History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 126

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Ohio > Coshocton County > History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881 > Part 126

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PLATTE II. W., agent; was born March 23. 1848, in Linton township ; son of James Platte. : American born. H. W. was raised on the farm where he remained until about twenty-five years of age, when for four years he worked at the carpenter trade, then went into the coal business, in which he is engaged at present.

February 28, 1861, in Walhonding, where he had been engaged in the mercantile business, Mrs. Plowman is of English and German descent. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. She is the mother of five children, viz: Mary E., born May 19, 1850, died February 20, 1850; Juliette, born January 5, 1852; Jennette, born October 19; 1857; Elnora, born April 20. 1855, died Septem- ber 12, 1855, and Frank W., born March 20, 1859, died March 4, 1870. The mother and her two daughters are milliners and dressmakers, doing a prosperous business. They are proprietresses of the Sherman House, in Warsaw, Coshocton county, conceded to be an excellent hotel.

PORTER JOSEPH W., Bedford township; farmer; postoffice, Warsaw ; born in 1813, in Jef- ferson county, Ohio, and was married in 1842, to Miss Mary Dean, of that county, who was born in 1817, They came to this county in 1848. She died in 1855. They are the parents of six chil- dren, viz : Curtis, deceased ; Mary J., Elizabeth A., Hannah; Margaret M., deceased. and Vilda. The last named was married in 1873, to Albert Saurs, of this county, who was born in 1847, in Pitts- burgh. They are the parents of four children, viz: Curtis, William. Dennis and Mary Pearl. Vilda and her husband live on the home farm.

PORTER WILLIAM, Keene township; farm- er; born March 5, 1824, in Jefferson county ; son of John and Margaret (Dinsmore) Porter, and grandson of William Dinsmore. Mr. Porter was brought up on a farm and remained in his native county until thirty years old; he then came to Coshocton county, and has here been engaged in farming and stock raising, and now owns a farm of 300 acres, which he has acquired by intelligent work and careful management. He was married February 20, 1852. in Jefferson county, to Miss Eliza J. Stark, who was born Septemer 20, 1827, daughter of James and Elizabeth (McGee) Stark, and granddaughter of James and Elizabeth Mc- Gee, who were natives of Scotland. His children are Curtis C .. born February 12, 1853; Frank H., November IS, 1854; Wiley B., March 31, 1857 ; Mary, September 11,1859; Benton, June 26, 1862; Ross, August 11, 1864. and Ed., September 17, 1866.

POWELL THEODORE, AAdams township; postoffice, Evansburgh; farmer; born in Adams township, October 23, 1855; son of Thomas H. and Mary (Starker) Powell, and grandson of Thomas and Henrietta (Howells) Powell, and of John Starker. Ile attended school at Xenia and New Market, and is an energetic young man. He was married September 24, 1879, to Miss Nora Emer- son, danghter of Henry and Ann (Norris) Emer- son, and granddaughter of Timothy and Nora (Preston) Emerson, and of William Norris. Mr.

PLOWMAN JANE, Jefferson township; daugh- ter of James and Elizabeth (Rodehaver) Butler, and granddaughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Severns) Butler: was married July 19, 1849, to Mr. William H. Plowman, son of Jonathan and Catharine (Spencer) Plowman. He was born October 28, 1825, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, died Powell's father and mother are still living. His

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

father was born in Herefordshire, England, May 7, 1809; came to America in 1817, landing in New York; from there went to Richmond, Virginia, rented a farm near there, and remained there several years: then moved to Steubenville, and after remaining there a short time he came to Adams township, Coshocton county, where he has remained ever since. He was married in 1830, to Miss Mary Starker, daughter of John Starker. She was born January 17, 1814. They are the parents of nine children, six of whom are living, viz: Edwin, David, Charles, Wellington, Theodore and Louisa.

POWELL F. W., Adams township; farmer; postoffice, Evansburgh : born in Adams township, Coshocton county, Ohio, June 30, 1828; son of Thomas and Henrietta (Howells) Powell, and grandson of William Powell and Henry Howells, who came to this country on a visit soon after the revolution, and, on his return to England, tried to induce his wife to move to America, but she would not come. Mr. Powell is cousin to Wil- liam C. Howells, of Ashtabula county, and has always been a farmer. He was one time engaged in mercantile business in Orange. He has been elected to the office of justice of the peace three times, and has also filled the offices of clerk and treasurer of the township. He lives on a farm of 640 acres, in the southwest corner of Adams town- ship. Mr. Powell was married, October 13, 1852, to Miss Margaret Leach, daughter of Archibald and Sarah Ferguson. She was born June 29, 1826. They are the parents of four children, viz : Caroline L., John T. F., Francis J. and Sarah H. He was first a free soil or anti-slavery man, and voted that ticket when there were but four or five in the township, but is now a Republican. Had at one time, during the rebellion, fifteen nephews in the United States army, five of whom lost their lives.

POWELL EDWIN, White Eyes township; farmer ; born September 3, 1843; son of Thomas H. and Margaret (Howell) Powell, who were na- tives of England. Edwin Powell's home was a depot on the "underground railroad," and he was his father's principal help in assisting the colored emigrants from a land of bondage to freedom. His father was a strong union man and abolitionist, his son inherited the same prin- ciples, and when the war broke out he manifested his patriotism by going to the front in the de- Tense of his country. Ile enlisted August 13, 1861, when but eighteen years of age, in Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-second O. V. 1., Sec- ond Brigade, Third Division and Sixth Corps. He was taken prisoner at Winchester, June 15, 1863, confined at Belle Island and Libby, and was paroled October 1, 1863. After he was captured at Winchester he, with some other prisoners, were marched ninety miles to Staunton, guarded

by a detachment of rebel cavalry who had seen service in the front. They treated the prisoners very kindly, and when they reached Staunton, where the prisoners took the railroad for Rich- mond, the rebels warned them that they would receive rough usage from the "Home Guard " at Richmond, whom they characterized as cowardly wretches.

He was in ordinary health, when captured, but was treated so badly. while in prison, that he was nothing but a wreck when released ; he weighed but ninety pounds, an average weight, when in good health, being about 145 pounds. Rations were issued twice a day, and were of an inferior quality, consisting of bean soup and mule meat. They were so nearly starved, at one time, that he and some others killed the lieutenant's dog, and eat it. This was thought to deserve se- vere punishment, and the authorities refused to issue rations until the name of him who had killed the dog was revealed. At the end of two days, their craving for food was so great that they gave up the guilty Yank, and he was bucked and gagged, and left in that condition for twenty-four hours. The rebels rifled Mr. Powell's pockets, when he entered Belle Island, and again in Libby, and took everything of value he had about him, except §25 he had concealed in his cap; one ten-dollar bill he had chewed up, and put in a blouse-button, and a twenty-dollar bill, concealed in the same way, in another button.

The prison discipline was arbitrary and strict, and new prisoners who were but little acquaint- ed with the regulations would sometimes step across the dead line, and all such were shot with- out ceremony. Some one was shot nearly every day, and the boys believed that the guard was promised a furlough for every Yankee he shot. The apartments and clothes of Mr. Powell and his fellow-prisoners were allowed to become so filthy that they were compelled to fight the gray- backs whole days at a time until they were covered with blood. Ile entered the service as a private, was made third corporal and was pro- moted to fifth duty seargent. He served till the close of the war, was mustered out at Baily's Cross Roads, near Washington, June, 1865, and was discharged at Columbus. His regiment was in over eighty engagements. While at Win- chester he was visited by his mother, who was taken prisoner with him, and she was put in C'astle Thunder. (Sce Thomas H. Powell's sketch). After the war he lived at home with his parents until 1869, when he went to Inde- pendence, Montgomery county, Kansas, and entered 160 acres of land. He lived on it two vears, returned to White Eyes, and traded his Kansas land for a large farm in White Eyes, on which he now resides. Ilis first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln, while in the Shenandoah valley.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

POWELL THOMAS H., Adams township; farmer; born in 1809, in Herefordshire, England ; son of Thomas J. Powell and Henrietta ( Howell) Powell, who were natives of England, and omi- grated to the United States in 1817. The father of Thomas J. Powell was steward to Lord Ox- ford, and his father-in-law was engaged extens- ively in the manufacture of woolen goods, and was induced to come to the United States by General Washington, and establish a factory in New England. Thomas J. followed the merean- tile business for a few years and brought a part of his stock of goods with him when he came to this country.

Ile landed with his family at Richmond. Vir- ginia, where he soll his goods and rented a farm of Mrs. Haganbottom, on the James river, seven miles below Richmond. Work on the farm was performed by slave labor. he having rented a number of slaves with the farm. One of the Ran- dolphs, who belonged to the Randolph family of revolutionary fame, was Mrs. Haganbottom's son- in-law, and was on terms of social intimacy with the Powell family. In 1818, after living there thirteen months, he moved to Steubenville, Ohio. His treatment of the slaves was the same he had given his white servants in England, and when he left for Ohio, the slaves bid their old master and mistress a very affectionate farewell, and said, " God bless you master and mistress, we shall never forget you." He brought with him from the old country about $30,000, but lived cx- travagantly while in Virginia, and had but little when he came to Steubenville.

He rented a farm on the Mingo bottoms, in JetTerson county, and hired a man to teach him to farm. While there a disastrous fire consumed nearly everything they had. After this misfor- tune he thought of going to Canada, but Camp- bell induced him to take a seven-years lease on his farm in Adams township. 'le visited his prospective home in Adams township during the winter, and on his return to his family, reported that the people in Coshocton would not make very desirable neighbors; that they were rough, and some were half naked and ran will in the woods.

In the spring of 1820 he brought his family out, and stopped for a while with Judge Evans, of Oxford township, who treated them very kindly, and the judge and his boys helped them get their cattle and things across the river, which was swollen. They reached the Campbell farm in safety and in time for the spring work. The cabin on the Campbell farm, put up by Colwell, was the first cabin built in Adams township. The door was so low that they had to stoop to enter it. He being unused to manual labor, without money. on a farm nearly all in woods. , nine weeks, and her husband and friends in the with neighbors few and far between, his now-

made friends in Coshocton county expressed fears that the English folks woukd starve. His fine library that he had brought with him to Steubenville, he traded for a flock of sheep.

Mrs. Powell exchanged her chinaware for nee- essaries, and gave a neighbor woman a fine silk shawl to learn her how to milk. At the expira- tion of his lease of the Campbell farm, Mr. Powell was in still more straightened circumstances than when he came to the county. He next took a contract on the Ohio canal, and engaged a farm in Jefferson county, and desired to go there where his family could enjoy better educational facil- ities, but his family prevailed on him to stay here. He went to England that summer and sold a life estate his oldest son, Thomas II., had in some land there, returned and purchased 1,080 acres in Adams, where his sons, Thomas II. and Wash- ington now reside. He met with better success on his own land, become wealthy and retired to Bakersville, where he died.

Thomas H. Powell married Mary Ann Starker, a daughter of one of the carliest settlers, whose par- ents were natives of New Jersey. He was in part- nership with Watkins in the mercantile business at Evansburgh for three years, then moved on to a farm, where he how resides. In 1849 he joined the M. E church and imbibed AAbolition princi- ples. His home was a depot on the "under- ground railroad," and he and his family assisted hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of slaves to freedom. Hle continued in the good work for twenty-five years or more, notwithstanding the censure and threats of the opposing political party. Some of his enemies charged that he built his store-house with the profits derived from his connection with the underground rail- road, but instead of being profitable it was a great expense. Ministers thought he was doing very wrong, and endeavored to persuade him to aban- don it, but he met them with the abolition argu- ments, and told them that he was willing to en- dure abuse and hatred, For he felt confident that he was doing right, and that future events would justify him in the minds of all men.

His children are Edwin, David, Wellington, Charles, Theodore, Lonisa and Elizabeth. Eliza- beth is dead, and all are married but Edwin and Charles. Enwin was a soldier in the late war ; enlisted in IsGl, in his eighteenth year, in Com- pany G. One Hundred and Twenty-second O. V. 1., and served till the close of the war. He was taken prisoner at Winchester. got sick, and his mother visited him, and took care of him for a while; but, while there, the enemy took Win- chester, carried off Mrs Powell and her compan- ion. Leah Brown. and imprisoned them in Castle Thunder. Mrs Powell was not heard from for North feared that she had declared her union and

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

abolition principles, and that she had been sun- marily dealt with by the enemy.

POWELSON VALENTINE, Linton township; farmer; born December 2, 1812, in Linton town- ship; son of Conrad and Katie (Johnson) Powel- son, who came from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1808, and lived in Franklin township, on the Robinson section. till 181, when they came to Linton township. Mr. Powelson was married in 1841, to Ellen Thrapp, daughter of Joseph and Jemima (Campen) Thrapp. Five of their nine children survive: Erastus N., Alfred Playfair, Valentine P., Joseph Thrapp and Morgan Evart.

POWELSON JACOB, Coshocton, Ohio; was born July 10. 1818, in Linton township: son of Lewis and Rachel (Powenel) Powelson. of Ger- man aneestors. Lewis, named above, came to Linton township from Virginia about the year 1817. He had an extensive experience in pioncer life. having spent many a day among the wild In- dians of Virginia and Ohio. He was a skilled huntsman in the chase for deer, wolves and bear. Jacob Powelson, the subject of this sketch, was brought up on the farm, and followed agriculture until within the last three years, when he retired from hard labor, and now has only a general su- pervision of his farm. He came to this city, his present residence, in 1869, Mr. Powelson was married February 22, 1842, to Miss Eliza, daughi- ter of Robert and Amelia (Cook) West. They are the parents of seven children, viz: Lavina, Raigon, Anderson, Elmira, Thomas, Perry and Rachel.

POCOCK COLONEL E. J., Coshocton: mer- chant, of the firm of Pocock & Sons, general dry goods, shoes and groceries; was born June 21, 1843, in Keene ; son of Joshua Pocock, American born. E. J. Pocock was raised on the farm, where he remained until September 11, 1861, when he enlisted in Company H, Fifty-first O. V. I., and served nearly four years. During his term of service he was commissioned second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and served on the staff of the commanding officers of the Second Brigade, First Division, Fourth Army Corps, He was recently elected colonel Seventeenth regiment O. N. G. In the spring of 1866 Colonel Pocock commenced merchandising at Clark's, where he remained until the spring of 1873, when he came to Coshocton and formed the present firm, which ranks among the best in the city. He was married October 15, 1865, to Miss Mary A, Hunt, daughter of Judge Ilunt, do- ceased, formerly of Millersburg, Holmes county. This union was blessed with three children, viz : Carrie Adelia, Madeline W,, and Lucy H.

POMERENE J. C., Coshocton; atttorney; was born June 27, 1835. in Holmes county, Ohio ; son

of Julius Pomerine, deceased, is American born. of French and German extraction. He spent his childhood and early youth on a farm. At the age of seventeen, he entered Mt. Union college, and attended that institution, at different times, during the summers, tanght school during the winters, until he was twenty-two years old, when he entered as a student the law office of Messrs. Hogland & Reed and road one year. Then he entered the Ohio State and Union Law college of Cleveland, Ohio, and was graduated in 1859. In November, of the same year, commenced the practice of law with Col. Josiah Given, under the firm name of Given & Pomerene, and continued in said firm until May, 1861, when he conducted his practice alone. In 1862 he formed a partner- ship with Benjamin S. Lee, firm name Lee & Pomerenc. In May, 1868, he formed the present partnership, viz: Spangler & Pomerene. Mr. Pomerene was married April 8, 1862, to Miss Irene Perkey daughter of Dr John F. Perkey, of Hancock county, Ohio. He is the father of three children, viz: William R., Frank E. and Helen. Attorney Pomerene has a wide reputation as an able counsellor and as a man of strict integrity.

PRICE GEORGE W., Crawford township; blacksmith ; postoffice, New Bedford; born Jan- uary 3, 1854, in Crawford township; son of 'Squire Jonathan Price; raised on the farm, but worked two years at the carpenter's trade. In the spring of 1876 he went to his present trade. Mr. Price was married in August, 1874, to Miss Lucy, daughter of Henry and Louisa (Baad) Stroup. They have four children, viz : Mary E., William, Emma and Josephine. Mr. Price is one among the good workmen of the country.

PRICE JONATHAN, Crawford township: farmer and carpenter; postoffice, New Bedford. Ohio; was born in Tuscarawas county, May 31, 1829; son of Jonathan and Margaret (Deetz) Price. When about four years of age he came to Coshocton county, and at eighteen went to the carpenter's trade, which he has followed in con nection with farming to the present time. Mr. Price was married in May, 1851, to Miss Mary, daughter of George and Catherine (Schweitzer) Smith. Their children are: Mary Margaret, George W .; Jacob, deceased: William B., Sarah C., Henry E., Elizabeth A., Simon P., and Jona- than, Jr. Mr. R. served two terms as justice of the peace (six years) of Crawford township.

PRICE WILLIAM HI. H., deceased; son of Colonel William and Sarah (Butler) Price; was born December 6, 1817, in Preston, Virginia. Mr. Price eame to Coshocton, this county, in 1833. From early youth he was connected with a hotel. At the time of his death, ho was the oklest hotel proprietor in the State of Ohio, having been the proprietor of a hotel for more than thirty years.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Ilis general reputation was that of a genial, hos- pitable landlord. Hold almost the entire trade luring the long period which he kept hotel in Coshocton. Was sheriff, and was the only sheriff that has been elected in opposition to the Demo- cratie party in the county. He was a rank aboli- tionist. Was married. March 4, 184I, to Miss Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and Sydney (Brown) Morrison. This union has been blessed with five children, viz: Hellen M., Mary E .; Samuel M., present proprietor of Price House, one of the best hotels in the city; George W. and Marie Louise, Mr. Price died April 1, 1880.

PRIWER REV. E. H. O., Crawford township; New Bedford postoffice; pastor German Evan- gelical Lutheran churches of New Bedford, Co- shocton county, and Good Hope, Holmes county. He was born December 12, 1845, in Berlin, Ger- many. He was educated at Herrmansburgh. Germany, and Capital University, Columbus, Ohio; came to America in 1873; took his pres- ent and first pastorate in 1876. He was married, June 22, 1876, to Miss Augusta, daughter of Henry and Hannah (Tosset) Yunge. This union has been blessed with two children : Josephine A. C. and Trangott O. H.

PRESTON L. B., Perry township; postoffice, West Carlisle ; farmer and stock dealer ; born in this city in 1847; son of Bernard and Mary (Westlake) Preston, and grandson of Silas A. and Maria (Brown) Preston; married, in 1869, to Miss Julia A. White. They are the parents of five children. viz: Ora, J. W., Gibert, Hays and Edward.

PRESTON BERNARD, Perry township ; farm- er and stock raiser : postoffice, West Carlisle. Mr. Preston also learned the harness and saddle business in his younger days, but has been living on the farm some fifteen years. He was born in Belmont county, this State, in 1822, settled in this county in 1833; son of Silas A. and Maria ( Brown) Preston ; married in 1844, to Miss Mary West- lake, daughter of George and Anna Westlake. They are the parents of twelve children, viz : William W., deceased ; L. B .; John H., deceased ; Anna M .; James HI., deceased ; Silas, Sarah, Ada- line, George, Bernard, Charles B. and Albert 1). Four are married and are living in this county.

PY CELESTIAN, Monroe township; born Oc- tober 20. 1825. in Otsoen. France; son of Jo- soph and Mary (Cheney) Py, and grandson of Nicholas and Mary (Đechens) Py. At the age of fourteen he began the miller's trade, and followed it for sixteen years ; then clerked for a railroad company three years. In order to get a cheap home he embarked for America, and settled in Coshocton county, where he now has a farm of 140 acres. Ile was married to Miss Margaret

Cartie in 1855, daughter of Michael and Julia (Arnold) Cartie. Their chiklren are Mary, born August 22, 1860; Adaline, March 20, 1863; Cath- arine, September 13, 1866; Victor, September 13, 1870, and Albert, July 23, 1873.

RANDLES JOHN, Jackson township; postof- fice, Roscoe ; was born near Cadiz, Harrison coun- ty, May 21, 1814. His father, Abram Randles, was born in Loudon county, Virginia, and in his youth emigrated to Harrison county, Ohio, where, at the age of twenty-one, he married Elizabeth Cheney. In March, 1817, before John was three years old, his father moved to Jackson township, Coshocton county, settling about eight miles from Coshocton, on the road leading to Mt. Vernon, in the midst of an unbroken wilderness. On this road their nearest neighbors were eight miles distant. Here John was reared to manhood, en- during all the privations incident to pioneer life. The oldest of seventeen children, he became his father's main support in reducing the barbarous wilds to a civilized state. Savage, howling wolves prowled about the lonely cabin at night, disturb- ing the sleep of the family. Deer and turkeys were abundant, and bears were occasionally seen. John threaded the dismal forests in every direc- tion, visiting every mill within thirty miles of home. lle was married in August. 1835, to Mary. daughter of Samuel Gilman, of this county, and by this union had six children, viz: Jemima E. (Clark), Jackson; Thomas J., deceased; Nancy J. (Shaw), William W., and Hester A. (Eckert). JIis wife having died, he married, in 1857, Jane Hornbaker, who became the mother of five chil- dren, viz: Catharine; John H., deceased; John A., Charles and Dollie. Mr. Randles lived on the ok place till 1850, when he bought and moved to a farm adjoining Roscoe. In 1857 he moved to Roscoe, and has lived there since, except flve years, 1865-70, spent in Coshocton.

RANDLES J. A., Bethlehem township; farmer; son of John Randles: was born in 1833, in this county. He was married in 1860, to Miss Han- nah Foster, of this county, who was born in 1829. They became the parents of ten children, viz : Elizabeth, William, Jane, Perlina, Emiline, Emer- son, Martin, Cornelius, Ella, and Charles. Mr. Randles has always been a resident of Bethlehem township, and has been a successful farmer, es- teemed by all his neighbors.

RAMER JESSE. Keene township; farmer; born November 19, 1820, in Tuscarawas town- ship: son of Henry Ramer, a sketch of whose life is given elsewhere. At the age of twelve years he came with his father to Keene town- ship and has lived there since; was married February 22, 1855, to Sarah A., daughter of Peter

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History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 126

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 854

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854