A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 98

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > Ohio > Scioto County > A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record > Part 98

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He appears to have been the son of Colonel Samuel and Esther (Strong) Hunt, and to have been born in Charlestown, although the genealogy in the history is confused.

Captain Jacob Sampson Hurd

was born December 25, 1816, near Concord, New Hampshire. He was the son of John and Mary ( Young) Hurd, sister of Dan Young. He came to Ohio when a boy, and lived in the French Grant, in Scioto County, Ohio. His education was obtained in the country schools. He married Miss Sarah E. Clough, daughter of Abner Clough, in 1837, and they had children: Col. John R. Hurd, of Pueblo, Col. ; Jesse C., of Jackson C. H., Ohio; Mrs. Alice Riggs, wife of Charles Riggs of Pittsburg, Pa., and Joseph H. Hurd, of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Jacob Hurd was a Whig, during the existence of that party and afterwards a Republican. From the date of his marriage, until about 1851, he resided in the Hanging Rock iron region and was interested in several furnaces, moving from Jackson Furnace, Jackson County, to Portsmouth, January 1, 1852. From this time until the outbreak of the Civil War, he commanded several different steamers, and was engaged in boating on the Mississippi river and its tributaries. He was master of the "Susquehanna," "Clipper," "Zachary Taylor." "Boone," and "Effie Afton." From the beginning of the Civil War, he, with his youngest son. Joseph H. Hurd, was in the gunboat ser- vice until 1864. He was a master on the "Lexington," while in the gunboat service. Following his retirement from the navy, he re- sumed his former occupation of steam-boatman, and by reason of an explosion of a boiler on the "W. R. Carter" on February 2, 1866, he lost his life. The explosion took place at 4 a. m. at the mouth of Green river, Ky. He was asleep in the Texas and was never seen after he retired from his watch. His remains were lost in the river and never recovered. Some sixty-five persons lost their lives in the same disaster.

William Huston,

one of the pioneers of Portsmouth, was one of the first settlers on the town site. He came to Portsmouth from Virginia, with his fath- er, William Huston, from Frederick County, Virginia. He and his brother Joseph were located at Portsmouth, but William Huston,

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their father, went to Piqua and resided there until his death, in 1822. The members of one branch of the Huston family were hereditary Barons in England. An uncle of William Huston was knighted in England for distinguished bravery, and the family had a coat of arms. It represents a greyhound rampant on a broken column, an hour-glass with the last sand running out and the motto, "In tem- porc." The John Huston who was knighted for bravery, re-enforc- cd a broken column, marching in great haste, and this design in the coat of Arms was from this instance. The greyhound rampant indi- cates the fleetness of his coming to the rescue, and the last sand in the hourglass indicates the perilous extremity of the army, to whose res- cue he came. The motto "In tempore" commemorated his coming at the proper moment.

William Huston's wife's name was Susannah Boyd, born in Maryland. She came with her husband to Ohio, in 1802. They erected a pole cabin, the fourth, on the site of Portsmouth. Wil- liam Huston's wife was raised a Quaker, but after locating in Ports- mouth, became a Presbyterian, and it is said, she was the first person baptized in the Presbyterian Church in the city of Portsmouth. As a child she went over the battlefield of Brandywine, the day after the battle.

William Huston was quite prominent in the early history of Scioto County. In 1809, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Wayne Township, at the organization of the township. He was Overseer of the Poor in Wayne Township in 1812. He was one of the nine city fathers of Portsmouth March 1, 1815; but the position of councilman not being to his taste, he neglected to attend its meet- ings. So on May 1, 1816, he was dropped from council for non- attendance ; and his place was filled by Philip Moore. He forgot the Huston motto and was not at the council "in tempore." He had a taste for military matters and was Captain of a company of Light Horse. He served in the war of 1812.

At one time, he was engaged in keel boating on the Ohio and Scioto rivers, and he took much specie from Chillicothe to Pittsburg. Afterwards he boated considerable on the Ohio and Mississippi riv- ers. His last trip is related as follows: He brought a boatload of salt from the Kanawha and went down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. He was then engaged by emigrants to take them to Texas, by way of the Gulf of Mexico. He made the trip in safety, but on returning, his vessel encountered a storm in the Gulf and the boat was foundered. He managed to get ashore at a deso- late island and died of starvation. His wife was born in 1772, and died in 1854, at the house of her son, Captain Samuel J. Huston. Mr. William Huston was a man of great energy and enterprise, a family characteristic; but it was his extreme daring which lost him his life, in the zenith of his physical and mental powers.

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Cornelius Creed Hyatt

was born on the 24th of August, 1804, on Long Island, New York, four miles east of the original site of Brooklyn. His father was a farmer. Eldred Hyatt, and his grandfather, Thomas Hyatt, came over from England before the Revolution. He had a brother, Sha- drach Hyatt. They were fifteen and seventeen years of age, respec- tively, when they landed in New York. They by some means be- came separated, and never found each other afterward.

Our subject remembered Brooklyn when there were but three stores in the place; and their proprietors were: Bagby, Ramsen and Haggeman. They were general stores and were on Fulton street. His father had four sons and two daughters. Cornelius was the youngest son. His mother's name was Rebecca Creed. Thomas Hyatt, his grandfather, was a man in excellent circumstances and was a Royalist during the Revolution. He divided his land among his children and gave Eldred the farm of sixty-five acres, which he mortgaged to improve it. Mr. Hyatt remembers having walked four miles to school, and every quarter was paid for by his father. He lived on a farm until the age of eleven, when his parents moved to New York city, where he was apprenticed to a bricklayer. His mas- ter was Stephen P. Britton who had twenty-one other apprentices. He served six years. After completing his apprenticeship, he work- ed as a journeyman in New York city. He worked in building the Bowery and the Park theatres. He was married in 1825, to Miss Cornelia Cynthia Thompson in New York city. He determined to try his fortune in Portsmouth, Ohio, because his wife had relatives there, John Thornton's family. One Saturday night, he quit work and the next Tuesday he and his wife were on the way to Albany, by boat. They went from Albany to Buffalo by Erie Canal, from Buffalo to Cleveland by lake steamer, from Cleveland to Newark by the Ohio Canal, from Newark to Portsmouth, they drove overland and arrived in Portsmouth, October 3, 1830. The first person they met was John G. Peebles. When they arrived in Portsmouth, it had but six brick houses. The corner opposite Pig Iron Corner on Front street, the McDowell Building on Front and Market, the old Clough house on Fourth street, the McDowell brick above the corner, a brick on the corner of Fourth and Market and a brick where Dr. Kline's house now stands. The first work Mr. Hyatt did in Ports- mouth was to plaster the house where Captain A. W. Williamson formerly lived. This was done for Charles Oscar Tracy.

His first wife died in 1847. He had three children who died in infancy On February 24, 1846, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Taylor, of Cincinnati, and she was the mother of his daughter, Mrs. Dukes, afterwards Mrs. J. R. McClure. The foregoing was obtained from Mr. Hyatt by the editor of this work, when he last saw him.

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HISTORY OF SCIOTO COUNTY.

The following facts are taken from biographical sketches hereto- fore published. Mr. Hyatt had a longer life than any one who ever lived in Portsmouth. From August 29, 1804, to October, 20, 1901, is ninety-seven years and one month and twenty-two days. Mr. Hy- att was a citizen of Portsmouth from October, 1830 to November, 1900, a period of seventy years, less one year spent in Cincinnati, and four in St. Paul, Minn. The first house he built in Portsmouth was the one story brick on the southeast corner of Front and Chillicothe streets, for George Corwine. He built the first All Saints Church in 1833, which stood where the chapel now stands. He built the follow- ing churches : St. Mary's, on Madison street, Bigelow, the German Lutheran and Sixth Street. He built the first school house in Ports- mouth, the lower Fourth street in 1839. He built the United States Hotel in 1835. He built the Damarin grocery on Front street, the Stephenson residence which stood where Simon Labold's residence now does. He built the Moses Gregory residence on the north side of Third street. In 1837, he started a grocery on Fourth and Court streets. While in business, he built the brick business-house on the southeast corner of Second and Chillicothe streets, where T. B. Blake now does business. It was built three stories, but the top story was blown off by the storm in May, 1861. In this year, Mr. Hyatt sold out and went to Cincinnati and remained about one year. In 1886, he sold out and removed to St. Paul, Minn., where his son-in-law was located. On February 25, 1870, he returned from St. Paul and re- engaged in the grocery business and kept it up till about 1886, when he retired.

Mr. Hyatt was honest to the core,-too honest for his own good He trusted out goods of the value of the site needed for the Carnegie library in Portsmouth. He was always ready to take every man at his own estimate, and he lost thousands of dollars by reason of his confidence. In 1833. he united with the Methodist Church and lived a consistent member ever after. At the time he joined the church, the services were held in the old Academy on Fourth street. John Waller and Richard Lloyd became members at the same time. Mr. Hyatt was an old fashioned primitive Christian. He believed in the discipline of the Methodist Church just as it reads, without being con- strued. When the church was built where Hibbs' hardware store now stands, Mr. Hyatt was made a trustee and was the last survivor. of the Board elected in 1834. When Spencer Chapel was organized, Mr. Hyatt thought Bigelow Chapel was too fashionable and he went to form the new church, with a number of other plain people who were Puritans-among their Methodist brethren. Mr. Hyatt was always a plain spoken man. He condemned his grandfather, Thomas Hyatt for being a tory ; and his father, Eldred for being a "ne'er do well" and missing all his opportunities. He was one of the pillars in the Sixth street church for years, and there was never any question as

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to the sincerity of his religion or his living up to what he professed.

In 1837, he was one of the health officers in Portsmouth, and in 1843 and 1844, was one of the town council. In 1844, he worked on the grade to the amount of $365 and took his pay in town scrip. He was one of the committee who welcomed Hon. John Quincy Adams, Ex-President, when he visited Portsmouth in 1843.

He had one daughter, Ella, who married W. H. Dukes. The latter died of consumption in St. Paul, in 1870, leaving one son, Harry, a prosperous young man located in Hemet, California. Mrs. Dukes afterwards married Dr. John R. McClure and survived him. Mr. Hyatt loved Portsmouth and would have preferred to have ended his days there, but his daughter felt it her duty to follow her son, Harry, and she felt her father must go with her. The family went to Arkansas, in 1900, and a few months later to Hemet, California, where he died on October 20, 1901, and was buried.

Mr. Hyatt was a man of pleasant address, always cheerful and always gracious to every one. He believed everybody was honest and good and was often shamefully deceived; but the deceptions never changed his faith in humanity or soured his disposition. He was al- ways the same genial neighbor and kind friend. He ever spoke well of those who had beaten him out of large grocery bills. He lived his religion every day and was a living epistle read and known of all men.

William Jackson,

the son of Samuel and Mary ( Scarlett) Jackson, was born May 30, 1780, at Reading, Pennsylvania. His father died when he was very young. He learned the hatter's trade with his brother, John. He travelled through Virginia while working at his trade. He then went into business as a hatter at Berwick, Pennsylvania. There he was married to Rachel Tomlinson, January 15, 1808. He remained in Berwick, until 1816, when he emigrated to Ohio, crossing the Al- leghanies in a wagon to Pittsburg, where he bought a flat boat and floated to Portsmouth, with his wagons, horses and family. He brought his hatter's outfit with him, intending to follow his trade, but there was a hatter already in Portsmouth, and the country being thinly populated, one was sufficient. He went twenty miles to Bloom Township, and bought some land, and farmed where William Jack- son, Jr., now livees. Our subject was Justice of the Peace in that Township. He was County Commissioner from 1828 to 1834 and from 1837 to 1840. He was Assessor of Scioto County from 1837 to 1841. He was in the militia, but his Company was never called out. He was a Whig and was very prominent in politics. He was raised a Quaker, but afterwards became a Methodist.

He had the following children: Mary, who married William Fout; Joseph ; Sarah Ann, died at the age of fifteen years; Isaac, de- ceased, aged twenty-five; William, who resides on the old home place ;

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Rachel, married to Sebastian Eifort and resides in Greenup, Ken- tucky ; Samuel; James T. died in infancy ; John T. lives in Waukee, Jowa; Hannah, died in infancy. John, William and Rachel are the only surviving children. He died February 26, 1874, in his 94th year. He was a distant relative of Stonewall Jackson, and strength of will and purpose was a family characteristic. He was decided in his convictions and uncompromising in politics. He was benevolent and hospitable He would never charge travelers for lodging, or meals, and would never turn anyone away from his home. He was plain spoken, candid and sincere in all his intercourse with his fellow men. He was one of the most prominent figures in the county in his time. In the Whig party, he was always a leader.

James Okey Johnson

was born in Scioto County, Ohio, February 28, 1808, a son of Isaac and Jane (Clark) Johnson, natives of Hampshire County, Virginia, who came to Ohio in 1807 and located near what was known as Scioto Inn, the land having been entered by his grandfather, James Clark. Eight months later his parents removed to Ross County, where they remained two years, and then returned to Scioto County. His father and mother were married February 28, 1805, and had a family of six children. Isaac Johnson, his father, died February 18, 1832, and his mother died July 11, 1845.

James O. received but a meager education, the most of his time being employed on the farm. On March 10, 1833, he was married to Phoebe Jeffords, daughter of Henry C. Jeffords, the Scioto Inn keeper. She was born June 17, 1817, in Warren County, Ohio. They had the following children :- Sarah Jane deceased at two years ; Mary Ann, the wife of Wm. T. Carnahan, resides at Emden, Illinois; Isaac Johnson, resides at Washington C. H., Ohio; Rebec- ca, the wife of George Taylor, resides near Emden, Illinois; Henry Johnson, died aged one year; Eliza, the wife of C. J. Husband, lives at Grandin, Florida; Caroline, the wife of Newton Austil, of Pike- ton; Emma, the wife of J. G. Rice of Rush township; Milton, de- ceased ; Okey, resides at Dayton, Ohio, and William G. Johnson.

At the time of his marriage, our subject was farming on his father's land. In 1838, he sold out his interest in the place to his brothers and emigrated to Jersey County, Illinois, and settled four miles from Jerseyville. He raised one crop there and sold out and returned to his old home in the valley, and soon after bought a farm below Lucasville from Judge Samuel Reed of Piketon. In 1849, he sold to William Marsh and leased a farm of Thompson W. Cockerell, for five years. In three years he purchased it. Once in his life, he narrowly escaped being caught in the mill stream of politics. In 1860, he was pressed into service as the Republican candidate for Commissioner against John M. Violet, and was defeated by a small

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majority. March 10, 1883, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding. He was a very successful farmer and stock-dealer and at one time owned 1,300 acres of land. In the latter years of his life, he traveled a great deal, visiting all parts of the Union. He died August 3, 1883, aged 75 years, 5 months and 5 days. His widow continued to live at the old homestead until her death, November 17, 1885, aged 68 years, 5 months and 16 days. James Okey Johnson was not forgetful to entertain strangers. He was noted for his hospitality, far and wide. He was a neighbor in the true sense of the term. He was always ready to do a kind and generous act. If he was a friend once, he was a friend always.

Samuel Griffith Jones

was born in Maryland in 1778, and received a fair education. His father and family removed to Kentucky in 1793, in the midst of the Indian War. They came down the Ohio in a boat, but had the good fortune to escape all Indian encounters. They located in Kentucky. In 1799, our subject made a trip to New Orleans in a flat-boat for one Samuel Smith. He traded his cargo for sugar and took the sugar around by sea to Baltimore. He rode from Baltimore to Ken- tucky on horseback. He married Phebe Coon on his return, and in 1803, bought a town lot in Alexandria, for $100. He was the first Recorder of Scioto County, appointed September 28, 1803, and serv- ed until June 26th, 1805, when he resigned and was succeded by Alexander Curran. He was also Clerk of the Courts from August 6, 1804, till June 26, 1805, when he resigned and was succeeded by Alexander Curran. At this remote period, his reasons for resigning these offices can only be conjectured. There was but little to do in the public offices, at that time and as Jones was a cabinet maker and a genius in that trade, he probably resigned to give his whole atten- tion to his trade.

In 1810, he moved to the mouth of Scioto Brush Creek, and be- came a farmer This proved to be a great mistake. He aided in building Gen. Kendall's mills there in 1815, two saw mills and a flour mill. He also worked there in boat building. He had the ability to take up any trade and follow it, creditably. He was regarded as better educated than most men of his time. In 1821, he was a Jus- tice of the Peace for Union Township. In the same year he and his large family returned to Portsmouth. In 1823, he was clerk of the market in Portsmouth. In 1825, he was the jailer and was employ- ed to put a lock on the dungeon. In the same year he was elected to the town council by 21 votes, and the council made him supervisor of the East ward. From 1825 to 1828, he was the Town Marshal and in 1828 and 1829, he was clerk of the market. In 1826, he was a candidate for Coroner. In 1827, he was employed by the county to make a desk for the Commissioners and received $8.00 for it. While

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jailer, he had Robin Hood as a prisoner. When he fed prisoners on bread and water he received 121/2 cents per day for each and he at one time had five on bread and water for three days. From 1829 to 1831, he worked on a contract on the Ohio canal, and when the latter was completed went to boating on it. His wife died of the cholera in 1834.

In the fall of 1840, Mr. Jones took a severe cold which resulted in consumption, of which he died December 9, 1841. He was strict- ly honest in all his dealings and his word could always be relied on. He met many heavy losses in business by trusting that every one was like himself. He had been opposed to the party of Jefferson until 1832, when he went over to the Jackson Democracy on account of President Jackson's action as to the U. S. Bank.

Mr. Jones, had he lived in our day, would have been deemed an agnostic. He did not believe in revealed religion. He had been reared a Methodist, but he was a great reader and especially of "Free- thinkers' " works. He was also a Socialist and Communist. He was a great reader and possessed a mind always bent on investiga- tion. He was a good neighbor, but used liquors to excess. The wife of Elijah Glover, senior, was his sister. Nathan L. Jones at one time Infirmary Director, was his son. One of his daughters mar- ried Ezra Jeffords.

Murtaugh Kehoe

was born in Winchester, Va, December 9, 1797. His parents, Peter Kehoe and Ann Carey, came from Ireland in youth, and were mar- ried in Virginia. Peter Kehoe was a shoemaker, and had his son learn the trade. The father accumulated and owned real estate in Winchester, Va. His mother died in Winchester when he was quite young. In 1815, Murtaugh and his friend Nicholas Burwell, both of Winchester, Va., and both shoemakers, concluded to come west. They came to Portsmouth, and looked the town over. They conclud- ed it could not stand two shoemakers ; and as Kehoe was more favor- ably impressed with Portsmouth, he remained and Burwell went to to Maysville, and afterwards to West Union. Both followed the shoe business all their lives. Kehoe died November 25, 1874, worth $75,000 and Burwell died July 1, 1879, with $750.

Peter Kehoe, father of our subject, soon after came to Portsmouth, with his other children and remained un- til his death, October 19, 1838 at the age of 74. Peter Kehoe set up a shoe shop in Portsmouth and, in 1818, advertised as a shoe dealer in the first newspaper published in Portsmouth. Murtaugh Kehoe was in business with his father until 1826 when he engaged in busi- ness for himself with a stock of boots and shoes, groceries and li- quors. In 1831, he had discontinued the shoe business and confined himself to groceries and liquors. In 1837, he was again in the shoe business with William Gray, made the firm name, Kehoe &

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Gray. In 1828 young Thomas Waller owned a strip of ground from Second to Gallia street, which he inherited from his father. It con- tained about six acres. Young Waller thought the town would go to the "demnition bow-wows," and wanted to sell out, so he sold to Ke- hoe for $300. Kehoe held on to it and before he died it was worth $50,000. The same ground now with the improvements is not worth less than $300,000.

Mr. Kehoe was born with good business talents and he improv- ed them. He was strong in his likes and dislikes. He was con- servative in everything. He was industrious and frugal, and al- ways strickly honest. He retired from business about 1862 and lived a quiet and retired life, thereafter.

Moses Thompson was a prominent citizen of Portsmouth, who about 1829 had five handsome, loveable and marriageable daughters. He furnished the same number of wives to five lucky young men of Portsmouth. Mr. Kehoe was one of the lucky ones, and he married Eliza Thompson, April 29, 1829. They had eleven children, of whom Charles T., John C., James S., Caroline, Ann Eliza, Ann Carey and Mary Ellen are deceased. James S. was a soldier in the Civil War, in Battcry L, First Ohio Light Artillery. After the War, he studied medicine and became an excellent physician. He died in Clay Center, Kansas, in March, 1875, leaving a family. Charles T. Kehoe was a merchant and business man in Portsmouth. The sur- viving children of our subject are: Peter Kehoe, a merchant of Clay Center, Kansas; Frank B., of the old Tremper Shoe Company of Portsmouth, and Murtaugh, Jr., also of Portsmouth.

Mr. Kehoe was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, but became an Episcopalian. He was originally a Whig, but became a Demo- crat. He never took any interest in politics. In 1832, he was an Overseer of the Poor in Wayne Township, and in 1842, was a school trustee. He was an ardent supporter of the Civil War. In Sep- tember, 1861, he was nominated as Infirmary Director on the Union ticket, but declined to run. He died November 25, 1874. He was one of the successful men of Portsmouth; but quiet and unostenta- tious in all things. In all respects he was a useful and valuable citi- zen.

Jefferson Kendall

was born at Xenia, Ohio, May 1, 1807. His father had the contract for erecting the first Court House built at that point, and was re- siding there temporarily. He was the oldest son of William and Ra- chel (Brown) Kendall. He spent his boyhood in Scioto County, and was sent to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to his grandfather, Jere- miah Kendall's to be educated. When he returned to Ohio, he was surveyor for a number of years. He married Elizabeth Fenton, De- cember 9, 1830.

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A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 98

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913 Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612