History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2, Part 31

Author: Byron Williams
Publication date: 1913
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 925

USA > Ohio > Brown County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 31
USA > Ohio > Clermont County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 31

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Hickey was united in marriage in 1884 to Miss Pauline Van Neally, who was born at Newtonville, Clermont county, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Van Neally. Mrs. Hickey has two sisters and one brother living. Mrs. Mollie Clemons and Mrs. John Collins, of Wayne township, this county. Charles Van Neally was a soldier in the Civil war.

Mr. and Mrs. Hickey have three children :

Ross and John, of the undertaking firm of Hickey Brothers, of Milford. This business was established in the spring of 1912, and is doing a good business for so young an enterprise. Eva, at home.

Mr. Hickey is always a Democrat, although he is liberal in his views. In religious matters, he favors the faith of the Presbyterian church, having been reared in that church. He is liberal in the support of this denomination. The family res- idence is on Mound street, and is one of comfortable propor- tions.

The success of Mr. Hickey is due to the careful and close attention to all of the details of the business, taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to him.

ANDREW BALZHISER.

Germany has furnished to the United States many valued citizens, who have crossed the broad ocean to seek their for- tune in the "Land of Great Opportunity" and to this class be- longs Mr. Andrew Balzhiser, the genial and energetic pro- prietor of one of the leading general grocery stores of Milford. Ohio, where for the past twenty years he has served his towns- people with first class provisions.

Mr. Balzhiser was born near the City of Worms, in Hessen

Digitized by Google

334

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

Darmstadt, Germany, January 15, 1844, his parents being Jacob and Catherine (Clauder) Balzhiser, who brought their family to America in 1854, locating first at Cincinnati, and later engaged in farming in Warren county, Ohio. In 1857, they removed to a farm in Hamilton county, Ohio, remaining there until 1860, when they came to Clermont county, where they purchased a farm in Stonelick township, near Boston. The parents remained at this place until their deaths, the mother passing away in 1884, in the seventy-eighth year of her age, and the father in 1887, in his eighty-eighth year. In politics, Jacob was a Republican, and in religion the fam- ily were all members of the Lutheran church, in which they were active workers.

Andrew Balzhiser attended school in Germany to the age of ten years, after which he attended the schools of Ohio and worked on his father's farm, as a boy and youth. He enlisted in Company G, Eighty-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infan- try, at Boston, Clermont county, August 12, 1862. He served in the "Army of the Cumberland," Fourteen corps, under General "Pap" Thomas, participating in all the engagements with his regiment, but was so fortunate as never to receive a scratch. He was in the engagement at Chickamauga, went into battle with one thousand men and came out one of two hundred and twenty-five. He was with General Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea," during the winter of 1864-65, and participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C. His discharge papers were made out and he was mustered out at Camp Dennison, June, 1865. During the three years of service in the army. he was never ill one day, and was never wounded.

Returning to Clermont county after the war, Mr. Balzhiser engaged in the huckster business, securing produce from Clin- ton county and marketing at Cincinnati. He continued this business for twenty-one years, and since then has engaged in- dependently in the grocery business at his present stand.

The marriage of Mr. Balzhiser to Miss Harriet Brunare. occurred at Milford, Ohio, in 1871. she having been born at New Orleans. Her father died when she was an infant. and her mother came to the home of the latter's father, Jacob Olige. an early resident farmer of Stonelick township.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Balzhiser has been blessed with eight children, and the family circle remains unbroken by the hand of death. They are as follows:

Google-

335

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

Catherine, became the wife of Rev. Herbert Shaw, of the Methodist church, and now lives in Michigan. They are the parents of two children.

Miss Harriet is a trained nurse of Lexington, Ky.

Miss Elizabeth, is a trained nurse of New York City.

Fanette, is Mrs. William Monahan, of Cincinnati.

Miss Ella, is at home with her parents.

Miss Jessie, is engaged as bookkeeper with the Gidding Company, of Cincinnati.

Andrew J., who married Miss Jennie Arnold, is associated with his father in the store.

Miss Charlotte, at home.

Mr. Balzhiser owns a comfortable home in South Milford, and has built another home in town, which he rents. He favors the principles of the Republican party, and is a mem- ber of the S. R. S. West Post, No. 64, Grand Army of the Republic, of Milford. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church.

Mr. Balzhiser has many sterling traits of character, which have awakened the esteem of the community in which he has made his home for so many years. He is a busy man, whose life is one of activity and usefulness, and his endeavors have been crowned with a gratifying success.

COL. JONATHAN S. DONHAM.

Col. Jonathan S. Donham, deceased, was the father of Rob- ert W. Donham, retired farmer, of New Richmond, and the grandfather of Mrs. T. P. White, of the same place.

The Donham family is of Spanish descent, the original name being "Don Singleton." Toward the end of the Sixteenth cen- tury, one of the ancestors became noted as an active Liberal or Rebel, and was arrested, tried and banished. After his sen- tence he escaped and fled to Scotland, there assuming the name, "Don Ham," later corrupted to Donham. A son or a grandson of his immigrated to America and settled in what is now New Jersey, was twice married and reared several sons and daughters. One of these sons, Nathaniel. the father of Jonathan S., in 1794 moved from Pennsylvania down the Ohio river, settling at the mouth of the Miami river. About 1800, he moved into Clermont county and located on Ten Mile creek,

Digitized by Google

336

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

in what is now Pierce township, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Jonathan S. Donham was the youngest child of Nathaniel and the latter's second wife, and located on Twelve Mile creek, Ohio township. He had an inclination for trading in live stock and in this line was very successful, eventually se- curing several hundred acres of land, on which he raised fine stock and gaining a reputation for importing in southern Cler- mont blooded horses, cattle and hogs. His first wife was Hiley Ross, who left no children. He married Miss Elizabeth Ayers, of New Jersey, on April 19, 1818, and they reared eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, of whom one is now . living, Robert W. Donham, of New Richmond.

Colonel Donham was an officer in the War of 1812 and was present at the siege of Fort Meigs, now Fremont, Ohio. In after years, he was a general of militia, and was one of the best farmers and stockmen of Clermont county. He was a man of fine personal and social habits, who lived to an ad- vanced age. There are many descendants of this fine pioneer family of Clermont county, who are numbered among the representative citizens.

JOSEPH W. EMERY.

Mr. Joseph W. Emery is the owner and operator of a splendidly improved farm of twenty-seven and one-half acres in Miami township, just outside of Loveland. Ohio, where he carries on general farming and stock raising. His present home was started by his father in 1859 and was completed during the Civil war. It has been improved and added to from time to time and is now a beautiful home surrounded by fine trees. many of them the natural timber. Some pine trees have been set out which adds to the beauty of the place. Jo- seph W. Emery was born in Indiana, at Knightstown, De- cember 9. 1847. and is a son of Capt. Andrew Barton and Julia Ann (Weller) Emery.

Andrew Barton Emery was born at the old homestead of his father. John Emery, which is situated just across the road from the home of the subject of this mention. At the time of the Civil war, in answer to the country's need. Andrew Barton Emery organized one company of infantry, and the First Ohio cavalry, mainly from Clermont county, being first lieutenant

Digitized by Google

J. W. EMERY Loveland, Ohio

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by Google

337

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

in the infantry, but as the quota of seventy-five thousand was full, did not go out. Later, he organized Company G, First Ohio cavalry, which he took out as captain. For five months prior to his death, he was acting major, commanding Companies A, G, and B, of the First Ohio cavalry, and his com- mission was made out but not delivered when he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Russellville, Alabama, and five days later, July 10, 1862, passed to the great beyond, there to re- ceive the soldier's reward. Capt. Andrew Barton Emery was a physician and surgeon, graduating from the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, in the class of 1846. He was a practicing physician for over twenty years beside securing and improv- ing his farm. His wife, Julia Ann (Weller) Emery, was born near Simms Station, Hamilton county, Ohio, and her death occurred in 1901. Andrew Emery had three brothers and four sisters, all now deceased.

John Emery, the grandfather of Joseph W., was born in New Jersey and came to Clermont county as a young man, bringing his wife and children overland and residing here until his death, in 1856. He was county judge, a member of the Ohio legislature, and was a large land owner, raising fancy stock. He was a prominent man and was highly esteemed. His wife was Miss Deborah Waters, a native of England.

Joseph W. Emery is the eldest of four children, the others being :

Charles R., of Seymour, Ind.

Randolph.

Clara, who is the widow of R. B. Brock, and had one son, William Bruce, who died at the age of nineteen years.

Mr. J. W. Emery has always resided at the old home and his marriage to Miss Evangeline Rose occurred in 1880. Miss Rose was born in Dublin, Ireland, a daughter of Arthur and Clara (Lindley) Rose, who came to America in the fall of 1864, locating at Cincinnati, where Mr. Rose was engaged in the drug business for many years. Later, he became the cashier of the United States Baking Company. He died, April 28, 1911, in the eighty-second year of his life and his wife died July 7, 1893, aged sixty-four years. Mrs. Emery is one of six chil- dren, the others being residents of Arkansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Emery have had nine children :

Mima I .. married Dan Myers, of Carthage, Ohio, and her death took place February 28. 1910.

Barton died at the age of twenty-two months.

Digitized by Google

338

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

Julia A., wife of Cecil Irvin, of Cincinnati, who has one daughter, Beatrice.

Edna became the wife of Don English, residing near Love- land. They have one son, Edwin.

Andrew, at home.

Erma, wife of Dr. W. D. Howe, prominent surgeon of Car- lisle, Ky.

Arthur died at eight years of age.

Evangeline, at home.

Clara Barton, at home.

Politically, Mr. Emery is of the Republican persuasion, and has acted in the capacity of assessor of the township. Mrs. Emery is a member of the Eastern Star of Loveland. The Ma- sonic lodge, of Loveland, is named for John Emery, and the G. A. R. Post is named for Capt. Andrew Barton Emery.

Mr. Emery is warm-hearted and of inflexible integrity. pos- sessing in the fullest degree the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and with all with whom he is associated in business.

JACOB BALZHISER.

Mr. Jacob Balzhiser, who is engaged in the real estate busi- ness at Milford, Ohio, is a representative of a family of Ger- man lineage, who for the past fifty-two years has been well and favorably known in Clermont county, Ohio.

Jacob Balzhiser was born on the River Rhine, near' the City of Worms. Hessen Darmstadt, Germany. March 19, 1846, and is one of eight children born to Jacob and Catherine (Clauder ) Balzhiser, whose life record is mentioned on an- other page of these volumes. Those of the family who are living are as follows:

Catherine, who is eighty-five years of age. is residing at Norwood, Ohio, and is the widow of George Veidt, a Warren county. Ohio, farmer.

Henry, who is a farmer of Stonelick township, lives near Owensville, this county.

Andrew, a grocer of Milford.

Jacob, of this mention.

William, a retired liquor dealer of Dayton, Ohio.

Those of the family who are deceased are as follows:

John, who was a twin brother of Andrew, was a butcher of

Digitized by Google

339

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

Hamilton county, Ohio. His demise occurred some three years since.

Margaret, who became the wife of August Helms, passed away in 1908, her husband having died in 1906.

Anthony, who was a butcher by business, died in 1904 at Milford. .

Jacob Balzhiser was reared on the farm of his father and acquired a good common school education and followed the occupation of farming until 1887, when he removed to Mil- ford, where he has since resided. For sixteen years he was engaged in the coal business, but in later years has conducted a real estate business, handling town, suburban and country property, and in this line of business he has met with splendid success.

In the year of 1872, Mr. Balzhiser married Miss Maggie Die- bold, a native of Warren county. She died in 1876, leaving three children :

George, became a florist, and resides at Chicago. He mar- ried Miss Anna Kruse, and they have one son, George K.

Frank, a resident of Milford, is a bookkeeper at Cincinnati. He married Miss Alice Brower and they are the parents of three children-Roger, Earl, and Margaret.

Catherine, who is Mrs. William Sickenger, of Milford, and to this union has been born one daughter, Ruth.

The second marriage of Mr. Jacob Balzhiser was celebrated in 1882, to Miss Anna Grimm, of Newport, Ky., a daughter of Daniel and Magdalena (Hildabold) Grimm. The former was a veteran of the Civil war, serving in the Ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, having been a prisoner of Libby prison for some time. His death occurred in 1867, and his wife passed away in 1909, in the eighty-sixth year of her age. Mrs. Balzhiser is one of eight children :

George, is now living at the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio. He was in the one hundred day service.

Those deceased are Louie, Theodore, John, Louise, Kath- erine, and Elizabeth.

Mr. and Mrs. Balzhiser have four children :

Charles, is a locomotive engineer by business, and is a resi- dent of Lewiston, Mont. He married Miss Esther Slatter.

Albert, is a telegraph operator for the Western Union Com- pany, at Spokane, Wash.

Minnie, is the wife of Gatch Runyan, who is in the employ of the Baldwin Piano Company, at Milford. They have one son, Russell.

Digitized by Google

340

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

Harry, of Elliston, Mont., is an operator for the Union Pacific Railway Company.

Mr. Balzhiser gives his allegiance to the Republican party and was formerly a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Lutheran church, while Mrs. Balzhiser is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Balzhiser takes an active interest in all worthy enterprises, and has won the high regard of all with whom he is associated in business and social circles as well.

JOHN A. BOYCE.

The subject of this sketch, John A. Boyce, a highly esteemed citizen of Milford, Ohio, has for the past eight years carried on a successful contracting and building business. He em- ploys a large force of skilled mechanics and has. erected many fine residences and churches in this vicinity. He was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1853, and is a son of Samuel and Agnes ( Arnold) Boyce.

Samuel Boyce was a native of Belfast, Ireland, as was also his wife. He learned the trade of carpenter in Ireland, which he followed until his marriage to Miss Agnes Arnold, in 1840, when the young couple left their birthplace to come to Amer- ica, locating first at New York, later at Pittsburgh, and finally at Cincinnati. After a time Samuel bought a farm near Mil- ford, and gave his entire time to agricultural pursuits. In 1864, he sold the farm, buying another near Mt. Carmel. Ohio, which was his home until his death, in 1878. He was an ac- tive Republican, and was a charter member of the grange at Mt. Carmel, which was organized in his home. He was of the Universalist belief, being an active member.

Agnes (Arnold) Boyce was a daughter of Alexander and Margaret ( Houston) Arnold. Her father, Alexander, was a physician in the early part of his life, but did some farming in his later years. His father was one of four brothers who im- migrated to Ireland from Scotland, owing to the persecution of the "Covenanters." They located in Northern Ireland, he in County Antrim, where he lived until his death.

Samuel and Agnes Boyce were the parents of three chil- dren :

Margaret, married William Crosset. of Cincinnati, who was

oogle Digitized by

- --

341

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

in the transfer business. He died in 1909, and she resides on the farm near Mt. Carmel.

Matilda, died on the home farm near Mt. Carmel in 1937.

John A., the subject of this review.

John A. Boyce was educated in the common schools and at the age of twenty years, he decided to learn the trade of contractor and builder, which, when completed, he followed for five years in Cincinnati. With this exception, Mr. Boyce has lived in Clermont county since 1864, and in addition to his business, resided on and operated the home farm near Mt. Carmel, until in 1904, when he took up his residence in Mil- ford.

Mr. John Boyce was married in Cincinnati, in 1881, to Miss Emma Davis, who was born at Bristol, England, and who came with her parents, George and Eliza Davis, to Clinton county, Ohio, when she was five years of age. This was her home until her father died, after which the family moved to Cincinnati. Mr. and Mrs. Boyce have three daughters and one son-Alice, Howard, Agnes, and Margaret.

In political views, Mr. Boyce has voted the independent ticket for the past twenty years, and has always taken an active interest in all political affairs. He and Mrs. Boyce are members of the Grange of Mt. Carmel, and have been iden- tified with this organization for thirty years. Mr. Boyce and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Boyce is well known in the county which has been his home for so many years, and is among the foremost because of his unremitting diligence and his employment of methods that require no disguise. He has made a business that is as creditable as it is honorable.

LUDWIG H. FREY.

Ludwig H. Frey, one of the prosperous farmers and large stock raisers of Clermont county, Ohio, owning and operating the Stephen Goble farm of ninety-three acres of well cultivated land northeast of New Richmond, was born in Ohio township. this county, June 13, 1862, and is a son of John Henry Lud- wig and Elizabeth (Derachter) Frey, who were natives of Byron, Switzerland, the latter of whom was born in 1831, and died April 19, 1903.

Digitized by Google

342

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

John Henry Ludwig Frey was born July 24, 1831, and brought his family to America, arriving at New York on De- cember 31, 1854, where they remained a short time. From here he went to Massillon, Ohio; spending but two years there, he went to Missouri. At the end of the following year he returned to Ohio, taking up his residence in Cincinnati, where he remained until 1860, at which time they settled in Ohio township, on a small farm they had secured. In August, 1862, J. H. L. Frey enlisted in Company G, Fiftieth Ohio vol- unteer infantry, and served nearly two years, contracting a disease, from which he died July 31, 1864. He had written a letter home on his birthday, which was the last the family re- ceived from him. He was the father of five children, three of whom died when young, and two grew to maturity, Adolph, who was a resident of Washington township, died in 1909 at the age of fifty years, and Ludwig H., the subject of this mention.

Ludwig H. Frey was reared and educated in Ohio town- ship, where he has spent his life thus far, and in 1893 became united in marriage to Miss Lenna C. Goble, who was born in Ohio township January 21, 1862, and is a daughter of Ste- phen P. and Frances (Ashburn) Goble, the latter a daughter of Richard Ashburn and a sister of the late Judge Thomas Q. Ashburn, mention of whom is made in this work. Stephen P. Goble was born in 1831, and met his death in 1866, by a shot fired from the gun of a trespasser. Frances (Ashburn) Goble was married the second time to William Lillick, and died in 1888, in her fifty-third year.

Mrs. L. H. Frey is one of three children :

Richard, died in his twenty-fourth year.

Miss Bessie Goble, of this county.

The farm which is now owned by Ludwig H. Frey was set- tled in 1832, by the grandfather of Mrs. Frey, Stephen Goble, who cleared and developed the farm, building first a substan- tial log house, later remodeling as it is today. Stephen Goble was a steam boat engineer, which occupation he followed until his retirement. He was born in 1804. on the 9th of March, at Bethel, and died in 1889, at his home one-half mile above New Richmond. He left Bethel at the age of fifteen years, and for forty years operated on the Ohio river, between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. In later years, he was a stockholder and treasurer of the Batavia and New Richmond Turnpike Com- pany. His first wife was Elizabeth Brown, and to their union

Digitized by Google

343

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

were born seven children, one of whom was Stephen P., the father of Mrs. Frey. He married a second time a sister of his first wife, Alice Brown, who was born in Clermont county, January 17, 1819, and died in 1879. To this union were born five daughters and one son. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Frey was William Goble, who was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, and was the only one of his family to locate in Cler- mont county, Ohio. Mrs. Frey's grandmother and her sister were daughters of Rev. George Brown, who was a prominent Methodist minister, and was also one of the early mill owners of Washington township. He became a large land owner, and was one of the substantial men of the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Frey are the parents of three children, all of whom have been born at the present home. They are-Harold C., Marguerite, and Dorothy E.

Mr. Frey is an active member of the Republican party, al- though not an office seeker. He holds membership with the Sons of Veterans, and was confirmed in the Lutheran church, of which his parents were active members, but attends the Methodist church, Mrs. Frey being a member of that denomi- nation.

CAPT. WILLIAM P. FLANEGAN.

Capt. William P. Flanegan is numbered among the success- ful men of Clermont county, Ohio, who were born and bred upon the farm and who have won the deserved prominence they now enjoy through their own energy and steadfastness of purpose. He is a progressive farmer and stockman, resid- ing in the home of his father and grandfather, the latter, John Flanegan, being a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, who came to America with his wife, Jane (Anderson) Flane- gan, in 1800. They resided for a time in Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela river, and later floated down the Ohio river by flat boat to this section.

John and Jane Flanegan settled on a tract of land which is still in the family, and was the first small purchase of "Mili- tary Land" here that has remained in the same family to the present time. The title was received in 1812, some six years after the location and purchase was made. John Flanegan died in middle life about 1816, leaving beside his wife, one son and four daughters. Jane (Anderson) Flanegan was a

Digitized by Google

344

CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES

native of Scotland, and was an active Presbyterian lady. She lived to the advanced age of ninety-six years, her demise oc- curring in 1858. To this union were born three sons and four daughters, of whom two sons died in their youth. The daugh- ters grew to maturity, married, and lived to advanced ages.

James Flanegan, the father of our subject, William P. Flanegan, was born in Monroe township in 1801 and passed away in November, 1843. He followed the occupation of farming and stock raising all of his life on this same farm. He was a stalwart Jackson Democrat, and was a man highly esteemed in the community. In 1840, James married. in Cler- mont county, near Moscow, Miss Mary Garrett, who was born in 1810 and died in 1890, aged eighty years. She was a daughter of John Garrett and wife, the former of whom was an uncle of Cyrus Garrett, a successful business man of Cincinnati, and a brother-in-law of Thomas Buchanan Read, the author of "Drifting" and "Sheridan's Ride." The latter famous poem was written at Mr. Garrett's home in Cincin- nati, between Walnut and Vine streets, on Eighth street, in 1864. James Flanegan was a consistent member of the Presby- terian church.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2, Part 31

Author: Byron Williams Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Number of Pages: 925

Author: Byron Williams
Publication date: 1913
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 925