USA > Ohio > Adams County > A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth > Part 33
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
Our subject was one of the three representatives from Adams County in the first legislature of Ohio, which met in Chillicothe, March I, 1803, and continued its sessions until April 15, 1803. This is the legislature which met under a sycamore tree on the bank of the Scioto River.
Our subject was well educated and took a prominent part in public affairs. His colleagues from Adams County in the house were William Russell and Thomas Kirker: in the senate, Gen. Joseph Darlinton At this session Scioto County was organized and Joseph Lucas was made
Digitized by Google
276
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
one of its associate judges, in which office he continued until his death in 1808. In politics he was a follower of Thomas Jefferson, and in religion he was a Presbyterian. Dying at the early age of thirty-seven, a most promising career was cut short. He left three sons and three daughters. His daughter, Rebecca, married Jacob Hibbs, Sr., and was the mother of Gen. Joseph L. Hibbs and Jacob Hibbs, of Porstmouth, Ohio. His daughter, Levisa married Jacob Brown, of Pike County, and became the mother of several well known citizens of that county. His sons, Joseph and Samuel, located in Muscatine, Iowa, and died there.
Harry Hibbs, of the firm of J. C. Hibbs and Company, of Ports- mouth, Ohio, is a great-grandson.
The Honorable S. L. Patterson, of Waverly, senator for the seventh district, is his great-grandson.
Judge Joseph Lucas was one of the active characters in Adams County, but fell a victim to the untried climate which the pioneers found in their first settlement.
Thomas Waller,
physician and legislator, was born in Stafford County, Virginia, Septem- ber 14, 1774. He was a descendant in a direct line, on his father's side, from Edmund Waller, the great English poet, who was also for many years a member of parliament; and on his mother's side from the English patriot Hampden, whom the poet Gray has immortalized in his celebrat- ed "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." A volume containing the life of Mr. Edmund Waller, together with his poems, published in London in 17II, is still preserved as a family relic by the son of our subject, Mr. George A. Waller, of Portsmouth. The history of the Waller family in this country has been closely interwoven with that of the Baptist denom- ination during the past hundred years, especially in Kentucky and Vir- ginia. Many of the Wallers were Baptist ministers, some of them of decided note. Among these may be mentioned William Waller and his brother, John Waller, the great leaders of the Kentucky and Vir- ginia Baptists during the times of persecutions in those states. Amid the trials, imprisonments, and universal hatred which the Baptists in those days endured, these two brothers stood forth fearlessly, "steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." The sons of William Waller-Absalom, George and Edmund-were also minis- ters, distinguished for their talents, eloquence, and profound acquain- tance with the Scriptures. Untaught in the schools, they made them- selves learned in the highest and truest sense of the term, and under God were the architects of their own eminence and power. Those familiar with the history of Kentucky Baptists will remember that it was Edmund Waller who burned a revision of the New Testament, made by Alexander Campbell, for the reason that he regarded Mr. Campbell's renderings of certain passages inimical to a true and pure Christianity. Independence, boldness, firmness, energy and zeal have been, and con- tinue to be, the characteristics of all members of this family. Dr. Thomas Waller was a second cousin of the Revs. John and William Wal- ler, just noticed. He was educated in William and Mary College, Vir- ginia, studied medicine and attended lectures under Dr. Rush, in Jef- ferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He located in Bourbon County, Kentucky, where, in 1800, he married Elizabeth McFarlane, and took his
Digitized by Google
277
POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
bride on a wedding tour on horse back to visit her relatives in Penn- sylvania. While sojourneying in that state, a daughter was born to them, and in 1801, they returned to the West, bringing their baby on horseback, over, perhaps as rough a road as man or beast ever traveled. He settled at Alexandria, at the mouth of the Scioto River, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession. Scioto County was organ- ized in 1803, and Dr. Waller was its first representative in the state legis- lature. In 1805 he removed to Portsmouth, where he afterwards pur- chased one hundred acres of land, adjoining the then incorporated limits of the town, all of which territory is now embraced in the city; and in memory of him, one of the streets is called after his name, "Waller Street." He also built the first postoffice and apothecary shop in the city, and was the first postmaster, remaining so all his life. He was for several years president of the town council, and also of the Commercial Bank of Scioto. In 1822 and 1823 a very fatal epidemic prevailed, at which time his professional labors, extending over a very wide circuit, induced the illness if which he died, on July 19, 1823. He was a very active, energetic man, and a popular physician. It is said of him that he had at the time of his death more friends and fewer enemies than any other man in Scioto County. He had a family of nine children, only one of them being now living, George A. Waller, of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. He has a ring that once belonged to Mrs. Edmund Waller, and which bears the family coat of arms.
Dr. Waller was in every public enterprise in the town of Ports- mouth, from the day he located there until his death.
Andrew Ellison.
Andrew Ellison was born in 1755. His father, John Ellison, a native of Ireland, was born in 1730, and died in 1806. He is interred . in the Nixon graveyard, three miles south of West Union, Ohio. Andrew Ellison came to Manchester, Ohio, from Kentucky, with Gen. Nathaniel Massie, in the winter of 1790. He took up his residence in the town of Manchester with his family. £ He located a farm on the Ohio River bottoms about two miles east of Manchester, and proceeded to clear and cultivate it.
The events in the history of the pioneers of Ohio, one hundred years ago, are becoming more obscured every day. Many facts that should have been preserved have been lost, and many more are now liable to be lost, if not obtained from those now living, and preserved.
The story of Andrew Ellison's capture by the Indians, given in both editions of Howe's Historical Collection of Ohio, is incorrect, and the correct and true story is given here. The story by Howe given in his edition of 1846 was copied bodily from McDonald's Sketches published in 1838. Where McDonald got his information we do not know, but he was contemporary with General Nathaniel Massie and Andrew Ellison, though much younger.
Our sketch comes from a granddaughter of Andrew Ellison. She obtained it from her mother, who was born in 1789, the daughter of Samuel Barr, and the wife of John Ellison, Jr. Mrs. Anne Ellison ob- tained it of her husband, and he of his father, who survived until 1830.
Digitized by Google
278
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
For some time prior to his capture, Andrew Ellison had been going to his farm, two miles east of Manchester, in the morning, and remaining at work until evening. He took his noon-day meal along in a basket. On the morning of the day of his capture, he had eaten his breakfast with his family, and taken his noon-day lunch and started to his farm. While on his way, afoot, he was surprised by a band of Indians. The first intimation he had of their presence was the rattling of their shot pouches and in an instant they had him surrounded and seized. They . forced him to run about half a mile to the top of a steep hill away from the traveled paths. They then tied him with buffalo thongs to a tree, till they scouted about to their own satisfaction. When ready to march, they cut the buffalo thongs with a knife, took his hat and basket of pro- visions, and compelled him to take off his shoes and march in moccasins. They also compelled him to carry a heavy load. At night they fast- ened him to a tree.
His failure to return home in the evening was the first intimation his family had of his capture. Major Beasley was the commander of the station at Manchester at that time, and not General Massie. When Mr. Ellison failed to return at the usual time, his wife went to Major Beasley and asked that a rescue party be sent out at once. The Major fearing an ambuscade, did not deem it wise to move out in the evening. but early next morning he took out a party in pursuit. They discovered Mr. Ellison's hat and shoes, and the pieces of buffalo thongs, with which he had been tied directly after his capture.
The party determined to pursue no farther, having come to the con- clusion that the Indians desired to retain Mr. Ellison as a prisoner, and that if they pursued and attacked them while on the retreat, the Indians would probably kill him at once. They concluded that his chances for his return alive would be better by allowing him to escape, if he could and so gave up the pursuit.
The Indians took him first to their Chillicothe towns, where they compelled him to run the gauntlet, and in which ordeal he was severely beaten, but he was not compelled to go through this punishment a second time, or at any other place. The Indians took him to Detroit, where a Mr. Brent, an Englishman, who heard his story and sympa- thized with him, bought him from the Indian who claimed to own him. for a blanket, and not for $100 as stated by Howe. Mr. Brent furnished him with suitable clothing, and with money for his trip home. He came from Detroit to Cleveland by water, and thence by land, afoot, to Man- chester, in September, 1793, and surprised his family by his appearance among them. From his capture until his return, they had heard nothing of him nor he of them.
Andrew Ellison and his wife, Mary, were both born in County Ty- rone, Ireland. About 1797, he took up a large tract of land on Lick Fork of Brush Creek, four miles north of West Union, and there he built a stone house, which was the pride of his time. It is said that upon its completion, he and his wife went upon the hill opposite to have a view of it, and upon the view they concluded that they had the grandest house in the country. It was modeled after houses he had seen in Ireland.
It is said that Mr. Ellison selected this location on account of the abundance of game in that vicinity. Within site of the old stone house
Digitized by Google
i
1
:
---
1
!
:
Digitized by Google
SENATOR ALEXANDER CAMPBELL UNITED STATES SENATE 1809-1814.
Digitized by
279
POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
is a celebrated deer lick, where, in December, 1793, Ashael Edgington was waylaid and killed by a band of Indians under Captain Johnny. Mr. Ellison's wife died in 1830 at the age of seventy-five. They are buried on the farm on which the stone house is located. Mr. Ellison was an extensive locator of lands, left great quantities of it to his children, and gave each a list of surveys.
His daughter Margaret married Adam McCormack; his daughter Isabel married Rev. Dyer Burgess, and his daughter Mary married Thomas Houston. His son Andrew was one of the iron masters in the Hanging Rock region, and died there. For some time his remains were exposed in an iron coffin on the river bank, in pursuance of his own request. His son John married Anna Barr, daughter of Samuel Barr, who was killed by the Indians, near what is now Williamsburg, in the spring of 1792. Mrs. David Sinton, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Mrs. Thomas W. Means, of Hanging Rock, Ohio, and the first Mrs. Hugh Means, of Ashland, Kentucky, were daughters of John Ellison and Anna Barr.
Andrew Ellison was thirty-eight years of age when captured, and was one of the few pioneers who walked across the state twice, while it was a virgin forest.
Andrew Ellison was a shrewd Irishman. Had all the land he owned been preserved intact, without improvement and owned by a single person to this day, that person would be fabulously wealthy.
But while Andrew Ellison could see as far into the future as any- one, we can give one instance in which his judgment turned out wrong. In May, 1796, congress authorized the location of a great highway be- tween Maysville, Kentucky, and Wheeling, Virginia, by Ebenezer Zane. In the spring of 1797 it was laid out, and as it was then a mere blazed path through the woods, it was called Zane's Trace.
Everyone expected that trace to become a great highway between the South and East, and all the settlers were anxious to be near it. Andrew Ellison located his lands on Lick Fork of Brush Creek, and built his great stone house to be along the national highway. He ex- pected many advantages to accrue in the future from his location near the national road. It was a great thoroughfare for travel from the South to the East until the railroads began to be built and then its glory departed forever. The great coaches, the horsemen, the freight wagons, the droves of hogs, cattle and mules deserted it, and now it is only a neighborhood road for its entire length. The last to desert it were the mules. Till the opening of the Civil War it was used for driving mules from Kentucky to Zanesville or Pittsburg to be shipped east, but since the Civil War this useful product of Kentucky is shipped by railroad. Andrew Ellison, however, never dreamed and could not anticipate that Zane's Trace would be superseded by railroads.
Dr. Alexander Campbell
was the only resident of Adams County who attained the position of United States senator. He was born in Greenbriar County, Virginia, in 1779. In childhood he lived in East Tennessee, and afterwards at Crab Orchard, Kentucky. He lost his father, Alexander Campbell, Sr., at the age of twelve years, and up to that time had not attended any
Digitized by Google
-
280
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
school. His mother purchased a small farm in Woodford County, Kentucky, and here he first attended school. He went to Lexington and studied medicine with Drs. Reighley and Brown, beginning in 1799. In 1801 he began to practice medicine at Cynthiana, Kentucky. Here he married a daughter of Col. Alexander Dunlap, and while here was elected a member of the Kentucky legislature.
In 1804 he removed to that part of Adams County afterwards set off to Brown County. In 1807 he was elected as a member of the leg- islature from Adams County ; and re-elected in 1808 and 1809. On December 12, 1809, he was elected speaker of the house. On the same day Edward Tiffin resigned as United States senator, leaving four years yet to serve, and Dr. Cambpell was elected to fill the vacancy. The vote stood : Alexander Campbell, 38; Richard Thompson, of Lebanon, 29; Thomas Worthington, t; James Pritchard, I, and David Findlay, I. In the senate he voted against the declaration of war with Great Britain, and against renewing the charter of the United States Bank. During the time he was United States senator. he rode horseback to Washing- ton, D. C., and return, to attend the sessions of Congress. He was a merchant from 1803 to 1815, and purchased his goods in Philadelphia. He made the purchases personally twice each year, and rode from his home to Philadelphia and back, on horseback, for that purpose.
He moved to Ripley in 1815, and resided there until his death. In 1820 he was a presidential elector, and voted for James Monroe. After the organization of Brown County, he was in the state senate in 1822 and 1823 ; and in the house from Brown County in 1832 and 1833. In 1826 he was a candidate for governor, and had 4,675 votes. In 1836, he was again a presidential elector, and voted for William Henry Harrison. He was mayor of Ripley from 1838 to 1840. He died November 5, 1857, and has an imposing monument in the new cemetery at Ripley. He was one of the first physicians in Ripley, and was emi- nent in his profession. He possessed the confidence of all who knew him, and was a most popular citizen ; not because he sought it, but be- cause his character commanded public approbation. He was of anti- slavery views and principles all his life.
John Ellison, Jr.,
was born at Almah, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1779, son of Andrew Ellison who has a sketch herein. He came to this county with his father and mother when' he was eleven years of age and located at Manchester, in the Stockade. He was elected sheriff of Adams County in 1806, and served until 1810, two terms. It was in December 8, 1808. while he was sheriff that David Becket was hung, the only legal execution which ever took place in the county.
On February 6, 1808. he was married to Anna Barr, who was a superior and most excellent woman. From December 10, 1811, until January II, 1812, he served in the Ohio Legislature with William Rus- sell as his colleague. Again from December 12, 1812, until February 9, 1813, he represented Adams County in the legislature with William Russell. From December 6, 1813. until February 11, 1814, he was in the legislature with John W. Campbell as his colleague. From De- cember 5, 1814, to February 16, 1815, he represented Adams in the
Digitized by Google
!
281
POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
legislature with Nathaniel Beasley as his colleague. In the fourteenth legislative session, he was not a member, but from December 2, 1816, until January 28, 1817, he was a member of the house of representa- tives from Adams with Thomas Kirker as his colleague.
He bought the Buckeye Station farm in 1818 of Judge Charles Willing Byrd and paid $5,500 for it. At that time, there were 700 acres of it. This was his home until his death on April 10, 1829, in the fiftieth year of his age. His eldest son, Andrew Barr Ellison, was born in Manchester, December 19, 1808.
Judge Robert Morrison
had quite a checkered career. He was born in County Antrim, Ire- land, November 29, 1782. His father died while he was an infant, and he was reared by his mother. She was a Presbyterian and her instruc- tions and prayers followed him all his life. But she did not only in- struct and pray for him. She was a firm believer in King Solomon's theories as to the rod and she carried them into practice. One day he ran out of school without permission and started home. The teacher pursued him and Robert threw a stone and lamed him. When he reached home, his mother learned of his escapade, and promised him a whipping the next morning. He lay awake all night thinking about it, but he received it and remembered it all his life. His education was very meagre, and when a mere boy he was put out to learn the trade of a linen weaver. Before he was nineteen years of age, he was en- gaged in manufacturing and selling linen cloth. Being of a very ad- venturesome disposition, he joined the United Irishmen, and as re- sult of it was he was compelled to flee from Ireland to save his life. Lord Fitzgerald smuggled him out of Ireland. He came to this country accompanied by his mother and an uncle. He landed at New York in 1801 in the nineteenth year of his age. He went to South Carolina with his uncle and mother to visit two paternal uncles. South Carolina did not impress young Morrison, and he went to Kentucky in 1802, and located near Flemingsburg. While here, he connected himself with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and in 1803 married Miss Mary Mitchell, sister of Judge Mitchell, of Preble County, and the day after his marriage, he and his bride set out for Ohio. They settled on Cherry Fork. He purchased a tract of land all in forest. Sometime after his purchase, adverse claims being made, he went to Lexington, Kentucky, and consulted the great Henry Clay as to his title. Clay advised him that his title was good, but that he had better buy off the claim than to litigate. Mr. Clay's fee was five dollars for the advice. Young Morrison dug the first grave in the Cherry Fork burying ground, and was one of those who organized the Cherry Fork A. R. Church in 1805. The congregation then consisted of twelve or fifteen families. He was naturalized at the April term of 1810 of the Adams Court of Common Pleas. In 1813, he lost his wife. She left six children, one only seven days old. He was almost immediately called into the war, and went with an expedition to Fort Wayne. In this, he was Captain Morrison, commanding a company of dragoons. In the general call in 1814, he served as captain of a company of infantry, and was part of the time acting colonel of the regiment. During the campaign he
-
Digitized by Google
282
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
formed a great friendship for Gen. William Henry Harrison, and the latter offered him a captain's commission in the regular army, but he de- clined. On June 28, 1814, he married Miss Phoebe McGowan, who survived him. In 1816, he was made a ruling elder in the church at North Liberty. In December, 1817, he was elected to the legislature. He was re-elected in. 1818, 1819 and 1820. While serving in the legis- lature, he was elected a brigadier general of the militia. In the legis- lature, he defeated a bill to abolish capital punishment. After serving four terms in the legislature, he declined renomination. On February 21, 1821, he had his friend, Thomas Kirker, elected an associate judge of Adams County. Gov. Kirker did not like the place and resigned in October, 1821. The governor appointed Robert Morrison in his place. On the fourth of February, 1822, he was elected to the full term of seven years, re-elected in 1829 and served until 1836. In 1838, he was reelected and served until the new constitution took effect on Sep- tember 1, 1851. One who knew him best has written the following comments on his character :
"His early education was very limited, but in reality he educated himself as a good practical lawyer while occupying the position of Asso- ciate Judge in Adams County. He became remarkably familiar with the principles of the common law. His friendly advice was frequently sought in disputes likely to go into the courts. His advice was always against going to law. Often both parties to a controversy would come to him for advice. If it were a matter of dollars and cents merely, he would advise a compromise. If t were a matter of principle, he was as uncompromising as any other hard-headed Irishman. When it was a matter of right and wrong, he always sought to have the party in the wrong concede the fact. The more hostile the parties were, the greater efforts he would make to bring them together."
In his large family, his word was law, His children all understood that. It was seldom he had to use Solomon's remedy among his chil- dren. The idea of neglecting or refusing to obey any command of his, never, at any time, entered one of his children's minds. He had the respect of all who knew him, and as to those who did not know him, he had a natural dignity which commanded their respect. Most of the associate judges were content to be nobodies, but it was not so with him. He was a force wherever he was. He was endowed with a won- derful amount of common sense, possessed great tact, was overflowing with kindly humor and was kind and courteous to all. As an officer of the church, he kept down all difficulties. Had he lived in the time of the judges in Israel, he would have been one of them. In his early days, he was a Jefferson Democrat, but he was anti-slavery, and that took him away from that party, and placed him in opposition to it.
After retiring from the duties of associate judge in 1851, he re- sided quietly on his farm till he was called hence on the tenth day of February, 1863.
The following are the names of his children, with the dates of their births :
Alexander, born 1804, married Elizabeth Ewing.
Sarah, born October 25, 1805, married John S. Patton.
Digitized by Google
283
POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
Mitchell, born October 9, 1807, married Jane Wright, second time a Ewing.
Nancy, born October 21, 1809, married W. D. Ewing.
James, born September 21, 1811, married Rebecca Ewing, second wife's name unknown.
Mary, January 21, 1816, married William Eckman.
John, August 8, 1817, married Julia Ann Pittinger. He was the merchant at Eckmansville for many years.
Robert, August 12, 1819, married Elizabeth Patton. He and his wife are both living.
Marion, June 8, 1821, married Elizabeth T. Brown. He is living at Mission Ridge, Neb.
Elizabeth, August 3, 1823, married William McMillen.
William, July 20, 1828, married Emiline Allison.
Harvey, March 12, 1831, died in childhood.
Matilda, April 4, 1833, married first Mr. Glass, and second, Mr. Pittinger.
Robert, July 12, 1813, died an infant.
Colonel John Means.
The people of Ohio are more indebted to this high-minded southern gentleman than they are aware. He was the first to develop the iron interests of southern Ohio. He was of old Scotch-Irish Pres- byterian stock. The family name has been written MacMeans and it is the same as Mayne or Maynes. William Means, his father, was born in Ireland and was married to Nancy Simonton. He emigrated to the United States and settled in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, about 1760. From there he removed to the Union District in South Carolina, where he resided during the Revolution. He embraced the side of the Colonies, and being confined to his home by disease, was subjected to great annoyance by the Tories. A part of the time his family was supported by a slave, Bob, a native of Africa, and at one time, they were compelled to live on wheat boiled in water, not being able to pro- cure other provisions. With all their privations, they had eight chil- dren, James, Hugh, Margaret, Mary, William, Rachael, John and Jane. The eldest, James, was born in Ireland. Mary married William Davitte and moved with her husband to Adams County in 1802, and to Edgar County in Illinois in 1812.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.