History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2, Part 33

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 33
USA > Ohio > Clermont County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 33

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).

In 1825 Robert Wright gathered all his means, making quite a sum for the time and, taking a partner, loaded a boat for a trip to New Orleans. At Natchez, on August 11, 1825, because of overwork, he died suddenly-so the report came. But no report was ever made of his considerable financial share in the boat load, except a cast iron mess kettle still preserved. The young widow, with three infants, and overcast with suspicion that her husband had been murdered, was taken to her father's home near Bantam. There, on August 7. 1828, she married George Peterson, who owned the Williamsburg Mills, and much wealth for that day. With him she had five children : Charles, who was a soldier from Louisville, and killed in the Mexican war, Angie, Judith, Atlanta and Catherine. Susanna, the mother of these and the children of Robert Wright, died April 10, 1842, and is buried in Williamsburg cemetery.

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After living across Front street from the parental home a few months, John and Elizabeth Park moved to Ripley, where their first child, Mary Eliza, was born, June 9, 1839, and died April 9, 1841 ; and the second, Kirrilla, was born May 16, 1841. They then returned to Williamsburg, and bought the eastern halves of In Lots No. 267 and No. 269 on Main street, that had been the home of Capt. Jacob Boersttler when he went to his death in the War of 1812. And that for over fifty years was to be the Park home, where eight more children were born in the same room. In order of birth they were named: John Quincy A., Katherine, Dora Belle, Elizabeth, Judith Anna, Georgia, Lincoln, and Mary F.

Kirrilla married Thomas K. Nichols in De Soto, Iowa, November 17, 1878. They moved to Des Moines, where she died March 2, 1905, and he, five years before, leaving one child, Stella. John Quincy A., Katherine married to Byron Wil- liams, Elizabeth married to Leroy W. Garoutte, Georgia mar- ried to Dr. D. C. Bice, and Mary married to Frank P. Ellis, are all five elsewhere sketched. Dora Belle married E. J. Wade, and died in Cincinnati, December 25, 1888, leaving Eva, Stella, Grace, Ada and Stephen. Judith married Frank Simms, whose children are Flora, Edith, Jessie, Elizabeth and Lela. Judith is living with her daughters in Salt Lake City. Lincoln, living with his children in Chicago, married Emma West, who died in Williamsburg, July 16, 1911, leaving Wilbur, Beatrice. Carl and Helen.

John Park had few rivals and no superior in making the old- fashioned "Squirrel Hunter's Rifle." The quality of his per- sonal hand work is shown in a much admired specimen, now owned by the writer, that took many premiums at the once all popular "fairs." When the gun trade was taken up by the great arsenals during and after the Civil war, he fitted his shop for heavier lathe work, in iron for the manufacture and repair of light machinery, and thus instituted a business of much im- portant convenience for the farms and factories of central Brown and Clermont. He also did much special tool work, among which in particular, in connection with Oscar Snell and Byron Williams, he perfected and patented, in 1872, an im- provement known as the American pruner, which was sold with pleasant profit by special agents to many thousands of satisfied purchasers. ITis quiet life and modest unto diffi- dence was an every day benefit to his family and community. Ile was often elected to the council and board of education.

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He was a Freemason, and for forty-eight years a member of the Methodist church, in which he was a class leader; and on February 22, 1895, he died in that faith. The wife with whom he lived nearly fifty-seven years, was the mother of a home ruled with love, kept in order and sweetly clean. Despite the care of a large family, she lived with a tender courage and a helping hand that were the first thought of many a neighbor in her hours of trial. In the days of a beautiful girlhood she was quick to learn, and certain to keep the floor to the last of every spelling match. Love for her children's welfare went beyond her own, and joy grew full as they reached a more ample plane of living than was possible among the needs of her large family. Yet, in the final balancings, none of those chil- dren have succeeded better or even so well as the parents who raised them to useful lives. After her husband's death Mrs. Park lingered awhile alone in the old home, and then con- sented to a round of lengthy visits with her children, during which she died on March 29, 1907, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Georgia Bice. Thence she was brought to the home of her daughter, Katherine, for a funeral in the Methodist church at Williamsburg, where she had been a member for seventy- three years, and for many years, the oldest member of that congregation. Then she was buried there, with her daughter, Belle, and with her husband. The golden wedding of John and Elizabeth Park, to which all their children but Quincy came, from far, was a holiday for the neighborhood about the old home, where several came to tell that their wedding fifty years before was another holiday, when all the town came to look at the procession then in vogue. But the funeral of the aged woman was largely attended by those who learned her worth from others.

MRS. ELIZABETH PARK GAROUTTE.

Elizabeth, the fifth daughter of John and Elizabeth Park, born October 7, 1851, was trained in the public schools of Williamsburg, which in her time there, without Latin, com- prised more of mathematics and science than is reached in the present high school work. On Thanksgiving Eve, Novem- ber 27, 1872, in the Methodist church that was crowded with the old and young friends of her girlhood, she was mar- ried by Rev. Frank G. Mitchell to Leroy W. Garoutte.

Leroy W., born January 27, 1850, and his sister, Lizzie, mar-

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ried to Capt. Thomas Montgomery, of the Forty-eighth Ohio infantry, in the Civil war, and residents of Lynchburg, Ohio, are the children of Archibald and May N. Swadley Garoutte. Archibald Garoutte was born in Marietta, Ohio, July 25, 1820, and died December 8, 1900. His wife died in Lincoln in 1891, and both are buried at Lynchburg, Ohio. Soon after their mar- riage, in 1842, in Clinton county, Ohio, they moved to Cincin- nati, where he held various offices. At the outbreak of the War for the U'nion, he was appointed a captain in the quarter- master's department by President Lincoln. His military ser- vice is the subject of a most honorable public document, in- cluding an Act of Congress and bears the title of Report No. 438, to the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress, June 28, 1876. During this service, which was emphatically en- dorsed by Generals Fremont, Cox, Schofield and Sherman. Captain Garoutte bought and sold and was responsible for mil- lions of dollars' worth of military property. Through all, he kept his habits of Spartan simplicity and lived and died a poor man. From the beginning. in 1861, to the close of special ser- vice, some five years later, Captain Garoutte kept his son. Leroy W., with him at headquarters, where the uniformed lad acted as an orderly, and was much noticed by various generals. The life was a wonderful experience for a boy from eleven to sixteen, and what was lost from schools was rapidly learned later on.

In 1873 Leroy and Lizzie Garoutte went to De Soto and Adel, Dallas county. Iowa, and later to Lincoln, Neb .. when that city was only beginning its fine growth. They have shared the prosperity and now own a fine, large. up-to-date city home. in a choice residence section, with other supporting properties. They have three children. Park Bice Garoutte. born October 10. 1874. was married December 22. 1808. to Myra Dewey, whose four children are. Charles Dewey. Grace Elizabeth. Frances and Olive, and they live in Chicago. Scott J. Garoutte, born July 17, 1881, was married June 6, 1925. to India Bartley, of Lincoln, where they live and have two sons, Scott and Richard Bartley. Gladys Lucille Garoutte was mar- ried October 11. 1911. to Frederick Austin Wiebe, and they live in Grand Island, Neb.

For some years Leroy W. has had the rank of colonel and aide on the military staff of the governor of Nebraska. Col- onel Garoutte has been in the wire fence trade from the early sales of the Baker barbed wire. a generation ago, to the pres-

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ent business of the American Steel & Wire Company, with which he, his two sons, his son-in-law, and his brother-in-law, Captain Quincy Park, hold fine positions. Since the marriage of her children, Mrs. Lizzie Garoutte has spent much of the time in traveling.

MRS. GEORGIA PARK BICE.

Georgia, the seventh daughter of John and Elizabeth Park, was born March 19, 1857, and made such excellent use of her time in the public schools of Williamsburg, that she was em- ployed as one of the teachers for 1875-76. Her teaching was done with a finish that won favor, and she was elected for 1876-77 with an advance in position and salary, and again, the same for 1877-78. Her fine success as a teacher was assured, but iate willed otherwise. In the summer vacation of 1877, she visited her sisters, Mrs. L. W. Garoutte, and Kirrilla, at De Soto, Iowa, where she met a young physician, who per- suaded her to consider a partnership with him. She returned to her engagement for the school year in Williamsburg; and on May 8, 1878, she was married to Dr. David Corwin Bice, and returned with him to De Soto, where they lived for seven- teen years, in an ideal felicity amid much prosperity. Then, in May, 1895, they moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and there for fifteen years more enjoyed financial gain, social position and high respect, only tinged by apprehension of failing health. In February, 1910, they went to a beautiful home in Denver, Colo., with another enchanting summer home in the not dis- tant mountains. But all this condition, brighter perhaps than he once dared to expect, was darkened in Denver, on Novem- ber 25, 1911, by the death of Dr. Bice.

Dr. Bice was born April 26, 1852, in Fultonham, Scoharie county, New York. He was the fourth among the six sons and one daughter of Jeremiah and Amy J. Bice, with whom he came, in 1867, to Dallas county, Iowa. He graduated from the medical department of the Iowa State University, in 1876, and began to practice in De Soto. That practice, together with his fine presence, genial manner and nice perception, re- sulted in rare and gratifying success.

The only child of Dr. D. C. and Georgia Park Rice is Be- atrice. born in De Soto, February 16, 1880, and graduated from Des Moines High School, in June, 1899. In June, 1952, she graduated from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. She

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then took one year of post-graduate work in Wellesley Col- lege ; and, on September 6, 1904, she was married to Kay Wil- liam Hunt, of Omaha, Neb .; and they have since resided in Denver. Kay William is a son of Carey McClennan and Kath- erine Buel Hunt. He was born March 29, 1871, graduated from Drake University in June, 1892, and then graduated in law at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Kay W. and Beatrice Hunt have one son, born August 10, 1910, and named Buel Bice Hunt.

SAMUEL F. PETERSON.

Samuel F. Peterson, one of the prominent Civil war veterans of Clermont county, and a highly esteemed citizen of Williams- burg, Ohio, was born one mile southwest of his present home, March 21, 1836, and is a son of George A. and Rebecca (Cade) Peterson.

George A. Peterson, an enterprising and versatile business man of Clermont county, was born near Egg Harbor, N. J .. December 2, 1812, and at the age of thirteen years was brought to Clermont county by his parents, John and Sophia (Go- forth) Peterson.

John Peterson was born at the old home in New Jersey. March 23, 1788, and died September 21. 1854. He was a son of Charles and Judith Peterson, who came to Clermont county in 1829. Charles Peterson died in New Jersey while there on business, and his wife died at the old home farm near Wil- liamsburg, Ohio. John Peterson purchased a farm of two hundred and twenty-four acres on the East Fork bottoms. just southwest of Williamsburg, for which he exchanged a team of horses brought from New Jersey, and five hundred dollars in money. He also purchased a half interest in a store at Williamsburg and at Bethel and for a time did the hauling for both stores. He soon sold out his store interests that he might devote his entire time to the development of his farm. and in a few years had one of the most highly improved farms in the county. A few years after his decease, this farm was sold for ten thousand dollars. During the War of 1812. he was a captain of a patrol boat and won much praise for his gallant service. He was a prominent Methodist and a local preacher for many years. His wife, Sophia (Goforth) Peter-

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son, was born in New Jersey, May 13, 1794, and died August 8, 1875.

George A. Peterson was a stone mason by trade, which he followed in connection with his farming for a number of years. Later, however, he devoted most of his time to his trade, being associated with a brother, Samuel G. Peterson. From 1836 to 1839, Mr. Peterson was connected with the Cincinnati Coal & Fuel Company, as foreman, after which he brought his fam- ily to Williamsburg. He then became associated with his brother-in-law, Mr. George Everhart, in the saw mill business, conducting a saw mill near Williamsburg. At the end of one year he sold his interest to a cousin and followed his trade of stone mason continuously for many years. He helped to build the abutments for the first bridge at Williamsburg and built many of the stone houses and foundations in and near Williamsburg. He was a most excellent workman and a skilled stone cutter. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church, and also of the Masonic lodge. In politics he was a "Know Nothing." In 1834, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Rebecca Cade, and to their union were born eleven children, Samuel F., of this mention, being the eldest and one of the four still living. The others are:

E. Lake, a farmer residing eight miles from Fort Collins, Colo., was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Company B, Eighty-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. After the war he engaged with his brother, Samuel F., in a chair shop, which the latter had rented, but remained in this connection but a short time, being one of a party to take up government land in Colorado. He secured one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he has placed in a state of high cultivation, and which is a fine paying property. He returned to Williamsburg and married Miss Mary Foster, a daughter of Israel Foster, and they have reared a fine family.

Joseph T., of Rockford, Ill., is foreman in a large wholesale harness factory. He married Sophronia Greenwald, of Ma- rathon, Clermont county, and he has three children.

Erulia, who is the wife of Nicholas Shafer, of Fort Thomas, Ky. They have reared four children, and one died in child- hood. Two daughters are with the Bell Telephone Company. Miss Edith being an expert in the business.

Of the seven children of George A. Peterson who are de- ceased, James and John lived to reach maturity, the others dying in infancy.

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Rebecca (Cade) Peterson was born in Clermont county, November 1, 1814, and died in Williamsburg, January 6, 1889. She was a daughter of Samuel Cade and wife, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey, coming to Clermont county as a young man. He followed the occupation of shoemaker during his active life, and is buried at Williamsburg, Ohio.

Samuel F. Peterson has spent most of his life thus far at Williamsburg, Ohio, where his parents removed when he was three years of age ; and he is at present occupying the room in which he was placed at that time. After school days, he learned the trade of stone mason from his father and uncle and for some years followed this line of work, but later devoted most of his attention to brick and concrete work.

In 1858. Mr. Peterson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Rogers, who was born in 1839, near Amelia, Ohio, where her parents, Charles and Mary (Selvidge) Rogers, formerly from near Lexington, Ky., carried on general farming. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were both born in 1801, and their marriage oc- curred in 1820. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are laid to rest in the Williamsburg cemetery.

To Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Peterson were born six children. three of whom died in infancy. Those who lived to mature years are as follows:

Harry G. was born September 18. 1859. and died December 25. 1905. He married Miss Eliza Meeker, and to them were born three children: Edith is married and has one daughter : Miss Laura, and Roy. Harry G. Peterson purchased a drug store and the old stone house on Front street near Main, built in 1805 by Mr. Samuel W. Davies. This home was previously owned by his grandfather and great-grandfather, and is still well preserved.

May, was born July 7. 1863, and married Edward Snell, who now resides at Philadelphia, Pa. They had one child. who died at the age of one year and three days. Mrs. Snell died at Williamsburg. Ohio, July 13. 1885.

Laura was born June 10. 1874. and died October 30. 1895. She married Charles Hammond, a reporter on the "Enquirer" of Cincinnati. He is also deceased. They left no children.

Mrs. Mary Rogers Peterson died at Williamsburg in 1886. She was a devout member of the Methodist church from the age of twelve years.

Mr. Peterson was married April 7. 1889. to Miss Mary Ellen Snell, who was born at Williamsburg. August 19. 1845, a

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daughter of Peter M. Snell and wife. Mr. Snell was a car- penter and builder at Williamsburg, and also conducted a chair factory for years. A son, Oscar Snell, together with Byron Williams, erected a general wood working plant. Mrs. Mary Ellen Peterson died February 19, 1898.

On September 4, 1861, Mr. Peterson enlisted in the Twenty- seventh regimental band of Ohio, playing a bass horn. By a special act of Congress, he left the service in which he had lost his health. For some twenty years after the close of the war, Mr. Peterson was in very poor health.

For many years Mr. Peterson has been prominent in fra- ternal circles, and in remembrance of his long membership, regular attendance and most efficient official service of the Clermont Social Lodge, No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, was presented by the officers of that lodge with a handsome twenty-five dollar gold-headed cane in 1907. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held all the offices and is at present serving as quartermaster of J. H. Jenkins Post, No. 242. The ladies of Winona Lodge, No. 134. and the Order of Good Templars presented him with a handsome Bible.

In January, 1912, Mr. Peterson was elected city marshal of Williamsburg for two years and is also serving as curfew officer.

Mr. Peterson embraces the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is active in all affairs of that denomination. He is a man who is very much respected by all who know him, and in every sense is a good citizen.

FRANCIS POHL.

Mr. Francis Pohl, a veteran of the Civil war, died at his home in Williamsburg, September 7. 1911, and his death re- moved from Clermont county one of its most highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Pohl was a native of Austria, his birth having occurred near Vienna. December 13, 1843, his parents being Dr. Michael and Theresa (Siegle) Pohl, the latter a second cousin of General Siegel, who was prominent during the Civil war.

Dr. Michael Pohl conducted a water resort at Vienna, Austria, and came to America in 1851, locating first in Brown

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county, Ohio, near Sardinia, and three years later settling at Williamsburg, which was their home until their decease. Dr. Michael Pohl practiced his profession at Sardinia, and later at Williamsburg, his wife also being a physician and mid- wife. They were the parents of three sons, Francis, Joseph, and Anthony, and one daughter, Theresa, who married Mr. Myers. All are now deceased.

Francis Pohl pursued his education in the schools of Cler- mont county, where he was reared to manhood. He learned the trade of chair maker and also sold chairs throughout the country in the vicinity of his home.

On August 16, 1861, Mr. Pohl enlisted in Company K, Twenty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and served for nearly four years, being mustered out July 11, 1865. He acted as scout many times in the most dangerous of battle times. He was with the army of the Tennessee, under Brig .- Gen. U .. S. Grant, from September 1, 1861, to October 16, 1863; from Oc- tober 19, 1863, to March 12, 1864, he was under Maj-Gen. W. T. Sherman ; from March 12, 1864, to July 22, 1864, he served under Maj .- Gen. James B. McPherson ; from July 22, 1864, to July 27, 1864, he was under Maj .- Gen. John A. Logan, who was in temporary command ; from July 27, 1864, to May 12. 1865, under Maj-Gen. O. O. Howard, and from May 12, 1865, to July 13, 1865, he served under John A. Logan. Mr. Pohl served in many important engagements and was on the fam- ous "March to the Sea." After three years of service, he veter- anized and served until after the close of the war. He was an orderly under General Sherman and others, and had a con- spicuous career as a soldier.

On May 29, 1866, Mr. Pohl was united in marriage to Miss Mary Krieger, who was born at Milford, Clermont county, September 17, 1844, a daughter of Christian and Mary Mar- garet (Fox) Krieger, who came to this county from Prussia, and were farmers living near Batavia, where they both died. Mrs. Pohl had two brothers and two sisters :

Jacob, deceased.

Frank, of Williamsburg, served for three years in the Civil war, enlisting September 29. 1862. in Company D, Seventh Ohio cavalry, and was honorably discharged July 23, 1865. He was a farmer by business and married Miss Mary Babler, deceased. He was formerly a member of the Grand Army of the Republic of Westchester, Butler county, Ohio, and a member of the Lutheran church.

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Mrs. Elizabeth Knauer, of Highland county, Ohio.

Mrs. Adeline Walters, of Cincinnati.

Mrs. Pohl was reared and educated in Clermont county, where she has spent her life thus far. She is a devoted mem- ber of the Methodist church, and of the Ladies' Aid Society, taking an active part in all religious affairs, also being a mem- ber of the Women's Relief Corps.

Mr. Pohl was at one time a member of the fraternal or- ganization of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was prominent in the J. H. Jenkins Post, No. 242, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Pohl was a typical business man, quiet, conservative and industrious, and as quick to grasp as to see an opportunity. He was a man of highest integrity and his whole life was marked with actions of an upright and honest public spirited citizen. The war record of Mr. Pohl, meas- ured by patriotism, is excelled by few, and Clermont county is proud to number him among its honored dead.

CHARLES P. McKEVER.

Mr. Charles P. McKever, a leading farmer and stockman, residing at ."Fairview Farm," a splendidly improved farm of ninety-one and one-half acres, south of Williamsburg, Ohio, was born at the old home farm two miles north of Williams- burg, September 7, 1854, his father being Lewis McKever, who is mentioned elsewhere in these volumes.

Charles P. McKever acquired a good education in the com- mon schools of his vicinity and has followed farming and stock raising since he entered the business world. For twenty-five years, he has been associated with his three brothers, James E., William E., and E. C., all being interested in the raising of fine stock at the old home farm of two hundred and seventy- seven acres. During the past five years, he has handled noth- ing but registered Jersey stock, with which he is very suc- cessful.

In 1902, Mr. Charles McKever sold out his interests to his brothers, who in turn sold to Col. Ernest Ruffner, of the United States army, now of Newport, Ky. The farm is being operated by a son, Arthur Ruffner.

After the sale of his interests in the old homestead, Mr. McKever leased his mother's farm for a term of five years, and

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before his lease expired he purchased a farm in Brown county, which he sold soon after. In the fall of 1905, the present farm was purchased at an administrator's sale. This is the old Rowan Lytle farm, Rowan being a son of John Lytle, and a nephew of Gen. William Lytle. Mr. McKever has remodeled the house and has had a new barn erected, removing all of the other buildings and putting up new fences, which has made it one of the finest home farms in this section of the country. He has another farm of seventy-five acres on the Chillicothe pike, not far from Williamsburg, and his entire attention is turned to the management of his farm and tenants. He buys and feeds stock, which he holds until he can sell at a good profit.

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History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2, Part 33

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

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