History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 58

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

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HENRY CHURCH

was born in Suffolk, England, in 1750, and came as a British soldier in the Sixty-third light infantry, and served under Lord Cornwallis in the memorable cam- paign in Virginia, in 17S1. A short time prior to the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, while on a scout- ing party between Richmond and Petersburgh, he was captured by the troops under Lafayette, and sent a pris- oner to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He remained there until peace was proclaimed ; but the general amnesty brought no freedom to him. He was soon after capt ured by the meck eyes of a Quaker maiden, and forgot his loyalty to King George, and bowed his neck to the gentle yoke which he wore with exemplary patience for a period of about eighty-one years.

Hannah Keine, the lady that held him so long a captive, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1755, and survived to the advanced age of about one hundred and five years. Mr. Church survived until 1863, when he died at the great age of one hundred and eleven years. He located near Burton, West Virginia. after the close of the Revolutionary war, and continued to reside there until his decease. The fruits of his union with the meek Quaker maiden were eight children, the oldest of whom, Anne, died at about sixty years of age ; William, the next, lived to be about ninety-six years of age; James, the third member of the family, removed to Milton township, Ashland county, about the year 1817, and yet survives at the age of eighty-five years ; Elsey, the fourth child, lived to be fifty-five; Henry, who still survives, is eighty years old : Elizabeth lived to be seventy-five ; Hannah lived to be seventy, and Sarah, the youngest, still survives at the age of sixty-eight years. In 1859 an excursion party of artists, with some members of the British Legation at Washington city, visited Father Church at his humble home near Boston, and made drawings of his residence, himself and members of his family. A young English soldier, who had been deen rated for gallant conduct on the bloody parapits of the Redan, was introduced to Mr. Church. The old gente- man extended his hand mechanically, but his dull din

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

eyes gave no sign. "Bring liere the bugle," said a mem- ber of the company. It was produced, and one of the martial ais of old England was sounded. Private Church, then one hundred and eight years old, stood up as if his blood bad been warmed with wine, and his aged face flashed with intelligence. "I know-I know it. An Englishman and a soldier, did you say ? Ay, a brave lad, I'll warrant." The scene was indeed touching. The old man, eighty years before, had landed on our shores an armed invader to aid in crushing out the spirit of re- volt. With the sound of the martial bugle he, in ima- gination doubtless, heard the roll of musketry and the thunders of the deep-mouthed cannon. With his dim eyes he again called up and saw the scarlet battallions of his king marching towards the camps of Washington, Lafayette and Lee. What memories must have crowded upon his brain ! He survived until 1863, and left his countrymen again in a death struggle to preserve the lib- erties and institutions bequeated by his fathers.

James Church, of Milton, born in 1791 in West Vir- ginia, now 89, is in possession of all his faculties, though his bodily vigor is greatly impaired by reason of age. The longevity of the Church family is quite remarkable, and arises, no doubt, from their plain and simple diet.

Mr. Church has been twice married. His children by his first wife were Etsey, Henry, William, Hannah, wife of Henry Speece, Amanda, Mary, Elizabeth and Caroline.

JACOB CRALL

was born near Harrisburgh, Dauphin county, Pennsylva- nia, December 16, 1811. He is of German descent. He attended the common schools of his neighborhood until he reached manhood, and emigrated, in 1835, to Ashland, Ohio, and became a clerk in the store of R. B. Campbell & Co., where he remained about one year. In 1836 he became the partner of John P. Reynor in the mercantile business, and continued until 1838, when he separated from Reynor and formed a partnership with Hulbert Luther, under the name and style of Luther & Crall, and continued as a member of the firm until 18544. In 1851 he also, in company with Mr. Luther, opened a hardware store, which subsequently became the property of Crall and Topping. In the fall of 1851 he became a stockholder and one of the directors in the establishment of a bank of exchange and deposit in Ashland, and con- tinued in the same until 1864. In 1864 the First Na- tional Bank of Ashland was organized under a law of Congress, and the stockholders of the bank of Luther, Crall & Co. transferred their interest to the new institu- tion, and Mr. Crall became one of the directors, and still acts in that capacity. In the fall of 1855 he was elected treasurer of Ashland county, and held the office two years. In 186: he was appointed postmaster of Ash- land by the administration of Abraham Lincoln, and re- tained the office four years. He has been a member of the town council two years. He was elected mayor of Ashland in 1876. He is at present largely engaged in the purchase and sale of coal. As a business man he

has always sustained an unblemished reputation. Very few men in this region have taken a deeper interest in the improvement of the county. He was among the foremost in procuring the location of a railroad at Ash- land, and was engaged in its construction. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for a num- ber of years. He married Miss Elizabeth M. Melsheim- er, of Ashland, June 27, 1837. His family consists of three sons-George, of Virginia City, Nevada ; Oscar F. of Ashland, and Charles, of California; and one daugh- ter, Helen J., who resides with her parents.

JACOB O. JENNINGS

was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1819; he is of English-German descent. His father deceased when he was a child. He attended, in his youth, the common schools of his neighborhood, near Middletown, Pennsylvania; and when about fourteen years of age, removed with his mother and family to Perry township, Wayne (now Ashland) county, where he attended district school. In the spring of 1834, he en- tered the store of Michael D. Row, at Row's comers, as a clerk, and remained about one year; then entered the employ of Joseph Naylor, as clerk, at Jeromeville, where he stayed until the fall of 1835. He then entered the employ of Crawford &: Crites, merchants, at Wooster, and continued in their employ until 1838. In the spring of 1838, William Hatfield, then of Wooster, purchased a stock of goods at Loudonville, but circumstances pre- venting his going there himself, he employed Mr. Jen- nings to go and take charge of the store. In the fall of 1838, Mr. Hatfield and G. H. Stewart formed a partner- ship, and Mr. Jennings remained for, and in the interest of, Mr. Hatfield until August, 1842, when he returned to Jeromeville, and entered the employ of Robert Mesta- hon. Soon after, he became a partner, and continued to do business until the spring of 1848. In the mean- time, the county of Ashland was erected; and in March, 1847, Mr. Jennings was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas. In 1849, be removed with his family to Ashland. His teria as clerk expired on the adoption of the constitution of 1851, and he retired in the winter of IS52. In the fall of 1851, the bank of Luther, Crall & Co., an institution of discount and deposit, was organ- ized, and Mr. Jennings was elected cashier. In the fall of 1855, he was elected clerk of the court of common pleas of Ashland county, and held that office three years, at the same time conducting the affairs of the bank, as cashier. In 1864, the bank of Luther, Crall & Co. disbanded, and the First National Bank of Ashland was organized, under the laws of the United States, as a bank of issue and deposit, and Mr. Jennings was elected1 cashier by the stockholders, which position he held until 1870, when he was elected president. Mr. Joseph Patter- son becoming the cashier. Mr. Jennings (1880) still continues president of the bank.

In the fullest sense of the terin, he is a self-made man. In the death of his father, he was left without

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

means to acquire a finished education. By close appli- cation, attention to business, and unquestioned integrity, he sunounded himself by friends, and made constant . advancement in public confidence. Energetic, exact and upright in all his dealings with men, he commands the respect of the poor, as well as the thrifty. He has been twice married; his children are all deceased. He has been a member of the Presbyterian church, of Ash- land, since 1856.

ARTHUR CAMPBELL, JR.,

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1810, and emigrated with his parents (Arthur Camp- bell, sr.,) to Perry township, Wayne, now Ashland, county, Ohio, in May, 1815. They came in two wagons, by the way of Steubenville, Canton, and Wooster, then villages, and followed Beall's trail. Mr. Campbell visited his land, which was entered at Canton, in 1814, in the fall of that year, and built a small cabin, stopping with John Raver while doing so. Ile located on section twenty-three, just southeast of what is now the village of Rowsburgh. When he landed, the pioneers of Perry are believed to have been John Raver, Henry and John Pittinger, David and Daniel Williams, Henry Worst, Cornelius Dorland, Benjamin Emmons, Thomas John- ston, and Samuel Chasey. Joseph Chandler, sr., and two sons, John Cory and father, and John Carr and family, had been in the township a short time prior to the war of 1812, but had returned to the east part of the State, where they remained until the close of the war, and then re-occupied their improvements. The settlers next succeeding Mr. Campbell, are believed to have been: William Adams, John Adams, Hugh Adams, Richard Smalley, Isaac Smalley, John Smalley, Henry Worst, James Dickason, Samuel White, Abraham Ecker, John Keiser, Michael Row, Jacob Shinnabarger, and perhaps others. The spring of the arrival of the family of Mr. Campbell, the Sandusky Indians came down and made sugar near what was afterwards the Hoy farm, at Red Haw, and a few of their poll buts, covered with bark, were left standing. The sap was gathered in bark wessels and boiled in copper kettles. The Indians were then quite peaceable. From 1815 until about IS20, they passed down the old trail once a year, in large numbers, to draw their annuities at Canton. The trail came by the Vermillion lakes, near the residence of the late Jacob Young, in Orange, and ran a southeast course to the cabin of John Raver, half a mile southeast of what is now Rowsburgh, passing by the cabin of Mr. Buckingham, in Montgomery, and thence to the cabin of John Premer, in Chester township, Wayne county, by the cabins of Judge Goodfellow and Adam Shinna- man, Yankee Smith, and across Killbuck, near Wooster. The trail was opened and traveled many years as a wagon road for the pioneers, though destitute of bridges.

The first year Mir. Campbell was compelled to visit Knox county, by pack-horses, for corn. The first trip was made in company with Benjamin Enunons. They

followed Indians, directed by a small pocket compass, and camped out two nights, serenaded by immense packs of wolves, but were not harmed. After procuring a few sacks of corn it was ground at Shrimplin's mill and carried on pack-saddles, through the forests, to their cabins. Mr. Campbell was greatly mortified to learn, upon his arrival, that his family could not eat the meal. He was compelled to return to Washington county, with a wagon and three horses, to procure flour enough to last until his first crop had been harvested. In the spring of 1816 John Raver erected a small log mill with nigger-head stones, which did some business in the way of cracking corn. He afterwards added horse power, but the mill did not come up to his expectations. The major part of the pioneers obtained their grists at Stibbs' mill, one mile east of Wooster, until John Pittin- ger erected, in 1820, what afterwards became the Ecker mill, east of the village of Rowsburgh.

The people were destitute of the means of carrying on schools, but managed, by subscription, to gather their children into a log cabin for instruction, two miles north- east of the present site of Rowsburgh, at a point known as Mt. Hope graveyard. The first teacher was Alexan- der Smith, and the first school in 1816. The scholars were, John Allison, Alexander Allison, Peter Pittinger, Betsy McMillen, Robert Hillis, William Hillis, John Hillis, Peggy Hillis, Ellen Hillis, John Somerton, Tabor Somerton, Mary Campbell, Charles Campbell, Arthur Campbell, Henry Worst, Lydia Pittinger, and Mary Alli- son. Very few of these remain. Arthur Campbell speaks well of the school.

The first preaching was in the same school-house, and the first preacher Rev. Cole, about 1817. The first Sab- bath school was organized about the same time, at the same place. The children brought a lunch and remained all day, and were instructed and catechised. It was under the control of the Presbyterians, and Mr. Camp- bell took a deep interest in it. The congregation and school were small, but increased and flourished for many years.

Arthur Campbell, sr., was the first shoemaker in the township. Ile generally prepared shoes for his own family, and occasionally made brogans for his neighbors, though not having learned the trade in a regular way. Samuel Neal was the first tanner, and his establishment was carried on near Mt. Hope. A blacksmith arrived in the person of Thomas Andrews. The shop was located in the northwest part of the township, near what is now known as the Hance Hamilton farm. The shop was much frequented; and Mr. Andrews was not only a useful tradesman, but also acted as the first township clerk.

In the erection of the first cabins, almost any pioneer could prepare the clapboards, hew the logs or puncheons, and carry up a corner; but cabins began to improve as the farmers acquired means. Isaac Smalley, about 1817, became the first regular carpenter. He followed the business many years, and instructed a number of appren- tices in the art.

In the absence of fulling mills and eastern manufac-

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tories, the good mothers made the spinning-wheels hum, night and day, until the flax and wool were prepared for the weaver. Henry Brown was the first wheelright, maker of looms and chairs. He carried on his trade as carly as 1817. The woollen goods thus woven were car- ricd to a fulling mill, at Stibb's, near Wooster, fulled and dressed for winter wear.

Justice was first administered by 'Squire Thomas Johnston, who resided in the west part of the township. on what is now the Davault farm. Mr. Johnston, like 'Squire Newell and others, was not noted for his legal lore, but made a good practical officer, dispensing with the dry chaff of forms for the real substance.

The forests abounded in wolves, bear, deer, and other game. The wolves were destructive to sheep, and a premium was offered for their sealps, at Wooster. Mr. Campbell relates that a few weeks after the arrival of his father, in neglecting to shelter his sheep, he lost his whole flock in one night, by the wolves. Their throats were cut in the most scientific manner.

The most noted hunters in Perry were John Jackson and Thomas Pittinger; they ranged the forests for many miles, and killed annually hundreds of bear, deer, wolves and turkeys. They were very successful in trapping wolves, and often visited Wooster to obtain the result of their scalps.

In constructing new roads the pioneers traveled many miles, and were able to do but little more than cut a narrow wagon path. The construction of bridges at public expense was impossible, so that in times of heavy rains and freshets, the larger streams were, for weeks, impassable.

Mr. Campbell relates that some two years after their arrival, Mr. Robert MeBeth and family, on their way to Clearcreek township, was delayed by the overflowing of the Muddy and Jerome forks, about three weeks, at his father's cabin.

'The first deaths in Perry were Hemy Johnston, son of Thomas Johnston, in 1814, of cancer of the lower jaw; James Campbell in 1814, of rheumatism in the foot; and the third death, a son, seven years old, of John Raver, frightened to death by a mouse under his panta- loons leg; he died in spasms some hours after the occur- rence.

Arthur Campbell, sr., was killed, August 19, IS19, by the falling of a tree, at the age of forty-five years. A neighbor, Alexander Allison, was present when the acei- dent happened. It was on the premises of John Pit- tinger. Messrs. Pittinger and Campbell were sitting near a tree conversing, when an oak tree in the elearing, which had been several hours burning, commenced falling. Mr. Allison noticed the falling tree. and instantly notified Campbell and Pittinger of their danger; Pittinger dodged behind a tree near by, but Campbell was struck in the act of rising, by a heavy limb, on the back caus- ing instant death. He left a widow and seven children: Mary, Charles, "Arthur, Margaret, Daniel. John, and William. These grew up in Perry township, and the living are Margaret, William, and Atthur. Mrs. Camp- bell died in 1865, aged eighty-three years.

Arthur Campbell, jr., married Lydia, daughter of Dr. Abram Ecker, by whom he had eleven children. Mrs. Campbell died in 1871. He married Mary, widow of James Scott, in 1877, and resides in Rowsburgh. Mr. Campbell came into the possession of the home farm, and has been a leading agriculturalist for many years. His children are nearly all grown, some of whom occupy the old homestead near Rowsburgh. He is a large, well- developed man, and would weigh about two hundred pounds, is full six feet high, and is in a good state of preservation, mentally and physically.

JOHN H. MCCOMBS

was born June 13. 1813, in Washington county, Penn- sylvania. He had two brothers, one James A. McCombs. died at the age of four years. Andrew M. McCombs was a member of Captain Barber's company, and died in the service on the thirtieth of April, 1862, at Ashland, aged forty-seven years and five months. His mother Ann McClean, was married to his father, Matthew Mc- Combs, on the twenty-third day of April, 3812. His father served six months in the war of 1812, under Gen- eral Harrison, and died, from the effects of the service, in the year 1822. His mother died at Ashland on the eighteenth of February, 1867, in the eighty-second year of her age.

Mr. McCombs' grandfather, on the father's side, was born in Ashland, and emigrated to, and bought a farm in. Washington county, Pennsylvania, and lived to about the age of eighty years, and his wife to near the same age. Mr. McCombs' grandfather, on the mother's side, An- drew McClean, died on his farin in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Smith township, at the age of eighty-five years, and his wife at the age of sixty-seven years. Grandfather McClean was born near Fort Deposit, Mary- land, was a Revolutionary soldier, who died at a ripe age, full of years and full of faith, being an elder in the Pres- byterian church of Raccoon. He performed an impor- tant part in procuring the liberties we now enjoy. He was in the battles of Brandywine, Long Island, German- town, Monmouth, Stony Point, etc., serving five years, and enlisted at the age of seventeen. He saw and par- ticipated in the mighty event which, under Providence, ended in the permanent independence of this country, and died enjoying the confidence and esteem of all his neighbors. Mr. McCombs was left to the care of his mother, who brought him up and early taught him self- independence. He taught school in his neighborhood at the early age of sixteen. He commenced to acquire a liberal education at Florence academy, Washington county, Pennsylvania, then attended Washington college. and after a course of over five years was graduated at Franklin college, in Harrison county, Ohio, in the class of 1839. He then read law with the Hon. T. M. T. Me. Kennan, who was secretary of interior under General Taylor, and his son William McKennan. now United States district judge for northwestern Pennsylvania, and he was admitted to the bar in Washington, Pennsylvania;

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, ODIO.

when he came to Ohio and resided in Richland connty one year ; came to Ashland, Ashland county, Ohio, be- fore the county was erected, and assisted in procuring the county-seat, where he has ever since resided and en- gaged in the practice of the law. He was married to Sarah A. Wright, a native of the State of New York, De- cember 29, 1846. They had three children-S. Anna, Mary B., and John. The youngest, John, remains with the parents; Anna is married to S. W. Andrews, and Mary to James Whyte.

WILLIAM TAYLOR AND SONS.

Among the early settlers of what is now Ashland county was William Taylor, who emigrated from l'enn- sylvania in the year 1822, with his wife, eight sons and one daughter. He arrived at Mansfield in the month of June and remained there until autumn, when he removed on a farin which he had purchased, situated on what is called Honey creek, in Green township, Ashland county, but at that time belonged to Richland county. He brought with him from Pennsylvania eleven head of horses, three wagons and a set of blacksmith tools, and quite a number of farming utensils: In 1830 he was elected commissioner, and for several years filled the office of justice of the peace. After a great many years of hard labor he became the owner of nearly a thousand acres of land, and on which he quite extensively carried on farming and stock-raising. Mr. Taylor was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1774, and died in 1851. Jane, wife of William Taylor, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in the first year of American independence, and died in 1832. William, their eldest son, in 1828 located in Findiay, Hancock county, Ohio, where he embarked in merchandising, and became quite a prominent business man. He at one time represented his county in the State legislature. Thomas, the second son, was a farmer, and settled in Wood county, where he remained until death. Levi followed his brother to Hancock county. He began active life on a farm, but was afterwards elected treasurer of his county. James foresaw Horace Greeley's advice, and emigrated to Oregon in 1844. He was with the first train that crossed the Rocky mountains in search of gold, and at one time he was territorial treasurer of Oregon. He has been successful in business and has amassed quite a fortune. He is at the present time in retired lite on the banks of the Columbia river. Daniel is a farmer, and at present resides in Richland county, Ohio. He is a man of energy and enterprise, and has been successful in life. lle was commissioner of his county during the building of the new court house. Andrew J. took up his abode in Putnam county, Ohio, and for several years was clerk of the court, and filled the office of probate judge for six years. He now resides in Paulding county, Ohio. Sarah J. McGuire, the only daughter, resides in Green township, near the old homestead. Judge John, the only son in this county, has most of his life lived on a farm, and always dealt more or less in stock, and in an

early day, before railroads in this county, drove a great deal of stock across the Alleghany mountains. ile served as justice of the peace for his township for many years, and was elected to the State legislature in 1859, and re-elected in 1861; and in 1875 was elected probate judge, and re-elected in 1878, and holds that position at the present time.

JUDGE DANIEL W. WHITMORE

was born in the town of Leicester, county of Livingston, and State of New York, March 2, 1823. His father was quite an extensive farmer when Daniel was a small boy. He was the oldest of his father's children. Mr. Whit. more remained with his parents, worked on the farm, and attended to his father's business, until he was about eighteen years of age, when he became afflicted with sciatic and inflammatory rheumatism, and, consequentiy, could do but little labor on the farm. Up to this time he had attended a common district school, only two or three months each winter, which was one and a half miles from his father's residence. He could imperfectly read, write, and cipher a little, which was about the extent of his education. Being an invalid, and knowing, from the condition of his physical organization, that he would not likely ever be able to performn hard manual labor, and possessing an ambitious disposition to be, or do, some- thing in the world, with the influence of his mother he obtained the consent of his stern father to let him go to . a select school at Perry center, three terms, in all nine months. In the estimation of his father, nearly all pro- fessional men were, more or less, contaminated with one. or all, of the following viees: Intemperance, recklessness .. and dishonesty, and the laziest man made the best nd- dler, and the next laziest would come in as a country school-teacher.

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History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 58

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