USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 2 > Part 32
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In the Winter of 1795-6, he, with his family, emi- grated to the West, settling in Cincinnati, then a small village of log cabins, including about fifty rough, nnfin- ished frame houses with stone chimneys.
In 1801 the United States first offered for sale the lands west of the Great Miami. Mr. Anderson remem- bered the beautiful rich bottoms of the Miami, which he had previously seen when on his way to Detroit, and re- solved to make a purchase. He accordingly purchased a section of land above the mouth of Indian Creek, on which he eommeneed a clearing, and in 1812 removed with his family from Cincinnati, aud settled ou the form, where he remained until his death, on the 18th of De- cember, 1839, aged eighty-one year, and nine months. His wife died at the old homestead August 26, 1851, aged eighty years and eleven months. Both lie in the Venice burying-ground.
They had born to them eleven children, six sons and five daughters. All but oue grew up, married, and raised large families. Robert was born in Westmorelaud County, Penn., September 14, 1789. He married Rachel Bunnel, June 16, 1811, and settled on a farm of his fa- ther's. In March, 1828, when engaged in locating the Hamilton basin, he was attacked with bilious fever and died on the 19th of Juue of the same year.
For his second wife he married Clarissa Miller, Sep- tember 16. 1816.
Jane, the eldest daughter of Isane Anderson, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., on the 6th of August, : 1791, and on the 30th of April, 1812, intermarried with
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
George Dick, a son of an old pioneer of the country. Her husband died on the 2d of September, 1828, leaving a widow and seven children, who all grew up to maturity and are respectably settled in this neighborhood. The widow of George Dick married again to Judge Nehemiah Wade, a gentleman residing in the vicinity. Margaret Anderson, the third daughter, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., January 17, 1795, and on the 29th of July, 1817, married William Moore, a carpenter and joiner by trade, and a master workman. Mr. Moore died at Hamilton on the 2d of January, 1835. Fergus Ander- son, the second oldest son, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14, 1797.
Susan Anderson, the second daughter, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, June 10, 1793, and on the 18th of August, 1814, was married to James Boal, a hatter by trade, who opened a shop and carried on his business in Hamilton. Mrs. Boal was killed by a stroke of lightning, as also were two of her children and Mrs. Perrine, on the 5th of April, 1826. James Boal died near Reading, Hamilton County, Ohio, of cholera, in 1833.
Isaac Anderson, Jr., was born on the 29th of August, 1799, and was married to Margaret Morris on the 23d of August, 1825.
A daughter, Euphemia, was born on the 18th of April, in Cincinnati, 1802, and died June 30, 1803.
Joseph Anderson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 10th of July, 1804, and was married to Jane Gilchrist on the 9th of December, 1829.
William Anderson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sep- tember 26, 1808, and was married to Miss Hannah Millikin, a daughter of Samuel Millikin, March 26, 1883. Mrs. Anderson died soon afterward, and he married again, to Miss Mary Jackson, October 30, 1838. He died on the 5th of August, 1845.
James Anderson, the youngest son, was born in Cin- cinnati, on the 12th of December, 1810. and on the 14th of October, 1841, was married to Hannah Margaret Taylor.
The youngest child was a daughter, Euphemia Ander- son (the second). She was born in Ross Township, De- cember 18, 1813, and was married to J. Parks Gilchrist on the 12th of April, 1837.
GRIFFIN HALSTEAD.
Colonel Halstead, in 1875, wrote the following account of his life:
My father and mother were John Halstead, of Cur- rituck, North Carolina, and Ruth Richardson, his wife. Early in their married life they removed from the shore of Albemarle Sound to the northern central part of the State, where, neat Guilford Court-house, I was born, June 11, 1802. I was the oldest son of the family who survived infancy. When I was two years old, my par- ents left their native State for the blue grass regions of
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Kentucky; but the uncertainty of land-titles in that State caused them to continue their journey to the valley of the Great Miami, near the town of New Haven. In the Spring of 1805 a great flood dislodged them. The water of the Miami was higher than it has ever since been known, and my parents escaped from their cabin on horseback. This incident caused another movement, and a settlement upon the farm where I have ever since (almost seventy years) resided. The recommendation of the farm was that the tract contained both hill and bottom land, and was well timbered, watered by several fine springs, and out of the way of the floods.
In the opening of this farm the best energies of my early years were expended. My work varied by occa- sional hunting and fishing excursions, and trips to mill and to market, camp-meetings, huskings, and militia musters, the amusements that the country afforded; and during some brief intervals of very inclement weather, attendance at the Buckeye school-house on Paddy's Run. In 1822 I was captain of the militia; and in the Winter of 1824-25 I visited New Orleans. In 1826 I was elected colonel of the militia of the county, mustering at Millville; and I have, at various times, held the offices of clerk and trustee of my township, and have repeatedly served as magistrate.
November 1, 1827, I was united in marriage with Miss Clarissa Willits, eldest daughter of James Willits, who resided near New Haven. We had four children, two sons and two daughters: Caroline, who died in in- fancy ; Murat and Benton, who are residents of Cincin- nati; and Helen, Mrs. John M. Scott, who occupies the old homestead farm adjoining my own.
When the Mexican War occurred I enlisted in the Butler Guards, but inflammatory rheumatismi, contracted in Camp Washington, prevented any participation in active service. I have been for over fifty years a pretty regular attendant at the polls in Ross Township, and have been in the habit of voting the Democratic ticket.
My earliest distinct recollections of public affairs are of the excitement attending the events of the last war with England ; and Butler County, now so highly culti- vatel, was, within my remembrance, but a wilderness, broken with clearings that occupied comparatively but a small space; and the game we hunted in those days, in- cluding panthers, bears, and deer, was sometimes equal to hunting us. I am not aware that any other citizen of the county has lived for seventy con-ceutive years on one farm, so perhaps I may claim seniority in that particular.
I have ontlived nearly all who were with me in early times. My wife, my sisters, my brothers, and, with here and there an exception, the old neighbors, all are gone ; and ! approach the age of seventy-three, in the enjoyment of reasonable health and strength beyond that ordinarily associated with my years. Colonel Halstead is still alive.
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MURAT HALSTEAD.
Murat Halstead was born September 2, 1829, in Ross Township. His father, Colonel Griffin Halstead, a native of North Carolina, removed in 1804 to Ohio with his parents, who, in the following year, settled upon the farm which became their grandson's birth-place. The family of his mother, Clarissa Willits, came from Peun- sylvania, and were among the early settlers on the Scioto, in central Ohio. Mrs. Halstead, who taught her son to read and write at a very early age, made him a student of history and geography before he ever visited a school- house, and his first school experience began in company with " McGuffey's Third Reader" and an English gran- mar. About the year 1840, the Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, a well known Congregational minister, kept a select school in New London, in which, during two successive Winters, Murat received instruction in the English branches. Afterward, until he was eighteen years old, he attended the common school of his district during the Winters, meanwhile working upon his father's farm through the Summer months. In the Fall of 1848, after a short expe- rience in school-teaching, he entered Farmer's College, at College Hill, whence he graduated in 1851. He at one time attempted the study of law, but having written and contributed occasional sketches to the Hamilton Intelli- gencer and a paper in Rossville, during his college life and while teaching school, he acquired a literary taste and facility in writing, which became the means of intro- dueing him to his career as a journalist. Mr. Halstead's . early literary efforts, however, were chiefly in the depart- ment of fiction, though he attempted several essays on American antiquities and current affairs. One of his pioneer romances, " A Legend of the Miamis," was pub- lished before his graduation, in the Cincinnati Gazette.
In 1852, Mr. Halstead formed his earliest editorial connection as news editor of the daily Atlas, published by John D. Caldwell. This was followed by a brief pugagement upon the Cincinnati Enquirer, as assistant .beal editor, and then as associate editor of the Columbian and Great West, edited by W. B. Shattuck. The Cin- cinati Commercial had already been established for eleven years and was prosperous and influential, when in March, 1853, M. D. Potter, its chief proprietor and editorial manager, engaged Mr. Halstead as one of its corps of reporters. In the Summer following, through the illness and absence of the proprietor, the direction of the paper fell into Mr. Halstead's hands. Then and afterward, as the opportunity was presented, was introduced into its management a feature. which before long wrought a marked change in Western journalism. This was a sys- tematic compilation of the news found in the exchange papers. Cincinnati being a central point, and the tele- graph then giving but a meager outline of daily news- often nothing more than imperfect market report :- the work that Mr. Halstead was enabled to do was so highly appreciated by Mr. Potter that, upon the reorganization
of the firm, in May, 1854, after the death of R. H. Lee, Mr. Halstead (with Henry Reed and John Straus) se- cured a partnership interest, the firm name becoming M. D. Potter & Co. In this reorganization it was Mr. Pot- ter's express object to give the office stability of manage- ment in ease of his death, which, however, did not ocenr until April, 1866, when the firm of M. Halstead & Co. was organized.
Mr. Halstead attributes his success in journalism to his quiek recognition of the importance and value of news and his skill in the use of the scissors. He possesses and exercises keen discrimination between such matters cffered for publication as have life and interest for today and those which can wait for to-morrow. He is, more- over, an indefatigable worker. As a writer, Mr. Hal- stead is direct, earnest, and forcible, with a large quality of buoyant, masculine vigor, partly the result, doubtless, of his robust bodily health, gained in youth from contact with the earth and air upon his father's farm. In poli- ties, as an editor, he professcs and practices honest inde- pendenee of parties, though, having warmly upheld the Union cause in the war of secession, he afterward pre- ferred the Republican traditions.
Mr. Halstead has visited Europe several times-first, in 1870, when he was present in France during the war with Prussia, and witnessed the battle of Gravelotte ; again in 1874, when he also visited Ieeland, on the occa- sion of its millennial celebration, and for a brief period during the French Exposition, in 1878. He married March 2, 1857, Miss Mary Banks, daughter of the late Hiram Banks, and had ten children, seven sons and three daugliters, namely : John (who died in 1861), Jennie, Marshal, Clarence, Robert, Albert, Mary, Hiram Banks, Clarissa, and Griffin.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Isaac Anderson, a son of the oldl Revolutionary vet- eran, Isaac Anderson, of whom a full account will be found elsewhere, was born in Cincinnati August 29, 1799. His mother was Euphemis Moorehead, chilest daughter of Fergus Moorehead, who had also been a sol- dier in the war of the Revolution. They were married in November, 1788, and had eleven children, of whom Isaac is the sixth. They came to this county in 1812. Mr. Anderson was married on the 18th of Angust, 1825. to Margaret Morris, daughter of William and Sarah Morris. They came to this county in 1798. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have had seven children. The chest, William Morris Anderson, who was born Angust 10, 1826, is dead. He served in the Mexican War, undler the command of John B. Weller, and also in the late Rebellion. He was wounded in the battle of Chickat- mauga. Susan Bailey was born February 17, 1829, and Joseph Anderson, February 7, 1831. He is dead. Eliza Jane Lewis was born September 11, 1834, and James Anderson, February 23, 1837. Isaac E. Anderson, allo
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
was born September 5, 1840, was in the service of the United States during the late war, and was killed at the fight of Chickamauga. Willson Anderson is the young- est, and was born July 1, 1845. Mr. Anderson culti- vates a fine farm. He has been justice of the peace in Ross Township for twenty years, and is a man of many fine qualities.
James Campbell Andrews comes of one of the oldest families in Ross. His parents came to this township in 1811, and his father the next year after. His name was James, and his mother's maiden name was Mary Rife. She died in 1875. James C. Andrews was born in West Virginia, November 15, 1809. He was married No- vember 26, 1840, to Lydia Dunn. She was the daughter of John Dann, who died in 1835, being then sixty-five years old, and Letitia MeCluskey, who was born in 1779, and died in 1847. They came to this county in 1805. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have had four children : Martha was born August 18, 1841; Letty, July 16, 1844; William, October 25, 1847, and Albert, May 22, 1850. Letty died May 9, 1860. She was married to Jacob Kohler. Martha married John Bercow, February, 1850. William married Lizzie Pollock. By these unions Mr. Andrews has seven grandchildren living. At the age of
sixteen he began work at the blacksmith's trade, follow- ing it for sixteen years. Since that time he has paid all of his attention to the farm, and has by industry and good management made for himself and family a good home. His son William was in the hundred days' service, and his nnele, Robert Andrews, was in the War of 1812, and died soon after his return.
James Brown, the head of the Brown family in Ross Township, was born in West Virginia. His wife, Deborah Ryfe, was born in Pennsylvania. They had three chil- dren. Daniel was born in 1798, and died in April, 1876. Elizabeth was born in 1801, and William was born March 14, 1803. He is married and lives in Ross Township. M .. James Brown had prepared to come to Ohio, but died in West Virginia. His widow and three children came on with a colony of nine families, and landed in Cin- cinnati, in May, 1805. She was married a second time about 1807, her choice being Frederick Whitinger, by whom she had two children, one dying in infancy, and the other, James Whitinger, being born in 1808. He is married, and lives in Rush County, Indiana. Mr. Whit- inger's family, three brothers, came to Butler County about 1800. Their names were Jacob, Nicholas, and Francis. Frederick Whitinger was killed in 1810 by a flat-boat falling ou him. His wife was well provided for, and brought up her family well. She died in Ross Town- ship, Butler County, about 1864. William Brown was born in West Virginia, March 14, 1805, and was mar- ried in 1828 in Hamilton Conuty, to Eunice Willey. who was born there February 29, 1sos, and died Novem- ber 25, 1867. He had thirteen children, seven living, but six dying in infancy. The living ones are Daniel,
Richard, Henry, James, Oliver Perry, Walter, and All- gusta. Mr. Brown is a self-made man. He began life with nothing, renting at first, in partnership with his brother, Daniel. In 1828 he purchased a small tract of land, part of Allen Fuller's, in Section 32, of thirty acres, where he went to live after he married. He stayed there in a hewed log-house until 1847, when he built his pres- ent residence. He has accumulated in his life-time con- siderable property, owning at one time three hundred and forty acres in Ohio and two hundred in Indiana. He has at present one hundred and thirty acres and considerable personal property. The remainder he has distributed among his children. His son, Daniel, has been justice of the peace three terms, real estate assessor one term, and township clerk thirteen years. His wife's father, Conrad Ryfe, was a soldier of the Revolution, and was wounded in the war.
Bennett Branch is a native of Butler County. He is a farmer, and lives near Millville. He was married May 20, 1860, and has had fourteen children, only six of whom are living. His wife's name is Eliza.
Frederick Bohlender was born in Germany, August 19, 1835. He is the son of George Bohlender and Mary Rerick. He came to this county in 1877. His wife is Mary Pecling, the daughter of Robert Peeling and Eliza- beth Weise. She was born in Lancaster County, Penn. sylvania. December, 1836. They were married November, 1864, in Montgomery County, and have three children. George W. was born September 21, 1867; Ida M., Octo- ber 29, 1871; and Edna A., January, 1876. Mr. Bohlender is a farmer and fruit-grower, and now carries on a fruit-farm, consisting of about sixty acres of orchard, besides all kinds of small fruits.
Charles Borger was born in Berks County, Pennsyl- vania, January 17, 1817, aud came to this county in 1834. His father was Jacob Borger and his mother Mary M. Long, both now dead. An unele, Daniel Long, was in the War of 1812. Mr. Borger was married on the 21st of November, 1838, in St. Clair Township, to Hannah Dubbs. Her parents were Henry Dubbs and Margaret Hannan, who came to this county in 1829, remaining here until their deaths. They had four chil- dren. Sarah Ann was born October 10, 1840; David D .. March 13, 1843: Jacob H., November 14, 1846: and Margaret, March 30, 1851. All these are now living, except Jacob H., who was drowned in the Ohio River, while bathing, on the 20th of July, 1878, at Aurora, Indiana, leaving a widow, but no children, to mourn his loss. Sarah Ann married John A. Overpeck, Angust 18, 1860; David D. was married March 8. 1863, to Sarah A. Burckhardt; and Margaret was married Jan- uary 2, 1872, to William F. Berleman. Ninie grant- children are living and three dead. Mr. Borger his, through life, been a farmer.
Daniel Brosius is probably the oldest man in the town- ship. He was born in Northumberland County, Penn-
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sylvania, September 24, 1801, and has been a resident of this county for seventy-three years. When he came here this county was nothing but a wilderness. He saw the first steamboat that ran on the Ohio River. His parents were George Daniel Brosius and Elizabeth Yager. They came to the county in 1808. The father died in 1812, and the mother in 1823. Mr. Brosius married Elizabeth Parks, daughter of Arthur Parks and Elizabeth McCloskey, on the 3d of June, 1823, at Hamilton. She was born October 7, 1806. They had eleven children. Elizabeth was born June 15, 1824; William, June 13, 1827; James, September 26, 1828; John, July 9, 1830; Margaret, February 18, 1832; Isabel, December 12, 1835; Daniel, October 9, 1838; Rebecca, December 17, 1842; Eliza Ann, January 16, 1845; Jeannette, July 3, 1848; and Aliee, April 13, 1850. Five of these children are dead. James died March 27, 1853; John, January 20, 1861; Rebecca, April, 1881; Eliza Ann, March 10, 1851, and Alice, April 8, 1851. Mr. Brosius has fourteen grandchildren now living. His wife died January 10, 1861. When a young man he learned the cabinet-making trade, follow- ing it for a number of years. He then purchased a farm, aud until within a few years paid all of his atten- tion to it. Since then he has led a retired life.
Christopher W. Cook is the son of Christopher and Mary Cook. They were natives of Prussia, and there . their son was born, June 20, 1825. His wife, Elizabeth Swoope, was born in Bavaria, July 11, 1831. Her parents were George Swoope and Susan Fisher. They are both now dead. They came to Butler County in 1844, and Mr. Cook came here in 1845. Their marriage took place December 7, 1848. They have had eight children. The first was born November 18, 1849, and died four days thereafter. Mary C. was born August 22, 1852; George H. was born February 2, 1855; an- other child was born April 6, 1858, and died the next day. Frederick William was born October 19, 1860; M; rgaret was born January 28, 1864, dying March 15, 1864; John was born August 4, 1865; and Anna Eliza- beth, December 4, 1867. Mr. Cook has been supervisor one term. He has always followed the calling of a farmer.
Jolm A. Crawford was the son of John A. Crawford, Sen., and Mary Arthurs. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, December 26, 1826, and was married June 6, 1850, to Phebe MeHenry, in Hamilton County. Her parents were Joseph McHenry and Nancy Pottenger, and she was born in Hamilton County on the 27th of November, 1830. They had four children. Joseph H. was the eldest. He was born August 6, 1851. Mary E. was born April 15, 1853; Naney E., August 31, 1856; Sarah B., February 3, 1860, and John N., May 31. 1862. Three of the children have been married. Nancy E. married William Bryant January 10, 1881; Sarah B. married Nathan Bryant January 11, 1881, and
Joseph H. married Eliza Delong July 15, 1875: She bore him two children, Leora May, September 8, 1876, and Walter Clarence, January 12, 1879, both still living. Their mother is dead. She died on the 24th of March, 1879. Joseph still lives on the farm occupied by his father, and, with his brother, John W., carries it on. Mary E. also lives at home. She teaches school, as did her two sisters prior to marriage. Mr. John A. Crawford was a cabinet-maker by trade, and generally followed that occupation, while his sons carried on the farm. At one time he was in the mercantile business. This was in the years 1868 and 1869. He was enroll- ment officer in Colerain Township, Hamilton County, during the late war. Mrs. Crawford's great-grandfather, Van MeHenry, was a captain in the War of 1812. Her children's great-grandfather Nichols was also in the War of 1812. He was a sailor for twenty-two years. Mr. Crawford's death occurred January 12, 1880.
David Descombes, son of Jacob Descombes and Lydia Yeakle, was born in St. Clair Township, June 6, 1835. His father was a native of France, and came here in 1810. He died in 1845, and his mother died in Noveni- ber of the same year. Mrs. Descombes was born in this county. David Descombes was married July 4, 1861, to Lydia Garner, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Keiver. They came to this county at an early period. Mr. and Mrs. Descombes have had two children. Minnie May was born June 12, 1863, and George, April 28, 1868. He died June 29, 1869. Mr. Descombes by trade is a wheelwright, as well as a cabinet-maker aud carpenter. He has followed these different vocations from boyhood until the past two years, since which time he has paid his attention to the farm. He also makes a specialty of raising fruit-apples, peaches, grapes, and small fruit. He had a brother, Francis, who was in the Mexican War. Mr. Descombes was school director of St. Clair Township for 1872 and 1873.
Captain Samuel Dick, now deceased, was born in Cin- einuati, Ohio, October 5, 1797. He was the son of Samuel Dick. Sen., of whom a full account will be found near the beginning of this book, and Martha Allen Gillespie. Samuel Dick, Jr., followed the busi- ness of a farmer all of his life, living for many years ou the north half of a section of land entered by his father about the year 1809, and now owned by his heirs. Captain Dick was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Rhy, who bore him one son, David Howen, who was born August 9, 1832, and died September 5, 1850. He then married in Ross Township, Butler County, on the 20th of March, 1834, Isabella Parks, daughter of Arthur Parks, who was born February 2. 1779, and Elizabeth MeCloskey, born April 14, 1784. They died in Hamilton County. The daughter, Isabella, was born March 31, 1815. They had fourteen children. George was born April 2, 1835. Rebecca B. was born 1 October 20, 1836, and died February 18, 1852. Cul-
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
bertson P. was born July 1, 1838; James, April 16, 1840. Samuel A. was born November 15, 1841, and died June 12, 1871. John W. was born October 6, 1843. Martha was born December 14, 1845, and died May 7, 1877. Robert L. was born April 27, 1848; Jennie, on the 17th of February, 1850; Susan, Febru- ary 28, 1852; Annie R., December 21, 1853; Effie. J., February 5, 1856; Sarah, September 5, 1857, dying October 10, 1880; and Isaac N., August 1, 1860. Eighteen grandchildren are now living, and six others are dead. All of Captain Dick's children have been married except six, and three of those are deceased. He was always a farmer. His death occurred on the 1st of January, 1871.
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