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 73

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers
Number of Pages: 1101

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 73

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His daughter has told a lady now living near West Union that she had been at that place many times when all was forest, not a house in the vicinity, and had drank out of the spring where the public well now stands.

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When he made a clearing, the first thing he did was to plant peach trees and engage in the manufacture of whiskey and brandy.

The squirrels and wild turkeys were so plenty that when he planted his corn, it was necessary to stand gaurd over it until it was grown too high for them to disturb. After it was planted he made paw-paw whistles and had his children march around the corn fields at the edge of the forests during the day, blowing these whistles so that the squirrels and turkeys would not bother the corn.

Some time after building his pole cabin, be built a log house with large fire-places, and he was considered a rich man for his time.

He was one of the first members of the Presbyterian Church at West Union. He was not a pensioner of the Revolutionary War, because he owned considerable land and could not obtain a pension.

He married his first wife, Elizabeth Walker, in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and she was the mother of five children.

William McGarry had a second wife, Mary McKee, and she was the mother of three children. He was esteemed as a useful and valuable citizen. He did what could not be done in our day ; he was a very pious man and a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and raised his family in the same manner as himself, and at the same time made and drank whiskey all the time when it was no disgrace either to make it or drink it.

He died in 1845 and was buried on the farm which he cleared and owned.

Ralph Mcclure

was one of the old-time characters in West Union. He owned and oc- cupied the property where Mrs. Sarah W. Bradford now resides, and dug the well there which was famous in his time and which is known as Ralph McClure's well to this day. Judge Byrd extolled the properties of the water in his diary.

Our subject was a north of Ireland Irishman with a rich brogue. He was a schoolteacher in West Union before public schools were organized. He taught many years in the home where he resided and all. his schools were subscription schools. The first school David Dunbar, of Manchester, ever attended was at Ralph McClure's. The latter offered young David six and one-fourth cents if he would learn the alphabet in three days and David accomplished the task. McClure once had a horse-mill on the rear of Mrs. Bradford's lot, opposite the Lawler residence, and at one time he had a distillery just south of his residence, but it was burned. He was a bachelor and never attended church. He was of medium stature and had a sharp face. He was very fond of smoking and raised his own tobacco and made his own cigars. His neighbors seemed to have a great deal of confidence in him for they elected him Justice of the Peace in 1820, 1826, 1829, 1838, 1841 and in 1844. He and Nelson Barrere were great friends, The latter would often state a suppositious case to him and get his opinion. If the opinion pleased Barrere, he would immediately bring the real case before the Justice and win it, as McClure was never known to go back on any opinion he ever expressed.

He died April 24, 1846, while holding the office of Justice of the Peace. We do not know the place of his interment or whether he left any relatives.

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Adam MoGovney

was born in County Down, Ireland, December 14, 1789, of Protestant Pres- byterian parents. He received a fair education, became a Free Mason and was advanced in that order to the degrees of Christian Knighthood, before leaving that country. While there he united with the Presbyterian Church.

In 1818, he came to this country and located in Adams County. He was married to Miss Mary McGovney, in Adams County, on the twenty- eighth day of January, 1819. They had one child, Thomas, and she died January 14, 1820, at the age of 28 years. Her surviving husband never remarried. In West Union, Mr. McGovney kept a general store and part of the time conducted a tannery. In 1840, he became a member of the Methodist Church and from that time until his death there was no more devout or consistent Christian than he. Always in his place at every church service, and every prayer and class meeting, he was a bright and shining light. He lived his religion every day of his life, and in his dying hours it was his comfort and solace. He was always at the Wednesday evening prayer meetings which the writer attended when a small boy. Uncle Adam, as all the boys knew him, had a fixed and certain prayer and the writer at one time knew it all and could repeat it from memory. He regards it as his loss that he cannot remember it and repeat it, until this day. One phrase in it was "Knit us, Oh Lord, closer to thy bleeding side." He, Abraham Hollingsworth, Nicholas Burwell, William R. Rape and William Allen could always be depended on to attend and be found at the weekly prayer meetings.

Next to his religion, Mr. McGovney was attached to Masonry. He was as faithful a Mason, as he was a church member. The writer re- membered seeing him in many Masonic parades and he usually wore the crossed silver keys of the lodge jewels. He was treasurer of the lodge many years. As a neighbor and a friend he was liked by all who knew him. He published the country of his birth whenever he spoke, as he had the broadest of Irish accent, but it was a pleasure to listen to it.

He was very fond of the little people, the children. He knew how to please them, to cater to their pleasures, which he was very fond of doing. They were always his friends, and he, theirs.

He promised to bring the writer up to the tanner's trade and took great pleasure in explaining it all to him. Mr. McGovney was over six feet and slender. He had a very firm expression when his countenance was in repose, but when animated or in a laughing mood, no one was more agreeable. He was always ready to sympathize with those who deserved it and to aid those who needed it. On his death bed he expressed his com- plete confidence in the religion he professed in life. He required no re- ligious consolation and, when approached on that subject, said, "I have long placed my confidence in my Savior."

His funeral was conducted with Masonic honors by the West Union Lodge and members of other lodges in the same county. The services were at the Presbyterian Church and the interment was in the Kirker Cemetery where he was laid beside his wife who had been buried there forty years before.

Adam McGovney was a just man and a model citizen. His activities were confined to his business, Masonry and the church. In his political

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views he was a Democrat. His memory stands as that of a good and true man, a credit to the generation to which he belonged.

He had no taste for politics and never was a candidate for office, but he believed in doing every duty before him, and lived his belief.

Hugh MeSurely

was born at Lexington, Kentucky, July 14, 1806. His father came from the north of Ireland, and was a soldier under General Harrison in the War of 1812. He came to Adams County when a child and his whole life was spent there. In 1828, he was married to Mary Clark by the Rev. William Baldridge of Cherry Fork congregation. Of this church, he and his wife were members until the Unity Church was organized in 1846, when they transferred their membership there. He was an elder in the United Pres- byterian Church at thirty years and held the office for fifty years. He was a man of decided convictions on all subjects. He was a Jacksonian Demo- crat from 1827 to 1836. He became a Whig in 1836, two years after the organization of that party. When the Whig party dissolved, he formed no other political ties until the formation of the Republican party, when he joined that party and continued in it all his life. He took a great interest in the church, in all public questions and in the welfare of his country. When the war broke out, he was fifty-five years of age, ten years over the limit of age for military duty. But he determined to enter the military service and did so. Here is his record: "Hugh McSurely, Private, Com- pany E, 70th O. V. I. Captain, John T. Wilson. Enlisted November 1, 1861, for three years; aged 55. Discharged December 8, 1862, on Sur- geon's Certificate of disability." Of course, he ought not to have gone and the Government should not have accepted him, but he did so and the in- evitable followed. His age was against him and he broke down and was sent home. When he returned he sent his son, George A., now a resident of Oxford, Ohio, who took his place in the same company and regiment and served until July 28, 1865. His son, Samuel A., served in the First Ohio Heavy Artillery.

Hugh McSurely's wife died August 19, 1865. He contracted a sec- ond marriage with Ann McClanahan, who survives him. He had five chil- dren, the sons above named, Rev. William J. McSurely, D. D., of Hills- boro, Ohio, and Sarah A. McSurely, who resides on the home farm with his widow. Hugh McSurely always took an active interest in politics, though he was never a candidate for office. In the campaign of 1896, he took as much interest in the election of President Mckinley as though he had forty years of life before him. He was honest and industrious ; he was a public-spirited, honored and useful citizen and a cheerful Christian. He died December 5, 1896, in his ninety-first year.

Rev. John Meek

was the son of Isaac and Mary Meek, born in Short Creek, Carroll County. Virginia, January 7, 1781. His father was a descendant of a Scotch family who came to Ohio early in the century and located in Jefferson County. Our subject very early in life was impressed with the notion that he was divinely called to the ministry, and yielding to these convictions, he was licensed to preach when only nineteen years of age. In September, 1803, he was appointed by the Baltimore Conference to the Scioto Circuit.

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REV. ROBERT DOBBINS REV. JOHN COLLINS

AARON STEEN REV. JOHN MEEK

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and came to Ohio with Rev. William Burke, his presiding elder, and by him was introduced to Governor Tiffin, a local preacher.

'His first circuit had its extreme southwest point on Eagle Creek, a few miles from what is now known as Fitch's Chapel. Then by Bryan's, on Three Mile Creek, to George Rodgers, near the mouth of Cabin Creek, up to Manchester, thence to Peterson's on Ohio Brush Creek, Joseph Moore's, then at the mouth of Turkey Creek; then up the Scioto River to Pee Pee Prairie to Snowden Sargeants; then to Thomas Foster's at Big Bottom; then from Foster's to Chillicothe; from Chillicothe to Bowdles, at Hay Run ; then to White Brown's on Deer Creek; from there to West Fall on the Scioto River; to Walnut Creek through the wilderness to old Brother Stevenson's; then to John Robbins' on Buckskin Creek; then to Hare's at the Falls of Paint Creek ; then to Braughter's Tavern; up over a blind Indian trail to Benjamin Graces' near New Market in Highland County ; then to Odell's, near Briar Ridge, thirty miles distant, and from Odell's to the place of beginning, near mouth of Eagle Creek, or Elk River.

In 1805, he was appointed to Hocking Circuit with the Rev. James Quinn as senior preacher. He was here for a time and then returned to the East. Before Mr. Meek returned again to Ohio, he was married to Miss Ann Jones, daughter of John and Ann Jones, and sister of the Rever- end Greenbury R. Jones, who was very well known in Adams County in the early days. His wife was a clear-headed woman who appreciated fully her posititon as the wife of an itinerant preacher, and she was during her lifetime a true helpmeet. She died in the triumph of the great field in February, 1855.

John Meek was ordained deacon in October, 1805. His certificate is dated October 3, 1805, and signed by Richard Whatcoat. In March, he was ordained as elder. His certificate of ordination is dated March 16, 1810, and signed by William McKendree. Rev. Meek's son, William McKendree Meek, was named for and baptized by Bishop McKendree.

.Our subject was a man of fine presence and possessed a noble bearing, unflinching courage, and polished manners. He was intellectually a strong man and ever ready to defend the doctrines and policies of the church of his choice. He was a camp meeting preacher of wonderful power. He had a very fine voice, clear as a bell, and it rang out quite a distance. Rev- erend Maxwell P. Gaddis says: "I shall never forget a sermon which I heard him preach more than forty-five years ago at the old camp ground in Adams County, Ohio, from these words: 'He that rejecteth me and re- ceiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The words that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day.' (John 12: 48.) It would be impossible to describe the scene at the close of that eloquent effort. I felt that I was fully compensated for the long and dusty ride even to hear him read the opening hymn, "That awful day will surely come.' "

John Meek was always in sentiment and feeling an anti-slavery man. He was earnest in the support and advocacy of colonization, the then best remedy for the evils of slavery. He closed his sixty years in the ministry in August, 1860, and on the thirtieth day of December, 1860, at his home in Felicity, in Clermont County, Ohio, he passed quietly away. His death was peaceful and quiet, signalizing a patient confidence in Christ, a fitting close to the long life in the ministry. His remains rest in the cemetery at West Union.

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John Patton, of Virginia.

He is so designated to distinguish him from his son, John Patton, who emigrated to Ohio. We find he was from the north of Ireland. He was one of eight brothers. We do not know what time he located in Virginia, but it was not later than 1774. He was born about 1754. He was mar- ried in about 1775. His eldest child, Nathaniel Patton, born February 22, 1776; was married in Rockbridge County, Virginia, 1797. Nathaniel Pat- ton located in Adams County in 1814, on the farm where Ramsey Duffey now lives. He went to Rush County, Indiana, 1824. His wife's name was Polly Robinson. He was the father of fourteen children, all of whom but the eldest, John S. Patton, followed him to Decatur County, Indiana. He died there in 1844. The second child of John Patton, of Virginia, was Martha Campbell. She married James Campbell, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. They came to Adams County and settled near Decatur, Brown County. She left a large number of descendants, among whom are the Wassons of Cherry Fork. Thomas Patton, a son, lived and died on West Fork. The wife of Gen. William McIntire was his daughter. His other children removed to Peoria, Illinois, in the forties. Nathan Patton owned the Sam McNown place in Brown County. He was a money maker and Adams County was too slow for him. He left after a few years' residence with his entire family and located in Iowa. All trace of him and his family have been lost to the other Pattons. John Patton, the youngest son, was born in Virginia in 1787, a notice of whom is elsewhere herein. A daugh- ter, Jane Patton, died in middle age, unmarried. Mary Patton was born in Virginia in 1789, and was married to Charles Kirkpatrick in 1806. They came to Ohio and located on Eagle Creek. Three children were born to them, and Kirkpatrick died in the War of 1812. In 1813, she married William Evans, and ten children were born of this union, the eldest of which was Edward Patton Evans, of West Union, father of one of the editors of this work. She died March 22, 1830, at the age of forty-one. Nancy Milligan, the fourth daughter of John Patton, of Virginia, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, about 1791. She married William Mil- ligan, and they located near Unity in Adams County. She was the mother of a large family. J. C. Milligan, her son, was a County Commissioner of Adams County from 1860 to 1863. Her son, John Milligan, is living near Decatur, Brown County.

John Patton, of Virginia, died in 1809 in Rockbridge County. He made his will in July, 1809, and it was probated in October, 1809. From the tone of his will, it is judged he was a very pious, God-fearing man. The inventory of his estate on file indicates he was an ordinary Virginia farmer. He owned 278 acres of land in one body, about five and three- fourths miles from Lexington, on the upper Natural Bridge road. Two hundred acres of his land lay in Burden's Grant, and the remainder, sev- enty-eight acres, just outside of it.

The original grant of the Burden tract was from George, the Second, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King and De-' fender of the Faith, etc., and on condition that one family for every thou- sand acres be settled on it within two years. There were 92,100 acres in the grant. The land was to be held in free and common socage and not in capite or by knight service, and to pay a rent of one shilling for every fifty acres, to be paid yearly in the Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel (Sep-

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tember 29). Three acres out of every fifty were to be improved within three years. All these conditions were abolished by the Virginia Legisla- ture during the Revolution.

John Patton bought his two hundred acres in Burden's Grant, Decem- ber 3, 1782. That is the date of his deed, but he probably had it con- tracted for long before that. He purchased of James Grigsby, who died April 7, 1794, and was the first person buried in the Falling Spring cemetery.

John Patton hated the institution of slavery, and had intended to re- move from Virginia had he lived, but he charged his children to remove from a slave state, which they did. His descendants are very much the same type of man that he was himself ; strong, prudent, economical, honest. careful, despising all sham and pretense, and hating oppression and in- justice in every form.

John Patton, of Ohio,

so designated to distinguish him from his father, having the same name, but who never resided in Ohio, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, June 9, 1787. His mother was Martha Sharp, the daughter of a Presby- terian minister of Glasgow, Scotland. He was married to Phoebe Taylor in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1813. While he was courting her, he used to visit her about every ninety days, riding over the Natural Bridge, his home being on the opposite side of the bridge from her. He resided in Rockbridge County until 1816, when he moved to Wayne Township, Adams County, where he purchased a farm, His wife was aunt of Bishop Taylor, of the M. E. Church, so long a missionary in Africa. She was born February 2, 1794. They joined the Associate Reformed Church in North Liberty as soon as they came from Virginia and attended it all their lives. They had ten children born to them, four sons and six daughters. Martha, the eldest, was born in Virginia. She married the Rev. Robert Stewart, who was pastor of the church at Cherry Fork for nineteen years. She died in 1852. His second son, James T., born October 25, 1815, died in 1835. He had been attending Miami University, and was expecting to become a minister of the Gospel. Another son, John Elder, lived many years near North Liberty on the Winchester :oad. Nathaniel C. Patton, one of the principal farmers of the county, lives near Harshaville. Henry Patton died unmarried. Of the daughters, Larissa married Alexander Caskey and had a large family. One of her sons is John P. Caskey, of the firm of Harsha & Caskey, at Portsmouth, Ohio. A daughter, Elizabeth, married Robert Morrison, of Eckmansville; Phoebe Caroline married S. D. McIntire, and Nancy and Margaret each married a Kirkpatrick. They also had an adopted child, Phoebe C. Finley.

John Patton died October 7, 1853, aged sixty-five years. His wife died October 7, 1863. aged sixty-nine years.

John Patton and his wife were the very strictest Presbyterians. There was family worship morning and evening, grace before meals, and a return- ing of thanks after, and Sunday was devoted entirely to public and private worship, including the catechism. When anyone visited their house, he was not asked if he were a member of any church, but he was called on to say grace or take part in worship, and if he was not in a condition to do so he was put in the position to be asked to be excused. In those days 39a

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religion was a severe and awful matter, and they made it a part of their every day life. Sunday was a day when only public or private worship, reading of the scriptures or catechising, and nothing else, was to be thought of. They believed that the promises were for them and their children, and acted on their belief. Their lives were models for all the world, but alas, how the world has changed since that time. The severity of the religion of the Pilgrim Fathers was no greater than that of Rockbridge County, Vir- ginia, Presbyterians, but with all their religious severity, they did not for- get to make and save money and had all that thrift which belonged alike to the New England Puritan and the north of Ireland Protestant Irishman.

John Pennywitt

was born on Gift Ridge, Monroe Township, October 28, 1810, and died at Washington, D. C., May 4, 1882.

In 1740 there landed at the port of New York a young immigrant from Alsace-Lorraine. His name was John Pennywitt, or Pennwitt. (The name was afterwards variously spelled Penniwitt, Pennywit, Benny- witt, etc.) He was a Huguenot; his family had been well-nigh exterm- inated and he had been persecuted and driven from his native land because of his religious faith. He was by occupation a miller, and found employ- ment at his trade at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He married his employer's daughter, and with his bride started to join the Huguenot colony in South Carolina. On the way thither they passed up the Shenandoah Valley and were so impressed by the beauty of the scenery and the fertility of the soil that they decided to locate there. He built the first mill in the valley, the foundation of which is still standing near Mount Jackson. He had two sons and several daughters. One son, John, emigrated to the West and came to Adams County. He was a giant in stature and his strength was remarkable. He could carry two barrels of flour at once, one under each arm. His remains now lie in the cemetery at Quinn Chapel. He had four sons, one of whom, Mark, succeeded to the home farm on Gift Ridge. Mark had six sons, one of whom, Samuel, was accidentally killed when a youth. The five surviving brothers, John, James, Reuben, David and Mark, lived to ripe old age. They were all large and muscular. Their aggregate weight was more than a thousand pounds, and their combined strength doubtless exceeded that of any other family of equal numbers in southern Ohio. As to their physical development they constituted per- haps the most remarkable family that Adams County has ever produced. And they were equally noted for their sterling integrity and irreproachable character.

The eldest of these brothers, John (the subject of this sketch), was married in early manhood to Ann Wade, a schoolmate of his boyhood days, the daughter of a near neighbor. They reared a family of four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living at the date of this writing (Septem- ber, 1899). At the age of nineteen he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Naylor's Meeting House. To that denomination he continued faithful to the end. He organized a class made up of his im- mediate neighbors, donated the ground and was the chief contributor to the fund for erecting Quinn Chapel, and the main support for many years of the society that worshipped there. During a considerable portion of his life he was one of the stewards of West Union circuit in which was embraced Quinn Chapel.

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In his younger days he served as Justice of the Peace and as Captain of Militia. He was an old-line Whig. When the Republican party came into existence he identified himself with that political organization. To the principles of that party he was firmly attached. To the institution of slavery he was always a relentless enemy. His party honored him with a nomination to the State Legislature and elected him County Commis- sioner. While serving in the latter capacity he was largely instrumental in securing the construction of improved roads throughout the county. He was Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee for several years, during which period his party was generally successful at the polls ; but for his right arm he would not have used a single dollar to corrupt an American voter.

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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 73

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan Publication date: 1900 Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers Number of Pages: 1101

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers
Number of Pages: 1101