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 92

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 92

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log cabin, married one of the pioneer girls of the neighborhood and made his home in the Cuba neighborhood the rest of his life, becoming one of the best-known citizens of that community. Jacob Rhonemus served his country as a soldier in the War of 1812 and received land warrants in payment of his services during that struggle. He mar- ried Sophia Cluster, daughter of a pioneer family in Washington township, who proved a faithful and devoted helpmeet in his efforts to create a home in the then wilderness.

Jacob Rthonemus, son of this pioneer couple, was reared on the farm near the village of Cuba, receiving his education in the subscription schools of that neighborhood, and grew up with the expectation of becoming a farmer. He married Mary Thornhill, daughter of Barnett and Ruth (Jones) Thornhill, pioneers of Washington township, who came to this county about the year 1820, and in 1849 bought a farm of one hundred and fifty arres in the deep woods of Jefferson township, where he made a home, cleared the farm and spent the rest of his life. During the Civil War Jacob Rhonemus, Jr., served the Union as a soldier in the Eighty-third Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and though this regiment saw much bitter service, having participated in some of the hardest- fought battles of the war, he never was wounded and never was made a prisoner. In his religious belief, Jacob Rhonemus was a L'niversalist and took much Interest in the affairs of the congregation of that church, being one of the leaders therein. He and his wife were the parents of ten children.

Frank Rhonemus, one of the ten children above mentioned, received his education in the district schools of Jefferson township and remained on the home farm until his marriage in 1801, in which year he bought a farm of seventy-five acres in Clark town- ship and ever since has made his home there. He has done well in his farming opera- tions and is regarded as one of the substantial citizens of that neighborhood. He is public-spirited and progressive and is a man of influence in his community, having served on the township board of education very acceptably to all for the past twenty- two years,

On March 14, 1891, Frank Rhonemus was united in marriage to Catherine Anna Lippolt, daughter of Jacob Lippolt. of Clark township, this county, and to this union six children have been born, namely : Mary, who is a well-known teacher in the public schools of Clinton county ; John, a farmer, of this county; Theo and Leo, twins, who also are farming, and George E. and Ruth, who are students in the high school at Lynchburg.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhonemus are members of the Lutheran church and are warmly interested in the various beneficences of the congregation to which they are attached. They also take a deep interest in community affairs, being concerned in all measures designed to advance the common good and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.

FRED WELDEN LINTON.

Not so many years ago It was rare indeed to find a young man who had received the advantages of a college education, who found the farm sufficiently attractive to make agriculture his life's vocation. The custom, however, for young men reared on the farm to return to the farm after their graduation from college is becoming more thoroughly established. In Fred Welden Linton, an enterprising young farmer of Union township, Clinton county, is a splendid example of the young man who has found the farm sufficiently attractive to take up agriculture as a life calling. He is descended from Nathan Linton. one of the earliest pioneer settlers of Clinton county, who was bis great-great-grandfather.

Fred Welden Linton was born on July 18, 1880, in Adams township, Clinton county, Ohio, the son of Walter and Gertrude ( Hadley) Linton, the former of whom was a native of Culon township, born on July 19, 1866, and at present a resident of Norwalk,

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Ohlo. Mr. Linton's mother was born on December 13, 1870, in Adams township, and died on November 30, 1912.

Walter Linton is the son of Joshua and Olive (Hadley) Linton. Joshua Linton was the son of Seth and Sarah Ann ( Moore) Linton, the former of whom was the son of Nathan and Rachel (Smith) Linton. Nathan was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Harvey) Linton and Samuel was the son of Benjamin and Jane (Cowgal) Linton. Benjamin was the son of John and Mary (Relf) Linton. John Linton was the son of Sir Roger Linton, of Yorkshire, England.

Sir Roger Linton had six sons: John, Jacob. Samuel, Benjamin, Roger and James. John was born at Yorkshire, England, and sent by his father to Oxford College, where he was educated for the ministry. Sent with a company of soldiers to attend one of the Quaker meetings to ascertain if anything was said against the Church of England, Johu Linton was so Impressed by the simplicity, earnestness and faith of the worshippers that he became a convert, after which he was expelled from his father's house. He learned the carpenter's trade in London and was there married to Mary Relf, in 1691. After preaching for a number of years, he and his wife came to America, landing at Philadelphia on November 8, 1692. Before leaving England, he had been an associate of William Penn. John and Mary ( Relf) Linton had four children .: Mary, Joseph, Benjamin and John. Benjamin, the third ebild, was born In Philadelphia, October 6, 1703. He was a weaver by trade and an able and learned astronomer. By his first marriage to Elizabeth White, March 25. 1727, there were two children. John and Mary. The mother of these children was born on September 9, 1705, and died on January 25, 1732. He next married Jane Cowgal, who was born on July 3, 1708. By this marriage there were eight children : Lucia, Benjamin, Joshua, Sarah. Samuel, Jane, Daniel and Hezekinh. Samuel was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1741. He was a farmer and weaver and was married on May 10, 1775, to Elizabeth Harvey, who was born on March 8, 1748. They had six children: Samuel, Nathan. David, Jane and Elizabeth (twins), and James. Early In 1802, Samuel Linton and his family started from their Pennsylvania home towards the "far West." They floated down the Ohio river to Cincinnati and came by wagon to Waynesville. in Warren county, where he followed his trade of weaver. In 1804 he bought five hundred acres of land on Todd's fork, three miles northwest of Wilmington. He was a member of the Society of Friends.

Nathan Linton, the second son of Samuel, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. January 17, 1778. He was surveyor at the time Clinton county was organized and held this office for twenty years. He surveyed Clinton and Fayette counties' townships and Inid out the village of Wilmington. He died on February 11. 1858, honored and respected by all worthy people. Benjamin Butterworth, a member of Congress, was a son of his daughter, Elizabeth. Another grandson. Nathan, was a member of the Ohio Legislature. Nation and his wife, Rachel Smith, had twelve children : Elizabeth, Abl, Samuel, Seth, David. James, Mary, Nathan, Benjamin, Cyrus. Ruth and Jane.

Seth, the fourth child born to Nathan and Rachel Linton and the great-grandfather of Fred Welden Linton, was born on October 10, 1812, in I'nion township. His mother was born on January 18, 1790, and died on April 4, 1850. She was the daughter of Seth Smith, born on May 19. 1761, and who died on April 1, 1837, and Elizabeth Littler, who was born on April 9, 1769, and who died on July 7, 1842. The father of the latter was Samuel Littler, who emigrated from England to America with William Penn. Seth Linton was married on September 26, 1836, to Sarah Ann Moore, of Lytle's creek meet- ing. She was born in Clinton county, December 7. 1819, the daughter of Joshua Moore, who was born on October 10, 1791, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and who died on February 7, 1874, and Nancy Stratton, who was born on November 16, 1797, and died on December 19. 1SS1. By this marriage there were six children: Nathan M., born on March 18, 1938, a lawyer and former member of the Ohio Legislature; Nancy L ..

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January 3, 1840, who married Thomas McMillan, a farmer; Rachel, October 8, 1841, who married E. Snowden; Joshua, April 2. 1843, who married Olive Hadley ; Oliver, August 5, 1845, who married Sarah Hiatt; and Amanda, November 11, 1848, who mar- rled Jacob Lewis, a farmer.

Joshua Linton, the grandfather of Fred W., who was born in Clinton county, obtained little education. He grew up on the farm and was married in September, 1864, to Olive Hadley, the daughter of Josbua and Ruth ( Edwards) Hadley, the former of whom was born in Gullford county, North Carolina, and who came to Ohio with bis parents when he was twelve years old. His parents were William and Sarah (Clark) Hadley. William Hadley laid out the town of Clarksville, in what is now Vernon town- ship, Clinton county, and named it for his wife's maiden name. He was a devout Quaker and died of heart failure while going to the monthly meeting of the Friends church. Ruth Edwards was the daughter of Archibald and Nancy Edwards, who were early settlers in Union township, having come here from North Carolina. In 1914 Joshua and Olive Linton celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. After bis mar- riage, he had lived on his grandfather's farm near Clarksville in Clinton county for five years and afterwards obtained land in Union township. northwest of Wilmington, and lived there until 1802, when he retired and moved to Wilmington, where he and his wife still Hve on West Locust street. He still owns a farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres in Union township. He and his wife are lifelong members of the Friends church.

The parents of Gertrude (Hadley) Linton and the maternal grandparents of Fred W. Linton were Micajah and Ellen (Cowgill) Hadley. the latter of whom was a native of Highland county, Ohio, and is still living. The former, who was a farmer in Adams township, where he owned two hundred and fifty acres of land, died in May. 1808. He as the son of Ell and Abigail (Green) Hadley, the former of whom was born on Septem- ber 27, 1804, and died on November 29, 1854, and the latter of whom died on April 30, 1837. at the age of twenty-eight. She was the daughter of Reuben and Rhoda Green. Ell Hadley was the son of John and Lydia (Harvey) Hadley. the former of whom was born on September 23, 1770. In Chatham county, North Carolina, the son of Joshua and Ruth Hadley. Lydia Harvey was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Harvey, of Orange county, North Carolina, who came to Ohio in 1506, and settled near Todd's fork. They were married in Crane's creek monthly meeting. North Carolina, In 1794.

Walter Linton, the father of Fred W .. grew up in Union township, and after his marriage lived on bis mother-in-law's farm until 1800. when he purchased seventy-five neres in Union township on the Waynesville pike. There be built a fine home, which is now occupied by the subject of this sketch. In 1913 the father moved to Norwalk, Ohio, where he is engaged in selling silos. He and his family are members of the Friends church. His wife died in 1912, and in January, 1915, he married Madora Kelly. He is an extensive breeder of Holstein cattle and for fourteen years was in the dairy business. He and his first wife had two children: Fred Welden, and one daughter, Eleanor, born on August 11, 1894, who is now a student at Cincinnati U'niversity. Walter Linton is an ardent Republican.

Fred Weldon Lintou received his education In the public schools of Adams and Union townships. Early in life he attended Wilmington College and was graduated from that institution in 1909. Subsequently, he worked one year lu the West on the Sante Fe railroad as a civil engineer. but in 1910 came back to his father's farm and for two years rented a farm near Cuba, Ohio. In 1914 be purchased his father's farm of seventy-five acres in Union township and here he now lives.

On June 25, 1913. Fred W. Linton was married to Louise Truitt, who was born in I'nion township. Clinton county, Ohio, the daughter of J. F. and Sue Truitt. the former of whom is a farmer of this township.

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Mr. Linton is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Central Christian church of Wilmington. Very few young men of the present generation in Clinton county are more enterprising. more capable or more popular than Fred W. Linton. Few young men have the Inspiration of a more worthy and eminent ancestry than he. It may be truly said that he is fulfilling the natural obligations of the young man who is well born, and faithfully discharging all of the duties of life.

FRANK B. POND.

Frank B. Pond is an enterprising and successful young farmer of Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, who was born on March 21, 1877, at New Antioch, in Green township, Clinton county. He is the son of William A. and Alice (Tener) Pond. the former of whom was born on March 20, 1852. and the latter of whom was born at Locust Grove, In Adams county. Ohio.

William A. Pond is the son of William and Mary ( Lieurance) Pond, the former of whom was born on June 2, 1812. in Green township and who died on January 10, 1902, and the latter of whom was born on March 21, 1815, and died on August 25, 1900. Mrs. William A. Pond is the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth ( Weaver) Tener, both of whom are deceased. He was a harness-maker of Adams county, and his wife was a native of Highland county.

William Pond, the grandfather of Frank B. Pond, was the son of Griffen Pond; who with his brothers, Henry, John and Jonathan, came to Clinton county, Ohlo, in 1802, from Wilkes county, North Carolina.

Frank B. Pond grew up at New Antioch, Ohio, and there attended the public schools. When a young man he assisted his father on the farm and in buying live stock. When he was twenty-one years of age he came to Wilmington and worked here for J. P. Cole in his restaurant. In 1903 Mr. Pond purchased Mr. Cole's restaurant and the following year was married. In that same year he sold out the restaurant and removed to Hiills- boro, Ohio, where he was engaged in the restaurant business until 1908, when the restau- runt burned. From Hillsboro, Mr. Pond removed to Faukuier county, Virginia, where he managed a farm for his wife's uncle, James Boling. He managed this farm until Mr. Boling's death in 1912, and afterwards Mrs, Boling purchased one hundred and twenty-five acres out of the Wade farm in the eastern part of Union township. Clinton county. Mr. Pond has since managed this farm for Mrs. Boling in partnership with her son, Earl W. Boling. Mr. and Mrs. Pond live on the farm. He specializes in Short- horn cattle and Percheron horses, also Duroc-Jersey hogy He likewise raises a great many colts and mules.

On June 22, 1002. Frank B. Pond was married to Cleo Ansell, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, in March, 1850, the daughter of James Crooks and Esther ( Wilson) Ansell. James C. Ansell Ilves in Zanesville, Ohio, where he is a retired fnrmer. He is a native of Perry county. Ohio, and the son of Peter and Lucy Ansell. During the Civil War he was a member of the Seventy-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. and served throughout the war, making the memorable march with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea. He was wounded in the shoulder during the Georgla campaign. Mrs. Esther ( Wilson ) Ansell was the daughter of Ezra and Elizabeth (Burges) Wilson, both of whom were natives of Allegheny county, Maryland. The former was born on May 20, 1812, and died on May 17, 1501. The Intter was born on July 4, 1811. and died on April 16, 1891. They were married on May 1, 1828, and were early settlers In Perry county. Ohio, where they lived until their death. Mrs. Pond's mother was one of ten children born to her parents. Lewis, the eldest child in the family died of typhoid fever. Alfred died when a child. as did also Martha. Lavina married Peter Stone- berner and is now deceased. William is a resident of Crooksville, Ohio, where he is a butcher. Levi, who is deceased, was a farmer. Elizabeth, who was born on Decem-

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ber 12, 1846, married James H. Boling, who was born in Perry county, Oblo, June 6, 1847, and who died January 10, 1912. James H. Boling was a Civil War veteran in Company A, Thirty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He taught school for twenty-five years in Perry county, Ohio, and for ten and one-half years was superin- tendent of the Perry county children's home. He died on his farm in Virginia. His widow owns and lives on the farm which Mr. Pond now manages in Cuion township. Naomi, the eighth child, married John O. Skinner, they are both deceased. Esther is Mrs. Pond's mother. An infant died at birth.

Frank B. Pond is a Republican. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the encampment.

CYRUS E. CESTIS.

Respect is due to the brave sons of the North who left their homes and the peaceful pursuits of civic life to give their services and their lives, if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American union, and no man is more entitled to share in this respect than the venerable Cyrus E. Custis, a distinguished veteran of the Civil War and one, who, since the close of that war, has been prominent in the religious and political life of Clinton county. He proved his love and loyalty to the government on the long and tiresome marches in all kinds of situations. Exposed to summer's withering suu and winter's freezing cold, on the lonely picket line, a target for the unseen foe, on the tented field and amid the flames and smoke of battle, where the rattle of musketry mingled with the concussion of bursting shells and the diapason of the cannon's roar. made up the sublime but awful course of death. Enlisted as a private, he was promoted to first duty sergeant on October 1, following his enlistment : to orderly, April 3. 1863; and on August 19, 1864, was promoted to second lieutenant. On January 20, 1865, he was commissioned first lieutenant, and was assigned to the command of Company C.

It was on August 6, 1882. that Cyrus E. Custis, who was then just a little past the age of twenty-two, enlisted in the Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. in Spencer's Company, afterwards called Company G. His regiment was assembled at Camp Denison on August 13, and ordered to Covington, Kentucky. in the following September. His first real service was a march to Crittendon, about twenty-five miles away. It required two days to go and about one day to return. His regiment guarded supply trains and railroads during the greater part of the time until 1564. On May 2. of that year, the regiment entered the Sherman campaign and there saw Its first great battle. He took part in the following engagements: Resaca. May 15. 1864; Pumpkin Vine Creek, May 27, '64; and was in command of the company in all the battles of his regiment till the capture of Atlanta, where they camped till November 14, when they began the march to the sen. Arrived at Savannah, December 10, where they remained till January 18. '65. Then entered the Carolinas and was in battles of Averysboro. March 16, '65, in which he picked up the flag after the color bearer was shot down. and at Bentonville, March 18, arriving in Goldsboro about March 21st. Then marched to Raleigh, North Carolina, and at surrender of Joseph Johnston, was sent to Richmond and Alexan- dria, Virginia, and passed on grand review at Washington. D. C., May 25, 1865, and was in command of his company. Cyrus E. Custis was mustered from the I'nion army with honor and distinction on June 9, 1885. at Washington, D. C., and received his dis- charge June 17, 1865, at Camp Denison.

Born on August 3, 1840, in Richland township. Clinton county. Ohio, on the farm which his grandfather. Samuel Reed. had settled in 1803. Cyrus E. Custis is the son of William H. and Mary (Reed). His father was born in Scioto county, Ohio, December 15. 1813. and his mother in Richland township. Clinton county. April 12. 1813. She was the danghter of Samuel and Sarah (Paris) Reed. They were married on December 10. 1837.

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CYRUS E. CUSTIS

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On the maternal side, Mr. Custis' grandfather, Samuel Reed, was born on September 1, 1778, and died on April 5, 1854. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Sarah Paris, was born on August 25, 1782, and died on October 3, 1863. Samuel and Sarah Reed settled in Richland township in 1805. They came from Kentucky, in which state they were married, and it is probable that they were born in that state. Upon settling in this township, Samuel Reed bought one thousand acres of land, which he afterwards lost through an imperfect title and had to pay for the same land the second time. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and were of that class which gives tone and solidity to the community at large. Samuel and Sarah Reed had nine children : Elizabeth, born February 16, 1799; Absalom, November 25, 1800; Abner, January 10, 1803; Josephus, July 15, 1804, and died on September 10, 1840; Cyrus, June 9, 1806, and died on April 6, 1839; John, October 23, 1808; William, November 27, 1810, and died on January 15, 1863; Mary, April 12, 1813, and died on September 17, 1896; and Samuel P., September 3, 1815, and died on November 25, 1860.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Custis were Robison and Mary (Savage) Custis, natives of Virginia, who settled in Union township. Clinton county, in either 1821 or 1822. He purchased one hundred acres of partly cleared land, which became his per- manent home. Before this he had lived temporarily in Scioto county, Oblo, having come to Scioto county from Virginia as early as 1810. After living in Union township for some time, he moved to Wilson township, where he owned a farm. Robison Custis was born on April 19, 1770, and died on November 28, 1848. His birthplace was near Norfolk, Virginia. His wife, Mary Savage, to whom he was married on August 7, 1793. was born on January 24, 1779, and died on November 22, 1848. Robison Custis was the son of John and Elizabeth Custis, an old Virginia family. The children of Robison and Mary Custis were twelve in number: Thomas, born on March 9, 1795; Littleton, November 13, 1796, and died on August 9, 1809; Robison, January 9, 1799; Abel W., May 13, 1801; Betsy, September 13, 1803; Ann, January 2, 1805; Elizabeth Ann, September 11, 1809; Mary Ann, September 25, 1811; William H., December 15, 1813; John W., May 6, 1815: Charles E., May 20, 1820; and Vienna, June 21 1822.

The tenth child in this family was William H. Custis, the father of Cyrus E. He was educated in the subscription schools of I'nion and Wilson townships, Clinton county, and while still a young man, worked on the farm with his father. Here he began farming for himself and in 1852 opened a general store in connection with his farm, which he conducted for six or eight years. He then sold out and devoted his entire time to the farm. About 1866, at the close of the Civil War, he retired but continued to live on his farm until his death. He owned one hundred and ninety-four acres of excellent land. By bis marriage to Mary Reed, December 19, 1837, there were born five children : Samuel Robertson, born October 18, 1838, and died on July 3, 1900; Cyrus E., the subject of this sketch; Sarah Mary, May 20, 1842, who married J. H. Channell; Elizabeth A., July 15, 1844, who married John Small; and Josephus John, November 10, 1846, who died on December 28, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Custis were charter members of the Richland Methodist Protestant church and he was a member of the building com- mittee which erected the church. Until the formation of the Republican party, he was a Whig in politics, but later identified himself with the party of Lincoln and Grant.

Cyrus E. Custis obtained a better education than most of the boys of his day and generation. Not only was ke graduated from the common schools of Richland township, but in 1862 he was a student for one term at the normal school at Lebanon, Ohlo. It was shortly after his return from school that he enlisted as a soldier In the Civil War. After the war Mr. Custis and his brother, J. J., who was six years his junior, rented their father's farm and during the winters of 1866 and 1867 he returned to school at Lebanon and was able to complete a commercial course. In March, 1867, he entered into partnership with J. H. Channell in the general mercantile business. They were (40)

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together two years. In 1869 he returned to the home farm and one year later he and his brother purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Richland township. which Cyrus E. now owns. Mr. Custis was married in 1870 and after his marriage moved to the farm where he has lived ever since, on April 14, of that year. In 1887 he purchased bis brother's interest in the farm and now owns the entire two hundred acres. He has remodeled his house and erected all of the other buildings on the place. Mr. Custis is an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and Delaine sheep. He is known throughout Clinton county as one of its most prosperous and well-to-do farmers.

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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 92

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