History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 113

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108

USA > Ohio > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families > Part 113

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James F. Bennett was born on July 22. 1855, in U'nion township, this county, at n point one hundred yards from the home in which he is now living. the son of Levi T. and Sarah (Wilson) Bennett, both of whom are now deceased. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Bennett, Thomas Bennett and wife, were separated by the death of the grand- mother when their son, Levi T., was a mere lad. After his first wife's death, Thomas

+ Bennett married the second time and by his second marriage was the father of a numerous family. In pioneer times he had come to Ohio from Maryland and located in the village of Deserted Camp. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and be and all of his family were devout and loyal members of the Friends church. Late in life be removed to Springboro, in Warren county, this state, where he died at the age of ninety- five years. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Bennett were Alexander and Sarah Wilson, who enme from Pennsylvania to Ohio in pioneer times and settled in Union township, this county. Alexander Wilson owned several farms and conducted a large general store, a short distance from Wilmington, where he handled all the produce which the farmers had to sell and bought live stock extensively. He also lived to the age of ninety-five years. His wife, who was an earnest member of the Christian church, passed away at the age of seventy-five.

The late Levi T. Bennett was an infant when he was brought to Clinton county by his parents. Later the family lived for a time in Clark county, Ohio, and after his mother's death. he made his home near Dover. this county, with the Moses Frazier family. who reared him to manhood. He lived with this family until his marriage, after which event he purchased one hundred acres of land in I'nion township, where his son. James F., now lives. Later be made the following additions to his farm: ninety acres from the George Haworth estate; twenty-five acres from the Wilson estate, and fifty- seven acres, which he bought from Jefferson Fritz, a total of two hundred and seventy- seven acres, all of which James F. Bennett now owns. The late Levi T. Bennett was a Republican in politics, and took an active part in local public affairs, in which he exerted considerable influence. He took an especial pride in raising and feeding hogs for the market, and was very successful in that line. Both be and his wife were earnest and faithful members of the Christian church. They were the parents of three sons: Alexander, who lives on a farm in Fayette county, Ohio: Thomas, a farmer of Union township, this county, who died in 1913. and James F., the Immediate subject of this review.

James F. Bennett attended the public schools of his home township, and after Anishing his common-school education took a course at the normal school at Lebanon. Ohlo. Afterwards he remained at home on his father's farin until his marriage, after which he purchased a farm west of Wilmington, where he lived for two years, at the expiration of which time he disposed of this farm and returned to his father's farm to manage the estate and take care of his parents, who were becoming feeble. L'pon the death of his parents he inherited his share of the home farm and later purchased the Interests of the other heirs. Mr. Bennett still manages his farm and makes his home there, but about 1555 he started in to buy and sell live stock, and has been extensively engaged in that business since that time. About 1590 he opened an office in Wilmington.

JAMES F. BENNETT.

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and added wool-buying to his business. Later he entered into a partnership with a Mr. Thompson, and this arrangement still continues, the firm maintaining an office on West Main street, in Wilmington, where they handle seeds and wool and buy and sell live stock. Mr. Bennett Is also developing a large stone quarry along the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, east of Wilmington, where he has installed a pulverizer for manufacturing lime to be used as fertilizer. This is a large industry in this section of the state, and promises soon to develop into an even greater business than it is now. Mr. Bennett also produces large quantities of cracked stone, which is used in road building.

On June 6, 1877, James F. Bennett was married to Ida B. Pendry, who was born in Liberty township, this county, a daughter of John and Myra (Jenkins) Pendry, both of whom are deceased. They were natives of this county, and were prominent residents of Union township.

To James F. and Ida B. (Pendry) Bennett five children have been born, namely : Effie, the wife of Lester F. Thatcher, a farmer of Union township; Jessie L., the wife of Oliver Vandervort, a farmer of Green township; Roy P., who married Elma Fife, and lives on a farm owned by Mr. Bennett ; Harry R., who married Cleona Bowers, and lives at home with his father, and Earl T., who married Ruth Rhonemus, and lives on a farm In Union township.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and family are all earnest and devoted members of the Walnut Street Christian church at Wilmington. Politically, Mr. Bennett is identified with the Republican party, and has been more or less active in the councils of his party in this county. James F. Bennett is a man of more than ordinary business ability, and is not only possessed of a high order of business ability, but is an influential and honorable citizen, one of those men who have done so much to develop the resources of this splendid region, and is well known and popular throughout Clinton county.

JAMES W. BAUGHMAN.

James W. Baughman was born in this county on September 18. 1859, his parents being Henry and Catherine Baughman, who came to this country and settled in Clinton county in the fifties, beginning their life in the New World on the forty-eight-acre homestend on which the subject is still living. Henry Baughman was a Republican, and he and his wife were members of the Catholic church. They were the parents of eight children, as follow : Kate (deceased), who was the wife of William Cook; Maggie, Mrs. George Ingersoll, Caroline (deceased), Minnie (deceased), Samuel, James W. and Lizzie, wife of J. W. Stanfield, of Clarksville, this county. Henry Baughman died in March, 1891, he being then seventy-five years of age. His widow's death followed two years later, she being then seventy-five years of age.

James W. Baughman attended the local schools near his boyhood home. working meantime on the farm of his father. He now owns this farm, together with forty-three additional acres, all of which has been improved by him, the land being located one and one-half nilles from Clarksville. He and his wife have been hard-working people, and are now being rewarded for their years of toil and self-denial. Mra. Baughman was, prior to her marriage, which occurred on December 2, 1884, Elvia Stanfield, a daughter of James and Minhala (Turner) Stanfield, who are mentioned elsewhere in this publication. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Baughman has been blessed by five children, namely ; Clara, who married Horace Kearns and has one child, a son, Burdette; Edith (deceased), and Kate, James Mearl and Clarence Emmet, who are still at home.

While recognizing the fact that Mr. Baughman's life has been spent in comparative seclusion, away from the strife and turmoil of the great world, yet it has not been without interest and value. He has done each day's task with faithful and painstaking care and has not complained ; In devotion to his immediate and necessary work, be has not forgotten

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the needs and claims of others. He expresses his convictions along political lines by allegiance to the Republican party, and as a member of the school board is true to the best interests of the public. As a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. be co-operates with Mrs. Baughman in working for its welfare, and as a resident of Clinton county. he is Included among its well-known and popular men.

ZIMRI H. CAREY.

The Carey family of Clinton county are believed to have been related to Queen Elizabeth, of England, the daughter of King Henry VIII. who reigned from 1649 to 1660. The farthest traces of the Carey family in America date from the coming of John and Mary Carey with three or more sons and perhaps some daughters, about 1681, at the time of the establishment of Penn's colony. They settled in Bucks county. Pennsylvania. Of these sons, John Carey, whose wife's name was Elizabeth, had a son, Samuel, who was born on April 2. 1752. Samuel Carey married Rachel Doane. who was born on February 11. 1754. They moved to Loudoun county, Virginia, and from there to Grayson county, Virginia. About 1818 they moved from Grayson county to Highland county, Ohio. Later. Samuel Carey returned to Virginia and on his way back to Highland county was taken suddenly ill and died at Salt Creek, east of Chilli -. cothe. Oblo. This grave is now marked by a stone wall. put there by Gershom Perdue, and is located on the farm of Martha Colwell.

Ziniri H. Carey, a retired farmer of New Vienna, this county, who was born in Penn township, Highland county, Ohio, on May 3. 1847, is a grandson of Samuel and Rachel (Doane) Carey. He is a son of Elias and Margaret ( Husey) Carey, the former of whom was born in Grayson county. Virginia, on December 3. 1783, and the Intter in Randolph county, North Carolina, August 19, 1801. She came to Ohio in 1805 with her parents, Stephen and Mary (Underwood) Hussey, who located in Highland county, where they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1853 and the mother in 1841.

Elias Carey was the youngest of nine children born to Samuel and Rachel ( Doane) Carey, the others being as follow: Cynthia, born on January 11, 1777, who married Joseph Bradfield: Sarah, July 7. 177%, married Elias Knight : Jonathan, February 28. 1781, married Ruth Bond: John. June 22, 17:3. married Margaret Green: Samuel. December 2. 1785, married Anna McPherson; Rachel, October 12, 1787. married John Green ; Elizabeth, September 19. 1789. died unmarried, and Thomas, January 13. 1791. who married Rhoda Ballard. Elias Carey died In Poun township. Highland county. In 1872, and his widow on July 2, 1883. He was a farmer by occupation, a Republican in politics and a member of the Friends church.

To Elias and Margaret ( Hussey) Carey were born thirteen children. as follow : Asenath, born on January 3, 1820, who married Samuel Michael on January 11. 1838; Sarah, February 28, 1821. married Dr. M. M. Buffington on December 8, 1841 ; Mary, November 26. 1822, married Evan R. Jones on October 7, 1847: Martha, July 24, 1824. died unmarried on March 6. 1×42: Stephen. February 28, 1826. married Anner Margaret Lane on October 6, 1847: Eunice. December 8. 1827. married Albert W. Holmes on October 7. 1847: William. Jaunry 5, 1839, married Almira Conard on November 23, 1854; Joshua, July 2. 1831, died on March 4. 1842; Eliza, March 31, 1833, died on May 11. 1859; Preston, September 3, 1534, married Margaret M. Ross on December 30. 1860: Elizabeth, February 24, 1837. married F. Perry Naylor on December 28. 1852; Joseph. January 1. 1841. married Reberca Kerr on September 29. 1869; and Zimri, the subject of this sketch. Of these children only Elizabeth, Joseph and Zimri are now living. Joseph lives in Cass county, Indiana.

Zimri H. Carey was reared on a farm in Highland county. Ohio, and was educated

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principally in the schools of Penn township. For fifteen years, Mr. Carey taught school and afterward took up farming. He now owns one hundred and ninety-five acres in Penn township and his son, Harry Lee, owns sixty acres adjoining the home farm. In August, 1911, Mr. Carey moved to New Vienna, this county, where he now Ilves retired. He owns a good residence on South street and Highland avenue and the business build- ing occupied by the Harry Curtis furniture store. Mr. Carey has acquired all of his property and accumulated all of his wealth by his own Individual exertions.

On January 31, 1884, Zimri H. Carey was married to Ida B. Fenner, to which union four children were born, Charles H., Leslie E., Harry Lee and Lillian. Charles H. Carey, who was born on January 31, 1885, was educated in the public schools and was grad- uated from the New Vienna high school and from the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, with the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science. He is now district superintendent of the Germantown schools of German township, Mont- gomery county, Ohio, and for four years was superintendent of the schools at West Alexandrin. Preble county. . On July 31. 1907, Charles H. Carey was married to Florence C. Bratten, to which union three children have been born, Marjorie, Dorothy and Rolland. Leslie E. Carey was born on January 30. 1887, and was educated In the public schools, being graduated from the New Vienna high school. He later was graduated from the Ohio Northern University at Ada, Ohio, with the degree of Bachelor of Science and for several years taught school. He was also superintendent for three years of the Lyle schools of Warren county, Ohio. Later he went to Chicago as assistant paymaster of the Pullman Palace Car Company, but, after being In Chicago for one year, came back to Ohio, accepting a position as teacher of science in the Greenfield high school in Highland county, Inter being called to the superintendency of the schools at Somerville. this state. On July 29. 1915, he married Mahel E. Strait, of Dayton, Ohio. Harry Lee Carey was born on October 27, 1888, and attended the New Vienna high school. He is a farmer and lives on the old homestead in Penn township. Highland county. In September. 1911, he married Estella MeCoy, to which union have been born two children. Floyd Leslie and Thelma. Lillian Carey was born on March 10, 1899. and Is a student in the New Vienna high school. The mother of these children died on February 21. 1910.

Mr. Carey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife was also a member of that church. He is a Republican in politics and was, for a long time, a member of the school board in Penn township.

JOHN W. BERNARD.

John W. Bernard. a well-known retired farmer of Green township. this county, was born on October 6. 1838, the son of George Washington and Harriet ( McConnell) Bernard. The complete history of the Bernard family is given in the biographical sketch of James E. Bernard. presented elsewhere in this volume.

John W. Bernard, Ike his brothers and sisters, was reared on the farm and was educated in the neighborhood schools, spending his boyhood on the farm now occupied by Elijah Q. Bernard. At one time Mr. Bernard owned three hundred and sixty acres of land. but he has given all of it to his children. except one hundred and thirty-eight acres, which he still owns.

In January. 1868. John W. Bernard was married to Louisa Kier, who was born in Highland county in 1844, the daughter of Mathias and Jane (Bell) Kier, now dereased. To this union eight children were born, as follow : William, a farmer in Green town- ship. this county ; Mary, the wife of Dr. Lorenzo Ayers, of Green township; Rosa, who married John Cox. of near Centerville. Ohio; Albert, who is unmarried and lives at home with his parents: Clara, who died at the age of sixteen, and Amy H., John F. and Abbie, who died in childhood.

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Mr. and Mrs. John W. Bernard are members of the Friends church. Mr. Bernard votes the Democratic ticket. Theirs have been lives full of good works, and in "the sunset time" of their lives they enjoy many and continuous evidences of the respect and esteem of the entire community in which they have lived so long and so usefully.

HENRY H. PIDGEON.

The twentieth-century farmer suffers few of the handicaps which surrounded the pioneer farmer in Ohio. He is no longer compelled to rise early in the morning and continue his labors far into the evening. Today he can do as much work in half a day as his father could do fifty years ago in a whole day. The free mail delivery leaves the daily paper on his doorstep each morning; the telephone puts him into communication with his neighbors and in many places the Interurban car and the automobile enable bim to participate in all of the features of city life. The present generation of farmers have few forests to clear and few swamps to drain, while hundreds of inventions have lightened their labors. Moreover, many farmers have developed profitable departments of stock raising and their revenue is no longer confined to the sale of corn and wheat and onts. Fine herds of thoroughbred cattle and hogs have made it possible for the farm to equal the gross revenue of many of the large factories in the city. Henry H. l'idgeon, an enterprising farmer of Union township, has taken advantage of all the modern opportunities of farming and has made all of them count in his battle for success.

Henry H. Pidgeon was born in Gullford county, North Carolina, ou July 26, 1851, the son of Charles and Catherine ( Horney) Pilgeon, both natives of Stokes county, that stute, the former born on March 1, 1806, and died on July 26, 1898, and the latter born on September 23, 1810, and died ou December 27, 1886.

Isaac Pidgeon, the paternal great-grandfather of Henry HI. Pidgeon, was a strict Quaker, who about 1740 emigrated from Ireland because of religious persecution, to Chowan county. North Carolina. He was a millwright by trade and owned three different mills during his life, the last on Rich fork. Although he lived in America during the Revolutionary War he was not called upon to serve, since he was a member of the Quaker church, which opposes military service. His son, Charles Pidgeon, Sr., grand- father of Henry H., was a blacksmith, mechanic, carpenter and home physician. In fact, he was an all-around good neighbor and owned a splendid farm. He also was a strict Quaker. His wife, Elizabeth Crews, to whom he was married on November 11. 1789, was a native of Virginia and died in the early forties. He died in 1854. They were the parents of twelve children. The father of Henry H., Charles Pidgeon, Jr., grew up in Stokes county, North Carolina, and early in life located in Guilford county, same state, where, at the breaking out of the Civil War, he owned five hundred acres of land on Deep river. He was an industrious man and, with the able assistance of his good wife, a successful financier. There were many tenant houses on his farm, but he kept no slaves and was opposed to slavery. Charles Pidgeon, Jr., and Catherine Horney were married on October 8, 1829. They made a great deal of money, before railronds were built, hauling merchandise from the region where they lived to distant markets, such as Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Camden, South Carolina. They had a six-horse wagou and bauled dry-goods and groceries on return trips.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Charles Pidgeon, Jr., was a Northern sympathizer. He was strongly opposed to slavery and was anxious to get his sons away, so they could avoid service in the Confederate army. In the spring of 1861 he had a sale and sold all of his stock and farm implements, with the intention of moving to Ohio. The Southerners objected to bis leaving and sent a troop of soldiers to attend the sale, but they were treated to a splendid chicken dinner and did not interfere. The trip to Ohio. however, was delayed until the fall of 1861, when, after the success of the Confederates at the first battle of Bull Run, it was thought the war would soon end victoriously for

HENRY H. PIDGEON AND FAMILY.

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the South and the departure of the Pidgeons would make little difference. They came in three wagons, bringing with them a carriage and a buggy and some live stock, with them coming two other families. A son, Jobn Pidgeon, and his family and his sister, Emily, and her family, made the trip north by the railroad, the remainder of the family coming by wagon. On the way the other families fell behind because the Pidgeon horses were faster. Charles Pidgeon, Jr., had sold his whole five hundred acres in North Carolina for less than would be required today to buy a small farm in Ohio. On the way north the family eucountered a horse trader, who engaged in buying horses in Ohio for the Southern army. He told Mr. Pidgeon it would be impossible to get out through the Cumberland Gap. since it was guarded and the armies would let no one pass. How- ever, it was pointed out that it might be made by the way of the Big Sandy river. Eventually, the family escaped to Ohio by this perilous route and settled in Clinton county. The first year they rented a farm, which later Charles Pidgeon purchased, and upon which Henry H. Pidgeon now lives. The next year they rented land in the Dover neighborhood and then rented a farm for the next five years near New Vienna, at the end of which time Charles Pidgeon purchased the farm in Union township, which he had first rented on coming to Ohio, and on this two-buudred-acre farm he spent the rest of his life, bis sons working hard in the meantime to pay for it. He and his wife were regular attendants at the meetings of the Friends church, and rather strict in their views. Charles Pidgeon was a pronounced Abolitionist and not afraid to speak bis mind, even when living in the South. where it was considered almost treason to oppose slavery. Although a Republican at that time of life he later became a Prohibitionist.

Charles and Catherine ( Horney) Pidgeon were the parents of twelve children, namely : Emily (deceased), who married Jobn Briggs; Mary, who married Walter Cammack, of Virginia; Jobn, a Quaker minister at Orchard Grove, Ohio, who married Caroline Thompson; Hannah, who married William Charles, both now deceased; Julia A., widow of William Henry ; Samuel, a school teacher and farmer of Jamestown, Ohio; David, who lives in California ; Jeffrey, who died in infancy ; Charles Addison, a school teacher, who died at the age of twenty-six; Henry H., the subject of this sketch; Cornelia, who married Bruce Sprague, of Union township, and Louisa, who married Aden Starbuck.

Mr. Pidgeon's maternal grandparents were Jeffrey and Hannah Horney, who lived and died in North Carolina, where they were farmers and strict Quakers of the old style.

Henry H. Pidgeon attended the public schools of North Carolina and was ten years old when the family removed to Ohio. After coming to this state he attended the old Duteb district school and the Dover district school. He worked at home on his father's farm until twenty-five years old and then purchased fifty acres of his father's farm. After his mother's death he moved to the homestead, renting it from his father for a few years. When his father died, in 1598, he purchased one hundred acres of the homestead, including the home buildings, upon which he borrowed six thousand dollars, payable in ten years. Previously, he had sold his first fifty acres of land and bad used the proceeds to apply to the second farm. In 1905 Mr. Pidgeon purchased fifty-two acres out of the Alexander Jenkins farm, adjoining the home farm, and now has one hundred and fifty- two acres in all. He makes a specialty of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle and sells young enttle for breeding purposes. He is also an extensive hog breeder and very frequently feeds a carload of cattle.

On August 28, 1876, Henry H. Pidgeon was married to Hannah Carter. who was born at Grassy Run, in this county, on September 2. 1558, the daughter of George Carter. a devout Quaker. To this union there were born three children, namely : Ethel, born on April 3. 1880, married, November 14, 1900, Elza Hughes, a Green township farmer; Lillian, June 18, 1883, who, on August 3. 1905, married Morris Painter, of Wilmington, and Homer, March 7, 1895. married Mayme Huffman on February 27. 1907, and is the

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manager of a six-hundred-acre farm in Union township. The mother of these children died In September, 1885, and on January 1, 1890, Mr. Pidgeon married, secondly, Ella F. Mckay, who was born on June 8, 1561. in Liberty township this county, the daughter of Tilghman and Sarab MeKas, of that township, the former of whom is deceased. but whose widow is still living. Tilghman MeKay was a prominent member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church at Lumberton. To this second union there have been two children born, Oscar, boru on July 15. 1591. a member of the Wilmington Auto Company, and Willard, November S. 1835, who lives at home.

Mr. and Mrs, Pidgeon are members of the Friends church at Dover. Both are elders in the church and active in Its various beneficences. Mr. Pidgeon is independent in polities. He has served as school director in Union township and be and his family are held in high regard throughout that community.

ORVILLE B. MOORE.

Orville B. Moore, the proprietor of a splendid farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres in Green township, this county, is a native of Union township. this county, where he was born on November 20, 1860, the son of Huston and Martha ( Wilson) Moore, the former of whom was born in 1831. in Virginia, and the latter in this county. the daughter of John and Nellie Wilson, pioneers of Clinton county. Mrs. Nellie Wilson died a few years ago, at the age of ninety-eight years.

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History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 113

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1108

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108