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 91
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Our subject was one of four children, three boys and one girl. The eldest, a son, died in infancy, before his parents left Ohio; a brother A. W. Eylar, a resident of Arizona, died about thirteen years ago; a sister, Alverda, was married to Mr. Filmore, formerly of Pontiac. They re- moved to California and for several years have resided at Los Angeles.
He was married to Miss Alice Hombeys, of Pontiac, Illinois, in 1870. They had one child, a daughter, who died at the age of six months in June, 1873, and in May, 1874, his wife died of consumption. He has never re- married. A friend thus writes of him :
"Mr. Eylar is a man of the strictest integrity, a warm and sympa- thetic friend, a good citizen, having decided political opinions, but seldom expressing them and with no desire for office, a capital business man as attested by his long connection with and now at the head of one of our strongest financial institutions, the Livingstone County National Bank. He is highly respected by our people and loved by his intimates."
George Washington Edgington
was born December 23, 1849, on Donalson Creek, in Monroe Township, Adams County, Ohio. His father, Morris Edgington, was born in Adams County, near Manchester, in 1825. His mother's maiden name
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was Nancy Bradford, a daughter of Jacob Bradford, of Kentucky. His father and mother were born in 1845, and his grandfather, Absalom Edg- ington, born in Pennsylvania in 1776, located in Adams County early in 1800, and died in 1853.
Our subject was reared in Manchester, and went to school there until 1863, when his parents removed to Portsmouth and he attended school there a short time. His father returned to Manchester in 1864, and in 1866, George W. Edgington left school to begin work. He learned the stoneware business with Pettit & Burbage and afterwards with John Parks. Pettit & Burbage were succeeded in business by Arch Means, and in 1870, our subject bought out Arch Means, and conducted the business until 1876, when he sold out to Mark Pennywit, and from that time to the present, has been a steamboatman. His first venture was with the Handy No. I in the Maysville trade. He ran her a year and then she was de- stroyed in the ice. This discouraged him somewhat and he sold the wreck of the Handy. No. I and went to farming for two years in Kentucky, at the end of which he sold his farm for thirty acres of land in the west end of Manchester and lived on it. However, the career of farming was too slow for him, and in 1878, he went on the Fleetwood as watchman and second mate. He remained on her for two years, when he bought a third interest of the steamboat John Kyle and put her in the Vanceburg and Portsmouth trade for one season. He sold his interest in her in the Fall and went on the New Handy No. I as pilot. He was on her and along the side of the Phaeton when it blew up in June, 1881, in which explosion eight persons were killed and he was one of the injured. Afterwards, he went on the steamboat Return, in the Manchester and Portsmouth trade, as pilot, in 1881. He also piloted the Maysville ferry-boat for a few months, and then went as pilot of the Clipper, and ran her from Ripley to New Richmond for a short time. He then bought the Katy Prather from James Foster, and made her a packet, and ran her from Maysville to Manchester from 1883 to 1888. In 1888, he built the Silver Wave. That was a prosperous year for him. He sold the Silver Wave to Captain Webb for seven thousand dollars, having made four thousand dollars in fourteen months. In 1890, he bought the M. P. Wells for $8,300, and rebuilt her in 1897, and now runs her from Portsmouth to Cincinnati, leaving Portsmouth every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10:30 A. M., and leaving Cincinnati every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5 P. M. In 1894, he bought the Reliance of Captain A. W. Williamson, and ran her in the Portsmouth and Rome trade. She was sunk at Hig- ginsport on the twenty-fifth of July, 1895. In 1892, he bought the Belle- vue, and made her a tow-boat between Buena Vista and Cincinnati until 1895. He sold her for the Silver Wave, rebuilt her and kept her in the Vanceburg and Maysville trade until July, 1897, when she was burned up, lying at the bank for repairs. The M. P. Wells ran from Augusta to Maysville and connected with the Silver Wave. From the wreck of the Silver Wave he built the William Duffie, and sold her to Michael Duffie, at Marietta, for the Rob Roy. He bought the Charles B. Pearce in 1899 and rebuilt her. She is now engaged in the Portsmouth and Cincinnati trade, leaving Portsmouth at 10:30 A. M. on each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, andCincinnatieach Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5 P.M.
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Our subject is master of the Charles B. Pearce. He was married December 20, 1869, to Nannie E. Scott, daughter of Andrew Scott. His eldest son, John Emery, is the master of the steamboat M. P. Wells; his son, Arch D., is pilot of the M. P. Wells and his son, Robert W., is clerk. His son, Andrew Morris, is pilot on the Charles B. Pearce; his daughter, Edna Mary, is the wife of Edwin Smith, of Augusta, Kentucky, who is clerk on the steamer Pearce; his daughter, Estella, is the wife of Robert Hedges, clerk on the M. P. Wells. His two youngest sons, Earnest, aged nine years, and Roy, aged six, are at the family home in Augusta, Kentucky.
In politics, Captain Edgington is a Republican. He is one of the most energetic, industrious men, anywhere in the river trade. He has operated independent lines of boats between Portsmouth and Cincinnati since 1876. He has been able to obtain the good will of all the people along the river and make money, in face of the great opposition of the White Collar Line. As a steamboatman, he has been very successful and his career will compare favorably with that of Captain William McClain, who, in his day, was designated as the prince of all steamboatmen of his time, or any other time, since the first steamboat went down the Ohio in 1811. Captain Edgington will not, however, be content with the title given Captain McClain, or with a reputation equal to his. If he lives and has even fair luck, he will go down to posterity as the most famous steamboatman of his time, or any other time, and he will have his whole family and his posterity in the same business.
Edward Frederick William Erdbrink.
liveryman and transfer agent at Manchester, Ohio, was born in Bal- timore, Maryland, September 23, 1864. 'His father, Herman Erdbrink, was born in Hanover, Germany, as well as his mother, Caroline Schnit- ker. They were married in Germany in 1865, and came directly to the United States on their wedding trip. They located in Baltimore, Mary- land. Mr. Erdbrink's father was an exporter of tobacco for the German government. Just before leaving Germany, he obtained a contract from the imperial government for furnishing the government with tobacco for five years ; and came to this country to purchase and send it to Germany. His contract was by the pound, and he shipped over five thousand hogs- heads of tobacco each year. He retained the contract by renewals, until his death in 1871. in New York City, where he dropped dead on the street, suddenly. His family were residing in Baltimore at that time, and the mother of our subject is still living in that city.
Our subject was the fifth child of six children. He was educated in the German Lutheran schools of Baltimore, Maryland, until the age of thirteen. He attended the Public schools for one year and then left school. At the age of fifteen he went to clerking in Baltimore, and remained in that work until 1884. He then undertook to travel over the western part of the United States as a salesman of rubber goods, and remained in that business for fourteen years. He came to Manchester on business in 1891, and made that his home thereafter. He was mar- ried in Manchester. on the thirtieth of January, 1892, to Miss Icie Stivers, daughter of Lyman P. Stivers, a former sheriff of the county.
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NELSON W. EVANS
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He bought out the Trent Brothers' livery business, and from that time gave his attention exclusively to the livery business. He bought out the Perry and Swearingen stables in December, 1899, and consolidated their business with his own. He now has what is known as the Lang Stable, with the most complete livery in town. He has the transfer agency for the C. & O. Railroad, and takes passengers and baggage to and from the station in Kentucky. He has two children, Lorena Matilda, aged seven; and Carl Wayne, aged four. In his political views, he is a Republican. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church. He is a Knight of Pythias in the subordinate lodge and in the uniform rank.
Daniel Ebrite
was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on the twentieth of July, 1816. His father was John Ebrite, a German, and his mother was Cath- erine McElroy, of Irish descent. He emigrated to Adams County when a young man. He received a common school education. He was born and reared a Democrat but identified himself with the old Abolition party, and after the abolition of slavery, he beecame a Repub- lican. He has been a Trustee of his Township for a number of years. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since 1840 and has been a steward nearly all of that time.
He married Rachel Cooper on December 23. 1841. He has three sons and four daughters. His sons are John W., Albert Q., William T., and one daughter, Effie Sydney, who resides at home.
Nelson Wiley Evans,
one of the editors of this work, came into the present world June 4, 1842, at Sardinia, Brown County, Ohio. His father was Edward Patton Evans, who was then a lawyer practicing in Brown and Highland Coun- ties. His mother was Amanda Jane King, born June 20, 1824. His father resided in Sardinia until April. 1847. when he removed to West Union, Adams County, to practice his profession. Our subject resided in West Union from that time until the Fall of 1860. He went through the usual experiences of boyhood, enjoyed all its pleasures and endured its sorrows. As a schoolboy, he showed a disposition to take life seriously, which has followed him all his life.
In the Fall of 1860, he attended North Liberty Academy, and in January, 1861, he entered the Freshman class of Miami University, half advanced. He remained in that school until June, 1863, when he enlisted in the 129th O. V. I. He was made First Lieutenant of Company G in that regiment, and with it marched to Cumberland Gap, which was taken by capitulation from the Rebel General Frazier on September 9, 1863. His regiment was attached to the Second Brigade, Second Di- vision, Ninth Army Corps, under General Ambrose E. Burnside. He participated in the campaign in East Tennessee against Longstreet. On March 8, 1864, the regiment was mustered out, and he returned to Miami University, where he graduated in June, 1864. On the eighteenth of September. 1864, he was appointed Adjutant of the 173rd O. V. I., and joined his regiment at Nashville, Tenn. The regiment performed duty about Nashville until the time of the battle, when it was placed in the
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second line for the attack on Montgomery Hill. Owing to the first line moving the rebels, his command was only exposed to a dropping fire. Prior to the battle of Nashville, Mr. Evans was promoted to a captaincy of his regiment, and during the siege of Nashville by Gen. Hood, and during the battle, was adjutant of a brigade. After the battle of Nash- ville, his regiment was sent to Columbia, Tennessee, and from there to Johnsonville, Tennessee, where it perfomed the duty of gathering strag- glers from the Rebel army, and took them to Nashville as prisoners of war. During the time the regiment was at Johnsonville, Captain Evans was detailed as Acting Assistant Adjutant General. At the close of the war, he resumed the studies of the law and on October, 1865, he entered the Cincinnati Law School. He remained there until April, 1866, when he was admitted to the bar by the District Court of Hamilton County. He located in Portsmouth, Ohio, on August 1, 1866, and has remained there ever since.
On September 9, 1868, he was married to Miss Lizzie Henderson, of Middletown, Ohio. He was a School Examiner of the county for two and a half years. He was City Solicitor of Portsmouth, Ohio, from 1871 to 1875, Register in Bankruptcy of the Eleventh District of Ohio from 1870 to 1878, and a member of the Board of Education of the city of Portsmouth for ten years. He is one of the Trustees of Miami University, and a vestryman of All Saints Episcopal Church. For nine years he has been a Trustee of the Children's Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, at Cincinnati. He has two daughters, Gladys and Muriel. In politics, he is and always has been a Republican.
A friend who had known Mr. Evans since 1871 speaks of him as follows: "Captain Evans is one of the foremost attorneys at the Ports- mouth bar, and has a large and lucrative practice. He is an indefati- gable worker and in the preparation of his cases for trial, makes himself thoroughly familiar with every detail and fights to the last in the interest of those he represents. He is a good counsellor, a safe and a careful busi- ness and commercial lawyer. In his intercourse with his fellow men he is frank, open, courteous, accommodating and always true to his friends. His intimate associates are those who like him best. Socially he stands high, and his honesty and integrity make him respected by all."
John W. Fristoo
was born July 13, 1851, at the old homestead in the great bend of Brush Creek. His father was Richard Fristoe, and his mother, Anna Sample. His grandfather, Richard Fristoe, was a native of Virginia, but emi- grated to Mason County, Kentucky, where he spent his life. His son, Richard Fristoe, was born in Virginia in 1802, and was about five years old when his father moved to Kentucky.
Richard Fristoe, father of our subject, settled in Adams County, in 1832, and resided on the Fristoe place until within four years of his death on the eighth of January, 1881. Before he located in Adams County, he was a tobacco dealer and traveled the road from Maysville to Chillicothe, and on one of these trips, he became acquainted with his wife. He bought the Sample farm, where Sample's Tavern had been kept and went to farming in 1833, and continued that occupation until,
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on account of age. he retired from all business. The Samples were of German nationality. Our subject was the youngest of five children. He was reared on his father's farm and outside of the District schools, at- tended school at Lebanon, Ohic. At sixteen years, he began the career of a teacher of District schools and followed it for sixteen years.
On November 8, 1877, he was married to Miss Media Halliday, and there were two children of this marriage, Annabelle and Mack. His wife died November 14, 1889, and in 1891, he married Miss Mertie M. Hooper, who, with three children, survives him.
He was located at Dunkinsville from 1877 to 1886 in the business of selling farm implements, fertilizers, etc. In 1886, he removed to Peebles, where he was a member of the Village Council for two terms. He con- tinued to reside in Peebles until he took the office of Treasurer of Adams County, which he held from September, 1894, to September, 1898, being the nineteenth person who had held that office between 1800 and 1894. After leaving the Treasurer's office in 1898, he continued to reside in West Union until his death, which occurred Saturday, September IO, 1899.
Mr. Fristoe was one of the most popular men of Adams County. As a public officer, he was accommodating, prompt and efficient. In his political views, he was a Democrat and took a prominent part in the councils of his party. He was an Odd Fellow and a Mason. In his last sickness, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and died in that faith. He was a man universally liked and respected for all those qualities of character which make up true manhood.
Simon M. Fields,
retired farmer and trader, Dunkinsville, was born on the old Fields homestead, on Ohio Brush Creek, in Jefferson Township, April 1, 1833. He is a son of Samuel R. Fields and Hannah Evans, his wife, a daughter of Thomas Evans, who lived in Adams County until 1852, when he moved to Iowa, where he died. He was a soldier of the War of 1812 and received a land warrant for his services which he located in Iowa. Samuel R. Fields was born August 13, 1803, and died August 15, 1870. He was a son of Simon Fields, the pioneer, who has a separate sketch herein. Simon M. Fields, the subject of this sketch, was reared to man's estate in Jefferson Township, where he received the benefits of a good common school ducation. February 28, 1853, he married Miss Maria C. Osman, a daughter of James Osman, of Tiffin Township. To them have been born Henry C., David H., Thomas W., James P., and Ruth, wife of William Wade. In 1861, Simon M. Fields enlisted at Camp Hamer in the famous 70th Regiment, O. V. I., and continued in the service until discharged for disability, June 28, 1862. He was at Shiloh and in other engagements of his regiment until his discharge. He came home and afterwards recruited a company in the National Guards, which he commanded as Captain in the hundred days' service at Fort Hurricane, W. Va. He was honorably discharged September 2, 1864.
Mr. Fields cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and remained with the Republican party till it demonetized silver in 1873, when he
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cast his vote for the Greenback ticket. He afterwards became a Pop- ulist, and is now a firm believer in the principles of the Chicago plat- form of the Democratic party of 1896. He is an enthusiastic admirer of that great apostle of Democracy, William J. Bryan. He was a mem- ber of the M. E. Church for forty years, in which he was steward and class leader. He is now a member of the Christian Union Church at Jacksonville. He has been successful in life, and now resides in a modern constucted dwelling, on the site of the "Old Stone House" on the Andrew Ellison farm on Lick Fork, once the site of the town of Waterford.
Jorden L. Foster,
of Manchester, was born December 1, 1824, in Greene Township, Adams County. He is a son of Nathaniel Foster and Martha Hayslip, his wife, a daughter of Richard Hayslip. The grandfather of our sub- ject was Nathaniel Foster, Sr., who emigrated from New Jersey in 1796, and settled in Greene Township on Ohio Brush Creek, opposite the mouth of Beasley's Fork. He was a Revolutionary soldier and his record as such is given in this volume under that title.
Jorden L. Foster was brought up on a farm in Sprigg Township, where he resided until his marriage to Elizabeth J. Campbell, daughter of Alexander Campbell and Mary Keith, February 2, 1854. Mary Keith Campbell was a daughter of Dr. Joseph D. Keith, a pioneer phy- sician of Adams County, and whose practice extended from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. He was a Revolutionary soldier and a surgeon in a Virginia Regiment.
The children of our subject are Sarah, married to Wilson A. Russell; Alexander C., who married Iva Osman, and Hannah, who resides at home.
Our subject enlisted as a private in Company E, 9Ist O. V. I., August 9, 1862, and served under Sheridan and Cook in the Shen- andoah Valley. He was at New River Bridge, Stephenson's Depot, Winchester, Opequan, Cedar Creek, and many other important engage- ments. He was honorably discharged June 27, 1865.
He is an ardent Republican, and a member of the M. E. Church. He now resides on his farm near Manchester.
Samuel R. Fields,
of Wamsley. was born at Sugar Tree Ridge, Highland County, Ohio April 17, 1845. He is a son of Richard Fields and Janes Williams. His boyhood days were spent on Scioto Brush Creek, attending school in the Winter, and helping on the farm the remainder of the year. He enlisted at Camp Hamer, at West Union, in the service of the United States for a term of three years, October, 1861, in Company B. Capt. Summers, 70th Regiment O. V. I., Col. Cockerill. At the expiration of his term he re- enlisted in Company B, O. V. I., Capt. Edgington, and served till the close of the war. He was at Shiloh and all the important engagements in which his regiment participated. Was honorably discharged June 13, 1885, having never made application until that time.
August 3, 1865, he was united in wedlock to Miss Annie E. Williams, a descendant of a pioneer family of Adams County. She has borne him
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fourteen children, of which there are two pairs of twins. Each child's name begins with the letter E. They are: Elmer, Ettie, Evalena, Effie, Esther and Ezra, twins, Eska, Elvil, Esla, Elgar, Edna, Edgar and Edith, twins, and Elry. ,
Mr. Fields is a Methodist and an ardent Republican. He has held many local offices, and is a man of prominence in the community in which he resides. He belongs to Bailey Post, G. A. R., at Blue Creek.
Charles Emery Frame,
of West Union, Ohio, was born on a farm near Bradyville, in Sprigg Township, August 1, 1866.
After leaving the Public schools, in 1883, he entered the dry goods store of Connor, Pollard & Boyles in West Union, as a clerk, and re- mained with that house until March 1, 1898, when he was appointed post- master at West Union, which position he now holds. This is the most important postoffice in Adams County, and it is due the present in- cumbent to state that his management has been most satisfactory to the patrons of this office.
Mr. Frame was married August 25. 1886, to Miss Sarah Lodwick Smith youngest daughter of the late Judge John M. Smith, of West Union. In politics, Mr. Frame, while never a partisan, has always affi- liated with the Republican party. Mr. Frame's parents were James and Nancy Frame, long residents of Sprigg Township. James Frame was born in Union Township. Brown County. May 30, 1818, and married Nancy Maddox. October 24. 1841. He followed school teaching for a number of years, and afterwards located on a farm near Bradyville, Adams County, and conducted a general store in that village. He was a man greatly respected and held many positions of trust in Sprigg Township. He died September 21. 1872.
Isaac Trimble Foster,
grocer, of Manchester. Ohio, was born on Gift Ridge. in Monroe Town- ship, March 6, 1857. His father was Nathaniel and mother, Martha (Kelley) Foster. His grandfather, Isaac Foster, was one of the first settlers on Island Creek, where he built the old "Foster Mill," which stood within a few rods of where the Island Creek Church now stands. His son, Nathaniel Foster, operated the mill for many years after his father's death. Our subject was reared a farmer's son and obtained his education in the District school on Gift Ridge. He was the only child of Nathaniel Foster, and worked on a farm until 1894, when he removed to Manchester, where he engaged in the grovery business in partnership with Samuel B. Truitt. The latter retired in 1806 and since that time our subject has conducted the busines alone in the Stevenson building on Second Street.
Mr. Foster has been three times married, first, to Agnes Leedom, daughter of Daniel Leedom, by whom he has had three children; Ora M., May, and William E. His second wife was Ida Belle Carr, of Lewis County, Ky. She left one child, Lena Belle. His present wife is Nettie, daughter of John Truitt. She had been twice married before she married Mr. Foster : first, to Fred. Bailey, by whom she has one son, Frank B. Bailey ;
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second, to John McDaniel, by whom she has one son, Truitt McDaniel. Both sets of children are at home.
Mr. Foster is a lifelong Republican. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Manchester. He is a Mason. As a man, he is remarked for his quiet and unassumming manners and strict integrity. He enjoys the favorable consideration of all who know him, either socially, or in a business way.
Richard O. Frans
was born June 17, 1870, at Stout, in Adams County, Ohio. His father was Conrad Franz. His mother's maiden name was Dora Fink. They were natives of Wurtemburg, in Germany. They emigrated to this country in 1850, shortly after Conrad Franz became of age. Our subject spent his summers on his father's farm at diligent and hard work. He attended the District schools a few months each Winter, but his studies were desultory and very much according to his own inclination. He did not take up the study of English grammar until he was seventeen years of age. He was very fond of books, and while a great reader, never had any one, properly qualified, to direct his reading. Until the age of twenty, he had attended but three Summer Normal schools. At that age, he became a teacher of common schools, and continued in that profession, from the Winters of 1890 to 1893, inclusive.
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