USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > Lancaster > Centennial history of Lancaster, Ohio, and Lancaster people : 1898, the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the spot where Lancaster stands > Part 5
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He failed in the mercantile business in Kentucky, and his brother-in-law assisted him in coming to Lan- caster. He lived at the foot of Main Street and col- lected the toll for the use of Christian and William King's bridge over the Hockhocking and the marsh beyond. Mrs. Claspill taught school for one year in
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the Presbyterian church that stood where S. J. Wright's dwelling now stands.
She was one of the first teachers in the union schools and served in that capacity for eleven years. The term of service is sufficient proof of her ability as a teacher.
Since early life she has been an honored member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She has lived a widow for fifty-three years. Her declining years have been pleasantly spent with her daughter, Mrs. Annie E. Edgar, for many years a teacher in the public schools.
BENJAMIN SMITH
Benjamin Smith, father of James, Robert, Daniel and Benjamin, Jr., came to Ohio in 1810 from Rockingham County, Va. He purchased a farm on Pleasant Run, where he resided during the remainder of his life. His sons settled in Lancaster. James and Robert were merchants for a number of years. James was for eight years a partner of his brother-in-law, Tunis Cox. He married a sister of Dr. James White and they were the parents of Mrs. Wm. Latta. He died about the year 1835. Robert Smith married Phebe Searls, a niece of John Creed. She came from Rhode Island to visit her uncle and while here made the acquaintance of Robert Smith. Daniel studied medicine and practiced his profession in Lancaster. In 1812 he was a surgeon in the army under Gen. Harrison. In the winter of 1817 and 1818 he was a member of the Legislature. Soon afterward he went to Virginia to live. He is doubtless the Dr. Smith mentioned by Rev. James Quinn who advised Rev. John McMehan to strike a Lancaster man who had publicly insulted him. Ben- jamin Smith, Jr., studied law and practiced his pro-
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fession in Lancaster for about eight years. He repre- sented Fairfield County in the Ohio Legislature in 1814 and 1815. About the year 1819 he moved to Charleston, Va., where he became an eminent lawyer and politician. He was prominent in Virginia politics and a member of the Legislature. He was the last of the brothers and died a few years since at the age of ninety years.
Margaret, daughter of Benjamin Smith, Sr., became the wife of John Creed and the mother of a large family. James Smith, a cousin, came to Lancaster from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He studied law with John T. Brasee and went to Minnesota. He is now a distinguished lawyer and wealthy citizen of St. Paul. Benjamin Smith, Sr., was opposed to slavery and for that reason sought a home in Ohio. He brought with him a num- ber of his old servants who settled in Lancaster and became good and useful citizens. William Peters and Scipio Smith were of the number. Scipio Smith ac- quired the tin and coppersmith trade, and was the first colored man to engage in business in Lancaster. He was a reputable man, a good workman, honest and in- dustrious. For many years he was a leading member of the African Church of Lancaster. Many now liv- ing, when children, knew the one-legged colored me- chanic, Scipio Smith. A son and daughter of Robert Smith, Mrs. Samuel Rutter and Daniel Smith, live in Pleasant Township, another son in Kansas. The blood of the South and of New England circulated in the veins of the Creed and Smith families. New England gave to Lancaster many of her most prominent and in- fiuential pioneers - Converse, Scofield, Sherman, Creed, Foster, Merwin, Torrence and Peck.
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JACOB D. DEITRICK
Jacob D. Deitrick came to Lancaster, Ohio, from Hagerstown, Md., where he was druggist. He came here under an agreement to found the Ohio Eagle, which he did in the year 1812, or spring of 1813.
In the year 1814 he was appointed postmaster. In 1819 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, in which capacity he served several years. He served seven years as an associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
During Jackson's first term as President he was Postmaster of Lancaster, but was superseded by Henry Drum.
He closed his earthly career in 1839.
CHRISTIAN NEIBLING
Christian Neibling came to Lancaster in 1803. He was early a hotel keeper on the lot adjoining the Hock- ing Valley Bank. His hostelry was named the "Ris- ing Sun." He subsequently built the American House and occupied it himself in 1816. He was a good-na- tured, genial man, and remarkable for his herculean strength. When Thomas Ewing, then prosecutor, was made Deputy Sheriff or Marshal for the purpose of arresting a gang of scoundrels, Christian Neibling was chosen as one of his aids.
Neibling died on his farm in Pleasant Township. Col. James Neibling, of the Twenty-first Ohio, was his son.
GOTLIEB STEINMAN
Gotlieb Steinman came to Lancaster from Germany in the year 1811, at the age of twenty-six years. He learned the baker's trade with Jno. Shurr and purchased
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Shurr's business. He rented the Rokohl corner, now Mithoff House, and conducted his bakery and a hotel until the year 1824. He then built the old-fashioned house east of and adjoining the Hocking Valley Bank, where he kept a fine hotel. This he sold in 1829. In 1832 he rented the old Union Hotel of Col. Noble, but was burned out in the great fire of 1833.
In 1838 he was proprietor of the Tallmadge House, but was compelled to make an assignment. He re- moved to Cincinnati and tried his fortune there for a few years, with poor success. Returning to Lancas- ter, December, 1849, he was soon thereafter elected a Justice of the Peace and held the office fourteen years. He succeeded Jacob Green as a director of the Lan- caster, Ohio, Bank, and was the first man in Lan- caster to be made a Mason, serving twenty-one years as Treasurer and sixteen years as Secretary of the Lodge.
He prepared the great dinner for the Gov. DeWitt Clinton commencement of the Ohio Canal at Hebron and lost many hundred dollars by it. Steinman be- longs to the noble band of pioneers.
GEORGE RING
George Ring was a native of Vermont. He first located near Kingston, Ross County, Ohio. From Kingston he moved to Berne Township, Fairfield County, and settled on what is now known as the J. R. Pearse farm. There he built a fulling and carding mill. In 1817 he purchased a lot in Carpenter's addi- tion to Lancaster, where he erected a large brick build- ing into which he moved his family. He soon built the woolen factory which was at first operated by water from the Hocking. James Rice was his partner in
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the mill business, and so continued until the year 1833. Retiring from business in his old age, he removed to his farm south of town. He was a Justice of the Peace in Berne, and a member of Lancaster Council. He was the last of the charter members of Masonic Lodge No. 57.
He was a consistent member of the Old School Baptist Church, of which his life-long friend, the Rev. Samuel Carpenter, was the pastor. George Ring was of sturdy New England stock, a bold, enterprising man.
He was a very strong and active man and when pressed hard and compelled to fight, his adversary got the worst of it. John Van Pearse, considered a champion, once insisted that nothing but a fight would satisfy him. Ring reluctantly consented, and Van Pearse was badly worsted. In later years Van Pearse told the joke and laughed at his folly. Kooken and Eaton were at one time lessees of his factory.
CHRISTIAN ROKOHL
Christian Rokohl was a native of Germany and came to Lancaster early in the century. He was one of the founders of the Lutheran Church in Lancaster, and one of the prominent members. He prospered and be- came the owner of the corner lot on which now stands the Hotel Mithoff. He died in 1824. His son, David Rokohl, who married a sister of Joseph C. Kinkead, was for several years a Lancaster merchant. He owned the Smith farm in Greenfield Township and built what was called a fine house at the time. In this house he entertained Gen. W. H. Harrison when a candidate for the Presidency in 1836. He moved from Lancaster to St. Louis and later joined the throng of
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adventurers to California. He engaged in business in San Francisco. In the fifties, he returned on a visit to old friends and spent a few weeks in Lancaster. During this visit he was entertained by Jacob Cly with a number of old-time friends, at dinner at the Amer- ican Hotel. He died a few years since in San Fran- cisco. He was a popular and well known citizen and his name is often mentioned by old citizens.
EARLY DAYS AND WAR OF 1812
The first brick building erected in Lancaster is the one now occupied by John S. Brasee as a law office. The second was the Court House. The third was built by the Rev. John Wright and now forms a portion of E. B. White's residence; all three were built previous to 1810. In that year General Beecher built his brick office, which stood on what is now the Rising corner, Columbus and Main Streets.
In the early days transportation was out of the question, and everything required by the settlers was made by hand in Lancaster, and mechanics were numerous. Bodenheimer and Spogle were wheel- wrights; Miller, Tong, Luman Baker, Thos. Dawlin and Joseph Grubb were cabinet makers; William Duf-
field, Christian Weaver, John Leonard, J. A. Weak- ley, Henry Johns, W. Latimere and John K. Myers were carpenters; Jno. Foglesong and Samuel Blazer were blacksmiths; Samuel Effinger and Scipio Smith were tin smiths; Thomas Sturgeon and John Town- send were silversmiths; John Stallsmith, Jacob Embich and George 'Canode were shoemakers; John Beemen and Colonel George Sites were gunsmiths; John Shurr,Gotlieb Steinman, John U. Giesy and Daniel Keltner were bakers - all in business prior to the year
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1825. Philemon Beecher, W. W. Irvin and Charles R. Sherman were the three ablest attorneys practicing at the Lancaster bar previous to 1830, and each was called to fill public positions of high honor.
The declaration of war with England by the United States Congress in 1812, created great excitement in Lancaster. A public meeting was called at the Court House. Major Charles R. Sherman read the Gover- nor's proclamation and delivered a thrilling patriotic speech. George Sanderson volunteered to raise a company, which he did in a few days - was elected Captain and marched his company to the Northern frontier and joined General Hull's army. They were all surrendered at Detroit. Sanderson returned to Lancaster and in violation of his parole given at De- troit, raised the second Company and joined General Harrison's army and served through the war. The risk Sanderson ran in violating his parole and his gal- lant conduct as a soldier, gave him a lasting reputation.
February 17, 1815, a letter was received by the Post- master of Lancaster from the Postmaster of Wheeling, Va., announcing that peace had been declared be- tween the United States and Great Britain.
Dr. James Wilson, President of the Town Council, at once issued a proclamation requesting all citizens of Lancaster to join in a general celebration of the event and an illumination of the town. He also directed Captain Wm. Sumner of the Lancaster Artillery to fire a national salute in the afternoon.
COLONEL JOHN NOBLE
Colonel John Noble came to Lancaster about the year 1815, as a tailor. He was a brother-in-law of Samuel Effinger. For many years he owned and was
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landlord of the Union Hotel, on the spot known suc- cessively as the Phoenix, Tallmadge, and Kirn. From here he moved to Columbus and kept the old Neil House. He was popular both as a landlord and a citizen. He was the father of the late Henry C. Noble of Columbus and of John W. Noble of St. Louis, Mo. Henry Clay was more than once his guest. He enter- tained General Taylor, President-elect, at the Pearl Street House in Cincinnati. Colonel Noble's daughter married Dr. Loving of Columbus, and his adopted daughter was the second wife of Dr. W. M. Trevitt, Ohio's Secretary of State. Another daughter married Henry T. Myers.
In the year 1840, he entertained James G. Blaine and Thomas Ewing's boys - then lads of eleven and thir- teen years. The boys remained until they supposed the hotel bill would exhaust their cash. They ordered their carriage and called for their bill. Col. Noble told them that he did not charge Mr. Ewing's boys - that their entertainment was free. They, with one ac- cord, proposed to stay another day and ordered their horse back to the stable, greatly to the amusement of Col. Noble.
On this trip, as the boys approached Greencastle, they noticed a hickory pole with a Democratic flag. As they passed it, Tom Ewing and Jim Blaine, as the boys were called, took off their hats and gave three cheers for General Harrison. Hugh was the oldest and the driver, he reproved them, saying: "Your con- duct is insulting to these people and you must not re- peat it as they all know father's carriage." On their return trip, they did repeat it, and Hugh stopped the carriage, put them out, and drove off, leaving them to walk to Lancaster a distance of nine miles.
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Col. Noble kept a hotel in Lancaster from 1819 to about 1832. In company with Captain Jno. A. Dubble he kept hotel ten years in Cincinnati. Returning to Columbus, he built and opened the old Buckeye House on Broad Street. He was a partner in a general store in Lancaster and in two manufacturing establishments. He was a public-spirited citizen and alive to the inter- ests of the town. He was the official representative of Fairfield County at Hebron when the canal was com- menced; and escorted Governor DeWitt Clinton to Lancaster.
THOMAS EWING
Thomas Ewing was born in Ohio County, near Wheeling, Va., December 28, 1789. His father was Captain George Ewing, a soldier of the Army of the Revolution, who at the close of the war left his home in New Jersey for the West. Owing to trouble with the Indians in the Ohio Territory he settled temporarily in Virginia. In a few years the Indians became peace- ful and he continued his journey to Ohio, and settled on what is now known as Federal Creek in Athens County. Young Ewing worked upon his father's farm until nineteen years of age, reading in the meantime such books as were to be found in the cabins of the settlers and in the new library which they had pur- chased. Being ambitious to obtain an education he prevailed upon his father to permit him to go to the Kanawha Salt Works and earn the necessary money. He walked through the woods to the Ohio River and got aboard a keel boat and worked his passage to the salines. This was in the year 1809. In December of this year he returned home, went to Athens and spent three months there as a student. In the spring of 1810 he went again to the Salt Works to earn more
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money. He was successful, returned home and paid off his father's debts. The winter of 1810 and 1811 he spent at home reading the books of the library. In the spring of 1811 he again went to the Salt Works and after a summer's work returned home with six hundred dollars in money. He immediately entered the Ohio University, being twenty-one years of age, and continued a student there until the spring of 1815, when he graduated with honor. After graduating he again went to Kanawha and in six weeks earned one hundred and fifty dollars. With this sum he returned home and in July of the same year, 1815, he came to Lancaster and commenced the study of law with General Beecher. During his college term he taught school one term at Gallipolis, Ohio; and the Athens County records show that he occasionally acted as a surveyor. Before entering General Beecher's office he had read Blackstone and after fourteen months of hard study, sixteen hours per day, he was in August, 1816, admitted to the bar, being then past twenty-four years of age.
His first speech as an attorney was made in the Court House at Circleville, Ohio. In 1817 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for Athens County, notwith- standing the fact that he lived in Lancaster, forty-five miles distant. He served as such for the years 1817- 18-19 and 20, and again in 1824 and 1825. He was Prosecuting attorney for the County of Fairfield from the year 1818 to 1830. Three or four years after being admitted to the bar, Mr. Ewing married Maria, daugh- ter of Hugh Boyle, Clerk of the Court, and one of the pioneers of Lancaster. In the year 1824 he formed a partnership with his young friend, Henry Stanbery, which continued a few years. They soon became great
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rivals at the Lancaster bar and upon the circuit; but this did not disturb or mar the friendship of their early years. Mr. Ewing soon rose to eminence as a lawyer and Whig politician. He had the honor to deliver the oration at Hebron, Ohio, when the first shovelful of earth was thrown by Governor DeWitt Clinton upon the surveyed line of the Ohio Canal. In 1831 he was elected by the Ohio Legislature as Senator of the United States and served six years. He soon became an influential member of the Senate and a good de- bater, making for himself a national reputation. In 1841 he was Secretary of the Treasury in President Harrison's cabinet. In 1849 he was Secretary of the Interior under President Taylor and organized that department. Unfortunately for Mr. Ewing and the country, both presidents died early in their adminis- tration so that he did not have an opportunity for the display of his great abilities as a cabinet officer. In 1851 Thomas Corwin, then Senator from Ohio, re- signed and Governor Ford appointed Mr. Ewing to fill the vacancy. Corwin, when nominated for Sena- tor, defeated Mr. Ewing in caucus by one vote. That vote was. cast by General Joe Geiger, of Circleville, whom Mr. Ewing had in some way offended. Great as Mr. Ewing was as a statesman, his great fame will rest upon his ability as a lawyer, a lawyer rooted and grounded in the fundamental principles of the law.
In a purely legal argument he was without a rival at the Ohio bar. In the courts of Ohio, Henry Stanbery was his most formidable competitor. They were opposed to each other on all great cases. In the great case of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Ewing represented the North, Stanbery the South. As all the world knows, Mr. Ewing won the case.
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Good judges pronounced his argument a wonderful production. In the Martha Washington case tried in the United States Court at Columbus, Stanbery ap- peared for the prosecution, and Ewing for the defense. Mr. Ewing submitted the case without argument much to the surprise of Stanbery who had a carefully pre- pared speech, and the jury brought in a verdict for defendants. During the trying times of the Rebellion, when his boys and son-in-law were at the front, he was in constant communication with the authorities at Washington. His advice was often sought by the Ad- ministration and freely given. It was mainly, (as his friends claim) upon his advice that Mason and Slidell were surrendered and a war with England averted. He left a sick-bed and made his way to Washington to advise with President Lincoln on this occasion. He lived to see peace and a reunited country. Mr. Ewing was a man of splendid form, strong and active, and many good stories are told of his strength and agility. He could jump higher than any young man he ever met and but few, if any, could throw him down. He is credited with once taking an ax by the handle and throwing it over the Court House steeple. After Mr. Ewing became established as a lawyer, he, in con- pany with Hon. Samuel F. Vinton, purchased and ope- rated the Chauncey Salt Works in Athens County. They continued the business for twenty years or more and finally turned it over to Colonel Steel, Ewing's son-in-law. After the death of President Harrison, Mr. Ewing did not remain long in Tyler's cabinet. Tyler and his cabinet differed radically on the bank question in particular, and they were not long in ten- dering their resignations. Mr. Ewing wrote and pub- lished a lengthy letter explaining why he left the cabi-
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net, and quoted conversations had with the President and conversations that took place in cabinet meetings, that the public might fully understand his reasons, for this breach of confidence, as his enemies termed it. He was roundly abused by all of the leading Demo- cratic papers of the country, harsh terms and abusive language filling their columns. Mr. Ewing was not injured in the estimation of his party and, on his re- turn to Ohio, he was tendered public dinners by the enthusiastic Whigs of Columbus and Zanesville. From 1841 to 1860 Mr. Ewing was engaged in his profession in large and important suits, both in the courts of Ohio and of the United States. The Stoddard case, a case involving Spanish land titles, he tried in St. Louis and was successful. He spent four months or more in ac- quiring the Spanish language that he might more fully understand and prosecute his case. Much of his time in preparation was spent in Cincinnati. While there he made the acquaintance of an intelligent photo- graphic artist, in whose office he was accustomed to unbend himself when tired of his work. This artist states that in conversation with Mr. Ewing he was sur- prised to learn that he knew more about the photo- graphic art than he himself. This is not surprising to those who knew Mr. Ewing, for he was a ripe scholar, well read and at home upon any subject that he might be called upon to discuss. He had assisted his father to make a new home in Indiana where the old gentle- man died January 14, 1824. This home was on the Ohio River near Cannelton and, at the time of which we write, was occupied by Mr. Ewing's aged brother George. While at St. Louis trying the Stoddard case, he notified his brother that on a certain day on his way home his boat would pass Cannelton but would not
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stop. The boat reached the point in due time and the aged brother was in his chair on the river bank sur- rounded by his family. As the boat drew near, Mr. Ewing stood at the railing surrounded by the deeply interested passengers; he greeted his brother and the salutation was returned. As the boat passed up stream the old man arose, trembling with age and quivering with emotion, and bowed a farewell for the last time, never to meet or see his brother again.
Mr. Ewing died October 26, 1871, at his home in Lancaster. His funeral was largely attended. On his death-bed he said to a friend, "I have lived a long, useful and eventful life and I am ready to go." The honorary pall bearers were:
Governor R. B. Hayes,
Senator John Sherman,
Senator Allen G. Thurman,
Judge Welch of the Supreme Court,
John H. James, of Urbana.
A. B. Walker, of Athens, W. Marshall Anderson, Circleville,
Charles B. Goddard, Zanesville,
M. A. Daugherty, Lancaster,
John D. Martin, Lancaster,
Darius Tallmadge, Lancaster, George G. Beck, Lancaster,
Frederick A. Foster, Lancaster,
Charles M. L. Wiseman, Lancaster,
J. F. Vandemark, Lancaster, Hon. Henry Stanbery, George Reber, of Sandusky,
Henry B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon,
Hocking H. Hunter, Lancaster, John T. Brasee, Lancaster,
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James R. Pearse, Lancaster,
Charles Borland, Lancaster,
Samuel A. Griswold, Lancaster, Samuel Herr, Lancaster,
Jacob Beck, Lancaster, Dr. T. O. Edwards, Lancaster.
About the year 1818 the southern part of Fairfield County was infested with a gang of thieves and coun- terfeiters, who for months or years had evaded or escaped from the officers of the law and defied arrest. Thomas Ewing, who was Prosecuting Attorney, be- came tired of this and requested to be sworn in as a special constable; which was accordingly done. He selected a half dozen choice spirits, who like himself, were large, strong, and active men, of known courage and discretion-Nathaniel Red, Christian Neibling, Adam Weaver, Christian King, David Reese, and Elnathan Scofield. They proceeded to the rendez- vous, surrounded the house and captured the gang, binding the leader, who was in charge of Mr. Ewing. Scofield was about to be overpowered, when Ewing went to his relief. The leader seized this moment for escape, and, though his hands were bound, jumped out of a second story window and made his escape in the darkness. The others were tried, convicted and sent to prison.
During the years Mr. Ewing was prosecutor and for many years previous, there were numerous distilleries in the County; and merchants everywhere sold or gave liquor away to their customers, and whisky was a universal beverage. Along in the twenties the sale of it was regulated somewhat by statute. The records show that Mr. Ewing as prosecutor procured indict- ments against Latta, Connell and Ainsworth, Christian
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