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 82

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 82

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In 1797, he married the widow Earle, and soon afterward moved with his family to what is now known as Adams County, Ohio. He purchased one hundred and thirty-six acres of land about twelve miles east of Mays- ville. In 1798, he built a two-story, hewed log house, which in later years was weatherboarded and a stone foundation built. It stands to-day in a good, habitable condition and is occupied by one of his grandsons. About the same time, Mr. Treber built a gunsmith shop, where he made from the raw material, every part of a gun, and did such smith work as was needed on the farm.

This house being located on Zane's Trace, the only thoroughfare be- tween Wheeling, Va., and Limestone, Ky., and being large and com- modious for that day, many travelers found food and shelter there, and the place soon became known as "Travelers' Rest."

All the noted politicians of the day from the Southwest traveled over this road on their way to and from Washington; the Wickcliffs, the Shelbys, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson were often patrons, and many times for brief seasons, sojourners and guests at the noted place, where they were always sure to find the best entertainment for man and beast the country afforded. The principal meats were venison and turkey.

There were no children by his second marriage, and after the death of the second Mrs. Treber, Mr. Treber married Miss Katherine Williams.

The children of his first marriage were Jacob; Elizabeth, who married Simon Wood, of Scioto County, Ohio; John, who located in Butler County, Ohio, and married Elizabeth Crawford; Marion, who died unmarried: Anna, who married Oliver Thoroman, of Adams County, Ohio; Sarah, who married Isaac Fisher, of Butler County, Ohio; Henry, who located in Butler County, and Joseph, who located in Pike County, Ohio.

The children by the third marriage were Joel, who married Anna Mc- Feeters, and Benjamin, who died in infancy.

In John Treber were embodied all the characteristics of his Holland ancestors in a marked degree. His complexion was fair, his eyes blue, and his hair brown. He was strong of stature and physically very powerful. He could hold at arms' length a forty-five pound weight suspended on his little finger, and at the same time, with a piece of chalk in his hand, write his name on the wall with perfect ease.

In 1825, he exchanged his home on Zane's Trace with his son Jacob for another farm about two miles west where he died a few years later.

Jacob Treber, the eldest of the family of John Treber, was born near Lancaster City, Lancaster County, Pa., September 18, 1779, and was the only one of the sons who continued to reside in Adams County. In 1810, he married Jane Thoroman, who died in 1829, and to them were born the following children : John, Oliver, Henry, Jacob, Mary Ann, Samuel, Joseph, Sarah, Elizabeth, William, Minerva and Thomas Jefferson.

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In 1833, he married Mary Ann, daughter of Jesse and Rachel Free- land, of Adams County, and of this marriage there were three children, LaFayette, Wilson and Louisa J.

Shortly after he became the owner of the homestead, he added to it another one hundred acres by purchase. Here he continued to live until the date of his death, January 4, 1875, leaving surviving him, his widow, twelve children, sixty-four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. His widow died at Manchester, Ohio, October 30, 1892. In 1811, Mr. Treber, with George Sample, made a trip to New Orleans on a fiat-boat loaded with produce for that market. On their way, they, with others, bound on a like voyage, tied their boats at New Madrid, Mo. At this time occurred the terrible earthquake at that place, a short description of which is here given in Mrs. Treber's own language:

"The first shock took place while the boat was lying at the shore, in company with several others. At this period there was danger appre- hended from the Southern Indians, it being soon after the battle of Tippecanoe, and for safety several boats kept in company for mutual de- fense in case of attack. In the middle of the night there was a terrible shock and a jamming of the boats so that the crew were all awakened and hurried on deck with their weapons of defense in their hands thinking the Indians were rushing on board. The ducks, geese, swans and various other aquatic birds, whose numberless flocks were quietly resting in the eddies of the river, were thrown into the greatest tumult, and with loud screams expressed their alarm and terror. The noise and commotion was soon hushed, and nothing could be discovered to excite apprehension, so that the boatmen concluded that the shock was occasioned by the falling in of a large mass of the bank near them. As soon as it was light enough to dis- tinguish objects the crew were all up making ready to depart.

"Directly a loud roaring and hissing was heard, like the escape of steam from a boiler, accompanied by the most violent agitation of the shore and tremendous boiling up of the waters of the Mississippi in hugh swells, rolling the waters below back on the descending stream and tossing the boats about so violently, that the men with difficulty could keep on their feet. The sand-bars and points of islands gave way, swallowed up in the tremendous bosom of the river, carrying down with them the cottonwood trees, cracking and crashing, tossing their arms to and fro, as if sensible of their danger, while they disappeared beneath the flood. The water of the river which the day before was tolerably clear, being rather low, was. now changed to a reddish hue and became thick with mud thrown up from its bottom, while the surface, lashed violently by the agitation of the earth beneath, was covered with foam, which gathering in masses the size of a barrel, floated along on the trembling surface. The earth along the shore opened in wide fissures, and, closing again, threw the water, sand and mud in huge jets higher than the tops of the trees.

"The atmosphere was filled with thick vapors or gas, to which the light imparted a purple tinge, altogether different in appearance from the autumnal hues of Indian summer or that of smoke. From the temporary check to the current, by the heaving up of the bottom, the sinking of the sand-bar and banks into the bed of the river, it rose in a few minutes five or six feet ; and as if impatient of the restraint, again rushing forward with redoubled impetuosity, hurried along the boats now set loose by the

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horror-stricken boatmen, as in less danger on the water than at the shore, where the falling banks threatened at every moment to destroy them, or carry them down in the vortex of the sinking masses."

They reached New Orleans in safety, and after disposing of the boat and cargo they returned home on foot, going by the way of Lake Pont- chartrain, Mussel Shoals, Nashville and Limestone.

Mr. Treber was a private soldier in the War of 1812, enlisting in a company commanded by Captain Dan Collier, recruited at Chillicothe, Ohio. He was Justice of the Peace of Tiffin Township from 1828 to 1831, and County Commissioner from 1833 to 1836. He was a man of un- impeachable character and integrity, universally respected and esteemed by his neighbors, who not infrequently sought his advice on questions of public and private import. He was an extensive reader, and probably no one in the county was better versed in history or the topics of the time. He was a lifelong, active and earnest Democrat of the Jefferson school, and for that statesman cast his first vote for President. While he was never a member of any church, yet he observed the Sabbath and often attended religious services, and while he was well versed in Scriptures, he disputed with no one on questions of faith or belief.

He was a man of remarkable personal appearance and vigor-more than six feet in height, slender and lithe-features sharp and angular, eyes blue and piercing, nose slightly Roman. He always stood erect, even in old age.

After a long and useful life he rests in the family cemetery beneath the shades of the old homestead.

Sometime after the removal of the brothers to other parts of the country, they changed their names to Traber, but how or under what cir- cumstances is not known. It is supposed that the "a" was substituted for the "e," because the German "e" is pronounced in German "a" as in "day;" hence, a German would pronounce "Treber," "Traber," and so they came to spell it as it was pronounced.

Several of Jacob's children after leaving Adams County went to But- ler County, and engaged in business in the neighborhood of their uncles, and to avoid explanation and confusion they wrote their names "Traber," like their uncles and their cousins, and it would seem that in no distant time that must become the family name, however, much it may be regretted by many members of the family.

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PART IV. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

By EMMONS B. STIVERS and NELSON W. EVANS

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

James Allison,

of Seaman, Adams County, Ohio, is one of the most progressive and suc- cessful farmers of Scott Township. He is a man whose excellent judg- ment, strong common sense and good business qualities are recognized by all. He comes of an old and prominent Pennsylvania family, and was born in that State on the second of October, 1831. His father, David Allison, as well as his mother, whose maiden name was Lucette Andre Mckibben, were natives of Pennsylvania. They reared eight children, five sons and three daughters, of whom our subject was the third. David Allison was a farmer all his life 'and lived to a ripe old age.

James Allison received his early education in the district school in the primitive school building at Cedar Springs, Clinton County, Pennsyl- vania. He early turned his attention to farming which he had determined should be his life work, and ever since, he has been active and energetic in this occupation, except two years in which he was engaged in the mer- cantile business.

On October 14, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, as a Private, and was afterwards pro- moted to Second Sergeant of his company, and in May, 1862, was pro- moted to First Lieutenant. He served with distinction and participated in the battles of Lebanon, Tennessee, and of Stone River, at Murfrees- boro. In the latter battle in the cavalry, his horse fell and disabled him so he was sent to the hospital, and while there, was stricken with typhoid pneumonia, and as a consequence, was discharged for disability, May 3, 1863. In one of the charges made by his regiment there was captured a Confederate flag, which Mr. Allison obtained and keeps as a trophy.

He has always been a Republican in his political views, but has never sought or held any office, either in township or county. He is an earnest thinker, however, on political questions, a strong advocate of advanced political thought, and is alive to the interests and welfare of his county and community.

On the twenty-eighth of November, 1865, he was married to Miss Sarah E. McDowell, of Centre County, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Allison is a woman of many fine qualities and ably performs her duties as wife and mother. She is an earnest, consistent, Christian woman, and a faithful worker in the Presbyterian Church of Seaman. She was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1845, the second daughter of P. W. and Kathrene McDowell, the latter of whom died November 5, 1897, at the age of seventy-eight. Her father is living and well at the age of eighty-

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two, is active and energetic, an old-fashioned Jacksonian Democrat and one of Central Pennsylvania's most substantial citizens.

Mr. and Mrs. Allison resided in Pennsylvania for three years after their marriage, and then removed to Adams County in 1869, where he purchased a farm on the West Fork of Brush Creek in Scott Township, which is the very best in the township. It is bountifully supplied with run- ning water and everything about the place indicates that the owner is a man of enterprise and progress. They lived on this farm from 1869 until 1896, when they purchased a home in the village of Seaman, which they remodeled and beautified and reside there in great comfort. Mr. Allison owns another farm of one hundred and eighty acres in Oliver Township. Their children are Kate Conley, wife of Dr. John S. Montgomery, of Huntsville, Logan County, Ohio; David M., who is in the hardware and implement business at Seaman, a very industrious and energetic young man; Nettie Andre, wife of Oscar McCreight. They . reside on the home farm. Mrs. Montgomery has two sons, Willard Allison, and John McDowell.

Mr. Allison is highly esteemed in the community and is honored and respected by all.

Rev. Eli Purchas Adams,

born June 24, 1814, in Washington County, is a son of Isaac and Dorcas Adams. He graduated at Marietta College in 1842. For two years after this he engaged in teaching school. In 1844, he entered Lane Seminary, then under the presidency of Rev. Lyman Beecher. He studied here two years, but was unable to complete his course on account of poor health. In 1846, he went to Helena, Kentucky, fifteen miles from Maysville, and taught a school there until 1859. On July 2, 1846, he was married to Martha Slack, daughter of Col. Jacob Slack, of Mason County, Ky. He had two children of this marriage, one died August 20, 1853, and its mother ten days later. The remaining child died January 15, 1858. He was ordained by Harmony Presbytery in Kentucky in 1853. On March 19, 1856, he was married to Miss Lucy A. Bartlett, of Marietta, Ohio, the daughter of a prominent Congregational minister, a lady eminently fitted for the difficult position of a minister's wife. Of this marriage there were eight children, six sons and two daughters. One son, William N., died in childhood. The others are living. Francis Bartlett Adams is a druggist in Perry, Rolls County, Mo., and Isaac Watts Adams is a farmer in the same place. Gilbert Purchas Adams is a farmer near Vanceburg, Ky., and Charles Baird Adams, a physician at the same place. Elizabeth Loughry Adams, a daughter, was a teacher at Vanceburg, Ky. She was married November 5, 1896, to Scott McGovney Foster, of Sandy Springs, Adams County. Alfred Hamilton Adams, a son, lost both his feet alight- ing from a freight train. Rev. Adams' daughter, Margaret Alice, lived until June 6, 1886, when she was drowned in the Ohio River by falling from a steamboat. She was then in her twenty-eighth year. She had a lovely Christian character and was her father's right hand in church and Sabbath school work. She had been a teacher of music for several years and was most highly esteemed by all who knew her.

In May, 1859, Rev. Adams was called to the churches of Rome and Sandy Springs. Here his life work was done. He was pastor of these

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churches until 1873, when he was called to Hanging Rock for two years, and for three years he resided on his farm below Vanceburg, Ky. He re- turned to Sandy Springs in 1878 and continued his work there until 1895 when the infirmities of age compelled him to retire. In January, 1899, he was taken with what proved to be his last illness. He survived till March 15, 1899, when he passed away in peace. He realized that this sickness was his last. He said his work was done and only regretted that it was not better done. His faith was firm and his hope assured. He was beyond all troubles and his last hours were in the Peace of God. 'His life had been one of trial and privation, of many disappointments, and of much affliction and sorrow, but in the midst of all of them, his Christian virtues shone out with a resplendence which called forth the admiration of all who knew him. The nremory of his labors should be preserved to all who follow him, and while remembered, will be a Beacon Light pointing to the Savior of Men as his Guide and Master.

One who was his pupil for two and a half years, and who is a man well adavnced in life, says of him that he had a fine tact for instructing others, occupied the first rank as an educator, and as the principal of an academy of Kentucky, did much to fit young persons for a college course and impress his own well rounded Christian character upon their minds.

A clergyman who knew him, says he was of a quiet and retiring dis- position, but under pressure of duty and in behalf of right, was persistent and unflinching. He was a Christian man, well versed in the Bible. His piety was scriptural, enlightened and stable. His life was pure and honest, characterized by uniform gentleness and kindness. As a preacher, he was thoroughly orthodox and his sermons were instructive.

Irwin M. Anderson,

a resident of Clyde, Ohio, was born August 7, 1845, at West Union. His father was James Anderson, who has a separate sketch herein. Irwin Anderson went to school at West Union in the old stone schoolhouse which stood where the house occupied by John Knox now stands.

In June, 1863, he enlisted in Company G, 129th O. V. I., and served until the eighth of March following. He enlisted August 25, 1864, in the Seventh Ohio Cavalry, and was mustered out with the company, July 1, 1865. In both services he was in the campaigns about East Tennessee. He was in the affair at Cumberland Gap on September 9, 1863; in Burn- side's campaign against Longstreet that fall and winter. He was engaged in the siege of Knoxville in the Fall of 1864, and was in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee; Pulaski, Tennessee; Plantersville and Selma, Alabama, in 1865. After the war was over, he went to school in Xenia, Ohio, in 1865 and 1866. He then located in Mexico, Missouri, and was in the west and southwest from 1866 to 1870. In the latter year, he located in Camden, Ohio. He was married October 14, 1873, to Miss Emma J. Smith, of Oxford, Ohio. He resided there until 1877. In that year, he located in Mansfield, Ohio, and worked for the Aultman-Taylor Company. He resided in Marion from 1880 to 1883, when he located in Clyde, Ohio, which has since been his home. His wife died May 10, 1895. He has six children, five sons and a daughter. His son, Carl J., is an art- ist in Springfield, Ohio, and illustrates the "Woman's Home Companion."

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His daughter, Stella, lives in Chicago with her brothers. Sherwood is a bookkeeper in Chicago, as is his son Irwin. His son, Ray, is a student, and his son, Earl, is in an art school there. They all reside at No. 1036 Adams Street, and the sister keeps house for them.

Mr. Anderson takes a great interest in army organizations. For four years he has been engaged in preparing entertainments for various Grand Army Posts. He possesses considerable dramatic talent, and has been very successful in his work.

Carey C. Alexander,

of Eckmansville, was born on the farm where he now resides, June 1, 1852. His father was Samuel Alexander, a son of James Alexander, a native of Fincastle, Virginia, who first came to Lexington, Kentucky, in the early days and afterwards to Adams County. He married Mary John, a mem- ber of an old Virginia family. James Alexander was born June 22, 1791, and died March 3, 1871. His wife was born January 10, 1792, and died March 12, 1852. Their son, Samuel, was born in Virginia, April 3, 1815, and came to Adams County with his parents making the trip overland in wagons. He married Miss Elizabeth Robe daughter of David Robe, of Scotch ancestry, of Hills Fork. She was born February 14, 1819.

Carey C. Alexander was reared on a farm, but having a natural talent for music has given much time to the cultivation of that faculty. He has taught vocal and instrumental music for many years with great success. He is particularly successful as a bandmaster and leader of choirs. He married Miss Mary Allison, a daughter of John Allison, of Cherry Fork, February 26, 1877. Their children inherit musical talent, and with their father maintain a fine orchestra. They are Roscoe, Bessie, Ralph, Flor- ence, Charles, Delbert and Lester.

Mr. Alexander is a member of the Presbyterian Church and an elder in that organization. He is Sunday school superintendent and choir leader at Eckmansville. He is also a member of Sunbeam Lodge, No. 631, K. of P., at Cherry Fork.

. Col. James Arbuthnot

was born at Greenfield, Ohio, September 3, 1841. He served seventeen months as an enlisted man in Company E, 91st O. V. I. He was made Sec- ond Lieutenant of the 19th U. S. Infantry, December 18, 1863, and was afterwards promoted to First Lieutenant and Adjutant of his regiment. He was badly wounded at the battle of the "Mine" in front of Petersburg, Vir- ginia, July 30, 1864. He resigned January 23, 1866, and at once moved to Brookfield, Missouri, and engaged in farming. He studied law in the office of Judge W. H. Bromler and Hon. S. P. Huston, of Brookfield, Missouri, and since his admission has been engaged in the practice of his profession except from 1883 to 1885, when he was postmaster at Brook- field. He was elected Representative from Linn County, in the. Thirty- fourth General Assembly of Missouri in 1866 as a Republican when the county was strongly Democratic. He served three terms as City Attorney of Brookfield, at the time the city was establishing electric lights and water- works. In 1882, he organized a company of National Guards at Brook-

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field, Missouri, and was Captain for several years. His company com- peted in a number of prize drills and never failed to take the prize.

In 1891, in the organization of the Fourth Regiment of Missouri Na- tional Guards, he was elected Colonel and held that position until he re- signed. The regiment he organized went into the service of the United States during the Spanish War.

On the third of July, 1867, he was married to Sarah E. Beemer. He has been for thirty-two years a member of the Presbyterian Church at Brookfield, Missouri, in which his wife and five children are all members.

He is an intelligent and high-minded man of unusual attainments and breadth of knowledge. He has taken, and takes, an active interest in pub- lic affairs and is a walking encyclopedia of political and military informa- tion. He was the most perfect type of an officer and soldier in the Civil War. He was never known to use an improper or profane word. He was always ready for any emergency. In the presence of the enemy, he was as brave as the best soldier or officer who ever adorned the pages of history. With the battle once over, he was as tender and symapthetic with the wounded, friend or foe, as any woman. He was honorable in all his dealings with his fellow officers and scorned all intrigues and subterfuges so common in the army. He never failed in the performance of any duty assigned to him. He was gallant, brave and honorable, with emphasis on all the terms. The qualities of his soul were tested severely and many times in his army service and the qualities ascribed to him always appeared. As he was in the army, so he has been ever since, and the people of Adams County can always feel proud of the life record Colonel Arbuthnot has made.

Ezekiel Arnold,

farmer, of Locust Grove, was born December 23, 1833, near Locust Grove, in Adams County, Ohio, the son of Josephus Arnold and Kate Pemberton, his wife. Josephus Arnold was born in 1788, on Long Island, in the state of New York. He learned the trade of shoemaking. He was in the War of 1812, having enlisted from New York City. He served there, and di- rectly after the war came to Adams County. He married Kate Pemberton on July 16, 1828, the daughter of William Pemberton, who was born in 1750, in Culpeper County, Virginia. Josephus Arnold and wife had three children, Ezekiel and Mansfield, sons, and Indiana, a daughter, all of whom are living at or near Locust Grove. Ezekiel, our subject, was born December 23, 1833, near Locust Grove, and has resided there ever since. His mother was born January 10, 1795, and died September 30, 1889.

He attended the common schools, and was trained to be a farmer, which occupation he has followed all his life. His father, Josephus Arn- old, died on April 10, 1858, at the age of sixty-nine years. On August 30, 1862, our subject enlisted, at the age of thirty, in Company E, 117th O. V. I., Captain James A. Murphy, and served until the twentieth of July, 1865. June 10, 1885, he was married to Miss Mary Tarlton, and has two sons, Josephus A., aged eleven years, and Jehu, aged nine years. His first wife died and he married Miss Cynthia Garmon, June 10, 1896. She was born June 5, 1859. Mr. Arnold has a tasteful and pleasant home in Locust Grove. He takes great pride in the fact that he was a soldier of the Civil War; also, that his father was in the War of 1812; but most of all

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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 82

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