Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 128

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149

USA > Ohio > Butler County > Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio > Part 128

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On this spot the town of Greenville was aft- erward built. On October 15th the wagons were sent back to Fort St. Clair with an es- cort of between eighty and ninety men, commanded by Lieutenant Lowery and En- sign Boyd. to bring stores and provisions for the army. On October 17th, when the wagon train and escort had proceeded about seven miles from Fort St. Clair, they were attacked by a party of Indians who rushed on with savage fury and yells. Lieutenant Lowry, of the second sublegion, and Ensign Boyd, of the first sublegion, together with thirteen non-commissioned officers and pri- vates, were killed. The Indians plundered the wagons, and carried off with them sixty four of the best wagon horses in the army, having killed six horses at the wagons in the engagement. They left the wagons standing in the road, which were afterward taken to Greenville. Colonel Adair, from Fort St. Clair, pursued the Indians, but could not overtake them. The slain in the engagement were buried at Fort St. Clair; but afterward. on the 4th of July, 1846, their bones were taken up and reinterred, with the honors of war and other imposing ceremonies, in the village graveyard be- tween the site of the fort and the town of Eaton, where a marble monument. twelve feet high, marks the resting place of these brave men.

On November 24. 1793. General Wayne, having completed Fort Greenville, on the present site of the city of Greenville, set out, with a party of about one thousand men, for the place where the army under General St. Clair had been defeated on November 4, 1791. Isaac Paxton, with the company of Captain Gib- son. to which he belonged, formed

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a part of the detachment. They arrived at the place on the evening of December 25th and pitched their tents on the battle ground. When the men went to lie down in their tents at night, they had to scrape the bones together and carry them out of the tent. The next day holes were dug without the camp, and the bones which remained above ground were collected and buried. The flesh was entirely off the bones, but in many cases the sinews held them together.

After this melancholy duty was per- formed, General Wayne laid out the plan of a fort, and the men proceeded to build it, which, after a few days, was completed, and named "Fort Recovery," in commem- oration of its being recovered from the In- dians, who had possession of the ground in 1791. The fort was placed under the com- mand of Captain Gibson with his company of riflemen and one company of artillery, which were left to defend the fort. The rest of the detachment returned to Greenville. Isaac Paxton remained in Fort Recovery during the winter, and until the main army marched on their expedition in July follow- ing.

On the 28th day of July, 1794, at eight o'clock A. M .. the main army, under the command of General Wayne, left Fort Greenville. and took up their line of march into the Indian country. On July 30th Cap- tain Gibson, who commanded at Fort Re- covery, joined the main army. Isaac Pax- ton, who belonged to this command, accom- panied the army on their long march through the Indian country, along which line at special vantage points were erected Forts Adams, Defiance, and Wayne, and participated in many Indian battles, the most memorable of which was that of

Fallen Timbers. On the evening of No- vember 2d, after an absence of three months and six days, the army arrived at Greenville, where they were saluted with twenty-four rounds from a six-pounder.

Isaac Paxton remained with the army during the winter and until the following July, when he applied for a discharge. He received a certificate that "he has served as a private in the fourth sublegion and in Captain Alexander Gibson's company of riflemen: He has delivered up his arms and accoutrements without deficiency, and is permitted to apply to headquarters for an honorable discharge." On presenting this certificate at headquarters he received an honorable discharge under the hand and seal of the commander-in-chief, General An- thony Wayne. His discharge is dated at Greenville, July 7, 1795. In it he is de- scribed as a man twenty-four years of age, five feet eight inches high, fair complexion, dark hair and blue eyes. Mr. Paxton served upward of three years in the army, all the time under the command of Captain Gib- son. When Mr. Paxton received his dis- charge there was no money with which to pay him off. He walked to Cincinnati. When he arrived there, he had not enough money to pay his expenses across the Ohio river and he engaged to work with a silver- smith for his support. In October he walked back to Greenville, collected his three dollars per month for services as a sol- dier and returned on foot to Cincinnati, where he continued to work at his trade until 1801, when he went to live in what is now the southeast part of Butler county (Pisgah, Union township), then a part of Hamilton county.

In the year 1803 Mr. Paxton married

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WILLIAM B. OGLESBY.

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Mrs. Madeline Williams, a widow whose maiden name was Vanhise, and, in 1807, removed to the west side of the Great Mi- ami river, on a farm about five miles from Hamilton, on the turnpike from Hamilton to Trenton, where he lived until 1813. Hav- ing sold his farm he then removed to Ham- ilton, where he purchased a lot, built a house and opened a silversmith shop, in which he continued to work until the infirm- ities of age compelled him to decline busi- ness. His wife died June 23, 1826. In 1831 Mr. Paxton married a second time. His wife's name was Mrs. Phares, a widow lady, a daughter of Paul Saunders, and sis- ter of Isaac T. Saunders, of Hamilton. Mr. Paxton died October 7, 1861, in the ninety- second year of his age.

BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN WINGATE

died at the residence of John Burke, Jr., near Symmes' Corners, Butler county, Ohio, on the morning of April 14, 1851, at the advanced age of about seventy-seven years. The deceased was a native of New York, and in his youth learned the trade of stone- mason. Soon after the disastrous defeat of General St. Clair, in 1791, when the frontier settlers were in the most imminent peril, Mr. Wingate came to the western country with the army commanded by General Wayne. He was a sergeant in Captain Van Renssel- aer's troop of cavalry and was in the ever- memorable battle of the Fallen Timbers, on the Maumee river, fought with the Indians August 20, 1794, in which our troops gained a complete victory over the savages and ter- minated the Indian war which had been car- ried on for a number of years. His deeds of bravery on that trying occasion were favorably spoken of, and were often after-

ward the theme of his associates in arms. He had also a brother who was in the same engagement, and was at the time orderly- sergeant in the same company to which John Wingate belonged. His brother was slain by his side in that action. In the year 1795 the treaty of Greenville was held with the Indians, which secured the blessings of peace, and brought joy and gladness to the stricken hearts of those who had made their homes in the wild wilderness of the West. With the mustering out of service of Gen- eral Wayne's army, Mr. Wingate returned to Fort Hamilton, where he settled. The town had then been but recently laid out. He married Miss Mary Dillon, who was a daughter of one of the early settlers of the place. She died in a few years, leaving him with two children.

On May 24, 1809, John Wingate mar- ried Mrs. Emma Torrence, widow of John Torrence, then lately deceased, a lady of great worth and highly esteemed for her many amiable and excellent traits of char- acter. She was a daughter of Captain Robert Benham, the distinguished pioneer, some of whose daring deeds, sufferings and hazardous adventures are recorded in the histories of the West. She was also the sister of Joseph S. Benham, Esq., now de- ceased, who practiced law in Hamilton for several years, and is remembered as one of the most able lawyers and eloquent orators of his day.

John Wingate was one of the early merchants of Hamilton. He kept a store on Front street in a log building, situated on the lot now occupied in part by the St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. In 1806 Mr. Wingate abandoned his mercantile busi- ness, and, in October, 1807, was elected

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sheriff of Butler county, in which office he served for the term of two years. He was subsequently elected a brigadier general of the Ohio militia, and in the year 1813 he again marched to the tented field and served a term of six months in the capacity of brigadier general in the second war with Great Britain.

After Mr. Wingate's marriage with the widow Torrence, in 1809, he kept a tavern for several years in the house on the corner of Dayton and Water streets, in Hamilton -- the same stand that had previously been oc- cupied as a tavern by John Torrence, de- ceased. The house is yet standing, and until within recent years was owned and occupied by Henry S. Earhart as a residence. In 1816 Mr. Wingate removed to Cincinnati, where for some time he kept the old Cincin- nati Hotel, situated on Front street, between Sycamore and Broadway. After some time Mr. Wingate removed to the Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, where he kept a house of enter- tainment for several years, and finally re- moved farther west.

After an absence of more than thirty years from the scenes of his early ad- ventures, General Wingate returned to Ham- ilton a few weeks previous to his death, an old man enfeebled by age and the various vicissitudes and misfortunes of the eventful life through which he had passed. Al- though General Wingate had no relatives, so far as known, he did not die without friends. During his last illness he was well attended and cared for in the family of John Burke. near Symmes' Corners, whose father, when an unprotected boy, found a friend and benefactor in John Wingate. On Tuesday. April 15, 1851, the remains of the deceased were brought from the resi-

dence of Mr. Burke to Hamilton, and at three o'clock the funeral services were con- ducted by the Rev. Arthur W. Elliott, at the Methodist Episcopal church, in the pres- ence of a large concourse of people. The interment was at Greenwood cemetery, and was held under military honors.

WILLIAM B. OGLESBY

was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1815, he being one of nine chil- dren-six sons and three daughters-born to Joseph and Mary A. Oglesby, natives of Pennsylvania, of English and German ex- traction. His grandfather and father were sickle-makers, which in those days were made by hand. In the fall of 1818 the fam- ily emigrated to Indiana, and settled in Wayne county, near Richmond. Two years later they removed to Preble county, Ohio, where, until he was thirteen years old, the subject enjoyed the advantages of a good schooling in the branches usually taught in the backwoods school. William had at this time arrived at an age when it became necessary to earn his own living. and thus lighten the expense of a large family. He accepted a situation in a store with. Captain Hiram Potter, at Jacksonburg, whom he served acceptably for two years. From there he went to Middletown and entered the store of Jonathan Martin as clerk. He con- tinued there two or three years, until the death of Mr. Martin: afterwards the busi- ness was carried on by Tytus & Wrenn, with whom he remained. except for a few months, until they dissolved. F. J. Tytus continued the business in the same room, with whom young Oglesby remained as clerk about two years; he then became a partner with Mr. Tytus, and so continued

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until the summer of 1840, when they sold by the first marriage, Mary J., was married out.

In the fall of 1840 he and his brother Jacob bought a stock of goods in Philadel- phia, which, at Pittsburg, were shipped on the steamer "Troy" for Cincinnati; near Portsmouth, on the Ohio river, the steamer, with its goods and freight, was sunk, and no insurance. The goods were "fished out," opened and dried, reshipped to Cincinnati, thence to Dayton, and again opened. From Dayton they removed their goods to Syd- ney, Ohio, and after doing business about six months, sold out. From this place Mr. Oglesby went to Urbana. Ohio, and re- mained two years. He then went to Phila- delphia, and engaged as clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house for six months. at the ex- piration of which time he was married to Miss Rebecca S. Barnitz, of Hanover, Penn- sylvania, the sister of George C. Barnitz. now deceased, and Charles S. Barnitz, of Middletown. The union terminated on Jan- uary 21. 1850, by the death of his wife. By this marriage he had three children. Mary J., William B. and Charles B.

In the spring of 1844 he entered into a co-partnership with his brother-in-law, George C. Barnitz, in the dry-goods busi- ness, with whom he continued to do busi- ness without interruption for nearly fifty years. A greater portion of the time. from 1844 to 1857. the firm was engaged in buy- ing produce. pork packing. and various other branches, including a banking busi- ness.

In the fall of 1854 Mr. Oglesby was married to Miss Catharine Gingrick, a native of Germany. By this last marriage four children were born, viz: Edwin G., John H .. Ida R. and Effie L. The eldest daughter

to Frank Foster, of Middletown. His son, Charles, married Miss Alice Kate Dickey, of Dayton, Ohio, and is president of Oglesby & Barnitz's Bank, at Middletown.

Mr. Oglesby was treasurer of Butler county. Ohio, from 1880 to 1882. He was a man of marked ability, and had a wide range of business knowledge and experience. He died about ten years ago.

JOHN WOODS

was born in Johnstown, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, October 18. 1794. His father, Alexander Woods, was a native of Ireland. born in the county of Tyrone, in 1768. In 1790 he left his native land and came to the United States and resided for some years in eastern Pennsylvania. He afterwards came west, first to Kentucky and later to Warren county, Ohio, where he pur- chased a farm a few miles east of Franklin, which he improved and on which he resided until his death, on January 9, 1848. He was married. in 1793, in Pennsylvania, to Mary Robinson, who was born in 1762, and who died on August 16. 1828. having be- come the mother of eight children. John Woods, the subject of this sketch. was the eldest son and was reared in a log cabin. and. as soon as his strength would admit, had to participate in the labors of the farm. He received such an education as the com- mon schools of the country at that time af- forded. which, by hard study at such times as he could spare from the duties of the farm. he improved, much to his advantage in after life. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He was included in the last draft of the Ohio militia, which was made in 1814, and was in the garrison at Fort

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Meigs when peace with Great Britain was proclaimed. On his return from the army he opened an English school in the neighbor- hood of Springborough, which he continued for one or two years. From boyhood Mr. Woods had formed the resolution of acquir- ing an education and finally becoming a lawyer, and for the purpose of enabling him to carry out his desire he contracted, for a certain compensation, to clear a piece of ground adjacent to where his father lived, as a means of support. He built a hut or camp on his clearing, and after chopping and mauling the heavy timber all day, at night he often read and studied law in his rude cabin while others slept. He pursued his course of reading under the direction of Hon. John McLean, who had been a member of congress and one of the judges · of the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Woods prosecuted his studies in this manner for some time, and went regularly once a week to Lebanon, where Judge Mc- Lean then resided, to recite to him and re- ceive instructions. He afterwards devoted his time more exclusively to the study of law, and, in August, 1819, he established himself in Hamilton, and, opening an office on the 19th of that month, commenced the practice of his profession. In 1820 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county of Butler, in which office he served till 1825, at which time his services as a member of congress commenced, when he resigned.

June 20, 1820, John Woods was married to Miss Sarah Ann Lynch, of Spring- borough, Warren county. She was a native of South Carolina, born December 29, 1801. They forthwith commenced housekeeping in Hamilton. At the general election in Oc-

tober, 1824, he was elected a representative in congress from the second congressional district, composed of the counties of Butler and Warren, over Thomas R. Ross, of Leba- non, who had been the former represent- ative. His term of service commenced on the 4th of March, 1825, but he was not re- quired to take his seat until the first Mon- day of December following. On October 18, 1824, Mr. Woods formed a partnership with Michael B. Sargent in the practice of the law, which terminated with the death of Mr. Sargent on May 19, 1830. When Mr. Wood's first term in congress expired he was again elected for a second term, so that he served four years, from the 4th of March, 1825, until the 4th of March, 1829. While there he was distinguished for his industry and attention to business. On the 18th of January, 1828, Mr. Woods, from the com- mittee on roads and canals, made a report accompanied by a bill "to aid the state of Ohio in extending the Miami canal from Dayton to Lake Erie. This bill, which sub- sequently became a law, aided the state in the payment of debts contracted in the con- struction of her canals. At the session just referred to the subjects of the tariff, in- ternal improvements, Indian appropriations and Indian affairs were largely debated, in all of which he took a prominent part. He was decided and ardent in politics as he was in everything else. He warmly opposed the election of General Jackson to the presi- dency. This threw him in the minority in Butler county, which was overwhelmingly in favor of Jackson. In consequence of his opposition, at the end of his second term. he was defeated by the election of James Shields. After his retirement from con- gress Mr. Woods became the proprietor.

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publisher and editor of the Hamilton In- telligencer, which he conducted with great ability for three years, a portion of the latter part of the time in connection with Lewis D. Campbell, who assumed the business management of the concern. Although Mr. Woods was engaged in editing a newspaper he did not relinquish the practice of his pro- fession as a lawyer, but prosecuted it vigor- ously until 1845. In January of that year the Ohio legislature elected him auditor of the state for a term of three years, and so efficiently did he perform his official duties that he was honored by a re-election and served until March, 1851. As auditor he left indelible marks on the policy and history of the state.

Mr. Woods now devoted himself par- ticularly to the development of various en- terprises and became the president of the Eaton & Hamilton Railroad Company, and brought his strong powers to bear on the prosecution and completion of the work. Immediately after retiring from the presi- dency of the Eaton & Hamilton Railroad Company Mr. Woods was appointed to and accepted the office of president of the Junc- tion Railroad, now known as the Cincinnati. Hamilton & Indianapolis division of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton system, leading from Hamilton to Oxford, Conners- ville, and thence to Indianapolis, to the prosecution of which work he brought his energy to bear and faithfully attended to the business of the office, with honor to him- self and to the advantage of the company. Until the time of his death the strong mind and energy of Mr. Woods wrought an im- pression on almost every improvement in and about Hamilton. He was a liberal con- tributor to everything which had for its

object the promotion of the happiness of man. Many years ago he took a leading part in founding and establishing the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy. He was active in the construction of the Cincin- nati & Hamilton Turnpike Road, of which he was director. He was president of the Darrtown & Fairhaven Pike. He was one of the leading spirits in projecting and con- structing the Hamilton and Rossville Hy- draulic Works. He spent considerable time in procuring subscriptions for the Cincin- nati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, in which he was largely interested, and of which he was a director during his life. Indeed, far more of the energy displayed in carrying forward that great work came from Mr. Woods than from any other man. In his temperament he was decidedly amiable, of a most kind and forgiving disposition. His walk through life was without any devi- ation from the paths of honor and rectitude. In his dealings and business relations he was prompt, honorable and expert, and a patron of integrity. Law and order had in him an undeviating advocate. He was always found on the moral side of every pub- lic question. He was a regular attendant at the house of worship of the Associate Reformed church, of which he was a con- sistent member. In the early part of July, 1855, Mr. Woods was attacked with in- flamation of the lungs, so severe as to cause strong apprehensions of its fatal termina- tion. However, he became better, and hopes were entertained that his system would rally, but the disease finally terminated in typhoid fever, which ended his earthly life on Monday. July 30, 1855, in the sixty- first year of his age. His remains were consigned to the tomb in Greenwood ceme-

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tery at five o'clock P. M. on the day fol- ship, his wife surviving him for several lowing his demise. The funeral services years. were conducted by the Rev. William David- son.

WILLIAM SHAFOR

was one of the sturdy first settlers of But- ler county. He was the son of Peter and Catherine Shafor, natives of New Jersey and of German and Dutch descent. The family name was originally spelled Sheafor. The subject was born in Somerset county, - New Jersey, September 7. 1783. and when six years of age his parents removed to the wilds of Kentucky. Sojourning in the vi- cinity of Lexington until 1803, they re- moved to Ohio, and settled on a farm near Amanda, in Lemon township, Butler county. William Shafor was then a stalwart, rugged youth of twenty years, capable of doing much pioneer work and aiding in the devel- opment of a new country. His father cleared and cultivated a farm, upon which he continued to reside until his death, at the age of seventy years.

During the war of 1812 the subject was lieutenant in Captain Hamilton's company, and his credentials and other relics are in the hands of his son Peter, of Fairfield township. At the age of twenty-eight he married Miss Jane, daughter of John and Anna Ryerson, all natives of New Jersey, who, coming to Ohio, settled on a farm in Lemon township, Butler county, not far dis- tant from that owned by the Shafor family. Later Mr. Ryerson moved to Darke county, making his home near Greenville, and sub- sequently went to Kosciusko county, Indi- ana, where he and his wife died advanced in years. Their son Michael married Elanor Boylan, and died on a farm in Lemon town-

Mrs. Jane Shafor died in 1859, at the age of sixty-six years. Five sons and six daughters had been born of her marriage, viz: Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Catherine, John R., Henry, Sarah, Peter, Adeline, William B., Irene and Wilson. Elizabeth married Thomas Long and died at Crawfordsville, Indiana, aged eighty years. Mary Ann (Mrs. Daniel Jewell) settled in Cassopolis, Michigan, where she died. Catherine first married Samuel B. Holmes, and later be- came the wife of Joshua Kemp, of Lemon township, where she died at the age of sev- enty years. John R. is a wealthy and influ- ential citizen of Middletown. Henry died when twenty-three years old. Sarah mar- ried John Parker, a wagonmaker of Aman- da, where she died. Peter is a prominent farmer and stockman, and resides in Lib- erty township. Adeline was married to Ja- cob Simpson, and died in Connersville, In- diana. William B. died at the age of twenty-three years, and Wilson when an in- fant. Irene (Mrs. John Van Sandt) died at Crawfordsville, Indiana.

In 1859 Lieutenant Shafor removed to Middletown. The following year he was united in marriage with Elizabeth. widow of George Hilt, and mother of Captain Jo- seph Hilt. the well-known commercial trav- eler of Middletown, and John Hilt. She died about 1877, and some three years later, October 19, 1880, at the age of ninety-seven years, the subject was called to his final rest. His last years were spent in Middle- town, though he retained until death the ownership of the old home farm, four miles from Middletown. This property he had purchased about 1813 with money earned in

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Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 128

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1149

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149