History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 150

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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Henry F. Nagel lived with his parents until he attained his majority. For eighteen years he worked as gas fitter for William Kirkup & Son, of Cincinnati, and then engaged in business individually, as a manufacturer of cigars, continuing in this successfully for six years. But having been burned out twice in the space of six months, he relinquished the business and removed to his present farm of forty-four acres in Anderson township. He also owns another tract of twenty-seven acres, all

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

of this property representing the results of his own unaided energy. In connection with his farming operations he is also a contractor in the construction of public roads. On August 1, 1880, Mr. Nagel married Carrie, who was born January 27, 1857, daughter of Gottfried and Christena Wolfengel, natives of Germany. They are the parents of the following children: Laura, William, Emma, Charles and Car- rie. Mr. Nagel is a member of the German Lutheran Church, and a Republican in politics. Mrs. Nagel is connected with the United Brethren Church.

HENRY VAN GUNDY was born in Milford township, Butler Co., Ohio, September 25, 1824, son of Christian and Catherine (Rinkenburg) Van Gundy. The father was born in Alsas, France, in 1783, and died in 1854; the mother was born in Lorraine, France, in 1800, and died in 1848. Christian Van Gundy immigrated to Philadel- phia in 1820, where he remained but a short time, removing thence to Butler county, Ohio. Here he engaged in farming and weaving until 1832, when he located in Ken- ton county, Ky., remained eighteen months, thence moved to Mill Creek township, thence to Delhi township, this county, where he remained till 1839, and then moved to Campbell county, Ky., and there passed the remainder of his days. He owned a farm of 123 acres, the acquisition of a life of energetic activity. He was the father of ten children: Joseph, of Cincinnati; Phoebe, of Dayton, Ky .; Christopher, who was a soldier in the Mexican war, and died in Covington, Ky., in 1875; Henry; Magdalena, deceased; Jacob, of Montana; Susan, of Dayton; Elizabeth, deceased; Jefferson, late of Missouri, now deceased, and Mary, of Missouri.

Henry Van Gundy, the subject of this sketch, left home at the age of eighteen, absolutely without money, and with no clothes save those on his person. He came to Anderson township, this county, and worked for Abraham Hopper, at $8.00 per month. Here he continued to work at such employment as he could get until 1848, when he married and engaged in farming at the locality known as Hopper's Hill. His entire capital amounted to sixty-five dollars, and he was obliged to purchase his- stock and farming implements on credit; but in two years he had paid all his debts, and accumulated one hundred dollars. In 1849 he removed to Withamsville, Ohio, in 1850 built a house on ten acres of land, inherited by his wife, and resided there

twenty years. In 1870 he removed to Cherry Grove, where he purchased a lot of six acres, and now owns the hotel property. He also has a farm of 106 acres in the southeastern portion of the township. Mr. Van Gundy is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and was the first past master of his Lodge, of which he is the oldest member. He is a Republican in politics. On January 13, 1848, he married Serena, born September 26, 1829, a daughter of Reuben and Christena (Ekelberger) Reed, and they are the parents of the following children: Christopher Wightman, who married Anna Matthews; Mary Jane, wife of George W. Bennett, and John J. Crit- tendon, who married Lilly Gelvin, of Clermont county, Ohio.

WILLIAM R. AYER was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, March 24, 1825, son of Richard and Catherine Ayer. The father was a ship builder in Maine prior to his immigration to Hamilton county, and his mother was a native of Virginia. From the time he attained his majority he engaged in farming, and with such success that at the time of his death, in 1892, he owned one of the finest fruit farms in the county. He was a Democrat for many years, but some time before his death he adopted the principles of the Prohibition party, of which he was thenceforth an ardent sup- porter. In religious connection he was a member of the United Brethren Church. On November 6, 1851, he married Talitha, daughter of John and Milcha (Maddox) Matthews, the former a native of Pennsylvania, the latter of Maryland. They were the parents of the following children: Richard, who married Rose Wagner; Clara, wife of Martin Pierman; Lina; John W., who married Ida Husted; Anna, wife of Frank Vansaun; Charles Russell, deceased; Cora, wife of William Prickett; Restore; Nellie, wife of John Reed; George and Ollie.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

MOSES BURDSAL was born near Trenton, N. J., in May, 1874, the son of Uriah and Elizabeth (Webb) Burdsal. He spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, and obtained a very limited education at the local schools. At the age of twenty- one he migrated to the West, locating on a rented farm near Newtown, Hamilton Co., Ohio, where he resided two years; in connection with farming, he also engaged extensively in the raising of pork. He subsequently bought a farm of 106 acres in the southern part of Anderson township, and resided there until his death in 1857. He was a man of great energy and industry; in his youth he had learned the trade of shoemaking, but never followed it as a regular vocation, although he fre- quently worked at it in the evenings after a hard day's work on the farm. In his political affiliations he was a stanch supporter of the Whig party. He was a kind husband and father, a man highly esteemed in the community where he resided, and an active worker in the Methodist Protestant Church.

Mr. Burdsal was four times married. His first wife was Hannah Charlton, a native of New Jersey, and one child, now deceased, was born of this marriage. His second wife was Sarah Hawkins, of Newtown, and five children were born to them, all now deceased. His third wife was Henrietta Reese, and six children, all deceased, were the fruits of this union. For his fourth wife he married Emma Vail, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, September 7, 1818, a daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth (Craig) Vail, and six sons and two daughters blessed this union. Her father was born in New Jersey in 1793, and, when a young man, immi- grated to Butler county, Ohio, where he was successfully engaged in farming. His wife was a native of Lancaster county, Penn., of Welsh ancestry. Mrs. Burd- sal survives her husband, and resides in Anderson township, on the old homestead.

COLUMBUS P. BENNETT, residing at Cherry Grove, Hamilton Co., Ohio, was born near Amelia, Clermont Co., Ohio, November 28, 1837. He lived with his father, and worked on the farm until about eighteen years of age, receiving his education at the academy in the village of Amelia, except one year 1856 at College Hill. His father, Samuel W. Bennett, was of Welsh descent, born in the village of Withams- ville in 1807; he was married in 1832 to Mary Gray, who was born in the same village in 1812, and was of Irish-German descent. Soon after their marriage they moved to the State of Indiana, remaining there two years; then returned to Ohio, and settled permanently at or near Amelia; he bought a tract of 147 acres of land, and devoted the remainder of his life to farming. To him and his wife were born eleven children, eight of whom are living: J. W., a physician residing at Forest- ville, Hamilton Co., Ohio; Hannah E. Miller, living at Fort Ancient, Warren Co., Ohio; Elisha L., a teacher and farmer at Amelia, on the old homestead farm; James Madison, a farmer, residing in Kansas; Mary L. Guyman, residing in Wood county, Ohio; Harriet D., of Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio; Charles E., a teacher in the vil- lage of Amelia, and our subject.

Columbus P. Bennett commenced teaching at the age of nineteen in the special school at Eight Mile, Hamilton Co., Chio, and continued until the country's call for defenders in 1861, when he laid aside the teacher's robe and donned the " Blue," volunteering, July 27, in the Thirty-fourth O. V. I., known as "Piatt's Zouaves." The regiment, about September 10, was ordered to West Virginia to reinforce and aid Gen. Cox in holding that State for the Union against a rebel force sent in to compel her to renounce her allegiance to the United States, and pass the ordinance of Secession. On September 25, fifteen days after the regiment left Camp Dennison (in the language of the subject of this sketch): " We first met the rebels near Chap- manville, and first learned what war meant in reality (we had fought many battles before this in our imagination); we were victorious, completely routing the rebels, wounding and capturing their commander. Our next fight was at the town of Wytheville where, although successful in capturing the place, we had the sad mis- fortune of losing our gallant colonel, John T. Toland, of Cincinnati, who fell mor-

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tally wounded at the very onset of the fight. No braver man ever commanded a regiment than John T. Toland. We remained in West Virginia, actively engaged in raiding towns and fighting bushwhackers secreted among the mountain rocks, until July, 1864, having been engaged altogether up to this time in thirteen fights of more or less magnitude, and having lost nearly all of our original officers and at least two-thirds of the men. Early in July, 1864, we were ordered to join Gen. Crooks, then stationed at Martinsburg. We had no sooner reached him than we were ordered into line of battle, and commenced the advance upon Winchester. The Confederates met us on a little eminence just north of the town, and we were compelled to charge them through an open field. Here was the most thrilling fight we had ever experienced, but lasting only twenty minutes, when the rebels gave way at the point of the bayonet. We took possession of the town, rejoicing over the victory; but our rejoicing was of very short duration; for four days later Gen. Early arrived with an army, it was said, of twenty thousand men; but be that as it may, we here record on the twenty-fourth of July, 1864, the most complete drubbing of our experience during the war. Surely it was rout, ruin, and panic in all its worst form, and it scattered all so completely that, several days afterward, the greater portion came together across the Potomac in the center of Maryland. Some five hundred of us were even less fortunate than those who reached Maryland, for we found our- selves in the Southern Confederacy without the password, being prisoners of war. We remained at Winchester for a few days, and then under guard commenced the long march by way of Staunton and Lynchburg, into the heart of the Southern Confederacy. After about two weeks hard marching we, hatless, coatless, shoeless, moneyless, and blanketless (these articles having been confiscated on the march), arrived at Danville, a town on the line between Virginia and Tennessee. There we found four thousand Union prisoners who had preceded us, making in all four thou- sand five hundred, huddled together like sheep in five buildings, to commence a long seven-months' fight for our lives, pitting our strong soldier constitutions and a determined will against exposure, filth and starvation; and only those of us who pos- sessed the former to a very high degree were able to stand the test and fight off the grim monster. Of forty-five hundred who went in, only twenty-two hundred came out, and these but ghosts of their former selves. On March 16, 1865, the happiest day of our lives, we received the glad tidings that we were to be paroled. We formed into line (not a very difficult task), marched through four inches of snow, barefooted, two miles to the station, and didn't feel cold either. At the station we boarded the train en route for Richmond, Va., where we remained three days in Libby prison; then went aboard the steamship 'City of New York,' and landed the next morning in the city of Annapolis, Md." Here Mr. Bennett had his first square meal in eight long months, consisting of thirteen dozen raw oysters. On April 3, 1865, being pronounced unfit for duty during the remainder of the war, he r ceived his discharge from the service, and was sent to his home. The following September he again commenced teaching in the same special school district that he had left when he went into the war, and has taught almost continuously in that dis- trict to the present time.

Columbus P. Bennett was married July 8, 1869, to Clara Bennett. Her father, Joseph Bennett, was born at Cherry Grove, Hamilton Co., Ohio, in 1809, is still liv. ing, and was married to Nancy Roy in 1836. To Columbus P. and Clara Bennett have been born two children: Orian W., who graduated at Woodward High School, in Cincinnati, and is now attending the Cincinnati Law School, and Ivah V., who was educated at Mount Washington, Hamilton Co., Ohio. The entire family are members of the United Brethren Church. Politically, Mr. Bennett is a Prohib- itionist.

EDWARD JOHNSON TURPIN was born at Newtown, Hamilton Co., Ohio, May 6, 1814, son of Philip and Mary Turpin, and grandson of Dr. Turpin, of Virginia. The

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Doctor had two daughters, Philip being his only son, and when he attained his majority his father conveyed to him the title to 1,000 acres of land. He removed to Hamilton county in 1797, and settled on the low rich tracts of Newtown, being among the earliest pioneers of Anderson township.

Here the subject of this sketch was reared, attending the schools of the neigh- borhood, and Woodward High School, of Cincinnati. After his return to the farm, he entered energetically into its labors, and, when his father died, he leased his brother's interest in the mill and managed it three or four years. In the spring of 1844, he purchased the fine place that now constitutes the residence of his widow, and here he lived until his death, February 28. 1889. Though not connected with any church, he was a liberal contributor toward the support of religion. From the time of the Van Buren campaign he was an outspoken Free-soil advocate, and after the organization of the Republican party he gave it his earnest support. On May 29. 1839, he married Christina Kugler, daughter of Matthias and Elizabeth (Wald- smith) Kugler, both natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent, and to this union eight children were born-two sons and six daughters.

GEORGE W. JONES was born December 24, 1845, at Newtown, Hamilton Co., Ohio, son of David Jones, also a native of Newtown, born March 12,1808. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and enjoyed a high reputation for efficiency in his calling. He and his wife were both of German descent. and members of the Methodist Church.

Our subject lived with his parents until his marriage in 1871. He was princi- pal of the schools of Plainville. Ohio, two years, and during the war of the Rebel- lion was in the military service four months. After his marriage he engaged in farming, and has since pursued this vocation with profit and success. His wife, whom he married June 26, 1871, and whose maiden name was Georgina Sullivan, was born March 25, 1847, a daughter of John and Lavine (Corns) Sullivan, both natives of Cumberland, Md. They came to this county in 1862, and located at Newtown, where Mr. Sullivan, who was a blacksmith, worked at that trade until his death. He was born April 5, 1817, and died April 15. 1858; his wife was born October 23, 1830, and died October 23, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of one child: Alice Adele, wife of George Smith, assistant superintendent of the Davis Carriage Works, Cincinnati. Mr. Jones is a Democrat in politics, and has served as justice of the peace fifteen years. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and, with his wife, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

STEPHEN CODDINGTON was born November 30, 1836, at Cincinnati, a son of Stephen and Sarah (Barker) Coddington, both natives of Maryland. The father was born August 1, 1787, and died July 18, 1836. The mother was born in 1791, and died April 3, 1883.

Our subject lived with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he left home to learn the trade of painter with his brother. On April 20, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Fifth O. V. I., in response to the first call for some seventy-five thousand men. His first rank was that of second sergeant. On June 19, 1861, he enlisted for three years, or during the war, and received the following promotions: June 14, 1862, sergeant major; April 14, 1863. second lieutenant; September 21, 1863, first lieutenant, Company K, Fifth O. V. I., captain Company F, Fifth O. V. I., June 8, 1864. His regiment formed part of the Twelfth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and participated in the following general engagements: Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In September, 1863, this corps was transferred to the Western army, with which it served in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Sherman's March to the Sea, and from Savan- nah through South and North Carolina, and was present at the grand review at Washington, in 1865. After four years of arduous and honorable service, the Cap-

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tain was discharged, June 30, 1865, returned to Hamilton county, and has since been engaged in farming. On July 26, 1865, he married Selina Edwards, who was born in this county February 24, 1836, a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Sutton) Edwards, the former born July 5, 1811, the latter February 18, 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Coddington are the parents of five children: Leva M. (wife of E. J. Turner), Mary S., Edgar H., George W., and Laura E. The family are connected with the- Universalist Church; Mr. Coddington is a member of the G. A. R. and the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association.

FRANCIS MARION BROWN was born June 20, 1836, at Newtown, Hamilton Co., Ohio, a son of Jacob H. and Henrietta (Bradford) Brown. The father, a carpenter by trade, was born in Pennsylvania, March 8, 1808, and came to Newtown at an early age with his parents; his wife was born in Newtown in 1803.

Our subject lived with his parents until twenty-one years of age, learned the car- penter trade with his father, and pursued this calling until 1890, since which time he has been engaged in farming east of Newtown. On July 5, 1857, he married Frances, daughter of Russell and Susan (Chambers) Adkins, of Fayetteville, Brown Co., Ohio, where she was born April 20, 1835. To this union the following children were born: Alvilda, wife of William Miller; George, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased, and Jeanette, wife of Charles Davis. Mrs. Brown died in 1878, a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Church, and in August, 1881, Mr. Brown married Sarah, who was born May 28, 1832, daughter of Joseph and Nancy Meritt. They are mem- bers of the Baptist Church; in politics Mr. Brown is a Democrat.

WILLIAM A. SMITH was born in Canada, March 17, 1835, and came to Hamilton county, Ohio, when a boy. He is a son of Stillman and Deliah (Bredwood) Smith, the former of whom served in the war of 1812 under Gen. Scott, participating in most of the battles; he was a farmer by occupation; a Democrat in politics, and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church.

Our subject lived with his parents until he was twelve years of age, when he went to live with a Mr. McCormick, remaining with him until manhood. He then farmed for a few years, and afterward engaged in working for the C. P. and V. R. R. for eight years, since which time, except during the Civil war, he has been engaged in farming near Newtown, Anderson township. Mr. Smith enlisted Septem- ber 10, 1861, for three years, or during the war, and served his country the entire time. He was in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Atlanta, Morrison Bridge, Lookout Mountain, Vicksburg, Jackson and Chattanooga, besides in numerous skirmishes. He was in Company D, Seventieth O. V. I. under Gen. Sherman. Mr. Smith was united in marriage September 29, 1863, to Miss Martha Kelso, who was born Feb- ruary 15, 1843, a daughter of William and Susan (Martin) Kelso. Mrs. Smith is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Smith is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Pendleton; politically he is a Democrat. Their marriage has been blessed with three children: Lorenia, wife of Harry Waters, in the employ of the P. C. C. & St. L. R. R. Co .; Susie (deceased), and Zoa, at home.

SAMUEL D. WOODRUFF was born in Anderson township, Hamilton Co., Ohio, October 11, 1832, a son of Samuel and Cynthia (Durham) Woodruff. His father was born in New Jersey, April 23, 1797, and came to Hamilton county in early childhood with his father, Stephen Woodruff, a weaver by trade, who located first at Columbia, and then engaged in farming on Blough creek, continuing this voca- tion until his death. Mrs. Cynthia (Durham) Woodruff was born in Anderson town- ship in 1801. Her parents, Daniel and Jane (Hawthorn) Durham, were natives of Maryland, and early settlers of Cherry Grove.

Our subject's father died from cholera in 1834, and Samuel lived with his mother until her death in 1886. For two years he rented land and then bought part of the homestead, which he subsequently sold, and purchased his present farm of thirty-six acres near Mt. Summit. On June 17, 1890, he married Amelia, who

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

was born in 1845, daughter of Joshua and Nancy Durham. Mr. Woodruff is a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife are adherents of the Methodist Protestant Church.

CHARLES L. METZ, physician and surgeon, was born January 1, 1847, in Cincin- nati, Ohio, son of Dr. F. M. Metz and Babetta (Reichert) Metz. The father was born in Bavaria, Germany, where he received his literary and medical education. He emigrated to America in 1840, and during that year began the practice of medi- cine in New Orleans, La. In 1846 he migrated to Cincinnati where he practiced until 1849, in which year he removed to Danville, Highland Co., Ohio. There he prac- ticed until 1856, when he located at Plainville, Columbia township, Hamilton county, and continued in active practice of his profession up to his death, March 4, 1873. His widow died July 28, 1884. They were the parents of ten children, of whom the following are living: Anna T. (wife of Col. C. F. Beyland) is editor in New York City of the Fortschritt, the only German paper edited by a woman in the United States; her husband is editor of the New York Republican, and their son, William F., is editor of the Summit Gazette, Summit, N. J .; Edward L., of Cincinnati, Julius A., of Columbus, Ohio, and Charles L.

Dr. Charles L. Metz received his literary education in the public schools of Cin- cinnati, read medicine with his father, and was graduated from Miami Medical College in 1871. He began practice at Plainville, removing to Madisonville in 1871, where he has since remained. The Doctor is a member of the Cincinnati Academy of Medi- cine, and the Walnut Hills Medical Society; he also belongs to the Masonic Order and the National Union. He is a Republican in politics, has served in the Madison- ville council four years, and as a member of the school board nine years. Dr. Metz was married May 4, 1870, to Amelia Berger, of Brown county, Ohio, and to this union have been born eight children, seven of whom are living: Anna T. (who mar- ried Dr. A. L. Knight), Clara I., Charles Wilber, Beatrice A., Ethel H., Marie, and George F. The Doctor is possessed of fine literary ability, and is now (April, 1894) engaged with Prof. F. W. Putnam, of Harvard University, in writing a joint memoir on Archæological explorations in the Miami Valley. In 1880 he was ap- pointed special assistant in the field, having charge of the archaeological explorations conducted by the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Cam- bridge, Mass. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a corresponding member of the Boston Society of Natural History. The Doctor is the author of a chart locating the prehistoric monuments of Columbia and Anderson townships, and of other pamphlets pertaining to archæology and eth- nology.

JAMES JULIEN, manufacturer of and dealer in granite and marble monuments, tombs and building stone, was born December 18, 1832, in the village of Willian- court, Province of Luxembourg, Belgium, son of Jean Baptiste and Marie Barbe (Ravet) Julien, the former a weaver and musician, the latter a native of Musson, Belgium.

In September, 1851, at the age of nineteen years, he emigrated to America, land- ing at New Orleans after a voyage of seventy-nine days. In January, 1852, he reached Cincinnati, and worked in a hotel fourteen months; then learned the trade of marble and stone cutter, in which he has since been engaged. In 1855 he mar- ried Marie Pierrett, of St. Martin, Brown Co., Ohio, a native of Belgium, who died in 1864, leaving three children, the youngest of whom, Carrie, died in 1869. In 1866 he married Marie Brulport, who was born in Fayetteville, Brown Co., Ohio, daughter of Philip and Marie (Favret) Brulport, natives of Vesoul, France, and now residents of Fayetteville. Mr. Julien's family numbers eight living children, of whom J. Edward is associated with his father in business, is married and has two children, Marie Camille and Julien; William was educated at the public schools and at Mechanics' Institute, Cincinnati, and is also associated in business with his father;

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 150

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592