed to Chillicothe, where he lived retired until his death, May 8, 1866. He married Martha Hough, a daughter of Benjamin Hough, who came from Pennsylvania, where he was born, to Ohio in pioneer days, and subse- quently became prominent in public affairs, serving as the second auditor of the state. Of their union two sons were born, Austin H. and Allison L.
Allison L. Brown, the youngest son. was born in February, 1835, and
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grew to manhood on the parental homestead. Enlisting in October, 1861, in Company C, Seventy-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he was made sergeant of his company. In July, 1862, he was transferred to the Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned captain of Company B, which he commanded until May 2, 1863, when he resigned and returned home. In May, 1864, the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, composed of the Twenty-seventh Regiment and the Fifty-fifth Battalion, Ohio National Guards, was mustered into the United States service, and he was at once commissioned as its colonel. Joining the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, Colonel Brown com- manded his regiment in its many marches, campaigns and engagements. At the Battle of Monocacy Bridge, July 9, 1864, his regiment distin- guished itself by standing and holding back a greater and superior force, thus retarding the progress of the enemy until re-enforcements came in sufficient numbers to prevent an attack on the City of Wash- ington. After the war, the colonel became active and prominent in public affairs, and twice was elected to the state senate. Colonel Brown married Elizabeth Barry, who died December 20, 1890, leaving one daughter, Helena Brown.
Austin H. Brown, the oldest son of the parental household, was born in Deerfield Township July 22, 1833, and in addition to receiving a good common school education when young, was well trained in the different branches of agriculture. When he was ten years of age, he and his brother, two years his junior, were presented by their father with a pig and a colt, and with this capital laid the foundation of a partnership that existed until the death of the younger in 1879. In May, 1864, Austin H. Brown entered the United States service as commissary agent on the staff of his brother, Col. Allison L. Brown, and the following August was stricken with typhoid fever, from the effects of which he did not recover until the next January. He was honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment, and was thereafter actively and successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, Feb ruary 22, 1903.
Austin H. Brown was twice married. Ile married first, in April, 1867, Eleanor Madeira Burbridge, who was born in 1837. She died February 20, 1883, leaving four sons, namely: William White, John Madeira, Francis Allison, and Henry Renick. His second wife, whose maiden name was Rowena Nye, survived him, and is now residing in Ross County.
Laying a good foundation for his future education in the common schools of his native county, Henry Renick Brown continued his studies at Ann Arbor, Michigan, completing the course of study in the high school of that city, and in 1901 being graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan. Going then to the Upper Peninsula, he was an interne at the Calumet and Hecla Hospital, in Calu- met, for a year, and the following year was engaged in the practice of medicine at Mount Savage, Maryland. Coming then to Chillicothe, Doctor Brown has since been actively engaged in his professional work,
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by his skill and ability having won the confidence of the people to an eminent degree, and built up a constantly increasing practice.
Doctor Brown married, in 1906, Mabel R. Downs, a daughter of Zimeray F. and Emma (Grubb) Downs, and into their pleasant house- hold four children have been born, namely: Emma Downs, Henry Austin, Jane Caldwell, and William Burbridge. Religiously both Doctor and Mrs. Brown are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The doctor belongs to the Ross County, and the Ohio State medical societies, and to the American Medical Association. Fraternally Doctor Brown is a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Chilli- cothe Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; of Chillicothe Com- mandery, No. 4, Knights Templar; of Scioto Consistory ; and of Aladdin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
HUGH W. WARNER. Widely known throughout Southern Ohio as an ex-sheriff of Ross County, Hugh W. Warner, of Chillicothe, holds a place of note in political and social circles, and as proprietor of a large and well-improved farm in Twin Township is contributing his full share towards advancing the agricultural interests of this section of the state. A native of South Union Township, Ross County, he was born on the same farm that his father, Abner Warner, was born, and on which his paternal grandfather, Levi Warner, settled in the very early part of the nineteenth century. His great-grandfather, John Warner, was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania, where his immigrant ancestor located on coming to America from England with William Penn.
Levi Warner was born, bred and educated in Philadelphia, and as a young man learned the potter's trade. For a number of years during his early life he was in the United States customs service at Wilmington, Delaware. In 1796 he and his father-in-law, John Winder, with their families, started for the Northwest Territory, journeying with teams to Pittsburgh, thence by flatboat to Portsmouth, and from there to Ross County making an overland trip. Locating at High Banks, in the south- ern part, they remained there a number of seasons. In 1804 they bought a tract of land in what is now South Union Township, and in addition to farming embarked in the manufacture of tile and brick, while work- ing in partnership making the tile that covered the log state house. In 1852 Levi Warner moved to Clark County, where, two years later, his death occurred. His first wife, whose maiden name was Winder, died in South Union Township when her son Abner was an infant, and he subsequently married her sister for his second wife. The Winders and Warners were Quakers, and reared their families in the same religious faith.
Born on the home farm in 1820, Abner Warner was reared to agri- cultural pursuits, and naturally adopted farming as his chief occupation. After his marriage he began life for himself on land adjoining the parental homestead, the land having been a gift from his father. He
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labored with energy and diligence, sparing no effort to make a success in his undertakings, in addition to farming making a specialty of stock raising and dealing, in the latter industry being obliged to drive both his cattle and swine across the mountains to Baltimore, the most con- venient market, it often taking weeks to make the trip. At the end of a few years he sold his farm and bought the old homestead on which he was reared, and there resided until his death, in 1906.
Abner Warner married Eleanor Anderson, who was born in South Union Township in 1819, a daughter of John Anderson. Her paternal grandfather, Mahlon Anderson, a native of Virginia, and a harness- maker by trade, came to Ross County in 1806, and having purchased a tract of wild land in South Union Township, cleared from the wilderness the farm on which he spent his remaining years, and which is now owned by a great-grandson. He married Rebecca Ryan, who, like himself, lived to a ripe old age, her death occurring at the age of ninety-two years.
John Anderson, father of Eleanor, was born in Virginia, just across the river from Harpers Ferry, and as a boy came with the family to Ross County. He assisted as soon as old enough in the clearing of the parental homestead, and having come into possession of a part of it through inheritance, there spent the larger part of his seventy-seven years of earthly life. During the construction of the Erie Canal he took a contract to excavate that portion of it that passed his farm, and as a girl, his daughter Eleanor also helped by driving the oxen for him. He raised excellent crops on his farm, and used to take his extra produce down the rivers on flatboats to New Orleans, where he would sell both boat and cargo, and walk back to Chillicothe. The maiden name of the wife of John Anderson was Rebecca Justus. She was born in Pennsylvania, which, it is supposed, was the birthplace of her father, James Justus, who came with his family to Ross County in 1802, settling in Green Township, where he took up land, and spent the remainder of his life as a farmer. Of the union of Abner and Eleanor (Anderson) Warner, six children were born and reared, as follows: John M., Levi Trimble, Hugh W., Ella J., Simeon W., and Abner W. The mother died in 1908, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.
John M. Warner, the eldest son of the parental household, was born on the home farm February 10, 1846, and as a boy was well drilled in the various branches of agriculture. In 1876 he began buying and selling cattle, and continued the business for eight years, operating in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. The following fifteen years he was superintendent of the Ross County Infirmary, and was afterwards engaged in farming in Union Township until 1905, when he removed to Chillicothe, where he now lives. Since coming to Chillicothe he has served six years as deputy sheriff, and at the present time, in 1915, is court bailiff and probation officer. He is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In January, 1864, he was united in marriage with Mary Morrison, who was born June 12, 1849, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Brandt) Morrison. She died in 1907.
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Acquiring a substantial education in the rural schools, Hugh W. Warner was early trained to habits of industry and honesty, as a young boy assisting in the lighter duties of the farm. Attaining his majority, he began life as an independent farmer on land that he rented, as a tenant occupying one farm for twenty-six consecutive years, it having been a well-improved and highly productive estate of 500 acres. Leav- ing it in 1906, having sold his farming interests, Mr. Warner removed to Chillicothe, where he has since resided, having a pleasant and attrac- tive home.
Mr. Warner married, in 1877, Miss Matilda Houk, who was born in Ross County, a daughter of David and Sophia (Winks) Houk. Her grandfather, Philip Houk, who was born in Pennsylvania, of early German ancestry, was one of the pioneer settlers of Pike County, Ohio. He bought a tract of timbered land, and after improving a part of it, sold out and started for Iowa, to there invest his money. He made the intended investment, and it is supposed that he was murdered while making the return trip, as he was never after heard from. David Houk was born on the farm in Pike County, and lived there until 1860, when he located at High Banks, Ross County, where he lived two years. He then purchased a farm two miles north of Chillicothe, and at the end of another two years sold that property and bought nearly 700 acres of rich Scioto River bottom land, seven miles north of Chillicothe, near the mouth of Deer Creek, and was there successfully engaged in farming, making a specialty of growing corn. He then moved to Chillicothe, where he lived retired until his death a few months later. He and his wife reared four children, namely : Emma, Jacob, Hamilton, and Matilda, now Mrs. Warner.
Since casting his first presidential vote in favor of Gen. U. S. Grant, Mr. Warner has been an earnest supporter of the principles of the republican party, and has served as a delegate to numerous county, dis- trict and state conventions. He has been trustee of Union Township, and in 1894 was elected sheriff of Ross County. Fraternally he is a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Chilli- cothe Council No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; of Chillicothe Com- mandery, No. 8, Knights Templar; and of the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite; and of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks.
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