USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 86
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Ann, deceased; Emily, deceased; Jonathan M., deceased; Austin, who is living in Springfield, Ohio, and Minerva J., deceased.
Albert Cheney received a common-school education and lived at home until he was twenty-four years old. In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which his brother William was captain. He was sent into Virginia and served under General Butler, seeing service on the James river and at Cum- berland, Maryland. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged and returned home, operating the homestead in Union township for two years, then rented a farm a year, then bought a farm of forty-seven and one-half acres north of Mechanicsburg, on which he lived for six years, at the end of which time he sold out and bought one hundred and fifty-seven acres in Clarke county. After living there five years he bought ninety-three acres, a part of his father's old farm in Union township, Champaign county, where he continued farming with his usual success until 1883. when he moved to Mechanicsburg and has since looked after his farm and the live-stock business.
Mr. Cheney was married in Clark county, Ohio, to Ruhamah Bumgard- ner, who was born and reared in that county. Mr. Cheney is a stanch Repub- lican. He belongs to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Mechanicsburg. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church there. of which he has served as trustee, and has long been active in church work. He is well and favorably known throughout the county.
JACOB W. BARGER.
The late Jacob W. Barger, for years a well-known and substantial farmer and stockman of Concord township and former township trustee. who died at his home in that township in the spring of 1912, and whose widow is now living at Urbana, was a native son of Champaign county, born in Concord township, and all his life was spent there. He was born on November 14, 1854, son of Mathew and Sarah Barger, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in this county, whose last days were spent in Concord township. Mathew Barger's mother died when he was but an infant and he was but two years of age when his father came from Vir- ginia to Ohio and settled in Champaign county, becoming a pioneer farmer of Concord township. There Mathew Barger grew to manhood, became a farmer on his own account, married, established a comfortable home and
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spent his last days. He and his wife were the parents of three children, the subject of this memorial sketch having had two sisters, Belle and Mary.
Reared on the home farm in Concord township, Jacob W. Barger re- ceived his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and early became a valued assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the honie place. After his marriage he bought a farm of two hundred acres in Concord township and began farming on his own account. From the beginning of his operations he was successful and he later bought an adjoin- ing forty, becoming one of the most substantial farmers in that neighbor- hood. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Barger gave considerable attention to the raising of high-grade live stock and did very well, contin- uing actively engaged in his agricultural pursuits until his death on March 16, 1912, he then being in the fifty-eighth year of his age. Mr. Barger took an active interest in the civic affairs of his community and for one term served as trustee of his home township. Politically, he was an ardent Prohi- bitionist and an uncompromising foe of the liquor traffic. He was a mem- ber of the Concord Methodist Episcopal church and had served as class leader, steward, trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school, for many years one of the leaders in the local congregation.
In 1887 Jacob W. Barger was united in marriage to Mary Taylor, who was born in Concord township, this county, daughter of Archibald and Sarah (Hough) Taylor, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families of Concord township. Archibald Taylor was but a boy when he came to this country from Scotland with his parents, Donald Taylor and wife, about 1822, the family settling in Champaign county. Not long afterward Donald Taylor moved down into Clark county with his family but presently returned to Champaign county and settled in Concord township, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1841. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, of whom Archibald was the third in order of birth. Archibald Taylor grew up in this county, married here, established his home on a farm in Concord township and there spent the rest of his life. a substantial farmer. He and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom two are still living, Mrs. Barger having a brother, Daniel H. Taylor, of Urbana.
To Jacob W. and Mary ( Taylor) Barger were born three children, namely: Mabel. who married John C. Baker and has three children, Mar- garet, Donald and Robert: Charles, who married Clara Bodey. and Ruth, who married Arlie Brownfield and has one child, a daughter, Wanda. Since
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the death of her husband Mrs. Barger has been making her home in Urbana. where she is very comfortably situated. She is a member of the Methodist church and has ever taken an interested part in church works, as well as in other local good works.
WILLIAM INSTINE.
For many years William Instine was actively engaged in general agri- cultural pursuits in Salem township, Champaign county, and, accumulating a competency, he has retired from life's strenuous endeavors and is now making his home in the village of Kingston, Ohio. He was born in the above-named township on February 23, 1859, a son of Henry and Malinda Instine, both also natives of Champaign county, where they grew up, attend- ing school and were married, after which they established their permanent home on a farm in Salem township. As a young man the father worked as a laborer, helping clear land, and also helped build the old Instine Tavern, which long stood on the state road in Salem township. He burned most of the brick that went into that building. After his marriage he followed farming exclusively for himself, but at the same time conducted the tavern, after his father's death, which occurred in 1854. His father was Michael Instine, a native of Pennsylvania, from which state he came to Champaign county, in an early day, and it was he who started the Instine Tavern, a well-known hostelry in pioneer times. He also bought and sold live stock, frequently driving droves of hogs to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
Henry Instine, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on Febru- ary 12, 1824, and died on September 1, 1902. His wife was born on May 19, 1821, and died on August 25, 1893. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom, Samuel, Joseph, Henry, William, Mary, Cathe- rine and Malinda, are still living. Caroline and Elnora are deceased.
William Instine grew up on the home place and attended the common schools. He remained at home, continuing to work with his father at gen- eral farming until the latter's death, when he bought one hundred and sev- enty-five acres, which he operated five years, then moved to Kingston and retired. In connection with general farming he carried on stock raising. feeding about one hundred head of hogs annually for the market. He was married in 1887 to Anna E. Moyer, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine Moyer. She was a native of Snyder county, Pennsylvania, where also occurred the birth of her parents, who were married there. Jacob Moyer
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM INSTINE.
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was born in 1833. He was a son of Daniel and Leah Moyer, also of Snyder county, Pennsylvania, where they spent their last days. Jacob Moyer received his education in the schools of his native county, after which he began teach- ing, following that profession in the public schools of his native county for six years, and meanwhile serving as justice of the peace. He came to Cham- paign county in 1881 and engaged in farming until his death in 1884. He was a Democrat and a member of the Lutheran church. His family consisted of the following children: Anna E., Leah Catherine, Margaret, Martin L., John D., Ida, Mae, Effie and Norah.
Mr. and Mrs. William Instine have three children, namely: Ruth, who married Robert Duncan; Jeanette, who married Rush Harvey and lives at King's Creek, and John, who married Florence Yates and has one son, Wil- liam Joseph, who lives with his grandparents, our subject and wife.
SIMEON L. RUSSELL.
The older residents of the Mingo neighborhood in the northern part of this county have not forgotten Simeon L. Russell, who in the latter sixties was a merchant at Mingo and for some years afterward a farmer in that community, who later moved to Cleveland, where he died in the summer of 1878. His widow, who is still living, for years a resident of North Lewis- burg, this county, is a native of this part of the state, and retains very vivid recollections of the earlier days in this section.
Simeon L. Russell was born in Belmont county, over in the eastern part of Ohio, August 15, 1841, son of Wesley and Edith Russell, both of whom were born in that same county and both of Virginian parentage, their respective parents having been early settlers of that county, moving over there from Virginia in pioneer days. Wesley Russell was a substantial farmer and he and his wife were the parents of thirteen chil- dren, eleven of whom grew to maturity and four of whom are still living, namely: Luther, who is living near Mingo, this county; Everett, of Iola. Kansas; Jeremiah, who continues to live in Belmont county, Ohio, and Nora, of Iola, Kansas.
Reared on the home farm in Belmont county, Simeon L. Russell re- ceived his schooling in the common schools of his home county and was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted for service in 1862. in behalf of the Union, and went to the front as a member of Company B.
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One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the army of General Grant, and with that command served until the close of the war. Upon the completion of his military service, in 1865, Mr. Russell came over into this part of the state and located at Mingo, in this county, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Two years later, in 1867, he married and after being engaged in merchandising for three years rented a farm in the Mingo neighborhood and was there engaged in farming for five years, at the end of which time he moved up to Cleveland and in that vicinity became actively engaged in cultivating a vineyard and was thus engaged until his death on July 26. 1878, he then lacking less than a month of being thirty-seven years of age. Though reared a Quaker, Mr. Russell (lied in the faith of the Methodist church.
On October 8, 1867, Simeon L. Russell was united in marriage to Anna M. Hunter, who was born in the Mingo valley on September 27. 1842, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Johnson ) Hunter, the former of whom was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, and the latter in Guernsey county, this state, who were among the most useful and influential residents of the Mingo neighborhood at that time. Thomas Hunter was but a boy when his parents, Nathaniel and Ann Hunter, natives of Scotland, came from Virginia to Ohio in 1820 and settled in Logan county, where they estab- lished their home and where they spent the remainder of their lives, Nathaniel Hunter becoming a substantial farmer. He and his wife reared their chil- dren in the faith of the Methodist church. There were six of these children, Alexander, Jane, Thomas, John, Elizabeth and Samuel. Thomas Hunter grew up in the Mingo valley and from the days of his boyhood gave much attention to educational affairs. He became a prosperous farmer and was one of the founders of Delaware College, to the funds of which he was a liberal contributor. He was an earnest Methodist and gave liberally to the estab- lishment of churches, both for white and colored worshipers, and was for years one of the leaders of the Methodist church at Mingo. He was one of the first four persons to vote the Abolition ticket in this section of the state and during ante-bellum days was an acknowledged leader of the Abolition forces throughout this part of the state. ever helpful in the cause of the freedmen.
Thomas Hunter was twice married. His first wife, Mary Evans, died eight years after marriage, leaving two children, both of whom are now deceased. In 1840 he married, secondly, Nancy Johnson, who was born in Guernsey county, this state, daughter of James and Margaret Johnson, natives
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of that same county, who later became early settlers and substantial farm- ers of the Mingo neighborhood in this county. James Johnson and wife were the parents of five children, Nancy, Elizabeth, Margaret, William and Isaac. To Thomas and Nancy (Johnson) Hunter seven children were born, of whom Mrs. Russell was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: Margaret, deceased; Sarah E., wife of Col. M. L. Dempsey, of Cleveland, Ohio; Frances, now deceased, who was the wife of Leroy Wright, of Vermont; Thomas, former representative in the Legislature from this district, who married Emma Robinson, of Marion, this state, and is now living the life of a retired farmer; Hale, a former well-known lawyer at Urbana, who is now practicing his profession at Cleveland, and Agnes, now deceased, who was the wife of Marion Guthridge, a well-known merchant at Mingo.
To Simeon L. and Anna M. (Hunter) Russell were born three sons, Harry C., Frank G. and Kirk L., all of whom are living. Harry C. Russell. formerly a farmer in the Mingo neighborhood, is now keeping hotel at Mingo. He married May McCartney, of Mingo, and he and his wife take an active part in the general affairs of that pleasant village. Frank G. Russell married Myrtle Sprinkle, of Huntington, Indiana, and for the past eleven years has been engaged as traffic manager for the International Harvester Company, with headquarters at Akron, this state, where he and his wife make their home. Kirk L. Russell, who married Leola Gilliland, is now living at Wash- ington, D. C., where he has been connected with the postoffice department for the past nine or ten years. He formerly was a telegraph operator at Mingo and was afterward for some time an operator in the United States naval service. Mrs. Russell returned to her old home at Mingo not long after her husband's death and has ever since made her home in this county, now a resident of North Lewisburg. She has been a member of the Methodist church since she was sixteen years of age and has ever taken an interested part in church work, as well as in the general good works and the various social and cultural activities of her home community. She was educated at Delaware College and for ten years before her marriage and for several vears afterward taught school in her home neighborhood, many of the then youngsters of that community having cause to hold her in grateful remem- brance. Mrs. Russell's recollections of former days in the Mingo valley are clear and distinct and there are few thereabout who have a more accurate knowledge of the history of that region since the days of the middle of the past century than she.
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THOMAS MCCARTY.
Thomas McCarty, well-known farmer of Wayne township, was born near Brush Lake. Rush township, this county, September 5, 1849, and he has been contented to spend his life in his home community. He is a son of James and Sarah Ann (Leese) McCarty, both natives of Virginia. The father came to Champaign county with his parents, Stephen and Deborah McCarty, when he was young, the family locating in Rush township, among the early settlers. Stephen McCarty developed a good farm from the wilder- ness near Brush Lake, first building a log cabin, and he and his family endured the usual hardships and privations incident to life on the frontier. Here he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. They were parents of six children, James, Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Enoch and Thomas.
The maternal grandparents of the subject of this sketch were William and Susan (Hudson) Leese, both natives of Virginia from which state they immigrated to Ohio in an early day, settling in Rush township, Cham- paign county, where they cleared a farm and made a home by hard work and perseverance. They were parents of four children, Jacob, Thomas, Sarah Ann and a daughter who died in early life.
James McCarty, father of the subject of this review, grew to man- hood on the home farm, where he worked hard, as did all sons of pioneers. He received a meager education, attending school in the old log school house in his community. He lived at home until his marriage, then located on a farm in Wayne township, where his son Thomas, the subject of this sketch, now resides. He moved to this place in 1853. He later went to Auglaize county, Ohio, where he bought a farm on which he resided for a period of sixteen years, then returned to this county, locating on a farm near Cable, in Wayne township, where he spent the rest of his life. His first wife died in Auglaize county while living there, and he subsequently married Nancy Johnson, a native of Champaign county. The following children were born by his first wife: Elizabeth, now deceased, who married A. Stratton ; Thomas. the subject of this sketch: John, who died when eight years of age, and Deborah, the widow of Abner Stansley, of Mechanicsburg. Five children were born by the second marriage, two of whom died in early life, the other three being George, who lives in Bellefontaine, William and Augusta (deceased).
Thomas McCarty was reared to manhood on the home farm, where he worked when he became of proper age. He attended school in the old log
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school house in his district, which was equipped with the usual puncheon seats and greased paper for window panes. He continued to live at home until he was twenty-one years old. He has been twice married, first, to Mrs. Martha (Kimball) Chatfield, of Rush township, this county. Her death occurred in 1908. She had two children, Eva, the wife of Lyman Wheeler, of Columbus, Ohio, and Susie, who died in early life. Mr. McCarty was married a second time, on January 17, 1908, to Anna Uncles, of Columbus. this state, a daughter of John H. and Susan A. (Harvey) Uncles, both now deceased. Mr. Uncles was a mechanic by trade and a fine workman. Mr. McCarty's second marriage has been without issue.
After his first marriage Mr. McCarty, in 1891, located on his present farm in Wayne township, known as the Lambern place, consisting of fifty acres, on which he has made a very comfortable living. Politically, he is a Republican. He belongs to the Methodist Protestant church at Jenkins Chapel.
JAMES L. SWISHER.
The late James L. Swisher, who died at his home in Union township in 1888 and whose widow is still living there, was born in that township and had lived in Champaign county all his life, with the exception of seven- teen years spent farming in the neighboring county of Logan. He was born on June 9, 1833, son of John H. and Lucinda (Lowry) Swisher, the former of whom was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and the latter in this county. John H. Swisher came to Champaign county as a young man and was here married about the year 1831. He established his home on a farm and was getting a good start toward the creation of a good farm- ing property when he died in 1838. He and his wife were the parents of three children, of whom James L. was the first-born, the others being Joseph and Eliza J.
Reared on a farm in Union township, James L. Swisher received his schooling in the district schools in the neighborhood of his home and early became a practical farmer. After his marriage in the spring of 1861 he became engaged in farming on his own account, renting a farm in this county, but two years later moved to Logan county and for seventeen years there- after was engaged in farming in that county. He then returned to Cham- paign county and located on a farm in Union township, later moving to
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what then was known as the Perry farm on the Ludlow pike, and there he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on February 21, 1888, he then being in the fifty-fifth year of his age.
On April 9. 1861, James L. Swisher was united in marriage to Nancy McCulloch, who was born in the neighboring county of Logan, a daughter of George A. and Sophia (Mason) Mccullough, both of whom were born in that same county and who spent all their lives there. George A. McCul- loch was born on a pioneer farm on the Big Darby, near Zanesfield, and became a successful farmer and extensive stockman. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, of whom Mrs. Swisher was the first-born, the others being Samnel C., Catherine, John, George, Benjamin, Sidney. Solomon. Mary, Minerva and William.
To James L. and Nancy ( McCulloch) Swisher eight children were born, six of whom are still living, namely: Clara, who married W. G. J. Clark and had one child, a daughter, Nancy Virginia; John H., who married Myrtle B. Snyder; George L., who married Emma Capsidal and has one child, a daughter, Ethel; Perry, who married Eva Keef and has three chil- dren, Frank K., Hugh and Angus M .; William, who married Ella Snyder and has three children, Marjorie, Ruth and Lois, and Eliza Jane, who married William Thomas and has one child, a son, John Willis.
Perry Swisher, the fourth child in order of birth of the children born to James L. Swisher and wife, was born in Logan county on November 29, 1868, and was but a boy when his parents returned to this county and established their home in Union township. He completed his schooling in the schools of that township and early took up farming as a vocation. When twenty-five years of age he began farming on his own account and in 1903 bought the place on which he is now living, his widowed mother making her home with him and his family, and has ever since made that his place of residence, he and his family being very comfortably situated. Mr. Swisher has a fine farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, all of which is imder cultivation save about twenty-five acres of woodland, and he has an excellent farm plant, his operations being carried on in accordance with up-to-date methods. He has given considerable attention to the rais- ing of live stock and is doing well. He makes a specialty of Duroc-Jersey hogs, having about a hundred head a year, and also raises excellent Red Polled cattle and Percheron horses. Mr. Swisher is a member of the Union Township Grange and has for years taken an active part in the affairs of that organization and in all movements having to do with the advancement
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of the county's agricultural interests, having served for some time as a member of the county fair board. He is a Democrat and has rendered public service as a member of the school board. Mrs. Swisher is a member of the Union Methodist Episcopal church.
ALBERT KINSMAN MOODY.
The late 'Albert Kinsman Moody, who died at his home in Union township, this county, February, 1905, was born in New Hampshire, but had been a resident of this county from the time he was fourteen years of age. He was born on December 6, 1828, son of John and Betsy Moody. both natives of New Hampshire, who left their home in that state with their family in 1842 and drove through by ox-team to Ohio, settling 111 Champaign county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Upon coming to this county, John Moody bought a considerable tract of land in Union township, where Don C. Moody now lives, and became a sub- stantial and influential resident of that part of the county, one of the men who helped make that township one of the banner townships of the county. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the first-born, the others being Orin, Moses, Nancy and Eliza, and elsewhere in this volume there are found further references to this well-known family in Champaign county.
As noted above, Albert K. Moody was about fourteen years of age when he came to Champaign county with his parents and he completed his schooling in the schools of this county. From the days of his boy- hood he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home place in Union township and in due time bought one hundred and seventy acres of the home tract and became an extensive farmer on his own account, later increasing his holdings to two hundred and forty acres. He also dealt extensively in land and made a specialty of raising high-grade live stock, doing much to promote the introduction of better strains in the herds of this county. On that well-established farm in Union township Albert K. Moody spent his last days, his death occurring there on February 18, 1905. He was a Democrat.
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