USA > Ohio > Brown County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 50
USA > Ohio > Clermont County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 50
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Mr. William A. Aultman was born in Bethel and received his education in that village. He enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, for six months and later re-enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio for one year. Among the more important battles in which he participated were those of Cumberland Md., North Branch, Md., and Hammock's Mills, Va. He also took part in numerous minor battles and skirmishes. At the close of the war he returned to Bethel and for several years worked on a farm for Samuel Headley, and then began studying law with N. S. Stevens at Pt. Isabel.
In 1867 Mr. Aultman was united in marriage with Miss Sarah C. Halse, who was born in Bethel in 1849, daughter of William and Margaret Halse. They had four children : George W., Sarah C., Thomas L. and M. Anna Halse.
After his marriage Mr. Aultman carried on farming at Bethel and lived there until November 13, 1883, the date of his removal to Mt. Orab. He then formed a partnership with H. H. Jones, which continued three years, attending to pen- sion business. In 1886 Mr. Aultman was elected justice of the peace on the Democratic ticket and by successive re-elections served four terms,or twelve years. He has since been notary public. His office is located in the Odd Fellows building, over the postoffice, on High street, and he has a very good prac- tice. He purchased and repaired a good house on Broad street, and there the family entertain their friends. He is a genial friend and neighbor and a conscientious citizen. He is ready to give his influence to every good cause that is calculated to advance the general prosperity. He is very fond of read- ing and is a broad and liberal minded thinker. He is a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and has held all the offices in the local post. He belongs to the Junior Mechanics, and he and his wife belong to the Church of Christ, of which he is a trustee.
Six children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ault- man, all born in Bethel, namely: Elizabeth L. married D. A. Curlis, of Mt. Orab, and they have three children Mary Alma, Walter W. and William Sherman; Margaret L. married R. L. Patton, of Bridgeport, Ill. and they have four children. Irene. Lee, Anna and Wilbur; William Halse, born in 1876. of Cin- cinnati, married Miss Kate Faulkner and she is deceased ; Leona, widow of A. R. Broomhall, of Mt. Orab, has two sons. Frank A. and Ralph A .; Anna married William E. Bingaman
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and they live in Mt. Orab; Sarah Catherine, wife of Frank L. Walker, of Paris, Ky., has one daughter, Anna Halse. Mar- garet, Mrs. Patton, graduated from the Bethel High School and taught school in Clermont county for several years.
CHARLES O. COLLINS.
Charles O. Collins, an old soldier and formerly a justice of the peace, of Mt. Orab, Brown county, is familiarly known as "Squire" Collins. He is a retiring, modest man, quiet in his tastes, and very fond of his many friends. He is well read and has achieved quite a reputation as a writer of local past and present events. He has a high standing and is a leading mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Mount Orab, Ohio. He was born at New Petersburg, Highland county, Ohio, Feb- ruary 26, 1837, son of John Collins and a grandson of James Collins. The latter was born not far from the Natural Bridge, in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He came to Highland county, Ohio, in 1817, and died in 1852.
John Collins, also a native of Virginia, was born in 1807, and married Susan Hughey, daughter of Rev. Charles Hughey, a pioneer minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. She was a sister of Rev. William Hughey, one of the founders of the Methodist Protestant church and aunt of Rev. Fletcher Hughey, D. D., of the Methodist Episcopal church in Chilli- cothe, Ohio. She died in 1845, leaving nine children, of whom Charles Overman was the only son. Jol.n Collins died at Lees- burg, Ohio, in 1873.
Charles Overman Collins attended school in Highland coun- ty and at the age of sixteen years began learning the trade of harness maker, at which he worked during the greater part of forty years, at Leesburg, Sinking Springs, Buford and Lexing- ton, Ohio. He was a first-class workman and took great pride in the excellent product he was able to make. While working at his trade and studying law, in 1861, Mr. Collins enlisted for three years in Company D, Sixth Ohio volunteer cavalry, and served two years and one month, and afterwards enlisted for one hundred days, or four monts' service, in Company G, One Hundred and Seventy-second infantry. He spent the winter of 1861-62 in camp at Hillsboro, Ohio, and at Camp Dennison,
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and on March 15, 1862, the command of four companies was sent to St. Louis and quartered at Benton Barracks until April Ist, when they were sent to Wyoming Territory to guard over- land mail and Pacific telegraph lines. They went to Fort Leav- enworth, Kan., by boat, and on April 26, 1862, started on their long march of six hundred and fifty miles to Fort Laramie. Later they went on to the Sweetwater country, but Mr. Collins was left behind in the hospital at Laramie, as he was suffering from lung fever, contracted on the trip As soon as he was able he began working in a harness shop in Laramie, remaining there until the spring of 1863, when he was sent with sixteen men to Camp Dennison, Ohio. He was made hospital steward .there and continued in this capacity until his discharge, No- vember 27, 1863. He worked for a time in Sinking Springs, following his trade, and on May 1, 1864, enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Seventy-second Ohio volunteer infantry, as a one hundred-day man. They were sent into West Vir- gina, and were mustered out at Gallipolis, Ohio. He again en- listed, in the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Ohio, but was rejected upon the physical examination, and engaged in work at his trade. On account of poor health, however, wishing to take up some occupation that would keep him in the open air a great deal, he spent part of his time in the nursery busi- ness, and for several years sold stock in that line, growing to be an expert as a nurseryman. He also kept bees and was very successful in that business. In 1875, he located in Buford, Highland county.
On September 15, 1857, Mr. Collins was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Stambaugh, born near Hillsboro, High- land county, September 15, 1840, daughter of William and Sarah (Yorger) Stambaugh, both natives of Ohio and both de- ceased. Mr. Stambaugh died comparatively young, and Mrs. Stambaugh died aged about sixty-five years. They had five children, three of whom survive: Elizabeth, wife of James Kinzer, of Ross county ; Mrs. Collins; John, of Clark county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Collins had two children, one of whom is living, Sarah Adda, wife of Charles Swan, of Logan county. In 1871, while living at Sinking Springs, Mr. and Mrs. Collins adopted Edward Barrett, a child of Irish parentage, whose mother died when he was two months old, and reared him as their son. In 1903 he left their roof and married Miss Alice Kestle, and they live at Dallas Center, Iowa. They have two children, Jack and Frances, and Mr. Barrett is a rural mail carrier.
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Mr. Charles O. Collins is a Republican in politics and for four terms served as assessor of Clay township, Highland county, also served as enumerator of census of Clay and part of Paint townships, Highland county, and as a member of the board of education. In 1887 he was elected justice of the peace and re-elected in '1890. After coming to Mt. Orab, in the spring of 1893, he took an active interest in local affairs, and, in 1895, was elected a member of the village council. In 1898 he was elected justice of the peace. He was acting mayor of the village from May 1, 1898, to November 1, 1898. He was appointed mayor in March, 1901, and elected to office in April, 1902. On May 4 he was appointed justice of the peace, to fill a vacancy, until the election of 1904, and then was elected for three years. He is very actice in the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and for several years was adjutant of Mount Orab post, also served three years as commander. His wife belongs to the Methodist church. The family reside in the eastern part of the village and Mr. Collins has an office at his residence. He has served as justice of the peace since his election, November 8, 1904, and has made an efficient and con- scientious official. He is self-made, financially, and by means of study, observation and travel has become a man of culture and intelligence. He is popular with all and is an interesting conversationalist.
Mr. Collins is very fond of reading and has a nice library, with many books on history, biography, travel and adventure, archaeology, astronomy, poetry and law, all of which he has studied and considered. He has traveled more or less and has written various interesting articles for local papers along the line of his travels and experiences. Several years ago he was local correspondent of the Cincinnati Chronicle and is now en- gaged on a series of sketches for the Georgetown Gazette, en- titled, "Old Time Politics," in which he discusses political events which led up to the Civil war, from the year 1844. In this series he is including the following subjects: No. I, The Polk and Dallas Campaign (1844). No. 2, The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican War. No. 3, The Wilmot Proviso and the Presidential Election of 1848. No. 4, Admission of California and the Compromise of 1850. No. 5, Election of Franklin Pierce and the Dissolution of the Whig Party. No. 6, The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. No. 7, The Revolt Against Douglas in Illinois. No. 8, The Campaign of 1856. No. 9, The Elections in Kansas and the Lee Compton Consti-
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tution. No. 10, John Brown in Kansas. No. 1I, The Lincoln and Douglas Debates. No. 12, The Charleston Convention. No. 13, The Election of Abraham Lincoln. This forms an attractive series and is being followed with great interest, more partic- ularly by those who remember something of the events dis- cussed and by students of history.
Mrs. Collins has been greatly afflicted, having suffered a stroke of paralysis, in 1909, but is now improving. She has many warm friends in the community and both she and her husband are highly respected.
SAMUEL R. TAYLOR.
No family stands higher in the esteem of their community than that of Samuel R. Taylor, of Byrd township, Brown coun- ty, Ohio. He has been obliged to retire from active life on ac- . count of poor health. He was born in that part of Pittsburgh, Pa., formerly known as Bayardstown, in 1838, son of Thomas and Sarah (Stephens) Taylor. His father was born in 1802, and the mother in 1803, both in Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania. He died in 1872, and she in 1873, and both were buried in Pennsylvania, where they died. She was born dur- ing the Indian troubles and was first dressed by the wife of Col. William Crawford. Colonel Paul, another noted Indian fighter, lived in the same neighborhood. The Taylors are an old family in Amercia, having come over from England with Lord Baltimore. Their first home was in Maryland, but later generations migrated to Pennsylvania, where the grand- parents of Samuel R. Taylor were born. His maternal grand- father, Edward Stephens, served in the Revolutionary war, so that Mr. Taylor and his children are eligible to member- ship in the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. Col. Ed. Stephens, of Wheeling, W. Va., served in the Civil war, and Stephens Post was named in his honor. Samuel Kyle Stephens, a cousin of Mr. Taylor, also of Wheeling, was a first lieutenant in the Union army, and as a token of regard from his company received a gold-headed cane. Another cousin, a Mr. Brookings, from Illinois, was killed in the siege of Vicksburg.
Thomas Taylor was a heater and shingler in the rolling mills in Pittsburgh, and probably did the work that is now done by
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a furnace man. His six children were born in Pennsylvania, and the only one now surviving is the subject of this sketch. His father and one sister came with him to Brown county, farmed there for a time, but returned to Pennsylvania and there the parents died.
Mr. Samuel R. Taylor attended school in what was then the fifth ward in Pittsburgh, remaining there until he was sixteen years old, then came with his parents to Brown county, and was married there in 1864, to Miss Martha A. Henry, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, in 1839, daughter of H. C. and Mary (Braunen) Henry, who lived near Ripley. Mr. Henry, also a native of Brown county, was born in 1806, and died about 1876, and his wife was born in Clermont county, Ohio, in 1814, and died in 1861. The Henrys came to Brown county about 1789, and had to clear their home in the woods. They were a fine family and much respected. On December II, 1839, H. C. Henry shot the last deer ever killed in Brown county. It had swam across the river and was still dripping with water when he saw it. Three of his sons participated in the Civil war from Ohio, they being members of the National Guard. Mr. and Mrs. Henry had five children, born in Brown county, of whom but two now survive: James died in infancy ; Mrs. Taylor; Robert and John, deceased; S. Wilson lives in Kansas. The three sons who reached maturity moved to Kan- sas, where two of them died.
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Taylor spent one year on a farm near Ripley, then spent one year in Kentucky, and at the close of the war located on their present farm. Later they moved to Brown county, Kansas, but in the fall of 1874 came back to their present farm of two hundred and forty-three acres, which they have since occupied. They have one of the finest farms in the county and it is well adapted to raising tobacco, hay and grain. They have always had high grade horses and Mr. Taylor has raised some of the best horses in his part of the State. On account of poor health he was obliged to give up the active management of the farm and it is now operated by his son. In early life he voted for Abraham Lincoln, but for many years past he has been identified with the Democratic party. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Red Oak.
Five children were born to Mr. Samuel R. Taylor and wife : Sarah A. is at home with her parents.
Mary A. is the wife of James M. Moore, of Byrd township,
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and they have six children-Ruth, Ernest T., Frank E., Mary, James M. and Harold.
Joseph H. married Miss Anna Carr, lives in Byrd township, and has three children-Sarah M., Mary and G. H.
Samuel, who lives in Adams county, Ohio, married Miss Ella May Bromley, and they have two children-Christine and Ora Maud.
J. E. married Miss Sallie Baird, and lives in Newport, Ky.
In 1894 Mr. Taylor. attended the Grand Army of the Re- public convention in Pittsburgh, and although he found the town had grown very much in the many years of his absence, he was delighted to find that in a portion of the town, near his birthplace, several blocks were almost unchanged-the same stores, in the same locations, so that it seemed to him as if he had left but yesterday and returned.
Mr. Taylor is a man of fine physique, a trifle stout, but very well proportioned. He has a fine memory and his mind is stored with interesting anecdotes of his early years in Brown county. He first saw an old wooden plow in the hands of Russell Shaw, grandfather of Mrs. William Johnson, given mention elsewhere in this history. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor stand for all that is highest in the interests of the community. She is a charming woman and their dutiful daughter is a great comfort to them. All are people of quiet tastes and modest desires, and have many warm friends.
LEROY J. EVANS.
LeRoy J. Evans, of an old and highly respected family of Brown county, was born on the farm in Jefferson township where he now resides, in 1845, son of James Edward and Me- linda (Kendall) Evans. His father was born in the same place, and died three months before the son's birth. There were originally two farms there, which belonged to Edward Evans, father of James Edward Evans, and this land has been in the family over one hundred years. Melinda Kendall was born on the Jacob Pobst farm in Jefferson township, Decem- ber 22, 1812, died June 4, 1902, and was buried in Russellville. There were seven children in the family and the subject of this sketch is now the only one surviving. Two died in infancy; Hugh served in the Fourth Ohio independent cavalry during
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the Civil war; Thomas Harvey served in Foster's independent cavalry ; James Edward served in the Fifty-ninth Ohio volun- teer infantry; Leroy J. served in the Eighty-ninth Ohio in- fantry. Thomas Harvey contracted smallpox and was buried at Pittsburg Landing. The father and two grandfathers of LeRoy J. Evans were buried on the home place.
The grandfather of LeRoy J. Evans, Edward Evans, served in the Revolution, and his father, Hugh Evans, descended from an Evans who came to America with .William Penn in 1682, locating near Philadelphia. Hugh Evans located in what was first Cumberland and is now Bedford county, Pennsylvania, on the Juniata river, ten miles from the present borough of . Bedford. There Edward Evans was born, April 27, 1760, being an only son and having two elder sisters who died in young womanhood and were very proficient in music. Ed- ward Evans made many trips to Hagerstown, Md., to procure salt, which he sold at twelve dollars per bushel. He was but sixteen years of age when the Revolution began and he and his father then forgot their Quaker training. The father enlisted in June, 1776, and served two months, then the son took his place, becoming a member of Capt. Samuel Dawson's company, under Col. Richard Hampton, in the Eleventh Penn- sylvania regiment. He participated in the battles of Brandy- wine, September 1Ith; Paoli, September 20th, and German- town, October 4, 1777. He was near the scene of the battle of Monmouth, on that memorable hot Sunday, June 28, 1778. At the battle of Brandywine their colonel's horse was shot from under him, and he changed his saddle to another horse and continued in command. After leaving the army Mr. Evans located in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He set- tled on what was called the Neck, between the Yohoghany and Monongahela rivers, in Rostover township, near De Vore's ferry on the latter stream. There he married Jemina, daugh- ter of William Applegate, from New Jersey, and one hundred persons partook of the wedding feast. While he and his wife were keeping house for John Wright, a Scotch bachelor, Mr. Evans made many of the household utensils on his anvil, and some of these are held as dear keepsakes by his descend- ants at the present time. With his wife and two children, he came to Ohio in a flatboat, in 1785. They landed at Mays- ville and went back to Washington, where they resided until . 1799, when they came to Brown county. During Indian trou- bles in Kentucky, he was an Indian scout and spy. Upon
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coming to Brown county they located at Red Oak, buying one hundred and nine acres of land in 1803, then in the midst of unbroken wilderness of Jefferson township. He paid for the land in horses, but after deciding to live on it was almost ready to give it up because there were no springs on it. He decided that it was a good spot for a home, however, and later was able to find seven springs on the place. He first erected a rude cabin, but some time later put up a good two-story log house, putting one hundred wagon loads of stone into the chimneys of this residence. He was a large man, weighing three hundred some times, but at other times but one hun- dred and eighty-five pounds. He was five feet ten and one- half inches in height, and with a striking appearance and man- ner. He had high cheeck bones, a broad forehead, regular features, and a proud, erect carriage. He and his wife had six sons and six daughters. She had four sisters and two of their husbands served in the Revolution. At his death he was wrapped in an old-fashioned shroud, laid in a flat-topped cherry casket, and buried on the old home farm, which is now in the possession of the widow of his grandson, Hugh Evans. Since the family came to America, in 1682, there has been a Hugh and Edward in each generation. His wife died January 7, 1844, and her father, William Appleby, migrated from New Jersey to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and later to Corydon, Ind., where he died at the age of one hundred and five years. He shot a squirrel, without the aid of glasses for sighting, when he was one hundred years old. His direct heir in Brown county is LeRoy J. Evans.
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After returning from the war LeRoy J. Evans remained on the home farm, and in 1873 he married Miss Ella Tweed, born in Union township, Brown county, in 1850, daughter of Pat- terson and Rebecca (Jones) Tweed. Mr. Tweed was born near his old home in the vicinity of Ripley, in 1812, and died in 1875, and his wife was born in Union township. They had eight children and Mrs. Evans is the only one now surviving. One son, John A., served three years in Company E, Seventh Ohio cavalry.
After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Evans they took charge of the old homestead and his mother lived with them. He built a very pretty home about 1876, and has made a number of im- provements. He carries on general farming one one hundred and thirteen acres of choice farm land, and raises considerable stock. He is a Democrat in politics and served very ac-
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ceptable two terms as county commissioner, 1893-1900. He was appointed by Governor Harris as trustee of the School for the Deaf in Columbus, succeeding Judge Tyler, of State School for the Deaf, in this position. He has also held minor town- ship offices, such as assessor, member of the board of agricul- ture, and so on.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans have had five children, all born on the od family homestead :
Mary Alice, born September 25, 1873, married Richard Moore, of Pleasant township, and they have three children- Bertha, Mary Bell and Lucy.
Frank, of Jefferson township, married Miss Cora Henry, and they have two children, Grace and George, the former of whom is deaf and dumb and attends the college in Columbus.
Emma B., born August 17, 1877. married Ernest Day, of Pleasant township, and they have three chidren-Ruth, Alice and Grace.
Albert H., born January 14, 1880, living on the home farm with his father, married Miss Nellie Marshall, and they have one son, Charles.
The fifth child, Clara F., died July 12, 1882.
Mr. Evans is a man of great force of character and is pop- ular throughout the county. He has good judgment upon general subjects and has served in public office most con- scientiously and efficiently. He was a member of the execu- tive board and represented the interests of Brown county dur- ing the tobacco war in Kentucky. He is a man of intellectual and literary tastes, and he and his family hold a high place in various circles. He is proud of the part taken by his ances- tors in the early history of his county, State and country, as he has every cause to be, and is appreciative of the principles and attitude of all that is included in good citizenship.
MICHAEL PENCE (Deceased).
Although he has been dead more than a quarter of a cen- tury, Michael Pence is well remembered among the old set- tlers of Brown county, where he was long an honored citizen. His widow still resides on the home farm and is accounted one of the best business women of the county. He was born in Adams county, January 3. 1844, and died on the home farm
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near Georgetown, Brown county, in 1879. He was a son of Michael and Mary (Thompson) Pence, who had sixteen chil- dren, all being now deceased. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. They were extensive farmers of Adams county, Ohio, in the early days.
Mr. Michael Pence was educated in his native county and re- mained there until enlisting, at the age of eighteen years, in Company E, Ninety-first Ohio volunteer infantry, serving to the close of the war. He then returned to Ohio and soon aft- erwards married Miss Martha Dunn Nevin, born near Sardinia, in 1837, daughter of Andrew P. and Susanna (Dunn) Nevin. The Dunns and Nevins were very early settlers of Brown county and the great-grandfather of Mrs. Pence, Robert Ham- ilton, served in the war of the Revolution, so she and her daughters are eligible to the Daughters of the American Revo- lution. Mr. Nevin was born in Kentucky and was brought to Brown county, Ohio, by his parents when he was but nine years of age. He became a large landowner and was very active in the Methodist church, keeping many ministers over Sundays and sometimes for weeks at a time. Many meetings were held at his home. His wife also was a native of Ken- tucky, and was brought to Brown county in early youth. They had eleven children, five of whom now survive, all born in Brown county: Sindilla, widow of John Chapman, of George- town ; Mrs. Pence ; Hugh, of Cincinnati; Sarah, wife of Stephen Davidson, of Lockesburg, Ark .; Susanna, wife of Harrison Pence, of Chilhowee, Mo. The Nevins and Dunn families settled first at Hillman's Ridge and later drifted to Sardinia.
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