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 85
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Mr. Burwell's friends are almost all in the cemetery south of town, but the younger generation respect him for his sterling qualities. He has been industrious and energetic. He has persevered and made his chosen occupation a success. He has kept ahead of the Sheriff at all times and been honest and honorable in all his dealings, and when Gabriel foots up his account in the ledger of life,he will find the good qualities will over- balance all those faults and sins his enemies attribute him, and he will receive his pass which St. Peter will honor at the wicket gate, and all we wish is that it may be a long time before he will have to apply for it.
Col. William E. Bundy.
William Edgar Bundy was born in Jackson County, Ohio, on the site now occupied by the city of Wellston, October 4, 1866. His father, William Sanford Bundy, was wounded while in the service of his country, near Bean Station, Tennessee, as a private soldier, and died from the effects of his wound, January 4, 1867. His mother, Kate Thompson Bundy, was killed in an accident two years later, and their young son was raised and educated by his grandfather, Hon H. S. Bundy.
The subject of this sketch was graduated from the Ohio University in 1890 (of which institution he is now a Trustee) as a Bachelor of Arts,
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and has since attained the degree of Master of Arts. For two years he was editor of the Wellston Argus, and then came to Cincinnati, attended the Law School, and was graduated therefrom in 1890. During the years 1890 and 1891 he was Secretary of the Board of Elections of Hamilton County. He has been four times elected Solicitor of Norwood, and has a beautiful home in that thriving suburb. He was married May 8, 1890, to Miss Eva E. Leedom, daughter of the late Ex-Congressman, John P. Leedom, of Adams County, and they have one son, William Sanford Bundy (named after the child's martyred grandfather).
Mr. Bundy was Commander of the Ohio Division, Sons of Veterans, in 1890, and was Commander-in-Chief of that order for the United States in 1894-5. He has always taken an active and practical interest in poli- tics. In 1898, he was President of the Ohio Republican League, and during that year was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, for a term of four years. Through his own efforts and industry he has attained a leading position at the Hamilton County bar.
Ambrose O. Bowman
was born in Huntington Township, Brown County, Ohio, April 6, 1863, on the farm now occupied by Rev. T. J. Bowman. George Bowman, great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania, and came down the river in the old keel-boating times, settled on the same farm, which, in turn, has been occupied by Benjamin Bowman, grandfather, and Patrick Bowman, father of our subject. Benjamin Bowman mar- ried Mary McElwee, a woman of more than ordinary intelligence, and a lifelong advocate of the cause of temperance. His mother's name is Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Rachael (Housh) Senteny, of Vir- ginia stock.
Our subject attended school until he was fifteen years of age, then went to the Lebanon University. In 1880, he began teaching in Lewis and Mason Counties, Kentucky. He attended the Southwestern Normal School at Georgetown, in 1883, and 1884, and taught in Brown County, Ohio, till 1894, when he located at Youngsville, and taught at that place in 1894 and 1895. From 1896 to 1899, he occupied the position of Prin- cipal of the Bentonville schools.
Mr. Bowman is a natural born musician and has been successful as a teacher of vocal music and conductor of orchestra, band and choir.
He was married March 21, 1887, to Laura E. Johnson, daughter of William and Cindora (Shaw) Johnson, and great-granddaughter of Rus- sell Shaw, the founder of Russellville, Brown County, Ohio. They have had four children. Frank died at the age of two years; William, aged seven years ; George, aged four years, and Idella, the baby.
From April, 1899, to October of the same year, he was engaged in canvassing for and writing sketches for this work, the History of Adams County, Ohio. He is highly esteemed as a citizen, and is regarded in music and the common branches, as a teacher of more than ordinary ability, and he has brought the Bentonville schools into a high standing in the period in which he has had charge of them.
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Newton Dunlap Baldridge
was born December 24, 1855, in the same house in which he now resides. His father was James Wilson Baldridge, and his mother, Margaret McVey. For further information as to his ancestry, we refer to the sketch herein of his brother, James W. Balbridge.
Our subject spent his boyhood on his father's farm, (now his,) and received a common school education. On November 3, 1881, he was married to Mary Emma, daughter of James and Elizabeth Mccutcheon, of Manchester, Ohio. They have five children : Delos, Delva, Florence, Blanchard, and John, all of great promise. In his political views, Mr. Baldridge is a Republican. He is one of the thoroughly reliable men of Wayne Township. He is observant of everything in the community and is remarkably energetic. He is prompt in all his engagements and honest in all his dealings with others. He has never sought a place in, and would not become a part of, the administration of public affairs, but he exerts a strong and beneficial interest in his community. He is deeply interested in public education and is an earnest advocate and supporter of whatever is for the good of the public. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church of Cherry Fork, and a ruling elder therein. He performs his duty in that office with the same zeal and earnestness which he gives to all he does. As a farmer, he is a model for all of the name. He makes farming an honor, a pleasure, and a success. He is always ready to give any good cause a helping hand. 'He is a man of strong convictions and of the strictest fidelity in every relation of life. He is respected as a man, esteemed as a citizen, admired as a farmer, and relied upon as a true Christian. No one in his community stands any higher than he, and no one is more deserving of such estimation.
James W. Baldridge
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was born October 14, 1833, at the old Baldridge homestead. He is a son of James W. and Margaret (McVey) Baldridge. His father was born in 1807, and died in 1890. His mother was born in 1811 and died about 1881. She was a daughter of Col. William McVey. His grand- father was a native of Pennsylvania, but came to Adams County in 1807. and settled first at Killenstown, where our subject was born. They lived at Killenstown for about fifteen years and then removed to Cherry Fork. His maternal grandfather (McVey) came from Virginia. The mother of our subject was born in Virginia. Col. McVey settled on the land on which North Liberty is built.
Our subject received a common school education,and such instruction as he could obtain from the North Liberty Academy. He was brought up a farmer. He enlisted in Company G, 129th O. V. I., in July, 1863, and served until the following March. He was married to Mary Stewart, October 12, 1861. The children of this marriage are as follows; R. S Baldridge, of Butte City, Montana; Finsher Wilson, in the Klondike gold region ; Anna Jane, wife of Wylie McKee, of Milroy, Ohio; John Isaac, of Milroy, Ohio; Eva Leore; James Roscoe, who lives at Butte City, Montana, and Margaret. Mr. Baldridge was married to Miss Mar- garet Jane Crawford, daughter of Robert Crawford, December 28, 1887.
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He has always been a Republican, and was elected Land Appraiser of Wayne Township in 1890. He is a member of the U. P. Church at Cherry Fork. He owns a farm on the Youngsville turnpike, but lives in the village of North Liberty.
He is an active, energetic, industrious citizen, fully alive to all the questions of the day. Socially, he is a pleasant and agreeable companion and is the soul and life of any circle in which he is present. Men like he make life tolerable and agreeable.
Thomas L. Bratton
was born in Locust Grove, Ohio, December 17, 1874, the son of Charles H. Bratten and Caroline Leedom, his wife. He has an intermingling of Scotch, Irish, English and Swedish blood in his veins. He is one of seven children. As a boy, he was honest and good-natured, but would al- ways fight if necessary. He was content to have but one friend among the boys, and would attach himself greatly to that one. He was very fond, when a boy, of working about his father's shop, on any kind of machinery where he was permitted to do so. He was always very fond of the woods and fields, and nothing pleased him more than the privilege of strolling through them. Ezekiel Arnold gave him the name of "The World's Wanderer," for this trait.
He attended the village schools of Locust Grove until he was eighteen years of age. He then began teaching. His first school was at Palestine, Franklin Township, Adams County. The next year he was engaged as Principal of the Rarden schools in Scioto County. He has been engaged in Scioto County for six years with good success.
At school, he always ranked first in his classes. He has attended the Ohio Normal University at Ada, Ohio, and expects to graduate there soon. What education he has, has been obtained through his own efforts.
Mr. Bratten is a young man of the highest character. When he be- lieves in a thing, he believes in it with all the force and power that is in him, and when he has formed a purpose, he carries it out. He inherited a disposition for information and study and is very fond of reading the best literature. He is a very successful teacher, as is shown by the fact that he has been employed in the same school year after year.
William P. Breckinridge,
of Scott Township, Adams County, Ohio, was born October 7, 1831. He is the son of William and Martha Mckinley (McCreight) Breckinridge. His grandfather, Judge Breckinridge, came from Paris, Kentucky, to Fincastle, in Brown County, in 1804. Judge Breckinridge married a Miss Wright, of Bourbon County, Kentucky. They had thirteen children, six daughters and seven sons. William, the third son, is the father of our subject. Judge Breckinridge bought a thousand acres of land near Fin- castle, which he afterward sold and removed to Pontiac, Illinois, some time in the forties. In 1834, William Breckinridge, the father of the sub- ject of our sketch, with four other families, moved from Brown County to Livingston County, Illinois, but not being satisfied, he returned after a few days' stay in Illinois, to Clinton County, Indiana, where he died on the fifteenth of August, 1846.
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Judge Robert Breckinridge was born September 27, 1774, in Rock- bridge County, Virginia. His wife (Mary Wright), was born September 17, 1774, in the same county. They removed to Bourbon County, Ken- tucky, where eight of their children were born. He moved to Eagle Township in 1808, and while there served one term as Associate Judge. In distributing his land, he gave each of his sons one hundred acres, and each of his daughters fifty acres, and sold the remainder of his land to Isaac Earles, when he emigrated to Illinois in the Spring of 1836. He served as Associate Judge of Brown County from 1825 to 1836. He died September 23, 1838. He was Captain of a company in the War of 1812. The mother of our subject was a daughter of David McCreight. He, with three other brothers, emigrated from South Carolina and settled in Scott Township, near Tranquility.
William P. Breckinridge, our subject, married Eliza N. Campbell, daughter of Major Robert Campbell, one of the pioneers of Buck Run. He, with five brothers, emigrated from Buck Run, Rockbridge County, Virginia, and all settled in Scott Township. Their descendants are scattered through the West. Our subject came to Ohio in the Fall of 1848 to Brown County, and went to school to John Eadinfield, who is still living. He came to Scott Township, Adams County, March 1, 1849, and he was married on the twenty-fifth of December, 1872. They have seven sons and two daughters. His father and grandfather were Democrats in their political associations, but all the family were members of the As- sociate Reform Church at Cherry Fork. Our subject is a Republican and a member of the United Presbyterian Church at Tranquility.
He enlisted in Company G, 172nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on the second of May, 1864, and served until the third of September, 1864. Samuel Laird was the Captain of the company and William A. Blair was Second Lieutenant.
A friend that has known him for thirty years says that he is beyond reproach as a man, a citizen, a neighbor and Christian gentleman. He has been an elder of the United Presbyterian Church at Tranquility for forty years.
Larkin N. Covert,
of Wamsley, was born in Brown County, Ohio, January 19, 1832. His father was Tillman Covert and his mother, Mary A. Riley. October 15, 1854, he married Martha A. Dalton, daughter of George W. Dalton, of Brown County, by whom he has had the following children: Nancy A., Arthur N., Mary P., Sarah M., Martha E., and Samuel L. In 1861, he enlisted as a Private in Company G, 70th Regiment, O. V. I., and par- ticipated in the many battles in which that regiment was engaged, from Shiloh till his honorable discharge at Fort McAlister, December 31, 1864.
Mr. Covert is a farmer, and affiliates with the Republican party. He is not a member of any church.
William O. Campbell,
of Peebles, was born at Locust Grove, in Adams County, August 10, 1873. His father was James Q. Campbell and his mother's maiden name was Catherine J. Manahan. She was married May 28, 1849, to Charles Wilford Young. He died May 7, 1856, and she married James Q. Camp-
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bell, November 17, 1860. As the name implies, Mr. Campbell. is de- scended from Scottish Highlanders. His father's parents were born in Maryland and removed, when young, to Butler County, Pennsylvania, where they resided until his father's death. His grandparents located in Maryland about 1765. James Q. Campbell was a member of the State Militia of Pennsylvania for five years. He was a member of the Militia of Ohio for five years, and served as a Private in Company K, 14Ist O. V. 1., in 1864. Our subject's mother was born in Adams County in 1830 and reared there. She is of the Tener and Porter families who settled in Maryland in 1700, emigrating from Holland and Wales. These two families located in Ohio in 1802, part settling in Adams County and a part in Ross County.
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Our subject was educated in the Public schools of his home and began teaching in 1890 at Jaybird. He taught thereafter in the Winters and attended Normal Schools in the Summers of 1890, 1891 and 1892. From 1892 to 1894, he attended school and completed his studies in Cleve- land, in 1894. From that time till 1898, he followed the profession of school teacher.
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In 1898, he quit the profession of teaching and took up that of travel- ing salesman for art works and has made his business a great success. In politics, he is, and has always been, a Republican. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At present he is pushing a patent, No. 633,503, known as the C. & M. self-adjusting gig saddle for all kinds of harness. In this enterprise, he is associated with William Mickey, of Peebles, and they are making arrangements for the manufacture of their patented device. Their invention seems to have great merit and it is to he hoped they will make their fortunes by it.
Our subject is an ambitious young man. He early qualified himself as a teacher and showed himself very efficient and competent in that pro- fession. Everywhere he taught, he won the good-will and friendship of his pupils and their parents. His success prompted further efforts and he attended a number of Normal schools and took up the study of higher branches. He also took a business course. He has successfully carried on an extensive work for a publishing house. He is of a genial and social nature and is fond of music. He has good conversational qualities. He is free from the use of spirits, liquors and narcotics. He is very energetic and industrious, and is disposed to lead in everything he undertakes.
Mr. Campbell has all those qualities which promise for him great success in life.
John Patton Cashey
was born January 1, 1849. His father was Alexander Caskey and his mother was Larissa Patton, born in Wayne Township. He attended the District school and the North Liberty Academy, and labored on his father's farm until he was twenty-seven years of age, when he became a trader. On November 9, 1872, he was married to Tina Patton, daughter of George Patton, of Harshaville, and in 1873, he located at Harshaville, and re- mained there until 1889, farming and merchandising. In December. 1889. he went to Portsmouth, where he is the junior partner in the firm of Harsha & Caskey. They built a mill in 1889, in Portsmouth, and have been en- gaged in milling ever since. He had one son by his first wife, George,
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born January 1, 1874. He is now a student at the Ohio State University, taking a mechanical and engineering course. His first wife died on the seventh of September, 1876, and in November, 1889, he was married to Miss Alma Fulton, of Bratton Township, Adams County.
Mr. Caskey has never sought or held public office. He has always been a Republican and thinks he always will be, in any event, so long as that party holds to its present tenets. He is regarded as one of the best business men in the city of Portsmouth.
Dr. John Campbell
is, on his father's side, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandfather, William Campbell, came to this country shortly after the Revolutionary War, and settled in Washington County, Pennsylvania, a section of the country largely populated by Presbyterians from the North of Ireland and Scot- land. They have been commonly known as "Scotch-Irsh," presumably from the fact that their ancestry, and it may also be added, their Presby- terianism, both were derived from Scotland. William Campbell was a member of Chartier's Presbyterian Church, the pastor of which was Dr. John McMillan, a very celebrated divine of those days and the founder of Jefferson College. The father of Dr. John Campbell, named John Campbell, lived on the old farm until 1846, when he moved with his family to Adams County, Ohio, near Youngsville, where one son, Richard Campbell, and two daughters now reside. Dr. John Campbell was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, February 9, 1828, entered Jefferson College in 1843 and graduated in 1847, receiving the degree of A. B .. , and later the degree of M. A. He then came to Adams County, taught school and studied medicine with Dr. Coleman in West Union in 1851 and 1852. He practiced medicine at Tranquility until the commencement of the Civil War. In 1861, he united with Captain John T. Wilson in recruiting Company E, of the 70th Regiment and was commissioned as First Lieu- tenant of the company, becoming, in process of time, Captain of Com- pany I, of the same regiment, serving from October 1, 1861, to November 4, 1864. He afterwards practiced medicine at West Union until 1870, when he removed to Delhi, Ohio, where he continued in the practice of his profession until 1885. He was then appointed Medical Referee in the Bureau of Pensions, and removed to Washington, D. C. On the change of administration in 1889, he resigned and obtained an appointment as Inspector of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of New York. This he continues to hold and has charge of the district composed of the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, with headquarters at Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, where he now lives. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Campbell was James Perry, of Shenandoah County, Virginia, who was born in that state and whose family had been settled there in Colonial times. The history of the family on this side of the house is very incomplete, but we know that some members of his maternal grandmother's family (Feeley) served in the Revolutionary War, and one of them, Captain Timothy Feeley, re- ceived from the Government a large grant of land in what afterwards be- came Highland County, Ohio, for his services.
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Dr. Campbell was first married to Hattie Whitacre, daughter of Amos Whitacre, of Loudon County, Virginia, who at her death left a son, Amos Campbell, now a respected citizen living near Youngsville On October 13, 1869, he was married to Esther A. Cockerill, daughter of General J. R. Cockerill. They have had one son and two daughters. One of the daughters, Mabel, died in infancy. The other, Helen M. Campbell, is their only child. The son, Joseph Randolph Campbell, an Ensign in the United States Navy, died of typhoid fever during the recent War with 'Spain. A separate sketch of him will be found herein.
Dr. John Campbell might have gone into the Civil War as a surgeon, but this he declined to do, and went in as a line officer in the famous com- pany raised by the Hon. John T. Wilson. The record of the 70th O. V. I. will show what valiant service he performed for his country. Dr. Camp- bell has always been noted for his modest and unassuming manners and his diffident disposition, but he never failed in any duty before him and has always filled the important public positions held by him with the highest credit to himself and with great satisfaction to all concerned. He is a man of the highest integrity and commands the confidence and en- joys the highest respect of all who know him.
Thomas W. Connolley,
of Manchester, Ohio, was born near Bradyville, Ohio, September 21, 1839. His parents were Perry T. and Nancy (Burbage) Connolley. His mother was a daughter of Eleven and Sarah Burbage. Perry T. Con- nolley, his father, was born near 'Hagerstown, Maryland, February 7, 1810. His mother was born near. Bradyville, Ohio, August 26, 1822. His grandfather Burbage came from Maryland and settled near Brady- ville. (See sketch of Burbage family in this book.)
Our subject was educated in the Public schools of Manchester under William L. McCalla, the celebrated school teacher. His first school days were spent at the old Cropper schoolhouse in Sprigg Township and at the Horton Chapel in Bradyville. He entered the army on the fourteenth of October, 1861, at Camp Hamer, in West Union, and served as a member of Company F, 70th O. V. I., until discharged August 14, 1865. He was present and took part in the following battles: Shiloh, Russell House, Corinth, Holly Springs, Memphis, Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope, Big Shanty, Kenesaw, July 22, 1864, near Atlanta; July 28, 1864, near Atlanta ; Jonesboro, Statesboro, Lovejoy Station, Averysboro, Trenton, Atlanta, Bentonville, Columbia and Fort McAlister. He was in Sherman's March to the Sea and in the march to Washington, D. C. At the battle of Mississippi, he saved two wounded soldiers of the 90th Illinois from death by exposure to the chilly atmos- phere. For twenty-five years past, he has held the offices of Marshal, Deputy Marshal and Constable of Manchtester. In April, 1897, he was elected Justice of the Peace of Manchester Township, which office he still holds. He has been a Notary Public for sixteen years. In politics, he is a Republican and cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was a member of the County Republican Executive Com- mittee for six years, and was a delegate to the Republican State Convention three times.
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His religious views are expressed in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member at Manchester, and he has been connected with the Sunday School of that church for fifty years. He has been an active and earnest member of the Grand Army of the Republic since 1867, and · has held the following official positions in said organization: Adjutant of the Post, Chaplain, Sergeant, Major Post Commander, Post Commander . Inspector, Installing Officer, Delegate, Commander of Battalion. He was a member of the Department Staff for five years and a member of the National Staff for three years. He was a member of the National Com- mittee in 1892. He was Chairman of the Battle of Shiloh Association at Indianapolis one year.
On June 4, 1872, he was married to Miss Margaret J. Ramsey, by Rev. J. R. Gibson. They have one daughter, Cora E. Connolley.
Our subject enjoys the enviable distinction of having saved four people from' drowning. He is life Secretary of the 70th O. V. I. Regi- mental Association, and is always found in the front rank in any G. A. R. Reunion, and in all patriotic work.
John Donalson Compton
was born in Manchester, Ohio, in 1844. The same year his father re- moved to the vicinity of Winchester, where he spent his boyhood until 1857, when his father removed to near Hillsboro, Ohio, and in 1860, he removed to Harveysburg, Warren County, Ohio. While residing there with his father, he enlisted in Company F, 12th O. V. I., January 28, 1861, for three years, and was transferred to Company H, 23d O. V. I., July 1, 1864. The 12th O. V. I. was in eleven battles and engagements from July 21, 1861, to June 17, 1864, as follows : Scarey Creek, Gauley Bridge, Carnifix Ferry, West Virginia; Bull Run Bridge, Virginia; Frederick, South Mountain and Antietam, Maryland; Cloyd Mountain and Lynch- burg, Virginia, and Fayetteville, West Virginia. His captain was Harri- son Gray Otis, who is a Bragadier General in the Army in the Philippines. It will be remembered that the famous 23d O. V. I. was President Mckinleys regiment. The President was First Lieutenant of Com- panies E, A, and K in that regiment and Second Lieutenant of Com- pany D.
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