History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 43

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896

USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 43

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JOHN LAMBRIGHT

was born in Fredericl: City, Maryland, January, 1778. In 1802 he married Anna C. Smith, and in 18/1, 1e- moved to Harrison county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1812, located in Mifflin township, Richland, now Aslı- land county. In the fall of 1812, the cabin of Frederick Zimmer, a neighbor, was attacked by the Indians, and the son of Mr. Zimmer hastened to inform James Copus and Mr. Lambright of their presence, and the desire of Mar- tin Kuffner and the Zimmers for their assistance. Messrs. Copus and Lambright hastened to the cabin, and arrived in the carlier part of the night, finding all sitent in and about the premises. They returned to their respective cabins, took their families and fled to the block-house of Jacob Beam, on the Rocky fork. Here he remained three weeks, and fled to Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. While there, Mr. Lambright was drafted, and served in the northwest, about four months. He and his family remained near Lancaster three years, and then returned to his deserted cabin on the Black fork, where he continued to reside until November 9, 1832, when he deceased. Some members of his family yet reside in the township. Mrs. Joseph Doty is a daughter.

For a fall description of the Ruffner, Zimmer, and Co- pas fights, and the part Mr. Lambright took, see arti- cles on that subject in the historical part of this volume.

JOSIAH THOMAS

was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1801. His father, George Thomas, of Welsh descent, removed to Harrison county, Ohio, and located near Cadiz, in 1807. He was a tailor by trade, and followed his business there until 1817, when he emigrated to the village of Peters!birgh, now Mifflin, Mifflin township, Ashland county. He, George Thomas, remained there several years engaged at his trade, and in keeping a hotel, the village being on the main line of travel from Canton, Wooster to Mansfield, and the west part of the State. Jacob Beam being a brother-in-law of Mr. George Thomas, and an uncle to Josiah, his two older brothers, Henry and Peter, had visited Mr. Beam, to see the country prior to the removal of the family. In 1824 George Thomas, with his family, removed to Orange township, and located upon the preseat home- stead of Josiah Thomas. Josiah attended the common schools of the neighborhood, and adopted farming as an occupation. In 1828 he married Miss Eliza Zim- merman. His family consists of seven children-George, Henry, Warren, Mary, Elizabeth, Freelove, and Harriet. George, Henry and Elizabeth are married. Mr. Thomas is a quiet, industrious and exemplary farmer. He b. never been an office socker ; yet, against his protests, the people of his township have elected him trustee tif. tren or sixteen times. When Ashland county was or-

ganized in 1846, Mr. Thomas was appointed commis- sioner for the short term, and elected in October, for three years, and served until 1850. He has been a member of the Disciple church about twenty years. In 1879 he was elected president of the Historical and Pioncer society of Ashland county, which office he yet holds.

HON. JOHN DOUGHERTY

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1819. His father, Daniel Dougherty, was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States in 1866, and landed at Baltimore, and thence removed to Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania. He emigrated with his family to Milton township, now Ashland county, in 18 :2, where he died. Mrs. Dougherty and her children re- moved to Vermillion township in 1832. Here John grew to manhood, attending the schools of the neigh- borhood. At an early age he took an active part in politics, and being a fluent speaker, he was regarded as the leader in his township. He voted with the Democ- racy. He rarely asked official promotion for himself. When the gold fever of 1850 spread over the land, he joined in search of the hidden treasure in California. His venture proved a success, and he returned in 1854. In 1858 he again visited the Pacific slopes, and re- mained until 1863. He prospected in the mines of Idaho, Washington and British Columbia with success, and returned to his old home in Ashland county. In 1861, prior to his return, he was elected a member of the California legislature, and served one session, and resigned. Having visited nearly all the mines of the Pacific slopes, he is of opinion there is plenty of gold in the Black Hills, which fact is being concealed by the Indian ring and other speculators. In 1872 he again returned to California, in the hope of restoring his de- clining health, and remained eleven months, to no ad- vantage. His malady is chronic rheumatism, with which he has been tortured for several years. He now resides near Jeromeville. He has been twice married. He is an exemplary member of the Catholic church. He is a high toned gentleman .*

Z. T. PAULLIN

was born in Greensburgh, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1822, and emigrated with his father's family, in 1823, to Wayne county, and in 182; to Vermillion township, now Ash- land county. They located near Daniel Porter on Beall's trail. Mr. Isaac Paullin, st., had a description of the country front Mr. Porter, who passed up the trail in IS12. Isaac Paullin was a shoemaker,' and the first practical workman in that part of the township. He was also the first gunsmith. His sons Z. T. and Daniel learned the shoemaking business of their father, and con- tinued to mimuficture shoes. In 1835 Isade Paull

" Mr. Dougherty died m0 13;2

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JOSIAH THOMAS.

. Josiah Thomas, the subject of this sketch, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1804. His parents, George and Mary Beam Thomas, were natives of Pennsylvania. The ancestors of his father came from Wales, and those of his mother from Germany. George and Mary Thomas, with their family, removed to Brooke county, Virginia, in about 1807, and remained there about one year, when they came to Ohio and set- tled in Harrison county. Mr. Thomas was, by trade, a tailor, and followed that business until old age compelled him to relinquish it. From Harrison county the family came to Mifflin township, in the present county of Ash- land, about 1817, and after about seven years again re- moved in 1824, this time to Orange township, where he purchased the farm now owned by his son, Josiah Thomas. Here he died at the age of eighty-two years. His widow survived him some five years, and died aged eighty-five years. They had a family of eleven children, of whom but two representatives now remain: Mrs. Elizabeth Jaques, in Illinois, and josiah Thomas, the youngest son, on the old homestead.

Josiah Thomas worked on the farin of his father dur- ing his boyhood and youth, doing his part toward re- deeming the wilderness, clearing, log-rolling, rail-splitting, building fence, and other bard urinual labor, until his brothers and sisters, having left the farm, died, or mar- ried and made homes for themselves, when, by will, he inherited the property, after paying certain sums to

MRS. JOSIAH THOMAS.

the other heirs. He was married September 2, 830, to Eliza Zimmerman, who was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, December 25, 18og. Her father died when she was small, and she came to Chio with other members of the family, when about twenty years of age. To them have been born ten children, two of whom died in early childhood: Sanford, at the age of three years, three months and seven days; Jefferson, aged one year, seven months and three days. Adeline died aged seventeen years and one month .. Those now living are : George, Henry C., Warren R., Mary, Elizabeth, Free- love, and Harriet, all of whom are now married except Warren and Harriet, who remain at home with their parents.

Mr. Thomas was one of the first commissioners of the present county of Ashland, in which office he served three years and six months, when he dechued to further serve. He has also held the office of township trustee some seventeen years. He has never been an office- seeker, but the people of his township, appreciating his worth, have continued him in office. Both himself and his wife are members of the Disciple church, with which they have been connected some thirty years. flis first vote was cast for Andrew Jackson, and he has ever since adhered to the principles of the Democratic party. He has a good home in the southern part of Orange town- ship, comprising the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres.

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

and family settled on the present site of the village of Mohicanville. Here he deceased. Z. T. Paullin is the only son remaining in Mohican township. He has ac- cumulated a comfortable property, and has a pleasant family. We obtained many valuable reminiscences from him concerning the carly settlement of Vermillion and Mobican townships.

PETER HUFF

was born in Virginia, December 25, 1798, and when a child accompanied his parents to Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, where he remained until 1825, when he came west and located in Lake township. He settled on the west side of the Lake fork in the forest, and soon erected a cabin and began to improve his land. Those residing on the west side of the stream were George Marks, John C. Young, John Emerick, Enoch Covert, Abraham Blue, Jabez Surith, Emer Alins, and Nathan Dolby. Mr. Huff has a fine property south of 'Mohicanville. He is quite vigorous and retains all his faculties. He has two sons, Samuel and William. The former resides in Mohican- ville and carries on a large woollen manufactory, and the latter resides on the homestead. Mr. Huff stays with his son.

WESLEY COPUS

was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 180.1, and immigrated, with his father's family, to Mifflin township, Richlind, now Ashland coanty, in the spring of 18og. In reaching their wilderness home, they passed through the Indian village of Greentown, and followed a trail to the south part of what is now Mifflin township, and erected a camp cabin of poles about one mile northeast of what is now Charles' mill, near a run subsequently named Zinimer's. They resided in this cabin about fifteen months. In the meantime, the fam- ily cleared a few acres and planted corn. It was frosted in July, and much injured. Mr. Copus had moved his family in a cart, with a good yoke of oxen; and also brought two or three miich cows, which fed, during the summer, on sedge grass and pea-vines. in the spring of ISto, he commenced the erection of a more substantial log cabin near a fine spring, aboat one mile south of his pole cabin, and removed to it during the summer of iSto. The old Greentown trail passed near the spring, and Mr. Copus was often visited by the Greentown Indians, during the spring and summers of 1809 -10 - 1 I -- 12. Thomas Armstrong, the chief, and his sons Silas and James, and Tom Lyons, Bill Dowdee, Billy Montour, Abram Williams, and others, frequently came to the cabin, and were quite friendly. James and Silas Arm- strong, then boys, often came to the sugar camp and ran races and wrestled with the Copus boys. For over three years the intercourse continued in harmony, and not until after the disgraceful surrender of General Hull at Detroit, in August. 1812, were any apprehensions of danger from the Greentown Indians feh. Fears were

then entertained that they might be corrupted through British influence, and attack the defenceless settlements along the branches of the Mohican.

As a means of safety the State authorities ordered the removal of the Jerome and Greentown Indians to Piqua, after which, a number of Greentown Indians, who had, prior to that time, fled to Upper Sandusky, returned and assassinated the family of Frederick Zimmer and Mar- garet Ruffner, and, a few days afterward, attacked the cabin of James Copus, father of Wesley, and killed him, and several soldiers near the cabin. Wesley. then nine years okl, with the balance of the family, was in the cabin during the assault, and saw his father fall and ex- pire. He retained a vivid tecollection of the terrific screams of the savages as they riddled the walls of the cabin with bullets.

After this tragedy, his mother and children return- ed to Guernsey county, where they remained until the fall of ISI4. when they came back to the old cabin, where, some forty years afterward, Mrs. Copus deceased. At that time the family consisted of Henry, Nancy, Sarah, James, Wesley, Nelson, and Anna.

Wesley Copus continued to reside in the vicinity of the old homestead. For several years his health had been gradually failing. It had been apparent for some time that he could not survive a great while. Having been somewhat exposed to the inclemency of the weather, he was attacked with pneumonia, and expired February 14. 1876.

During his youth his educational advantages were lim- ited, and his entire schooling_ consisted of about three months; but, by observation, a retentive memory, and good judgment, he had acquired a fund of information, and was a very interesting conversationalist.

He was twice married. His first wife survived only six months. By his second wife he had ten children, six of whom survive --- John W., Madison, Eliza J., Sarah, Mary, and Nancy E., all of whom are married.

Mr. Copus was a member of the United Brethren church for thirty-five years. As a citizen, he was indus- trious, conscientious, and the opponent of all shams and vices. He was buried at the old cemetery near Charles' mill, where many of his kindred sleep. Mr. Copus being enrolled among-the pioneers, the obituary committee of the Pioneer and Historical society, of Ash- land county, adopied the customary resolutions.

Only two of the James Copus family now survive- Mrs. Sarah Vail, of Mifflin, and Mrs. Anna Whitmer, of Wood county, Ohio.

FREDERICK W. COFFIN

was born in Washington county, New York, January 6, 1800). He learned the trade of a cabinet maker in Vermont. On reaching manhood he married Mary Waters, of Bennington, and located in Trov. New York. in 1833. In 1845 he removed to Mohlomille, Ashland county where he remained two years, and renamed to Ashland, where he still resides. He is of English de.

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

scent, and the family trace their ancestry back to the invasion of the conqueror William, of Normandy. The Coffins settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, as early as 1642. At one time the Coffins were the proprietors of Nantucket.

Mr. Coffin is an excellent mechanic, and a gentleman of high integrity. He is the parent of twelve children, part of whom are deceased. In December, 1875, he held a family reunion; those present were: the father, Frederick W. Coffin, aged sixty-seven; the mother, Mary Coffin, aged sixty-two; Mrs. L. J. Sprengle, Mrs. F. H. Smith, Mrs. M. Jennings, Mrs. E. L. Mcl'rath, Thaddeus Coffin, Arthur W. Coffin, Eugene Coffin, Harry T. Coffin, and Edward Coffin. These, with relations by marriage, and offspring, numbered in all thirty-two souls. If the mother of Mr .. Mary Coffin, who resides in Troy, New York, aged eighty-six, had been present, there would have been five generations under the same roof.

The Coffins are noted for their musical endowments, and when all together make an interesting family concert.

THOMAS SMITH SUTHERLAND

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 4, 1816, and removed with his father's family to Richland (now Ashland,) county, in 1833. He became a farmer by occupation, and married Martha Sheets, daughter of the late Joseph Sheets, one of the pioneers of Montgomery township. Mr. Sutherland purchased from his father's estate part of the homestead one and a half miles south of Ashland, and more recently the balance of the home farm, from the heirs.

He was a man of industrious and economical habits, and noted for his integrity and strict honesty. He pos sessed an excellent judgment, and was honored by being selected to fill several township offices.

On the third day of May, 1876, Mr. Sutherland was fatally injured while assisting in the removal of a neigh- bor. Being in advance of other teams, in a small wagon, one of the teams became alarmed at a hog who jumped up by the road side, and commenced to run. Mr. Suth- erland turned aside to permit the team to pass, but was run into, breaking his wagon to splinters, and in passing over hin, the wheels crushed two or three ribs. He survived until the fifth, and deceased. The melancholy termination of his life produced a feeling of sadness throughout the township. He left a widow and one daughter, the wife of Mr. Jameson. A large concourse . of friends and neighbors followed him to his final resting place in the cemetery at Ashland.

NATHANIEL, HASKELL

was born in Windsor county, Vermont, October 3, 1792. He emigrated to Obio in ist;, and located in Cleve- land. In July, 1818, he removed to Wooster, Wayne county, where he remained three years. and located in Loudonville, Richland, now Ashland, county. Soon after his arrival, he erected a carding machine and fill-

ing inill, which for several years was a great neighbor- hood convenience. In April, 1823, he married Hettia 1. Skinner, the daughter of a pioneer, who erected the first grist-mill in the vicinity of Loudonville. Mz. Has- kell was a thrifty business man and accumulated prop. erty quite rapidly. He laid out an addition to Loudon. ville, and, by his business energy and strict integrity, contributed to the growth of the town. He was long engaged in the mercantile business, and possessed tact and energy in its management. He took a deep interest in the school system of Ohio, and was always liberal in forwarding the interests of education. He was, for many years, an active member of the Masonic fraternity, and noted for his genial disposition and love for that ancient order. In his later years -- 1868 -- he became the principal stockholder and owner of the Haskell bank, of Loudonville, which was an institution of de- posit and exchange, and was managed by him. In 1855 his excellent wife deceased. September 30, 1871, Mr. Haskell deceased, leaving his bank interest to a nephew, he having died childless. The institution was conducted by the nephew until 1875, when he deceased.

DANIEL BEACH

was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, March 16, 1785. In :805 he came on foot to Canfield, Mahoning county, Ohio, and worked one year, then re- turned and married Lorinda Sacket, January 1, ISio. He purchased two hundred acres of wild land in what is now Summit county, Ohio, to which be removed in 1811, coming the endre route with a yoke of oxen and one horse. In 1812 he was drafted in the military service, and served neat Fort Croghan six months. In IS?3.he disposed of his farm and accompanied Bradford Sturte- vant in search of a new home to Ruggles township, Ho- ron, now Ashland county, and purchased, of Jessup & Wakeman, of Connecticut, one mile square of land in section three, he taking the west and smallest part. He returned, and in July, 1523, removed with his wife and five children --- Cyrus, Reuben, Cordelia, Harriet, and Daniel, to his new home in the forest, about one mile west of what is now known as the corners. The paths in the forest were narrow, and required quite an effort to get over by teams. He had two yoke of oxen to haul his goods. He encamped one night in Medina county, and one night at Sullivan center. A man -Mr. John Soles- piloted him thence by way of New London. He encamped one night on the route in what is now Troy, and again at New London, and was just one week in reaching his forest home. Their first supper was cooked at the fire of a deserted Indian camp on the premises. The forest was dense, and it required years of unremi !- ting toil to prepare the lands for culture. Mr. Beach was accompanied in his removal by Eleazer Sackes, a brother. in itw. He beift a pole cabin, ten by fifteen feet, il which he resided until he built a log cabin. By fall he had cleared five acres, which he put in wheat. Other pioneers began to select lands, and M. Beach's cabin

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

was frequently visited. In the winter of 1824 he hired bands, and cleared the timber from one hundred acres. In the spring he and Bradford Sturtevant returned to Tallmadge and purchased apple-trees for new orchards, some of which yet bear fruit. Mr. Beach, by industry and economy, accumulated a handsome property. In 1854 he divided his homestead between his two sons, Wakeman and William, and removed to Kent county, Michigan. Mrs. Beach died on a visit to Ruggles, at the residence of her son, Cyrus Beach, in November, 1856. Mr. Beach subsequently married Mrs. Frances Peck, widow of Tylor Peck. He died at his residence in Rug- gles in May, 1862. He was remarkable for his habits of industry and enterprise. He was exaet and careful in all his business transactions, and his integrity was never questioned. His children were Cyrus S., Reuben K., Harriet L., married to Rollin Curtiss, Daniel, deceased, Wakeman J., and Cordelia M., married to Isaac Cowell. Most of the family reside within Ruggles township, and ale noted as farmers and stock growers. Wakeman Beach, born January 11, 1825, is believed to have been the first child born within the township. He resides on the old homestead west of the corners. I am indebted to him for the foregoing sketch.

BRADFORD STURTEVANT

the township-May 17, 1825. Isaac G. Sturtevant, from whom we obtained the foregoing particulars, married Adelaide Carter. Carleton H. married Lydia Peck, and William B. married Anna Wolcott. He also states that the first school-house was built in 182.4, half a mile west. of the residence of Bradford Sturtevant, and was taught by Miss Betsy Sacket, sister of Harvey Sacket. The school was supported by subscription. The scholars were of the families of the Beaches, Sturtevants, and from Greenwich township, adjoining Ruggles. The first church organization was in 1827. It was Congregational, and Rev. E. T. Woodruff was the first minister. At that time the pioneers attended mill at Cold cicek, in Eric county, some forty miles away. They reached the mill on pack-horses, by winding paths through a dense forest, finding but few settlers on the way. Two or three years after the arrival of Bradford Sturtevant, the little colony was increased by the arrival of Jacob Roorbach, Harvey Sacket, Justus Barnes, Taylor Peck, Solomon Weston, Aldrich Carver, Norman Carter, James Pong, Abraham Ferris, Albert Bucll, George W. Curtiss, Reaben Fox, and others. Isaac G. Sturtevant is a model farmer and stock-grower. He resides about half a mile west of the corners. Adorned by tasteful buildings, select fruit orchards, and good fences, his homestead furnishes procf that the lessons of economy, neatness, and business tact, enforced by the father, are carefully followed and ad- hered to by the son. He is a genial and intelligent gen- tleman.

was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, March 16, 1786. January 1, 1809, he married. Sarah Carter, and removed to Richfield, now Summit county, Ohio, in Jime, 1816. Here he improved a small farin, which he HARVEY SACKET sold in 1823, and purchased, in company with Daniel was born in Warren, Connecticut, December 24, 1791. He came to Tallmadge, Ohio, with his father in ist :. In 1812 he was drafted, and served six months in the ariny of the northwest. In 1816 he returned to Con- necticut and married Thalia Eldred, and located in Tall- madge until 1825, when he removed to Ruggles township, on lot eleven, section three. He removed with ox teams, and owing to sparseness of settlers, and the nanow for- est paths, was eight days on the way. Mr. Sacket died August 11, 1875. He was twice married. His family by his firs' wife was: Dimines, wife of Mr. Smith; Eras- tus and Erasmus M .; Irena, wife of C. Curtiss. His first wife died in 1843, and in 1844 he married Mrs. Miary Van Vranken, widow of Garrett Van Vianken. He had one son, Justus H. Sacket, by his second wife. Jestus resides on the homestead. Mr. Sacket was long a niem- ber of the Congregational church, and was an excellent citizen. He was the first justice of Ruggles. Most of the family reside in Rugstes township. Beach, one section in Ruggles township, then in Huron county. In August, 1823, he crected a cabin, and re- moved with his wife and children in September. He removed with ox teams, taking along twelve head of cattle and twenty shecp. The following winter he re- turned to Richfield and purchased a lot of stock hogs, and drove them through the woods to Ruggles. July 4, 1824, three of the four pioneer families of Ruggles cele- brated independence at the cabin of Mr. Sturtevant, They had a dinner, and in the evening, for Gre-works, attempted to blast a white wood tree, but failed. In 1836 he removed to the village of Milan, Erie county, to give his children the educational advantages of the place. In 184 ; he returned to Raggles, and deceased in May, 1871, aged about eighty-five years. He was a man of fixed purposes, highly conscientious in his moral ideas, and a most successful farmer. He engaged largely in raising fine stock, and by good management accumulated a handsome homestead. Like his New England ancestors, he was a Puritan in his religious opinions, and possessed the confidence and esteem of al! bis neighbors and acquaintances. His children were --- ALDRICH CARVER Carleton H .; Marcia, married to B. Ashley, of Milan; was born in Tolland county, Connecticut He came to Hiron county in 1818. In Style assisted in captar. ing some Indian murderers, who were subsequently hang at Norwalk. In 1821 he returned to Cayoga county; Harriet, deceased; Sarah, married to Dr. Galpin, of Milan; Isaac G., who resides on the homestead ; Marth i, mauied to Horace Taylor, a missionary to India; and William B. Martha was the first female child born in . New York, and married Amy Kniffin. In the fall of

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History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 43

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros Publication date: 1880 Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams Number of Pages: 896

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896