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 84

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 84

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).

IEMCIL B. MORRIS.

Few citizens of Clark township, this county, are better known or more highly respected than the venerable Iemell B. Morris, who was born near New Antioch, Oblo, on November 9, 1831, a son of William C. and Defey (Bales) Morris, the former of whom was born on November 13. 1789, in Fairfax county, Virginia, and who died on September 7, 1887. Mr. Morris' paternal grandfather was Nehemiah Morris, who lived and died in the Old Dominion state. His maternal grandfather was Eldridge Bales, for many years a resident of Virginia, whose death occurred in Alabama.

Jemcil B. Morris was educated in the Martinsville high school, principally under the tutelage of Prof. Charles Oren, a pioneer educator of considerable note. After completing his education, he taught school near Centerville, Ohio, for four years, at the end of which time he married, since which time he has been engaged in farming. He owns eighty-two acres of land where he lives in Clark township and one hundred acres of land near New Antioch. His home farm is an excellent tract of land.

Mr. Morris' father. William C. Morris, emigrated to Adams county, Oblo, where he lived until his marriage, after which he came to Clinton county, settling later near Huntsville, Alabama, After a sometime residence there be returned to Clinton county. where he and his wife spent the rest of their lives They were the parents of eleven children and were devout members of the Christian church.

On December 21, 1885, Iemeil B. Morris was married to Mary Jane Cunney, who bore him one child, Tasman P., who was born on December 24, 1800. and who was educated in the district schools near Macedonia and in Wilmington College, where he spent three years. After leaving college he was employed for seven years in a wholesale candy firm at Columbus, Ohio, being promoted from shipping clerk to manager, with the offices also of secretary and treasurer of the corporation. Finally, however, he returned to the farm. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.

ARTHUR T. SMITH.

Arthur T. Smith, who is now a well-known farmer and salesman, of Martinsville. Ohio, was born on the farm of his maternal grandfather, adjoining the farm where he is now living, on January 1. 1851, a son of John R. and Mary A. ( Hunt ) Smith.

John R. Smith was born near New Vienna, in Highland county, Ohio, on June 13. 1826. a son of John and Sarah Smith. who came to Clinton county and settled on a farm in Clark township, one mile south of Martinsville, when John R. Smith was five years old. He was educated in the common schools of his home neighborhood and in ISIS was married to Mary A. Hunt, after which he located on his father's farm, where he lived until 1865. when he moved to another farm. He was a farmer, stockman and threshing.machine operator. having brought the first steam thresher Into this section of Ohio. He died on September 20, 1878, leaving a widow and three children : Arthur T .. the Immediate subject of this review : Caroline, born on August 19. 1854. the wife of Eliel Greene, and Emma, born on March 18, 1861. Sarah E .. the eldest child, had died previously. John R. Smith was a member of the Friends church, and during the last ten years of his life was an elder and overseer in his church. He served as a member of the board of trustes of Clark township for seven years, and as superin- tendent of the Wilmington and Martinsville pike during Its construction.

571

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

Arthur T. Smith received his early education in the public schools of Martinsville. He learned stenography under Ben Pitman, the son of Isaac Pitman, and although he has done considerable court reporting, has never followed stenography as a profession, having preferred the free life of the farm. He owns seventy-seven acres of land where he lives, and has himself made all the improvements on the farm except the barn, which was erected by his maternal grandfather. During the past fifteen years Mr. Smith has been on the roud as a fertilizer sulesman, having turned the active manage- ment of the farm over to his son, Charles J.

On August 13, 1877, Arthur T. Smith was married to Phoebe Melinda Baker, who was born In this county. a daughter of Benjamin J. and Susan Baker, the latter of whom is still living. To this union have been born five children : Effie N., Lenna M., Anna G., Charles J. and Clara E., all of whom are still at home. Mr. and and Mrs. Smith are members of the Friends church. while fruternally, Mr Smith Is a prominent Mason, having attained to the chapter in that ancient order He served eleven years as trustee of Clark township, filling the office to the satisfaction of all concerned.

JOHN J. OWSLEY.

The Owsley family trace their ancestry back to an old English family of distinction, which became Identified with the history of Virginia in early colonial times. Several years ago a grandson of former Governor William Owsley, of Kentucky, undertook to trace the history of the family back to the time when they first came to America. He found that the family were of English origin and were prominently connected with the church and army.

The American branch of the family sprang from Capt. Thomas Owsles, a son of Rev. John Owsley. of Gloucester, England. Captain Owsley was sent by his country to Jamaica with his command and was later transferred to Virginia, where he became a permanent resident. after the completion of his service in the army. He was either granted or else purchased a large tract of land in that colony and became a man of influence in the community where he settled. It is from this Captain Owsley, of colonial fame, that all the Owsleys of America have descended. Some of the family spell their name Ousley, but the most of them spell it Owsley.

John J. Owsley, a farmer of Clark township, this county, is a son of Samuel R. and Lucy Owsley, and was born in the township in which he still lives on January 14. 1843. Samuel R. Owsley was born in Halifax county, Virginia, in 1907 and came to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1827 or 1828. He added to his menger income as a school teacher by farming and was thereby enabled to make a comfortable living. The wife of the young teacher-farmer was Lucy Betterton, born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, the daughter of Joshua and Mary (West) Betterton, and a sister of Payton West, who was well known in the early history of Clinton county. Samuel R. Owsley had two brothers, who also came to Ohio, William, who died in November, 1960, and Richard, who died In 1862. Richard was the father of John D. Owsley, now living at Martinsville. Ohio.

Samuel R. Owsley and his good wife reared to manhood and womanhood twelve children, of whom John J., with whom this narrative directly deals, was the seventh. Samuel R. Owsley was a man of ardent political convictions and while bis southern origin inclined him to uphold slavery as an institution, yet he was for the maintenance of the I'nion at all costs. This seeming contradiction caused bim to be misunderstood, for the reason that in the troublesome times of the Civil War the public mind was impatient with fine distinctions and demanded blind acceptance of popular ideas and opinions He was first a Whig and on the dissolution of that party became a Democrat. With his sympathetic and humanitarian ideals, it is difficult to reconcile his pro-slavery convictions; but such is the force of environment and early teaching that one is often

572

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

driven into antagonistie positions, especially where the emotions and sentiments are permitted to prevail against reason and Judgment.

John J. Owsley was educated in the district schools of Clinton county and spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Clark township. On August 18, 1862, be enlisted in Company B, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Oblo Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. From 1809 to 1872 he was associated with George F. Bailey, the circus man. In 1873 he returned to the farm in Clark township, about a mile and one- half southeast of Farmers Station. In the following years he married and began farming for himself on the old home farm. In 1881 he moved to a farm near Farmers Station, where he is still living on his farm of ninety acres,

On September 24, 1874. John J. Owsley was married to Almada Moon, the daughter of Asa Moon, of Clark township, this county. To this union have been born two children, George S., born on September 1, 1875, and Estella C., August 31, 1876. The family are members of the Universalist church.

MARION R. STARBUCK.

The history of every man is an account of what he does, of the people from whom he has sprung and of what he expects or is attempting to accomplish. Marion R. Starbuck, a splendid young farmer of I'nion township. this county, belongs to the famous Starbuck family who have had so much to do with the early history and development of this county. This family has been noted for its strong interest in education, Its high standard of morals and for its culture and refinement.

Marion R. Starbuck, who represents one of the latest generations of the family in this county, was born on March 8, 1879, the son of Asa and Elmira (Custis) Starbuck, the former of whom is a representative of the eighth generation of the family in America and who was born in I'nion township, on the old Starbuck homestead on March 3, 1846. the son of Jesse G. and Amy (Cox) Starbuck. The latter is the daughter of John W. and Louisa ( Smith) Custis, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. They lived in the eastern part of U'nion township and are both deceased.

The complete history of the Starbuck family in America is contained in the sketch of Asa Starbuck. presented elsewhere in this volume. Here it may be said, however, that Marion Starbuck's grandfather was born on October 8, 1819, and died on January 4, 1913, and his grandmother was born on February 1. 1823. and died on April 13, 1892. They had been married in Hendricks county, Indiana, on October 20, 1842. Jesse G. Starbuck was the son of Gayer and Susannab (Dillon) Starbuck, the former of whom was born on August 10, 1777, and the latter of whom was the daughter of Jesse and Anna Dillon. Gayer Starbuck was the son of Hezekiah and Mary (Thurston) Starbuck, who were married on November 19, 1771. Hezekiah was the son of Thomas and Rachel (Allen) Starbuck, the former of whom was born in 1710 and who died on May 31. 1789. Thomas was the son of Jethro and Dorens ( Gayer) Starbuck. Jethro was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Coffin) Starbuck. Nathaniel was the son of Edward and Catherine (Reynolds) Starbuck. Edward Starbuck was born in Derbyshire. England, in 1604. and his wife, Catherine Reynolds, was a native of Wales, They settled first in Dover. New Hampshire. In 1043. He was a representative in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1643 to 1646. and was one of nine persons who. in 1659. purchased Nantucket island. He died on December 4. 1690.

Marion R. Starbuck attended the district school in Union township, known as the "Dutch" school, and later was a student at Wilmington College. In the meantime. he worked for his father on the farm and after finishing college, returned to the farm, where he worked until his marriage. After his marriage. Mr. Starbuck rented land in Union township for four years and in 1908 purchased one hundred acres out of the old

573

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

Jesse G. Starbuck farm in Union township. The same year he built a pretty, modern house and four years later erected a large and commodious barn. Mr. Starbuck is engaged in general farming and has been quite successful.

On March 1, 1905, Marion R. Starbuck was married to Goldie M. Sharp, who was born on the edge of Liberty township, in Clinton county, the daughter of Elmer W. and Hannah Sharp, both of whom are still living. The father of Mrs. Starbuck is a farmer In Liberty township, who came to Clinton county from Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck one child has been born, a son, Maynard, born on September 20, 1009.

Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck belong to the Dover meeting of the Friends church. On national Issues Mr. Starbuck is a Republican, but locally he votes for the man he . considers best fitted for office, regardless of the ticket upon which he is running. Mr. Starbuck himself has never taken an active interest in politics. He is a popular young farmer and very well known In Clinton county.

WILLIAM A. STARBUCK.

No man living in Clinton county, Ohio, has taken a more sincere and conscientious interest in the work of the Society of Friends than William A. Starbuck, of Union township, who has made church work a chief object of his life. He is an ekler In the Dover meeting of the Friends church and trustee of the yearly meeting, also president of the yearly meeting Bible school, and interested in the public work of the church, of whatever nature. The Society of Friends has had a tremendous influence upon the moral and civic life of Clinton county, and during his day and generation Mr. Starbuck has contributed largely to the influence of this church and to the increase of its influence and sphere of activity. Like so many members of this great religious organization, he is a well-informed and intelligent farmer. In fact, the Friends church from the time of its foundation in America has stood for higher education, and members of this church have not only been Influential in public life in the Middle West, but they have been influential in the larger affairs of the country as a whole.

William A. Starbuck, the proprietor of a farm of one hundred and forty acres in L'nion township, was born In the township where he resides, three miles east of Wil- mington. March 4, 1856, and is the son of John T. and Margaret (Shields) Starbuck, the former of whom was born In Union township. Clinton county. Oblo, October 6, 1822. and died in the fall of 1900, and the latter of whom was a native of Union township, born in 1824, and died in the fall of 1913.

John T. Starbuck, who was the son of Latham and Sarab (Milton) Starbuck, natives of North Carolina, who immigrated to Ohio, and settled in Clinton county in 1811. was a farmer and carpenter by occupation. He was one of a family of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, and the fourth of the family. He owned at one time two bundred and twenty-two acres of land. In 1852 he was married to Margaret Shields, the daughter of William and Hannah (Frazier) Shields, natives of Tennessee. who came to Clinton county. Ohio, about 1806 and settled in Liberty township, Ave miles north of Wilmington, on a farm of about one hundred acres, where they lived until their death. They were members of the Dover meeting of Friends and had a family of two sons and eight daughters. All of the eight daughters lived to advanced ages. Many years ago the family Inaugurated the custom of holding reunions, a custom which is still continued.

John T. and Margaret (Shields) Starbuck had five children, namely : Josephine, married Samuel Compton, a native of New Burlington, Ohio; William A., the subject of this sketch: Thomas, died at the age of twenty-two years; Clara, married Jonas Pagett. and since his death she has lived at Wilmington: Albert, who lives at Braden- town, Florida, has been engaged in the anw-mill business, but is contracting at present.

Latham and Sarah (Milton) Starbuck settled in the extreme northern portion of

574

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

L'nion township in 1811. They had spent a season in Tennessee on the way north, where they raised a crop, and lost a child by death. They came through from Tennessee in a "Carolina wagon," drawn by one horse, bringing with them their personal effects. Subsequently, Latham Starbuck revisited his birthplace in North Carolina, and upon his return to Clinton county purchased fifty acres of land in Wilson township. Four years later he traded it for a farm of one hundred acres in Unlon township, upon which be spent the remainder of his life, dying about 1871. Latham Starbuck had a brother, Gayer, who was born on the island of Nantucket in 1777, and who, in 1785, removed with his parents to Guilford county, North Carolina. In 1799 he married Susanna . Dillon, a daughter of Jesse Dillon, with whom he lived nearly axty-two years, until her death. They immigrated to Obio in 1807, and first located in Greene county. In 1810 they settled on a farm, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Susanna died In 1861, and her husband in 1806. Later his farm was owned by his son, Jesse G. Gayer Starbuck was a blacksmith by trade. His father and the father of Latham Starbuck, Hezekiah, was a native of Nantucket Island, born on April 10, 1749. Hezekiah Starbuck was a sea-faring man and the captain of a whaling vessel for a number of years. He was married on November 19, 1771. He was on a cruise when the Revolu- tionary War broke out and on his return had difficulty in entering the harbor, which was blockaded by the enemy. His wife, Mary Starbuck, died on June 9, 1806. and he passed away on June 10, 1830. Hezekiah Starbuck's parents were Thomas and Rachel Starbuck, the former of whom was born on May 12, 1707, on Nantucket Island, and died on February 2, 1777. Rachel Starbuck was born in 1710, and died on May 31, 1789.

William A. Starbuck, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools of Union township, and after finishing the public schools became a student at Wilmington College, and there received a liberal education. After his marriage he became a land owner and Hved on the old Daniel Bailey place, on the Port William pike in Union township, which his wife had acquired. Mr. Starbuck eventually purchased more land adjoining and they now have a hundred and forty acres. He has the patent which was originally issued by the government to the Bailey family for the farm which they now own. He is interested in improving stock and in general agriculture.

Mr. Starbuck helped to organize the Clinton County Mutual Insurance Company and after its organization was elected a director. He has served as such ever since. Mr. Starbuck is also very active in the Clinton County Farmers Institute, and is the present president of that organization, having served in the office several times before.

On September 8, 1880, William A. Starbuck was married to Marianna Bailey, who is the daughter of Josiah and Mary (Jenkins) Bailey, the former of whom was born in the early days of 1818, and the latter of whom, a Virginlan by birth, came when a young woman from Frederick county, Virginia, to Clinton county. Josiah Balley was a prom- Inent Abolitionist before the Civil War. who lived a long and useful life and who passed away in 1895. To Josiah and Mary Hadley were born three children: Haunah, who married David A. Pigeon ; Marianna, the wife of William A. Starbuck ; and Albert I .. vice-president of the Clinton County National Bank and prominently Identified with the Champion Iron Bridge Company and the Irwin Auger Bit Company, who married Mary E. Hussey in September, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck have had four children, as follow : Maurice B., born on July 25, 1883, married Clara Terrell, and is at present in Kirksville, Missouri, completing a course in osteopathy ; Everett J., 1886, and who lives on a farm near his father's home, married Bertha Shupert: Edith M., November, 1800, married Howard Mckay, who is principal of the high school at Mt. Pleasant. Ohio: and Albert Franklin, September, 1904.

Mr. Starbuck is an ardent Republican. He is a good man and a good citizen. and eminently qualified by training and disposition to carry on the work of his ploneer ancestors.

Digitized by Google

575

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

HON. AZARIAH W. DOAN.

The brilliant career of the late Hon. Azariah W. Doan, who was a distinguished soldier and officer in the Civil War and who later arose to an eminent position in the legal profession and political life of this state, is one which may be referred to with pride by his descendants. Eulogy and encomium cannot overdo the worthy deeds of the Doan family in Clinton county, for at least two generations of the family have been prominent in the public life of this county and of the state of Ohio.

Azariah W. Doan was born on December 17, 1824, at Wilmington, and died on August 22, 1911, at that place. He was the son of Jonathan and Phoebe ( Wall) Doan, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the latter in Pennsylvania. Jonathan Doan was a blacksmith by trade and came to Ohio in 1804 with his parenta, Joseph and Jemima Doan. Joseph Doan located in what is now Union township, Clinton county. He gave to the county thirteen acres In the center of Wilmington for a county seat. Phoebe Wall, the mother of Azariah W. Doan, was brought from Pennsyl- vania to Oblo by ber parents in 1808. She died in November, 1869, and her husband in July, 1874.

Renred in Wilmington, Ohio, Azariah W. Doan, before reaching his maturity, worked on farms in the vicinity of Wilmington and attended the public schools of the village. Later he attended the Wilmington Seminary, taught by David S. Burson, of New York City, and noted for his attainments in the mastery of the language of ancient Greece. He taught school for a short time and then read law in the spring-house now on the Fife farm. He studied law in Frank Corwin's office and was admitted to the bar in 1846, at Wilmington. Previously, he had been appointed deputy clerk of the common plens court. and while serving in that capacity devoted his spare time to the study of jaw. At different times he was in partnership with different lawyers, first with L. C. Walker, later with R. E. Doan, then with Madison Betz, and finally with D. T. White. He was deputy clerk under C. N. Osborne and served as prosecuting attorney subsequent to that time.

In April, 1861, he assisted Judge R. B. Harlan In raising Company B, Twelfth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was the first company offered to the state in reply to President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. He was made first lieutenant and served during the three months' service. When the company was reorganized for a three-year campaign. Lieutenant Doan was made captain of the company and fu 1862 was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Seventy-ninth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in the latter position until the close of the war. Subsequently, he was commissioned colonel and was breveted brigadier-general for meritorious service on the battlefield of Averysborough, North Carolina. During that battle Colonel Doan took charge of two regiments and made a vigirous assault on the enemy's right wing, capturing in a short time the batteries of artillery on that wing of the Confederate forces. He was a gallant soldier during this war and participated, in all, in twenty-three battles and skirmishes. He first served in West Virginia under General Rosecrans and was afterward attached to the Army of the Cumberland and subsequently, to the Twentieth Army Corps when Sherman marched from Atlanta to the sea. He participated in the Grand Review at the close of the war and was honorably discharged in July, 1865. after which he returned to Wilmington and resumed the practice of law.

On October 21. 1847, Azariah W. Doan was married to Amanda M. Stratton, a native of Wilmington. Five children were born to this union, of whom only one, Corwin F. W .. a merchant at Doans. Texas, is living. Mrs. Amanda Doan died of cholera on August 6, 1854. This fatal disease also carried off a greater number of the children. Judge Doan was married. secondly, on June 5, 1856, to Martha G. Taylor, of Pennsylvania,

Digitized by Google

576

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

who had been previously married to Samuel Hale, who died about 1851, leaving one child, Fred. By his second marriage, Judge Doan was the father of six children, namely : Will, the first born, who died in April, 1914, was a farmer in Texas; Joe T., a lawyer in Wilmington; Mrs. Alice Green, who is assistant matron of the Clinton county Infirmary ; Walker J., who is a reporter and printer in Wilmington; Fannie, who married Frank L. McDonald, superintendent of the Clinton county infirmary, and Charles, who died In infancy.

Mrs. Martha Doan, the wife of Judge Doan and the mother of Joe T., was the daughter of Jacob and Margery (Gwinn) Taylor, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, and lived in Washington county. About 1835 they came to Wilmington, Ohio, where be was a builder and contractor. He died at the age of thirty-five and she lived to be seventy years old. They were members of the Christian church.

In the fall of 1865. Judge Doan was nominated in the primary convention of the Republican party and subsequently elected to represent the people of his district in the state Senate for a period of two years. In April, 1875, he was elected judge of the court of common pleas by a special act of the Legislature and was triumphantly re-elected in 1879 for a term of five years, commencing on May 3, 1880. Altogether he served as judge of the common pleas court of Clinton county for fifteen years. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Ohio in 1873 and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated President Harrison. He was an ardent Republican and mixed in politics all of his life. He was a great campaign speaker and orator. In 1800 he formed a partnership with his son. Joe T., which con- tinued until his death, in 1911. He was a generous-hearted man and a public-spirited citizen. For many years be was a member of the Friends church and a trustee of this chureb. He was a member of Wilmington Lodge No. 52. Free and Accepted Masons, and also a member of the chapter. He was a member of Morris McMillan Post No. 38. Grand Army of the Republic, at Wilmington, and served as its commander for many years.

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 Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 84

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