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 60
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Rev. James Arbuthnot
was born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1796. His father, James Arbuthnot, came from Scotland when quite young and mar- ried Mary White, whose parents came from North Ireland. James Ar- buthnot grew up to manhood on a farm in Ohio County, West Virginia, graduated from Jefferson College in 1820; attended the Theological Sem- inary at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was licensed to preach by the U. P. Presbytery of St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1823. He commenced his minis- terial work at New Athens, Harrison County, Ohio, the same year and organized the academy at that place which in a short time grew into a college. In 1827, he moved to Savannah, now in Ashland County, Ohio, where he preached until 1840 when he moved to Greenfield, Ohio, and preached half the time there and the balance of the time at Fall Creek until 1851 when he moved to North Liberty, Adams County, where he founded the North Liberty Academy. He remained at North Liberty until 1854, when he moved to Unity in the same county and was pastor of the U. P. Church there for twenty years until compelled to quit preach- ing on account of old age. He was married December 30, 1823, to Eliza Armstrong, who died April 23, 1846. To this union there were born ten children, nine daughters and one son, namely: Nancy, Frances M., after- wards married to George M. Thurman; Ann E., afterwards married to Dr. W. P. Spurgen; Maria, Clara N., Ada, afterwards wife of Rev. J. G. McKee; Mary, Celia, afterwards wife of A. R. Clark; Sarah J. and James A. The daughters are all dead and his only surviving child is Col. James A. Arbuthnot, of Brookfield, Mo.
Rev. James Arbuthnot died at his home at Unity, April 18, 1880, in his eighty-fourth year. He was a man of strong convictions and would never consent to compromise anything which he felt to be right. He was one of the original Free Soilers and voted for Binney and Hale as the Free Soil candidates for President. Rev. D. McDill, D. D., said of him: "He was a wise, good, unassuming, godly inan. He made no claims to oratory, but in preaching, spoke plainly and deliberately. His sermons were instructive and edifying. All who knew him recognized his sin- cerity and goodness."
Rev. James Arbuthnot married for a second wife Mrs. Mary Watt, in 1848, who died in 1876. She had a daughter who married Rev. N. R. Kirkpatrick at Ada, Ohio, and another who married R. P. Finley, of Youngsville, Ohio.
Rev. William Baldridge.
The Reverend William Baldridge was born in Lancaster County, Penn., February 26, 1761. His parents were from Ireland and members of the Irish Covenanter Church. The year after his birth they removed to the banks of the Catawba River in Lincoln County, N. C., where he re- sided until 1776, when he joined a cavalry company and served as a sol- dier during the Revolutionary War. Of this period of his life, the most interesting of all, we have no record, but from the course of his after life, we know that he did his duty as a soldier, conscientiously, and faithfully. He did not consider that in his seven years' service to his country, he had done more than his duty or that he deserved any special commenda- tion therefor. After returning from the war, he prepared for college under the instructions of Rev. Robert Finley, and attended Dickinson College
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in Carlisle, Penn., where he graduated in 1790 at the head of a class of twelve. Immediately after his graduation, he took up the study of theol- ogy, privately, with the Rev. Alexander Dobbins and studied under him one year. The second year of his theological studies he pursued under the Reverend Doctor Nesbit, of Carlisle, Pa. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Pennsylvania, Associate Reformed, in 1792, and ordained by the same Presbytery in 1793. On July 17, 1792, he was married to Rebecca Agnew. She was born December 12, 1772.
On October 18, 1793, he accepted a call to two churches in Rock- bridge County, Virginia. . One of them was a mile from the Natural Bridge. It has long since disappeared, the building destroyed and the congregation dissolved. His other church was Ebenezer, about five miles northeast of Lexington. He labored as regular pastor of these two churches, both Associate Reformed, until 1803 when his pastoral rela- tion to them was dissolved, but what was an anomaly in Presbyterian practice, he remained their stated supply until 1809, when he removed to Adams County, Ohio, to accept a call as pastor to the Cherry Fork and West Fork congregations. In 1797, he was moderator of his synod and delivered an important judicial decision in a case before that body. During his residence in Virginia, he was twice offered the presidency of Washing- ton College, now Washington and Lee University, but declined each time on the ground that it was his duty, as he saw it, to remain in the pastoral work. From 1803 to 1809, many of his congregation had emigrated from Virginia and located in Adams County, Ohio, at either Cherry Fork or West Fork. These former parishoners of his secured his call to the two churches of the two localities. During his residence in Virginia, he had been a faithful and acceptable pastor and had endeared himself to his people, and while there, the following children were born to him and his devoted wife: James R., May 22, 1793; Alexander H., January 13, 1795; John Y., December 20, 1796; William S., May 1, 1799; Samuel C., and Rebecca G., twins, February 18, 1801; David A., May 25, 1803; Wade, August 25, 1805; Agnew, December 5, 1807. With these eight boys and one girl and his wife, he made the journey overland to Ohio, in June, 1809, and locating at Cherry Fork at the age of 49. He spent the remainder of his life there. The following children were born to him and his wife Rebecca, in Ohio: Joseph G., June 16, 1810; Ebenezer W., August I, 1812; William, August 17, 1814; Mary Jane, October 26, 1817, at whose birth the mother died. This daughter, Mrs. Mary Jane Waller, a widow, is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Julia Tappan, at Avondale, Ohio, the last survivor of her brothers and sisters.
On May 16, 1820, Rev. William Baldridge married Mrs. Mary Logan Anderson, a widow, and by her became the father of two children, Benjamin L., born February 9, 1821, and Nancy M., October 18, 1822. His daughter, Rebecca, married Joseph Riggs, December 8, 1819, a very prominent citizen of southern Ohio, and by him became the mother of a numerous family of sons and daughters, the former of whom and their descendants have distinguished themselves in financial circles, in the min- istry, at the bar and on the bench. Of the Reverend Baldridge's sons, Samuel C. and Benjamin L. became ministers and Alexander H., Agnew and Ebenezer W. became physicians. Of the literary works of the Rev. Baldridge, we have but three sermons which were published in the As-
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sociate Reformed Pulpit. These indicate that he was a fine sermonizer. But he especially excelled in pastoral work. He knew all the members of his congregation, and all their children by name, and knew their pe- culiarities. He made his pastoral visits regularly in each family and gave religious instructions in such manner as to make it attractive, and to fas- ten it to remain in the minds of those he visited. The Rev. Marion Mor- rison, now residing at Mission Creek, Nebraska, relates an incident of one of his visits to his father's, Judge Morrison's house, in which he heard a conversation between an older brother and the Rev. Baldridge, in which the latter sought to induce his brother to take a college education with a view of entering the ministry. This conversation so impressed young Morrison, then eight years of age, that he, in consequence thereof, took a college education and entered the ministry where he has labored suc- cessfully all his life. The Rev. Baldridge died in the midst of his labors on October 26, 1830.
Sixty-nine years having elapsed since his death, oblivion has claimed much that we would like to know of him, but the fact that he held but two pastorates in his lifetime; that he resigned the first and that death alone removed him from the other, speaks well of him as a minister. Sixteen years in the same churches in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and twenty-one in Adams County, Ohio, covered his ministerial work. He preached well in the pulpit and cared well and effectually for his peo- ple in their homes. The fact that Cherry Fork church grew and pros- pered during and after his labors in it speaks well for his work. The fact that for years past and that today the church at Cherry Fork is large and prosperous ; that its influence is well recognized in the county and in its Presbytery and Synod; that it has sent out so many grand men and women to other parts of the country, is largely due to the labors of the Rev. William Baldridge between 1809 and 1830. He took the church four years after its organization and builded it for twenty-one years.
But while he was an efficient pastor, teacher and guide in the churches for thirty-seven years, he did something even greater than that. He reared a family of twelve sons and two daughters to be godly men and women, to be good citizens and to take honorable and prominent places in the world's work. Moreover, he laid the foundations of character in his sons and daughters, so deep, so wide, so strong in piety and moral truth that after seventy years, his descendants are men and women of the same stamp of moral worth, high character and sterling piety that he bore himself. Could he have done better as a life work than herein re- lated? We think not. He performed his work so well and so thoroughly that it will last so long as descendants of his survive to illustrate and ex- emplify it. He sleeps in an unknown and unmarked grave in the Cherry Fork Cemetery.
Michael Baldwin
was a very marked and memorable member of our earliest bar. He came of a Connecticut family of note. One brother, Henry Baldwin, of Penn- sylvania, was one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; another, a wealthy planter of Tennessee; a third lived in Connecticut.
Michael was admitted to practice here in 1799, and at once forced recognition of his energy, learning and sparkling intellectual gifts; and
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almost as speedily developed his uncontrollable love of liquor, fun and frolic. He soon distanced all competitors for legal business save William Creighton, Jr., whose patient industry still retained him the larger and by far more lucrative practice. As between the two, it was the race between the hare and the tortoise again, and with the same inevitable result. One of the malicious stories of that day was, that certain other lawyers became so jealous of Baldwin's popularity and business success, that they encour- aged the latter's passion for drink, so that his career might be shortened as much as possible.
In 1803, '4, '5, and '6, Baldwin, notwithstanding his dissipation, did a large amount of work. But from the latter date, there is a rapid de- cadence of his practice apparent in the records of the Court, and, by 1808, his name but rarely appears, save only as defendant in suits for tavern bills, borrowed money, and applications for the benefit of the insolvent law. We learn from Safford's "Life of Herman Blennerhasset" that Baldwin had been the United States Marshal for the State of Ohio, and that he was much embittered against President Jefferson for depriving him of that office. Aaron Burr advised Blennerhasset to retain Judge Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati, and Baldwin, for the defense of both them- selves in the trials for high treason, which they expected to undergo be- fore the courts of Ohio, but which trials never took place. In a letter written to his wife, under date of December 17, 1807, Blennerhasset says : "I have retained Baldwin and Burnett. The latter will be a host with the decent part of the citizens of Ohio; and the former a giant of influence with the rabble, whom he properly styles his 'bloodhounds.'"
It is very suggestive of the character of Baldwin, that at almost every term of his practice we find this entry upon the journal: "Ordered that Michael Baldwin, one of the attorneys of this Court, be fined ten dollars for contempt of Court, and be committed to jail until the fine be paid." Poor, brilliant, boisterous, drunken, rollicking Mike! By reason of com- mitments for contempt of court and capiases for debt, he became familiar indeed, with the inside of the old jail which stood at the northwest corner of Second and Walnut Streets.
. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention and tradition asserts that he wrote almost the entirety of the first Constitution of Ohio in the bar-room of William Keys' tavern, using a wine keg for his seat, and the head of a barrel of whiskey for his desk. A queer origination, truly, for the organic law of such an empire as Ohio grew to be, before that Constitution was superseded !
He was Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1803, 1804 and 1805. Fond of gambling, of course, for he seems to have had all the modern accomplishments. It is told that he opened a game of vingt et un for the benefit of such members as craved excitement. Baldwin, being banker and dealer, of course, won all their money and most of their watches. The party broke up and went to their several rooms, drunk, long after the "wee sma' hours" of the night.
Mike, used to such life, was in the Speaker's chair, on time, next morning, rapped the House to order, and proceeded with business. A call of the House was soon demanded, and the fact made officially apparent that there was no quorum present. The Speaker sent out the Sergeant- at-Arms for absentees, and that officer, in the course of an hour or two,
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filed into the hall and in front of the Speaker's chair, some dozen or more of the half-asleep, and only partially sobered, gamesters of the night be- fore. Thereupon Baldwin rose, and with dignified severity of manner, began to reprimand them for their negligence of the trusts reposed in them by their constituents, and reminded them of the great cost per diem to the infant State, of the sessions of the General Assembly, etc., until one of the party of culprits broke abruptly in upon the harrangue, with the exclamation, "Hold on now, Mr. Speaker! how the hell can we know what time it is, when you have got all our watches !"
At the June Term, 1804, the tavern-keeper, William Keys, sued Baldwin upon an account which aggregated twenty-five pounds, thirteen shillings, ten pence, a copy of which account is filed. Every item in it, save three, was for drinks in one form or another-brandy, spirits raw, bowls of toddy, punch, treats to the club, etc. The three exceptional items were suppers for himself, for which he was charged one shilling and six pence for each. But with each supper there appears a charge of three shillings for a pint and a half of brandy-a proportion of drink to meat which strongly reminds one of the bill rendered by Dame Quick- ley to Sir John Falstaff.
"Drinks for the Club" were undoubtedly Mike's treats to the "Blood- hounds," an organization of the rough and fighting men of that day, which Baldwin had gotten up and which he controlled. The "Blood- hounds" did his electioneering and fighting for him; and more than once delivered him from the jail by breaking in the door, or tearing an end out of that structure.
His brothers twice attempted to relieve him from the embarrass- ments of his debts, and for that purpose, sent him bags of coin amounting to a considerable sum. On these occasions, it is said he hired a negro for porter of the money, and went around to his creditors seriatim, allow- ing each one, irrespective of the amount of his account, to have one grab into the open-mouthed bag until it was gone.
His name appears in the records of the court for the last time in the early part of 1811, and he undoubtedly died soon thereafter.
His widow survived him for many years, and when not less than seventy years old, contracted a second marriage with Adam Stewart, of this county. An old citizen, speaking to us of "Kitty Baldwin" in her prime, remarked, "I tell you, she was the proudest widow that ever walked the streets of Chillicothe."
Robinson Baird
was born in Pennsylvania, October 6, 1792. He was the son of a farmer. His father had twelve children, of whom our subject was the eldest. His Christian name was his mother's maiden name. He obtained his educa- tion partly in Pennsylvania and partly in Ohio. His parents were born in Pennsylvania, but they came to Adams County and occupied rented farms for awhile. As soon as could be done, our subject's father bought a farm five miles from West Union and two miles from Bentonville, where Robinson Baird was reared to manhood. He always felt the want of a more complete education, and for this reason he took a great interest in the public schools. He very frequently served as local school director of his district.
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Robinson Baird was a very strict Presbyterian. He was brought up that way and never wandered from it. He believed in the strict ob- servance of the Sabbath and practiced it. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, was out both winters of 1812 and 1813, and endured many hard- ships. His Colonel was John Bryan. In politics, he was a Whig so long as that party existed. As a Whig, he voted for John Quincy Adams, when he was a candidate for President. There were only two others in his township who voted for Adams. He was a member of the American party when it was in existence, and afterwards of the Republican party.
He was married to Elizabeth Williamson, the third daughter of Rev. William Williamson, on June 13, 1815. She was born in South Carolina, on July 14, 1795. There were born to them ten children, two of whom died in infancy. Their oldest son, James T., was born March 18, 1816. He married Elizabeth Parker, July 1, 1842. He was a millwright by occupation, and was killed in St. Louis while working in a steam mill by the bursting of a boiler. He had two sons who were in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Nancy M. was born October 31, 1820. She mar- ried James McIntire, April 26, 1842. Major McIntire served in the Sev- enth Ohio Cavalry during the Civil War. He is now deceased. His widow survives him with a large family of children. Another daughter, Jane W. Baird, was born March 25, 1823, and married A. H. Mehaffey, September 2, 1846. Her daughter, Catherine, born March 20, 1825, was married to Jacob Mosier, May 27, 1846. A son, Thomas W. Baird, was born May 4, 1827. Joshua M. Baird, born October 5, 1829, married Margaret Graham, June 24, 1852. Harriet N. Baird, born November 7, 1833, married John L. Summers, February 28, 1855. Elizabeth V. Baird, born May 7, 1836, married Charles Fitch.
Robinson Baird died March 26, 1870. His wife survived him until August 17, 1876. Mr. Baird never sought public office, but was content to live the simple life of a farmer. He has numerous descendants, scat- tered over the United States, and from those known, we would say that he impressed upon them the same serious, honest, upright character which he bore all his life.
Samuel Grimes Bradford
was born in West Union, December 3, 1813. His father was Samuel Bradford and his mother, Ruth Shoemaker. They were married August II, 1811, by Job Dinning. Her father was Peter Shoemaker, who lived below the iron bridge, and whose will was recorded in 1799. Samuel Grimes Bradford was Sheriff of Adams County in 1812 and 1813.
In October, 1810, he was appointed Recorder of Adams County to succeed General Darlinton. On the seventh of July, 1813, he was Cap- tain of a militia company. He left a deed partly recorded and started with his company for the war. He never returned. He died August 13, 1813, in the army and is buried at Urbana. His widow was married June 1, 1815, to Col. Samuel R. Wood, by whom she had five children, Mrs. S. P. Kilpatrick, of Dunbarton ; Mrs. George Sample, of Cincinnati ; Mrs. Rev. Lock, of Illinois; Mrs. Herdman, of Iowa; David Wood, of Newport, Ky., and Frank Wood, of Urbana, Ohio. David, the brother of our subject, who married a daughter of Rev. John Meek, lived and died in West Union. 'He, his father, General Bradford and his mother, Bar- bara Grimes, are buried in the stone enclosure in Branson's field just
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north of the village cemetery at West Union. General David Bradford was one of the most important factors in the early settlement of Adams County. He owned a number of lots in the town of Washington and re- sided there while it flourished, and when it collapsed he went to West Union. When West Union was located he bought lots 10, 11, 18, 19, 65 and 75 at the opening sale. He built the Bradford House in 1804 and, from that time until his death, kept tavern there. He was County Treas- urer of Adams County from June 6, 1800, until June 6, 1832. As he died in 1834 at the age of sixty-nine, he very nearly had the treasurer's office for life. In 1804, he was made a Quartermaster General of the militia. He was a very popular man, and from holding the County Treasurership so long without any complaint, must have been a very honest one, but we must get back to our subject, his grand-son, Samuel G. Bradford. He clerked in an iron store in Cincinnati when he was about nineteen years of age for James M. Baldridge. When he was twenty years of age, he returned to West Union. He was married here on November 6, 1834, to Amanda M. T. Tapp. By her, he had six children, Francis A., wife of Henry B. Woodrow, of Cincinnati; James H. Brad- ford, of Winchester; Jennie, the wife of Gabriel McClatchy; Matilda, who died a young woman; Harriet, widow of Capt. George Collings, of Indianola, Iowa, and Samuel N. Bradford, who lives in West Union. In the same year, he succeeded to the management of Bradford's Tavern, now the Downing House. He conducted it until 1840, when he leased it. He contributed $200 to the erection of the Maysville and Zanesville Turnpike. In 1835, he took a drove of horses to Mississippi and sold them. On his return, he purchased the George Darling farm, formerly owned by Major Finley and moved there. His wife died May 2, 1847. In 1849, he returned to West Union and engaged in the tannery business with Edwards Darlinton.
On October 29, 1850, he was married to Miss Sarah W. Smashea, who survives him. He continued the tannery business until 1851, when he drove a notion wagon through the country until 1853. From that date until 1863, he traveled and sold tinware for A. F. Shriver at Man- chester. In 1864, he went into the sutler business with Thomas Ellison and remained with him until the end of the war. Then he went to Mississippi and raised cotton until 1868. After that, he engaged in the grocery business at West Union with his son, Samuel N. Bradford. After continuing that business for a short time, he took the mail contract between West Union and Winchester and drove a hack on it for four years. After that he conducted a livery stable in West Union until his death which occurred November 29, 1890.
In politics, he was a Whig and afterward a Republican. He was a large, fine looking man in old age, and in youth, he was handsome. He was genial and companionable. He was always ready to do a kind act for a friend. He was esteemed highly by all who knew him as a good man and upright citizen. What characterized him above his fellow men was his love of children and of horses. When surrounded by child- ren and encouraging their amusement, he was never happier. He was always pleased to have good horses and to be looking after them. He was in his feelings and in his thoughts a relic of the older time in which
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he was always delighted to dwell. He passed away in peaceful sleep- "as one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams."
Moses Baird
was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1762. His father, James Baird, came from near Londonderry, in the north of Ireland. His mother was a Miss Brown, also from Ireland.
Moses Baird married Mary Adams, July 5, 1787, at Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, a woman of remarkable natural endowments and of distin- guished and cultivated ability. They had one son, Robert, born in Pennsylvania, in 1788.
They located in Adams County in the rich Irish Bottoms, at Sandy Springs, on the Ohio River, and took up a tract about a mile square. Those who located with them were Joshua Truitt, William Early, Jona- than Kenyon, Abner Ewing, above, and John Adams, and Simeon Truitt, below.
They had in all thirteen children, twelve being thereafter born in Adams County, as follows: Margaret, 1781 ; Alexander, 1792; Eliza- beth, 1794; Polly, 1796; Newton, 1799; James A., 1801 ; John A., 1803; Joseph C. V., 1805; Harvey, 1807; Harriet A., 1809; Chambers, 1811; Susan A., 1814.
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