USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 28
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George W. Lincoln was born on the old Lincoln homestead in Rush township, this county, February 29, 1841, son of Charles and Allura ( John- son) Lincoln, both of whom were born at Windom, Connecticut, the former born on September 7. 1800, and the latter, December 19, 1816, who later became pioneer residents of Champaign county and here spent their last days, influential and useful residents of the Woodstock neighborhood. Charles Lincoln and his wife came to Ohio and located in this county shortly after their marriage, establishing their home on a farm in Rush township. which farm still continues in the possession of the family, widely known as the old Lincoln farm. Charles Lincoln was a good farmer and was also largely interested in the raising of cattle, having been one of the leaders in that latter line in the eastern part of the county in his day. He died at his fine farm home in Rush township on January 31, 1868, and his widow sur- vived him for twelve years, her death occurring on February 9, 1880. They were the parents of two children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: Lydia. born on November 9. 1838, now living at Glen Ullem, North Dakota, widow of John Hudson; Harriet C., July 21, 1842, who died on May 24, 1863; Charles P., April 27, 1844, a substantial farmer of Rush township, this
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county : Oliver E., July 4, 1846, who became a farmer in the neighboring county of Union and there spent his last days; Ira, June 4, 1848, who mar- ried Martha Marsh, of Woodstock, and died on September 12, 1880; Will- iam Henry, August 3, 1850, who married Mary S. Martin and is now deceased; Ada A., May 3, 1852, wife of P. N. Pratt, of Woodstock; Alice, July 2, 1856, who died on November 13 of that same year, and Dwight, May 12, 1859, who died on September 8, 1860.
George W. Lincoln was reared on the home farm, receiving his school- ing in the neighborhood school, and remained at home, a valued aid to his father in the work of developing and improving the home place, and there remained until after his marriage in the winter of 1869, when he. began farming on his own account in Rush township and gradually developed there a very fine piece of farm property, remaining there, actively engaged in farming and stock raising, until his death on October 5, 1885. In addi- tion to his farming operations Mr. Lincoln took an active and energetic part in the general business affairs of his home community and was the president of the Woodstock Bank, which financial institution he was largely instru- mental in organizing and developing. He was an ardent Republican and ever took an active interest in politics, but was not a seeker after public office. He was widely known throughout the eastern part of this county and in the adjoining counties of Union and Logan and at his death there was sincere mourning, for he had done well those things which his hand had found to do.
It was on January 20, 1869, that George W. Lincoln was united in marriage to Marcia M. Kimball, who also was born in Rush township, daughter of Truman M. and Mary ( Fullington) Kimball, prominent resi- dents of the Woodstock neighborhood and further and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this work, and to this union two children were born. a daughter and a son, Edna A. and Charles K., both of whom are still living. After the death of her husband Mrs. Lincoln maintained her resi- (lence on the old home farm for some time and then moved to Woodstock. where she now resides, she and her widowed daughter living together. very comfortably situated.
Edna A. Lincoln married James H. McMullen, who was born on a farm in the neighboring county of Union on June 18. 1867, son of Charles .A. and Martha ( Hathaway) McMullen, both also natives of Ohio, the for- mer born in Madison county on January 28, 1840, and the latter born in Union county, who later came to Champaign county and settled on a farmi in Rush township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Charles .1.
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McMullen dying there on September 1, 1901, his widow surviving him for less than one year, her death occurring on August 7, 1902. Charles A. McMullen was a substantial farmer and he and his wife were the parents of six children, those besides James H., mentioned above, the third in order of birth, being as follow: Walter C., born on January 1, 1865, who died of August 17, 1876; Lydia F., April 31, 1866, who died on August 21, following; Mary L., December 31, 1869. who married Arthur Marsh and died on September 13, IQIT, leaving one child, a daughter, Martha ; Anna H., March 7, 1875, now living at Pueblo, Colorado, and Jane H., May 20, 1876, who died on March 3, 1877. James H. McMullen was reared on the home farm in Rush township and completed his schooling in Antioch College and in the Ohio State University. He married Edna A. Lincoln and established his home on a farm in Rush township, remaining there engaged in general farming and sheep raising, until his retirement in 1909 and removal to Woodstock, where he spent his last days, his death occurring on December 26, 1915, and where his widow still lives. James H. McMullen was a Re- publican in his political affiliation and, fraternally, was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, in the affairs of which order he took a warm interest.
Charles K. Lincoln, only son of George W. and Marcia M. (Kimball) Lincoln, is now living in Woodstock, a substantial retired farmer. He mar- ried Maud Chamberlain and has two children, William.C. and George J.
CHARLES H. CURL.
Charles H. Curl, an honored veteran of the Civil War and a resident of North Lewisburg since 1872, now living retired in that pleasant village, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in Greene county on July 7, 1844, son of William and Hannah ( Borden ) Curl, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of New Jersey, who became residents of Greene county in the days of their youth and were there married.
William Curl was a son of James Curl and wife, the latter of whom was a Brown, who early came to Ohio and settled in Greene county, where their last days were spent. They were the parents of eight children, five sons and three daughters. James Curl was a cooper and his son, William, learned that trade and followed it until he was thirty-one years of age, when, in 1854, he became a brakeman on the Panhandle railroad between Xenia
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and Dayton and while thus employed was killed by a train the next year. 1855. He left a widow, who was Hannah Borden, and four children. Of these children the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Franklin, a painter, now living in Florida; Emma L., wife of Edward Inskeep, of North Lewisburg, and Phoebe Ann, wife of John Holy- cross, of North Lewisburg. The Widow Curl married, secondly, Adam Beltz, of Union county, and to that union two children were born, Janet. wife of William Hoffman, of Urbana, and Joseph, who joined the regular army and whose present whereabouts are unknown to his family.
Charles H. Curl was about eleven years of age when his father was killed on the railroad and at the age of twelve he was taken to rear by a family in Greene county and was a member of that household until he was eighteen years of age, when he began farming on his own account and was thus engaged when, in the fall of 1863 he enlisted at Cleveland for service in the Union army during the continuance of the Civil War, as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the war and was discharged at Camp Chase on July 13, 1865 ; most of his service having been performed with his regiment at Baltimore. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Curl returned to Ohio and located at Zanesville, where he learned the trade of plasterer and where, in 1867, he married, remaining there until 1872, in which year he moved to North Lewisburg. this county, where he since has made his home and where he is now living retired. He built the home in which he is living and he and his family are very comfortably situated there. Mr. Curl is a Republican and has ever given his close attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.
It was in 1867, at Zanesville, that Charles H. Curl was united in marriage to Elizabeth Mckinney, of that place, who was born in West Virginia, daughter of John and Lucinda (Curl) Mckinney, the former of whom was killed by a boat explosion on the Ohio river, near Parkersburg, and the latter of whom spent her last days at Zanesville. John McKinney and wife were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Curl was the next to last-born, the others being as follow: Alexander, who died in 1916: Sarah, who is living at Zanesville; John, who died in 1868, and James, of Zanesville. To Mr. and Mrs. Curl seven children have been born, namely : Belle, deceased: Louisa, wife of Jefferson Goof, of Indianapolis: Dora, widow of James R. Thompson, who is now making her home with her parents : Walter, who died at the age of eighteen months; Edward, of Cleveland,
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Ohio; Ralph, who died at the age of seven years, and William, who is engaged in the barber business at North Lewisburg. Mr. Curl is an active member of John Briney Post No. 193, Grand Army of the Republic, at North Lewisburg, and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic order. He is the oldest Odd Fellow in North Lewisburg, having become a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows on July 2, 1873, at North Lewisburg, and Mrs. Curl is a member of the local lodge No. 320 of the Daughters of Rebekah, both taking a warm interest in local Odd- fellowship.
JOAB OVERFIELD.
Joab Overfield, automobile dealer and proprietor of an up-to-date garage at North Lewisburg, assessor of that village, former village clerk and former member of the common council, is a native son of Champaign county and has lived here practically all his life. He was born on a farm two miles south- west of North Lewisburg, in Rush township, June 30, 1876, son of Samuel and Clarissa Overfield, well-to-do farming people of that neighborhood and members of pioneer families in this county. Samuel Overfield was a farmer all his life. He was a son of Joab Overfield, a Virginian, who came to this county in pioneer days and settled in Rush township, where he became a substantial farmer and where he spent the remainder of his life, one of the influential members of the community in which he lived. Some years before his death Samuel Overfield retired from the farm and moved to Woodstock, among his children after the death of his wife, where his last days were spent, his death occurring there in 1914. His wife had preceded him to the grave twenty years, her death having occurred in 1894. They were the parents of seven children, those besides the subject of this sketch being. Louisa, Delmar, Cyrus, John, Gould and Bursha.
Reared on the home farm, Joab Overfield received his early schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and completed the same in the high school at North Lewisburg. Upon leaving school he worked for five years as a handle turner in the factory of his brother at North Lewisburg and at Xenia and then returned to the home farm, which he farmed for a couple of years, at the end of which time he bought a store at Pottersburg and was there . engaged in the general mercan- tile business for two years or more. He then moved to North Lewisburg, where for six years thereafter he was engaged in the lumber business and
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where, in 1915, he engaged in the automobile business and has since been very successfully engaged in that line. Mr. Overfield is the local agent for the sale of the Ford automobile and has built up an extensive market hereabout for that car. He has a well-equipped garage, thirty by one hundred and sixty-five feet in dimensions and in addition to handling a general line of automobile accessories has made his place a popular service station. Mr. Overfield is a Democrat and is now serving as assessor of his home town. For two years he served as a member of the village council and for four years as clerk of the village, giving to his public service his most thoughtful attention.
In 1899 Joab Overfield was united in marriage to Martha Coffey, daugh- ter of Joseph Coffey and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Overfield have a pleasant home at North Lewisburg and take an active interest in the general social affairs of the community, helpful in advancing all worthy causes there- about.
T. C. MADDEN.
T. C. Madden, lumber dealer, at North Lewisburg, this county, and one of the most active and energetic business men of that thriving vil- lage, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life. He was born on a farm in Clinton county, August 13. 1869, son of Cyrus W. and Jane ( McCray) Madden, the former of Quaker stock and the latter of Scot- tish descent, both members of old families in this part of the state, whose lives were spent in Clinton and Warren counties.
Cyrus W. Madden was born in Clinton county, son of Solomon Mad- den and wife, the former of whom was a son of George Madden, the stern old Quaker who headed the Madden colony into Clinton county in 1811. coming over from North Carolina, which state they left out of their hatred for the institution of slavery, arriving in Clinton county on the day on which the battle of Tippecanoe was fought. George Madden became one of the most influential pioneers of Clinton county and his son and grandson did well their respective parts in developing the community in which they lived. Cyrus W. Madden, who was a farmer and blacksmith, was an ard- ent Abolitionist in the days preceding the Civil War and he and his family took a prominent part in the operations of the Underground Railroad, through the agency of which many fugitive slaves were enabled to make their way to liberty across the Canadian border. He and his wife were the
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parents of eight children, five of whom are still living, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow: W. H. Madden, who is engaged in the lumber business at Waynesville. this state: Clinton Madden, cashier of the Farmers' National Bank at Clarksville, this state; Addie, who is teach- ing school at Morrow, Ohio, and Ella, wife of Charles Crawford, of Marion. Indiana.
Reared on a farm, T. C. Madden received his elementary schooling in the public schools of Clinton and Warren counties and supplemented the same by a course at the old normal school at Lebanon, after which he taught school for several years and then entered Wilmington College. working his way through that institution by teaching mathematics in the college, and was graduated therefrom in 1902. He then resumed teaching and was thus engaged, in Franklin and Clinton counties, for six years, four years of which time was spent as a teacher in the high school at Sabina. During his teaching career Mr. Madden taught for seventeen years, or until 1908, when he located at North Lewisburg and there started a lumber yard and has ever since been engaged in the lumber business at that place, having built up an extensive business in that line. His lumber yard is well stocked and well equipped, several large buildings giving him ample facilities for the proper handling of his trade, and he has done very well, now devoting his whole time to his growing business. Mr. Madden is. a Republican and gives a good citizen's attention to local political affairs and to all proper movements having to do with the advancement of the general interests of his home town and of the county at large.
WILLIS H. HODGE.
Willis H. Hodge, one of Champaign county's substantial landowners. the proprietor of the grain elevator at Catawba Station, a fine farm of six hundred and sixty acres in Union township and the fine place on which he lives at the west edge of the city of Mechanicsburg, is a native son of Cham- paign county and has lived here all his life ... He was born on the farm he now owns in Union township on October 23, 1875, son of J. H. and Miranda (Hunter) Hodge, both of whom were born in the neighboring county of Clark, members of pioneer families there, and whose last days were spent at Mechanicsburg, to which place they had moved upon their retirement from the farm.
J. H. HODGE.
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J. H. Hodge was born on January 2, 1834, a son of James and Elizabeth Hodge, who had come up into Ohio from Kentucky in pioneer days and had settled in Clark county, where they established their home and spent their last days. On that pioneer farm J. H. Hodge grew to manhood, remaining there until after his marriage in 1861 to Miranda Hunter, who also was born in Clark county, when he came up into Champaign county and bought a farm in Union township and there settled. He was an excellent farmer and a good business man and as he developed his farm added to the same until he became the owner of about six hundred acres. He was a Democrat and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, he for years serving as a trustee of the same and also as an office bearer in other capacities in the church. In 1891 he retired from the farm and moved to Mechanics- burg, where he and his wife spent their last days. Her death occurred on March HI, 1901, and he survived a little more than six years, his death occurring on October 17, 1907. They were the parents of three children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only survivor, the others having died in infancy.
Reared on the home farm in Union township, Willis H. Hodge received his early schooling in the district schools of that neighborhood, supplement- ing the same by a course in the Mechanicsburg high school and in the business department of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. He early became engaged in the grain business at Mechanicsburg, in partnership with C. W. Guy and others, and in 1901 became the sole owner of the elevator at Mechanicsburg, continuing to operate the same until he sold it in 1907. In 1898, the year of his marriage, Mr. Hodge bought the grain elevator at Catawba Station and has ever since continued to own and operate the same. being one of the best-known grainmen in the southeastern part of the county. At the same time he gives close personal attention to the operation of his well-kept farm of six hundred and sixty acres in Union township, though continuing to make his home in Mechanicsburg, where he and his family are very comfortably situated. Mr. Hodge is a Democrat and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after office.
On December 28. 1898, Willis H. Hodge was united in marriage to Irma Van Ness, who was born near the village of Irwin, in the neighboring- county of Madison. She is the daughter of Jacob C. and Mary Melinda (Brown) Van Ness and came with her parents over into Champaign county, the family settling in the Five Points neighborhood in Goshen township, where she grew to womanhood and where she was living at the time of her
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marriage to Mr. Hodge. To that union a daughter, Mary Frances, was born on March 1. 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Hodge are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church at Mechanicsburg and take an interested part in church work, as well as in the general good works and social activities of the place, Mr. Hodge being a member of the official board of the church. He also is a member of Homer Lodge No. 474, Knights of Pythias, at Mechanicsburg, and takes a warm interest in lodge affairs.
GEORGE HOWLAND GIFFORD.
George Howland Gifford, one of the real old settlers of Champaign county, an honored veteran of the Civil War and a farmer of Rush county, who for more than a half century has resided in the house he now lives in, in the pleasant village of Woodstock, is a native of the Old Bay State, but has been a resident of Ohio and of Champaign county since he was four years of age and is therefore as thoroughly familiar with the development of this county during the past three-quarters of a century and more as one "native and to the manner born." He was born near New Bedford, Massa- chusetts, September 24, 1832, son of Daniel and Catherine (Wing) Gifford. both members of old Colonial families, who later came to this county and here spent their last days, both living to ripe old age, useful and influential pioneers of the Woodstock settlement.
Daniel Gifford was the eighth in order of birth of the ten children born to his parents, William and Susanna (Brown) Gifford, the former of whom was a son of Recompense Gifford and wife, who had two other chil- dren, John and Ruth. The other children born to William Gifford and wife, besides Daniel, were Jedediah, John, George, William, Sarah, Ruth, Artsa, Hicks and Jason. On September 24, 1818, Daniel Gifford married Catherine Wing, who also was born in the neighborhood of New Bedford. Massachusetts, and in 1834 he and his family came to Ohio and settled in Champaign county. Daniel Gifford rented a farm in Rush township, one mile north of Woodstock, and there established his home and proceeded to clear the farm and make it fit for cultivation. He later moved to Madison county and located on a farm seven miles south of London, the county seat, but later came back to this county and located at Woodstock, where he and his wife spent their last days. Daniel Gifford died at the age of seventy-five years and his widow survived him many years, she living to the great age
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of ninety-eight years. They were members of the Christian church, in the work of which they ever took an earnest interest, and their children were reared in that faith. There were five of these children, of whom the sub- ject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being Susan, Stephen Wing, Almira and Daniel Hicks.
Susan Gifford, born on July 9, 1819, died at her home in Woodstock. Mrs. Susan Swan, November 18, 1891. She was twice married and by her first husband, Franklin Cushman, was the mother of four children, Julius J., Charles 'A., Lucy Lucinda and Warren Sibley. Julius J. Cushman, who was born on September 11, 1838, enlisted for service during the Civil War as a member of Company D, Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Hoover's Gap, June 18, 1863. Charles A. Cushman, born on September 12, 1840, married, February 18, 1863, Julia Standish and had thirteen children, Frank, Martha, Julius J., Margaret J., Susan B., Charles W., Harriet, Arthur, Jared, Robert K., Sarah, Warren H. and Lucy. Lucy Lucinda Cushman born on September 17. 1842, mar- ried, May 15, 1861, Nicholas P. Hewitt and had seven children, Susie, Anna May, Warren Cushman, Lucy, Nellie E., Lena Almira and Georgiana. She died on January 16, 1893, and her husband, who was born on May 5, 1832. survived until December 14. 1901. Warren Sibley Cushman, born on June 17, 1844, married. March 21, 1867, Celia Calender, who was born on May 18, 1848, and who died on March 6, 1881, and to that union four children were born, namely: Ernest Scott, born on August 11, 1868, who married Pattie Owen on October 19. 1893; Mabel C., December 17, 1871, who mar- ried Thomas L. Wright on April 16, 1900; Byron G., August 2, 1873, who married Edna Milner on June 27, 1916, and Charlotte, July 23, 1880, who married Lawrence Longfellow on June 30, 1907.
Stephen Wing Gifford died unmarried on June 29, 1843.
Almira Gifford married Franklin Jackson, who was born on June 18. 1828, and who died on June 3. 1858, and to that union was born one child. a son, Josiah Cross. born on April 8, 1854, who died on July 24, 1856. Mrs. Jackson survived her husband and son many years, her death occurring on February 16, 1900.
Daniel Hicks Gifford, born on October 6, 1830, married Mary Case and had five children, namely: Katie, who married William A. Scoville on December 1. 1880, and has five children: Susan, who married Frank Fenner on February 24, 1881, and has two children; Almira, who married Oliver Compton on April 15, 1885, and has three children, Frank and Riley Gifford. Daniel H. Gifford died in 1915.
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George Howland Gifford was but four years of age when his parents came to this county from Massachusetts and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Rush township, receiving his schooling in the primitive sub- scription schools of that neighborhood. He later lived for awhile in Madi- son county, but returned to this county, and for fifty-four years has been a resident of Woodstock, living all that time in the house which he now occu- pies. Until his retirement with the advance of years Mr. Gifford remained an active farmer and did very well in his operations. During the progress of the Civil War he enlisted, May 8. 1864, as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command until the following September, most of this time on picket and guard duty at Columbus Heights. For years he has been a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and has ever taken a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization. Despite the fact that he now is eighty-five years of age Mr. Gifford retains the liveliest interest in current affairs and is a keen observer of events. He retains vivid recollections of the early days in this county and is a veritable mine of information with respect to happenings of the days long ago. Politically, he has held allegiance to the Republican party ever since the organization of that party and has ever taken a good citizen's interest in local civic affairs, but has not been included in the office-seeking class. His wife is a member of the Universalist church and both have ever done their part in promoting agencies designed to advance the common welfare of the community in which they have had their home for so many years.
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