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 99
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
Mr. Mitchell is a man of strict integrity and business honor. He is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Portsmouth, Ohio, and has been an elder in that church for five or six years past.
Rev. Wilder N. Middleton,
one of the oldest living members of the Ohio Methodist Episcopal Con- ference, was born at Rapid Forge, Ross County, Ohio, September 22, 1835, and is the son of William and Mary ( Himiller) Middleton, two of the pioneers of the Paint Valley. A year after his birth, his parents moved to a farm, where the village of Fruitdale now stands, and where they spent their lives. When seventeen years of age, he entered the old South Salem Academy, and after graduation there, spent three years at the Ohio Wesleyan University. In the Fall of 1858, he was examined by the late Dr. George C. Crum and was licensed to preach. On September 21, 1859, he left his home as an itinerant minister, having successfully passed the examination and being admitted in the Ohio Conference. In the years that followed, he was assigned to various fields of labor, among which were Dunbarton, Hanging Rock, Beaver, Waverly, Webster, Hilliards, West Jefferson, Rome and Wellston, at which last place, his throat became affected and he was compelled to give up his life's work and its ambitions.
On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1861, he was united in marriage to Cynthia E. Bailey, daughter of Cornelius W. Bailey, late of Piketon, Ohio. Two children have been born of this union, William H, and Arthur B. Since our subject retired from the ministry he resides on a farm in Pike County, enjoying the leisure he has so well earned. His son, Arthur B., resides with him, and his son, William H., is one of the Common Pleas Judges of the Second subdivision of the Seventh District.
Digitized by Google
806
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
Rev. Middleton is of a quiet and retiring disposition. He is diffident and unostentatious. He prefers being seen, rather than to be heard, but in support of his convictions will maintain them in face of the fiercest op- position. He is a student of men as well as of books. In the forty years he has spent in the active ministry, he has maintained a most elevated Christian character. He is held in the highest regard, not only by the ministry of his church, but by all who know him.
James H. Morrison,
the second son of David and Martha ( Mitchell) Morrison, was born at Covington, Kentucky, June 18, 1851. When he was six years old the family returned to the old Mitchell home in Nile Township, Scioto County, He attended school at Elm Tree schoolhouse and obtained his education there. He is a traveling salesman, and began as such in 1880 for J. L. Hibbs & Company, of Portsmouth, Ohio. He traveled for them two years, then with McFarland, Sanford & Company, of Portsmouth, Ohio; for Vorheis, Miller & Rupel. of Cincinnati, Ohio; for Jacobs & Sachs, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and for Sanford, Storrs & Varner.
Our subject is a Republican, but takes no active part in political affairs.
On November 3, 1874, he was married to Miss Ora D. McCall, daugh- ter of Henry McCall. of Nile Township, Scioto County, Ohio. He has two children living, Louise, aged fourteen and James Hines, aged ten. His son, Henry McCall, volunteered in the Spanish War in April, 1898. in Company H, Fourth O. V. I. The regiment was sent to Porto Rico, and when about to return, he was taken sick and died on shipboard Oc- tober 26, 1898, and was buried at sea. He was but nineteen years old at the time of his death.
Benjamin Montgomery,
of Seaman, was born February 4, 1829, in Adams County, and has resided at his birthplace ever since. His father's name was John Montgomery and his mother's maiden name, Jane Haines. His maternal grand- parents came from Ireland in about 1790, and settled in Ross County, Ohio. They were strict Covenanters. His mother died May 29, 1849, aged sixty-two years, and is interred at Tranquility. His mother was a very hard worker and a woman of extraordinary industry and energy and an expert spinner and weaver. In her younger days, she made all the clothing for her father's family, and for her own, after marriage. His father died June 16, 1863, at the age of seventy-three years, and is also buried at Tranquility. He was born in Kentucky and removed to Adams County in 1800 with his parents, and settled on the West Fork of Brush Creek. He was one of five brothers, and four sisters. When a young man, he purchased a tract of land in the old Peyton survey, cleared it off, built a cabin, and then married. He resided there until his death. He raised five children, Hadassah, John Harvey, Andrew H., Benjamin and James B. Andrew H., and Benjamin are the only ones now living. His father was one of the foremost men of his neighborhood in the erection of the pioneer log houses and barns, and in the making of rails. His paternal grandfather came from England at an early date.
Digitized by Google
807
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Our subject is a farmer by occupation and resides on the same farm that his father cleared. His education was received in the log school- house in the district in which he resided.
Benjamin Montgomery was married to Margaret H. Seaton, Jan- uary 15, 1859, and to them were born three children, Elmer E., Mary Edith and Charles W. Elmer E., resides with his father and has charge of the farm. Mary Edith married H. R. Clarke, a miller employed at Harsha & Caskey's flour mills at Portsmouth, Ohio. They have one son, Frederick Benjamin Clarke. Charles W., is a physician and is con- ducting a pharmacy at Bethel, Clermont County, Ohio. He is married and has one son, Benjamin Brooks Montgomery.
Our subject's wife died in June 7, 1897. She was a member of the Mt. Leigh Presbyterian Church for thirty years. She has a brother, John Seaton, living at King's Creek, Champaign County, Ohio, also, a sister, Eliza Clark, living at Harshaville, Ohio.
Mr. Montgomery was a Democrat from the time he became of age until General Morgan with his raiders went through Adams County. He was then converted to the Republican party by that raid and has con- tinued identified with that political organization. We give this state- ment in his own language. He was raised a Covenanter, but for the last twenty-five years he has been a member of the Mt. Leigh Presbyterian Church. He has a brother, Andrew H., now living in Kansas, a farmer, who, in his younger days, was a tanner and had control of the old tan- yard at Rarden, Ohio, with Orville Grant, a brother of Gen. U. S. Grant, as a partner.
Mr. Montgomery is regarded as one of the best citizens of the county and a most excellent neighbor. He is honest and honorable in all his dealings. He is a model farmer. He is one of the best judges of horses in the county and a great lover of them. He is a man of strong sympathies with those in distress and is ever ready to express his sympathies in the manner in which they will be most appreciated. No Inan stands higher in his community in public esteem.
Samuel Sterling Mason, (deceased,)
of Tiffin Township, was born at Old Kitanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1806. Came with his parents to Adams County in 1814. Was a farmer and shoemaker. His father died when Samuel was nine years old, he being the oldest child, and with his mother and five younger children, without any means, raised the family. He cleared one hundred acres of leases before he ever owned a foot of land. He married Lucinda Smith, and of this union the following children were born : Mary Ann, Almira, Samuel Smith, William Henry, George Rich- ardson, Sarah Jane, John Wesley and Lewis Hamer. The subject of this sketch was of a military turn of mind. Was for years Captain and Colonel of the Adams County Militia. Raised a Company for the Mexican War, but did not get in. Belonged to the home guards in 1862-3 and was Drum Major. Politically a Jackson Democrat and never voted any other ticket. Had a genial disposition, and was an honest man. Served the people for twenty-four years as Justice of the Peace and one
Digitized by
808
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
term as County Commissioner. Was a War Democrat, but was defeated by the soldier vote by twenty for a second term as Commissioner, when the county went six hundred Republican. He died April 28, 1878.
Dr. Flavius J. Miller,
physcian and pharmacist, West Union, was born near Sugartree Ridge, Onio, November 18, 1824. He is a son of Hon. William Miller, who represented Highland County in the Ohio Legislature before the Civil War, and who was one of the leaders of the Democratic party in his county for many years. He died recently at Hillsboro at the age of ninety-one years. His wife was Mary Igo, of Highland County.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the Public schools and when a young man taught several terms. In 1845, he began the study of medicine with Dr. David Noble, of Sugartree Ridge, and attended Ohio Medical College in 1848-9. He practiced his profession in Scioto county, Ohio, then in the State of Ill., and lastly in Adams County, Ohio, for a period of thirty years, since which he has been engaged in pharmacy and the real estate business. He married Miss Eliza Bunn, January 12, 1851. She was born at Sugartree Ridge, October 14, 1831. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have no family. Dr. Miller, while not a member of any church organization, has done much to help the Christian Union Church at West Union, where he has lived many years. He is a moralist in the fullest and best sense of the term. ' In politics, he is an "old-fashioned Demo. crat," following the footsteps of his illustrious father. He has accumu- lated a handsome fortune and is, with his life companion, enjoying in de- clining years the fruits of early industry and economy.
Sanford Alexander Mccullough,
of Tranquility, was born on his father's farm near the above mentioned village, March 11, 1842. He is a descendant of a fine old Scotch-Irish family of which John McCullough, of Virginia, is the progenitor of the Ohio branch. He was a nephew of Major Samuel Mccullough, who made the daring horseback leap into Wheeling Creek from the bluffs above it near Fort Henry at the time of its investment by the Indians in 1771. John McCullough spent the latter part of his life in Adams county. His son, Alexander McCullough, grandfather of the subject of this biog- raphy, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, where he married Nancy McCroskey, shortly after which event, he came to Adams county. He and his wife are buried in the old cemetery at Tranquility, or as formerly known. Hopewell Meeting House. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was in the engagement at Sandusky. He had a family of five children ; Sarah, James, Tilford, Samuel B., who married Rebecca Cumings, and Archibald, father of our subject, who was born September 10, 1817. He was a carpenter by trade and lived on a farm. January I, 1841. he married Sarah Elliott. daughter of Robert Elliott, who mar- ried Sallie McIntire. Archibald Mccullough's children were, Sanford, Robert, Samuel, Nancy, James, Sarah, Addison, Willison, and Steele ..
Sanford A., our subject, received a good common school education and improved his leisure hours in general reading which has added largely to his scholastic attainments. He enlisted as a Private in Com-
Digitized by Google
RESIDENCE OF F. J. MILLER, M. D., WEST UNION, OHIO
Digitized by
Digitized by Google
809
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
pany G, 129th O. V. I., July 23, 1863, and was honorably discharged March 8, 1864. In August of that year, he re-enlisted in Company H, 173d O. V. I., in which he was made Sergeant, and served until his hon- orable discharge at Nashville, June 26, 1865. October 11, 1865, he mar- ried Miss Orlena A. McCreight, daughter of Major John McCreight, whose wife was Nicassa Dryden, of Tranquility. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Cullough have had born to them three children: Spencer E., now de- ceased; John E., of Peoria, Ill .; and Miss Myrtle May, living with her parents.
Sanford A. Mccullough is one of the most prominent business men, and among the best known citizens of Adams County. Being in- dustrious and frugal, and a man whose integrity has never been ques- tioned, he has accumulated a large estate, and is rated among the most substantial business men of the county. He served for a number of years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wilson Children's Home, at West Union, and was selected by the late Hon. John T. Wilson, one of the executors of his vast estate. He has been twice elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Adams County on the Republican ticket when the rest of the ticket was overwhelmingly defeated, and is at present a member of that board. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church of Tranquility in which he has held the office of Clerk for many years.
Samuel A. M.Clanahan,
of West Union, is a scion of a pioneer family of Adams County. He was born at the old McClanahan homestead in Liberty Township, now oc- cupied by J. A. Mcclanahan, June 27, 1846. His great-grandfather, John McClanahan, emigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland, in 1785, and with his family settled on the James River in the Old Dominion, after which he removed to Kentucky, settling near Lexington in that State. Being opposed to human slavery, as it then existed in the South, he re- moved to Adams County, Ohio, and located on the headwaters of the East Fork of Eagle Creek on lands still in possession of his descendants. By his second wife, Elizabeth Thompson, he had four children : William, Martha, Rebecca, and Margaret. William was the grandfather of our subject and was married to Nancy Paul, January 15, 1809. On Septem- ber 28, 1814, his father deeded William fifty acres of a tract of one hun- dred acres bought from General Massie, and which is yet owned by his son, John McClanahan, born there October 20, 1820. William Mc- Clanahan lived there until his decease in 1858. He is buried at Cherry Fork. His son, James McClanahan, father of our subject, was born September 25, 1814. He received a good common school education, and when a young man taught school for several years. He became one of the prominent business men of Adams County, and at his death had amassed quite a fortune. April 11, 1843, he married Miss Sophia Baldridge, a daughter of John Baldridge and Ada Cole, his wife, of Lick Fork. They reared a family of seven children.
Samuel A. McClanahan, the subject of this sketch, is a son and second child of James McClanahan and Sophia Baldridge. He received a good education, but has devoted his time to farming and stock raising
Digitized by Google
810
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
for many years. At the age of eighteen years, he enlisted as a private in the 14Ist Regiment O. V. I., and served in the Army of West Virginia until his honorable discharge with his regiment in 1864. He is a mem- ber of John W. McFerren Post, G. A. R., West Union, Ohio.
He was married October 6, 1870, to Miss Sarah M. Zercher, a daughter of Jacob and Katharine (Ebrite) Zercher, of Adams County. To them have been born eight children: Laura E., deceased ; J. Frank, Albert A .; Robert P .: Nora Helen, deceased ; John B .; Ralph H., and Margaret May.
Mr. McClanahan owns a fine farm on the Maysville and Zanesville pike two miles southwest of West Union, and is rated among the most substantial citizens of the county. In politics, he is a Republican, and in religious affairs he adheres to the church of his fathers, the Presbyterian, in which he is an elder.
John G. Moss,
of West Union, Ohio, was born January 23. 1864, in Dover, Mason County, Ky. His father is Charles H. Moss, a native of West Virginia. His mother was Ellen D. Byant. 'His father removed to Kentucky in 1851, and his parents were married there, December 6, 1860. They re- sided there until our subject was fourteen years of age, when they removed to Ohio. He was educated in the common schools. He was married September 29, 1889, to Miss Sophia M. Woods, daughter of Dr. D. H. Woods. He has been engaged in business in West Union since 1890, first in dry goods, and since 1893, in the livery business. He is regarded as a good business man and well esteemed by all who know him. His wife conducts one of the most fashionable millinery emporiums in Adams County.
Rev. Abram K. Murphy
was born October 2, 1849. He went to school at Granville from 1879 to 1882. This included his theological and academical course. In 1872, he was made a minister in the Baptist Church. He was ordained at Rome, in Adams County. He has preached at Winchester, West Union, Hills- boro, New Market, Wheelersburg, and is now in Ashland, Kentucky.
On March 27. 1883, he was married to Miss Fannie Kirkendall. They have three children living, Sarah Kelley, Charles F. and Lou W. He lost one son at the age of eight years, Hered, who was drowned in the Ohio Canal. He has always been a Republican in his political views. For the past eleven years, he has been a resident of Rushtown. Scioto County, Ohio.
He is highly esteemed as a citizen in his community, and as a minister, holds a high and influential position in his church.
At the time of the writing of this sketch, he is engaged as minister of a Baptist Church in Ashland, Ky.
Leonidas H. Murphy
was born in Greene Township, Adams County, October 16, 1847. son of David Whittaker Murphy and his wife, Cynthia McCall. In 1849, his father moved to Buena Vista, in Scioto County. He attended the District school until he was fifteen years of age, and had the advantage of the township library, kept at his father's home, and all its books he read. In
1
Digitized by Google
1
811
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
1851, he took his first lessons in merchandising in the store of Major W. C. Henry. In 1862, he worked on a farm for six months. In 1863, he was employed as a foreman by Caden Brothers for six months. On Sep- tember 16, 1863, he came to Portsmouth and entered the house of C. P. Tracy & Company, wholesale shoe merchants, and for thirty-six years, from that time to the present, has been connected, and since 1868, he has been a partner in the same house.
Mr. Murphy has always been a Republican in his political views, but has steadily declined to be a candidate for any office. He never served in a public appointment, but that of Jury Commissioner of his county from 1894 to 1897. He has been a member of Bigelow M. E. Church since his residence in Portsmouth. He has been a steward of that church for thirty years and Superintendent of its Sunday School for four years. He was married February 2, 1870, to Mary Katherine, daughter of Daniel McIntire, who in former years was a prominent contractor and builder in Portsmouth. He has three children, Laura, wife of Louis D. McCall, of Chicago; Dr. Charles T. Murphy of the same place; Arthur Lee, a student at Pennington Seminary, N. J., and Julia Alice, residing at home.
Mr. Murphy, while confined closely to his adopted city by his busi- ness, yet finds time to read much and keep thoroughly abreast with the times. He is a steady and hard worker in his business and in the activities of his church, but every Summer he takes a vacation of two to four weeks in which he rests himself by following the pursuit of fishing. He is an enthusiastic disciple of Isaac Walton.
Mr. Murphy believes that the highest duty to man is to perform well, every day, and from day to day, the obligations before him in business, in society, in the church and in municipal and State affairs. In following this guiding principle for over thirty years, he has aided in building up one of the most substantial business houses in the State.
In following up this principle in the church, he has been an important factor in maintaing one of the most flourishing Methodist Episcopal Churches in the country, and for himself has established a character in business circles and in the State of which both he and his associates in business, his friends in the church and his fellow citizens may well be proud. In all matters, his word is as good as his bond and the latter is equal to the gold standard all the time.
William F. Mehaffey
was born April 1, 1849, in Liberty Township, Adams County, Ohio, near Fairview, on the farm now owned by Jacob Bissinger. In 1855, his father removed to near Decatur, but in the same township.
His father was Andrew Mehaffey and his mother's maiden name was Martha A. Flowers. She was from Muskingum County, Ohio. The Mehaffeys were originally from Ireland. The childhood and youth of our subject were spent in his native township. He attended the District school and the academy at Decatur, in Brown County. Mr. Mehaffey was Town- ship Clerk from 1875 to 1878, Township Treasurer from 1880 to 1883, and a Trustee of the Township from 1886 to 1891 and again from 1893 to 1896.
Digitized by Google
812
HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
He has always been a Republican and it would be a strange matter to find a Mehaffey in Adams County who was not one. He was married November 15, 1877, to Miss Melissa A. Weeks. Her mother was a Mc- Govney. The Weeks family came from New Jersey. He and his wife are both members of the United Presbyterian Church, at Cherry Fork.
Capt. David Asbury Murphy,
of Oxford, Ohio, the oldest son of David W. and Cynthia A. Murphy, was born on a farm at Shamrock, Adams County, Ohio, April 3, 1842. He was married at Portsmouth, Ohio, September 18, 1865, to Miss Jennie M. Ball.
Army Record: Private, Company H, 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1862-4; First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 184th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1865; Acting Assistant Adjutant General on Staff of Brevet Brigadier General Henry S. Commager, at Bridgeport, Alabama, 1865. . Editor: The Kentucky and Ohio Union, Portsmouth, Ohio, 1861-2; The Danville, Kentucky, Tribune, 1880-6; The Findlay, Ohio, Tribune, 1887-8.
Superintendent of Construction of U. S. Public Buildings: Frank- fort, Kentucky, 1883-5 ; Jefferson, Texas, 1889-90; Clarksville, Tennessee, 1887-8.
Author of: "My Mother's Bible," "Serenade to Mckinley," and "God-given Republic."
The God-Given Republic.
I
The modern Republic, salubrious its clime, Its domain extends from sea unto sea ; Its valleys are fruitful and its mountains sublime, As merry song-birds, its children are free. Happy are the thrifty beneath its flag unfurled, America, God's land, the garden of the world !
II
The mighty Republic, intelligence its goal, The people their will by ballots decree; Justice and good laws the masses guard and control, Freedom, man's birthright, brooks no tyranny. Homesteads for the homeless beneath its flag unfurled, America, God's land, the refuge of the world!
III
The matchless Republic, fraternity its sun, All may worship God as conscience dictates ; Equal rights unto all, special grants unto none, The Federal Union holds forty-five States. Brotherhood and free speech beneath its flag unfurled, America, God's land, the Canaan of the world !
James G. Mots
was born August 3, 1846, at Dunbarton, Ohio. His father, William Metz. was born in Kentucky, May 6, 1806. Jacob Metz, the father of William Metz, emigrated first to Kentucky from Germany, and afterwards to the State of Ohio. Jacob Metz, the emigrant, by his first marriage had four
Digitized by Google
CAPT. DAVID A. MURPHY
Digitized by Google
-
Digitized by
813
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
children, William, Thomas, Elizabeth, and Martha; all born in the State of Kentucky. Elizabeth married David Sprinkle, and Martha married George Killen. Jacob Metz was married a second time. There were seven children of this marriage, George, Jacob, Frank, Edward, and Michael, sons; and two daughters, Amanda and Margaret. William Metz, the father of our subject, was reared in Adams County. He married Kath- erine Thomas, February 11, 1826, and she died February 10, 1845. The children of this marriage were Sarah A., married William Anderson; Susan, married Joseph McFarland; George, married Amanda Warren; Thomas, married Elizabeth Francis; Margaret, married James McGov- ney ; also William J., married Della Gregory ; and Samuel, two sons. The second wife of William Metz was Hannah Williams. She was a grand- daughter of James Williams, a Revolutionary soldier from Washington County, Maryland, born February 22, 1759, in Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, and served ten months: four months in the Maryland Militia and six months in the Pennsylvania Militia : the last four being under Col, William Crawford, who was afterwards burned at the stake by the Indians June 11, 1792.
There were seven sons of the marriage of William Metz and Hannah Williams, and no daughters : James G., David H., Jacob F., Lewis T., Ed- ward C., Frank C., and Uriah H., of whom three are living, James G., David H., and Edward C. Hannah Williams, the second wife of William Metz, died August 25, 1888, at the age of seventy years. Her father, James Williams, died September 8, 1873, at the great age of ninety-five years. His wife, Sarah Williams, died March 11, 1862, aged seventy- four years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.