Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 138

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 138

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).

Mr. Hough had but one child, Mary Greenlee Hough, who became the wife of Major Millikin. She was the daughter of Jane Hunter, whose father was Joseph Hun- ter, a well-known farmer in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Hough were married on the 27th of December, 1810, the wife dying in 1840. She was an excellent Christian woman, and was highly respected and loved.

The character of Mr. Hough was emi- nently practical. He saw instantly what was to be done, and the way to do it. He was not deterred by obstacles, and he was so methodical and punctual that the failure of any enterprise, if it depended upon these qualities, was impossible. He was kind- hearted and generous in his intercourse with the poor, and he did not turn aside from

Digitized by Google

971

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

those who were unfortunate, when ill-luck was not the consequence of negligence or bad faith. He was affectionate and kind in his family, and his loss was deeply felt by those who knew him best. .

GEORGE R. BIGHAM

was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 31st day of January, 1791. Early in 1810 he came with his father, William Bigham, and family to Ohio. They settled on a large tract of fertile land, belonging to his father, adjoining the town of Hamilton on the northeast. The family consisted of the old gentleman and his lady, with their four sons and one daughter. Old Mr. Big- ham died on the 4th of September, 1815, aged sixty-three years. The oldest son, David Bigham, died at Hamilton on the 17th day of February, 1847. The second son, George R., and the two other sons, James and William, and the daughter Judith, married to David Dick, all resided' in Butler county.

George R. Bigham resided with his ' father and worked on the farm until the death of his father, when he inherited a portion of his father's lands, on which he continued to reside and cultivate until the year 1834, when he removed to the town of Hamilton.

On the 15th day of April, 1819, he was married to Miss Gormley, daughter of Thomas Gormley, of Fayette county, Ohio. She died on the 18th of May, 1827, leaving him a widower with one daughter, named Margaret, who married Dr. A. B. Nixon. Mr. Bigham married again on the 5th of February, 1829, to Miss Mar- garet Cook, of Ross county. Ohio, with whom he lived in great harmony and hap-

piness until his death. By his second wife he had two children who survived him.

Mr. Bigham having studied surveying in the state of Pennsylvania before he came to Ohio, in June, 1822, he was appointed county surveyor for the county of Butler, to succeed James Heaton (who had been the first county surveyor, appointed in 1803). Mr. Bigham took the oath of office on the 24th day of June, 1822, and served until the last of October, 1836, when he was suc- ceeded by Ludwick Betz. He was a good and careful surveyor, and executed a vast deal of surveying in the county of Butler; even after the expiration of his term of office, a great portion of his time, until his death, was employed in surveying. He was frequently called upon in cases where great accuracy was required.

At the age of fifteen years George R. Bigham made a public profession of religion. He joined the Presbyterian church and be- came a member of the congregation under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Latta, Chestnut Level, Pennsylvania. When he removed to Ohio he was one of the mem- bers who organized the first Presbyterian church in Hamilton, under the charge of the Rev. Matthew G. Wallace. At the time of his death he was the last surviving mem- ber, residing within the bounds of that con- gregation, who was present at the time of its organization. Mr. Bigham always, until the time of his death, continued a consistent follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and an ornament to the profession of a Christian.

With the patrimony inherited from his father, and a course of industry and economy for a long period of years, Mr. Bigham had acquired a handsome property, competent to render him and his family

Digitized by Google

972

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

comfortable during their lives; but in an ill- starred hour, in the year 1838, he became a partner in a mercantile house in Hamilton, and invested a large portion of the wealth he had acquired in that establishment.

As Mr. Bigham had been brought up and spent nearly all his previous life on a farm he was consequently not familiar with the business of a merchant and did not at- tend personally to the business. A few years afterward the establishment failed to a large amount, and the heavy debts against the firm swept away nearly every dollar's worth of property belonging to the estate, which might have rendered his surviving widow and children comfortable during their lives. This misfortune preyed heavily upon the mind of Mr. Bigham, and rendered the lat- ter days of his life rather unhappy.

Mr. Bigham did not, at any period of his life, seek advancement in political life; but he executed with energy and faithfulness the duties of the office which was freely conferred on him.

Mr. Bigham was remarkably regular and temperate in all his habits. He was per- fectly honest and upright in all his dealings and intercourse with mankind. No one could impeach his moral character. He died Oc- tober 14, 1852, aged sixty-one years and eight months.

GEORGE WASHINGTON KEELY.

George Washington Keely, D. D. S., was the grandson of George Keeley, a Ger- man by nativity, born in 1753. He came to this country in 1762 with his parents and settled in Pennsylvania, afterwards becom- ing a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and being wounded in the battle of Brandywine. His son, John second, was born in Dauphin

county, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1779, and died in Oxford, Ohio, May 7, 1848. He married Miss Ann Iddings, a native of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, who was born August 7, 1787. Mr. and Mrs. Keely came to Butler county, and settled at Oxford in 1818, and in 1822, on the 22d of October, George W. Keely was born. The residence of the family was but a short distance south of the university buildings, and the boy had the privileges of the schools of the town, and when but a mere lad of some fourteen entered Miami University. Three years later, the president, Dr. Bishop, retired. Mr. Keely was warmly attached to the Doctor, and feeling that the trustees of the institution were dealing unjustly by him, manifested his own sympathy by re- fusing longer to be numbered with the students of the school, although it had been his expectation to have pursued a full gradu- ating course.

Not long after this he spent a little time with Dr. J. D. White, then a practicing dentist in the city of Hamilton; but in the fall of 1839 entered the office of Dr. John Allen, then a noted dental practitioner of the city of Cincinnati (later of New York), with whom he spent the two following years. Returning to Oxford in 1841, Dr. Keely established himself in the practice of his chosen profession by opening an office in a building at the corner of High and Beach streets, where he remained for a year and a half, then moving to and occupying an office on Main street. Afterwards, in 1867, he rented the rooms corner of High and Main streets, where he continued his practice until his death in August, 1888. Agreeable to the customs of the day and the practice of many dentists in the early

Digitized by Google

973

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

history of the profession, Dr. Keely sus- tained for some years a series of periodic visits to neighboring towns in the states of Ohio and Indiana, which extended over the years of his early practice.

On the 13th of March, 1851, Dr. Keely was married to Miss Susanna Wells, in the city of Cincinnati, who bore to him three children, only one of whom, a son, Charles I. Keely, D. D. S., is now living, and is a practicing dentist, located in Hamilton. The married life of Doctor and Mrs. Keely was of short duration, as she was taken away by death May 25, 1856. April 21, 1861, Dr. Keely was again married, to Miss Cor- nelia Cone, of Oxford, who bore him eight children, only three of whom are now liv- ing, two daughters and a son. After having been in active practice for some twelve years he graduated at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, in March, 1853.

Dr. Keely was among the organizers of the American Dental Association in 1859 at Niagara Falls, and was elected its president in Philadelphia, in 1876, and presided as such in Chicago, in 1877. He was an active mover in the organization of the Ohio State Dental Society ; was once its president, and served several years as treasurer. Dr. Keely was also either an active or honorary mem- ber of the following: Mississippi Valley Dental Society, Mad River Valley Dental Society and of the Kentucky, Indiana, Mis- souri, Illinois and Wisconsin state dental societies respectively. and was elected a member of the New York Odontological So- ciety. He was a trustee of the Ohio Col- lege of Dental Surgery for about twenty- five years before his death, and for years lectured to the students on the "Cause and Management of Irregularities of the Teeth."

He was a liberal contributor to the liter- ature and periodicals of his profession. From his reports on dental education, made in 1874 and 1875 before the American Dental Association, copious extracts were reproduced in the "History of Dentistry in the United States." He often accepted in- vitations to lecture on some of the specialties pertaining to the practice of dentistry, one being "Causes and Prevention of Irregu- larities of the Teeth."

When twenty-one years of age he be- came a member of the' Masonic fraternity, and was one of the charter members of the lodge of Odd Fellows in Oxford when it was organized, having previously been a member of the Brookville, Indiana, lodge. In addition to his professional activity, Dr. Keely took the warmest interest in every- thing pertaining to the well-being of his na- tive town. City improvements, the grading of the streets, the embellishment and adorn- ment of the city parks and college campus, improvement of public buildings, etc., had in him a sure promoter and active worker; while the several educational institutions- Miami University, of which he was a trustee; Oxford Female Institute, Oxford Female College, and Western Female Seminary-had a warm place in his heart, and to their advancement he contributed liberally of both mental and manual effort and of his pecuniary means.

The Doctor was peculiarly social in his nature, a skillful and intelligent practitioner, kind and indulgent in his pleasant house- hold, and a warm and sympathizing com- panion and friend, and held a high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow- citizens.

His tragic death occurred in August,

Digitized by Google

974

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

1888, and was the result of a fall from a and scalped by the Indians at the door of third-story window of the old Mansion House in Oxford, the terrible accident oc- curring while Dr. Keely was attempting to adjust a telephone wire connecting his office and residence.

THOMAS HUESTON.

a pioneer of Butler county, was born in the backwoods of Virginia in 1776 and died at his home, four miles north of Hamilton, in 1861 in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The parents of the subject first resided near Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania. In religion they were Presbyterians. and belonged to Dr. King's congregation, who was distinguished in the annals of that region of country as the pastor there from 1769 to 1813. They removed from that place west of the Alleghany mountains, and settled in Ohio county, Virginia, which was then called the western country-the backwoods. The father of Thomas located and resided with his family on a tract of land lying on Little Wheeling creek, twelve miles above its mouth. He was not allowed, however, to remain there long, for in 1774 Dunmore's war commenced, and the In- dians became so troublesome that the set- tlements were broken up and the families obliged to remove to forts for security. Mr. Hueston's family was ensconced in Taylor's Fort (named after Robert Taylor, his broth- er-in-law, and the ancestor of the Taylors, who were the early settlers of this county. This fort was situated on Buffalo creek, twenty-four miles from the city of Wheeling (then Fort Henry) and twelve miles from the Hueston farm). In Taylor's Fort Thomas Hueston was born, in the year 1776, and in 1781 his father was shot, killed

his own residence. Col. Matthew Hueston, the brothers of Thomas, emigrated to the city of Cincinnati in the year 1793, and in a few years Thomas followed, and both re- sided in Butler county ever afterward. The first sales of United States lands west of the Great Miami river were held at Cincin- nati in April, 1801 ; not long after Thomas purchased a tract and in a few years after- ward began to put it in a cultivable condi- tion, and resided upon it for many years, leading a quiet, sober, economical, virtuous and industrious life. He was associated with his brother Matthew in the commissary de- partment in the war of 1812. The Hues- ton family is the largest family connection in the county. There are the Elliotts, Tay- lors, Grays, Nichols, Marshalls, Thomas, Harpers, Birds, Millers; Robertsons, Mil- likins, Becketts, Trabers, Hardings and others, all connected.

Thomas Hueston left a widow and a family of sons and daughters and lived four score and five years. He was born the same year that our Declaration of Independence was announced to the world, and died when the patriotism of the country was being aroused to squelch out the most wicked re- bellion against the best government that ever mankind have been blest with. He was an old-school patriot; and while living, his prayers went up before his God oft and fre- quent, for the preservation of our govern- ment and the perpetuity of the freedom of his race. We cast our eyes over his life, but to behold in its pathway the just and conscientious man. It is no exaggeration to say of him : "All the ends he aimed at, were his country's, his God's, and Truth's." He was always for his country and government,

Digitized by Google

975

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

whether administered right or wrong. He W. Finn, who owned a large drug store and truly lived in the days "that tried men's souls," and was a connecting link between the men of 1776, when tories were sum- marily dealt with, and the men of 1861, many of whom were halting between two opinions, whether they would espouse and defend their country or justify rebellion and revolution.

Thomas Hueston died a Christian, a patriot, a philanthropist, a pioneer and an honest man.

DR. S. H. POTTER.

Dr. Stephen H. Potter was one of the noted physicians and surgeons of Hamil- ton and vicinity. He was born in Cortland county, New York, November 12, 1812. His parents were Stephen and Lydia Pot- ter, who were noted among the early pioneers of central New York for their en- terprise, industry, and integrity. Until his seventeenth year he was occupied on his father's farm, attending the common schools about one-third of the year, his parents then giving him his time, which he employed in improving his education, working in sum- mers and teaching school during the win- ters.

At the age of twenty-one, in March, 1833, he was employed as principal of a high school at Canandaigua, New York, with three assistants, remaining there suc- cessfully two years and four months. The next September, after engaging in this school, he also commenced the study of medicine with Dr. E. B. Carr, reciting to him an hour daily, Sundays excepted, until July. 1837, when, in order to pursue his studies more favorably, he went to Olean, New York, with his brother-in-law, Dr. E.

had an extensive practice. Here he devoted his time industriously to these pursuits until September, 1837, when with two other medical students he came to Ohio and at- tended a medical college six months, gradu- ating honorably March 15, 1838. He im- mediately settled at Canal Winchester, in the Scioto valley, where he enjoyed a large practice until December, 1844, when his father was entirely disabled by palsy, which necessitated his return to Cortland, his na- tive place. Here he soon received a large patronage among his early school com- panions and friends, until May, 1849, when his father having died and other relatives being provided for, he settled in the city of Syracuse, New York. Here with others he organized and had incorporated the Syra- cuse Medical College, and established, edited, and published the Syracuse Medical and Surgical Journal, a monthly. The first term of the institution opened the next No- vember 5th, with eighty-seven actual ma- triculants, and continued two terms each year, of four months each, or thirteen terms, until June, 1855. In February, 1852, to improve his knowledge of surgery, Dr. Pot- ter went to Philadelphia, and attended the clinics in the Pennsylvania hospital, and surgical lectures in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, until the latter part of May.

He continued dean of the Syracuse Medical College and in charge of the Jour- nal until September, 1855, when his wife suffered incipient consumption, rendering it necessary to return to this valley, her na- tive place, hoping that the change might restore her health. He arranged with his partner, Dr. F. W. Walton, then of Piqua,

Digitized by Google

976

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

Ohio, to settle their business. Dr. Potter then went to Cincinnati, where he accepted the position of lecturer on principles and practice, in the American Medical College, when he continued publishing his journal, and attending the clinics twice weekly in the Commercial Hospital of that city until June, 1856, when he resigned, sold his journal, and settled with his family permanently in this city, where he remained in active prac- tice until his death, with the exception of two brief intervals. At the urgent solicita- tion of friends, in May, 1873, he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and assisted in organiz- ing the American Medical College and the American Medical Journal, which have both enjoyed surprising patronage.

The Doctor was for four consecutive years president of the Ohio State Eclectic Medical Society, and its recording secretary for two years; he was one of the incorpor- ators and first vice-president of the National Eclectic Medical Association at Chicago in 1870, and was the president the most of the time for about twenty-two years of the Miami Medical Society. He was for four years a member of the city council, and was also a member of the board of health.

The Doctor was married four times, each time happily ; he reared seven children to adult age, and, unfortunately, lost as many in infancy and childhood. He was the well-known author of a "Compendium of the Principles and Practice of Medicine," a book of five hundred pages, a work full of research and a marvel of condensation, for ready reference, and invaluable to busy prac- titioners and medical students. It has had a large demand, having passed two editions, and has been adopted as a text-book in many of our medical colleges.

Perhaps the most notable incident in the extended and eventful life of Dr. Potter was the rescue of a fugitive slave named Jerry in Syracuse, New York, about 1852. It occurred soon after the fugitive slave law was passed, and on the occasion of holding a national anti-slavery convention at that place. Daniel Webster had recently de- livered a speech to an immense concourse there, threatening that "when this conven- tion thronged the city, a noted fugitive would be arrested and taken back to slavery. The United States government would teach the people that there was potency in law." Four United States marshals had been de- tailed from as many adjacent cities, and the whole police force of Syracuse was ready. Jerry was arrested and placed in chains. About thirty thousand people were waiting to witness the scene. The man, with blue eyes, red cheeks, and brown curly hair, with no other semblance of a negro, was taken away from the officers by the mob, and finally placed by Dr. Potter in the grounds of a residence inhabited by a stiff pro-slavery man, where the most active search failed to find him. After the lapse of a week, and search having been made from house to house, when detection was imminent, the Doctor arranged with Jerry's host to drive in with a meat wagon, got Jerry in, and covered with blankets, he drove before the door of the Syracuse House, hitched, went in with the Doctor, took cigars, and drove out through the city about four P. M. in beautiful sunshine, no one suspecting the presence of Jerry. After reaching Brewer- ton, seventeen miles, Dr. Potter took Jerry in his carriage, sending the team back, and conveyed the fugitive to Mexicoville and by the underground railroad to a small har-

Digitized by

Google

977

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

bor on Lake Ontario, whence he obtained a passage on a small sailing vessel to Canada. No more noted fugitive slave case ever oc- curred in the United States, and in it the Doctor was the principal agent of success.

DR. DANIEL MILLIKIN.

The first regular physician who prac- ticed in Hamilton for a long time, and whose history was identified with it, was Dr. Daniel Millikin. Several of the other members of his family came here with him, or subsequently, and they and their descend- ants have maintained a distinguished posi- tion up to the present time.

Daniel Millikin was born on the 14th day of February, 1779, on Ten-mile creek, in Washington county, Pennsylvania. The early incidents of his boyhood life are not known by any of his surviving descendants. Being the oldest child of James and Dolly (McFarland) Millikin, a young married couple, who had commenced their married life with the view of acquiring and improv- ing a home under the inevitable trials and privations incident to living on the extreme western border of the settlements, and in a neighborhood sparsely populated, it is fair to presume that his services as a boy and young man were constantly required in as- sisting his parents. The history of all boys on the then western borders at that period will show that they had to perform much labor and to endure many privations.

The facilities afforded for obtaining even a very limited rudimental education were necessarily very meager. What prog- ress he made we have no means of knowing. When, however, he had arrived to the age of eighteen, about 1797, his father and. mother found themselves able to give their

oldest son some respite from the labors of the farm to afford him an opportunity of acquiring a better education than he could obtain at home.

Accordingly, in fulfillment of their de- sires, the son was sent to Jefferson College, then located at Canonsburg, about six miles north of the town of Washington, in his native county. He remained there over a year, devoting part of his time to the languages, in view of reading medicine. Soon after leaving college he commenced the study of that profession under the care and instruction of Dr. John Bell, a promi- nent physician residing in Greensboro, Greene county.

After he had completed his studies under Dr. Bell, and was authorized to com- mence practice, he deemed it prudent to seek a wife. While residing at Greensboro he became acquainted with the family of Col. John Minor, living near that place, and, in fulfillment of his purpose, he subsequently, on the 31st day of December, 1801, at the residence of her father, married Joan Minor. She was born where married, on the 22d day of September, 1782, being at the time of her marriage a few weeks less than nine- teen years old, while he lacked a few weeks of being twenty-two.

Immediately after his marriage Dr. Mil- likin commenced the practice of medicine, residing at his old home. The sparseness of the population and the general healthful- ness of the neighborhood did not furnish a very encouraging prospect for a young physician. Besides the spirit of emigration was prevailing, and young men, especially those who were ambitious to improve their condition, were contemplating new homes in the farther West.

Digitized by Google

978

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

Strongly impressed with the prevailing conviction that "Westward the course of empire takes its way," Dr. Millikin de- termined to investigate for himself, and, by personal observation, to see whether it would be wise to follow that course. Ac- cordingly, in 1804, he came to Ohio, and visited the valley of the Miamis. As the result of his investigations, ultimately he and his two brothers-John H. Millikin and Samuel Millikin-on the 7th day of April, 1807, took their departure from their cher- ished home. The separation was an oc- casion of deep feeling with parents and sons. They, however, had made up their mind for the undertaking, and went forward. John H. Millikin and wife intended to locate in Knox county, Ohio. Samuel assisted his brother to drive his stock as far as Zanes- ville, and there they separated. Samuel con- tinued his journey on horseback to Cincin- nati, where he expected to meet his brother. Dr. Millikin, with his wife and three chil- dren, embarked on a flat-bottomed family boat at Fredericktown, on the Monongahela, descending that river to Pittsburg, and thence going by the Ohio river to Cincin- nati. After remaining there for a short time, he. with his family and his brother Samuel. took his departure for Hamilton, reaching it on the night of the 7th of May. 1807.

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.

Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 138

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