USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County : together with historic notes on the Northwest, and the State of Ohio, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and all other authentic sources > Part 65
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
This is a farm consisting of fourteen hundred acres. Originally it was two farms; one situated in Clinton County, known as the Quin farm; the other on the Fayette County side of the line, known as the Hays farm. These lands were purchased by Mr. Dun's father many years since, at a low price, but are now very valuable. Though originally two farms, they join each other, mak- ing one of the most magnificent farms in the country.
747
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
Mr. and Mrs. Dun have five children, two sons and three daugh- ters : Harry Alfred, Lulu, George William, Marie, and the young- est, a daughter, unnamed. In politics he is a Democrat. IIe in- herits a large fortune. Mr. Dun is a cousin of R. G. Dun, of the mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Co.
E. J. HOUSE.
Mrs. Eliza Jane House, widow of John House, deceased, is the daughter of Samuel Goodnight, who at the age of twelve years re- moved with his parents from the State of Virginia to the state of Ohio, and settled near Buena Vista, this county. In the year 1827, at the age of nineteen, he was married to Miss Eveline Rittenhouse of the same neighborhood. His father having died when he was quite young. The son, Samuel, so managed as to become the owner of the farm, on which he lived and farmed until the year 1866, when he removed to the State of Indiana where he still lives. He had twelve children ; four dead and eight living.
Our subject, Eliza Jane, was born October 11, 1835, and was married to John House, January 10, 1856. She with her husband commenced housekeeping, on a farm, a few miles north of Wash- ington, in the year 1859, from which they soon removed, however, to a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, purchased by Mr. House, known as the Higgins farm, in Concord Township, on the east bank of Rattlesnake Creek, about one-half mile south of Wil- mington pike. Mr. House died here January 2, 1866. The widow assumed the management of the farm affairs, and continued the same with marked ability. She and her children still own the same farm.
Mr. House had been breeding short horned cattle, and in October, 1875, Mrs. House sold at public sale, the most of these for $4,300.00. She still has quite a number remaining, however. There are but few men who could manage a farm with so much skill and success as she. Mrs. House has four children living and one dead : Linley F., who is a young man now engaged in the tailoring business in Washington ; Clara E., who is married to Mr. Edward Seaborn, who owns and lives on a farm in the neighborhood; Aria A., mar- ried Mr. Frank Langdon, who is a farmer and lives on his own farm in the neighborhood ; Ulysses S. is a promising lad living at home with his mother; Carrie died in infancy.
748
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Mrs. House has. been reading a course of medicine for some twelve years, and has recently completed a full course of instruc- tion and lectures at the American Health College of Medicine at Cincinnati, of the Vita Pathic System, from which institution she is now a graduate, holding a diploma as such. She expects as soon as she can manage her farm affairs to devote the greater part, if not her entire time to the practice of medicine on the Vita Pathic System. Mrs. House is a woman of much force of character, and is calculated to make a success of whatever she undertakes.
CALEB H. JOHNSON.
Caleb H. Johnson, farmer and stock raiser, Seldon, is the son of William Johnson, who was one of the pioneers of this county, whose biography more fully appears elsewhere in this book. Mr. Johnson is the brother of Thomas G. and Isaac M. Johnson, whose biographies also appear in this work. He was born in Green Township, March 29, 1829, and consequently is in the fifty-third year of his age. He married Nancy Row, daughter of Andrew and Hester Row, November 16, 1850. Her parents are now dead. They lived two years on a farm after their marriage, when they re- solved on a trip to California. In November, 1852, they started on their journey. At the end of thirty days they reached the great Sacramento Valley, where they remained for six years, engaged principally in farming, raising as high as a hundred bushels of barley to the acre; of wheat, sixty bushels per acre. The great valley was but sparsely settled at this early day, mining being the absorbing interest of the country. For months their nearest neighbor was four miles away. All nationalities and classes of people roving over the mountains and valleys, making life and property unsafe; but most heroicly did Mrs. Johnson bear up amid all of these discouragements. She was the first woman who went from this county to California, and so far as known was the first woman who crossed the isthmus on a mule. Their career in California was an eventful one, filled with incidents, many of which are quite thrilling.
After their return to Ohio, they settled on a farm which he pur- chased from Thomas Mattucks, two miles west of the village of Staunton, on the road leading from Staunton to Sabina and Green- field pike. They remained on this for twenty-one years, when
749
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
they sold out and purchased what is known as the Milton Serers farm, containing one hundred and thirty acres, in Concord Town- ship, one-half a mile south of the village of Jasper, on the waters of Sugar Creek. They moved to this farm in March, 1880, where they now reside.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were without children until after their re- turn from California. They now have two, one son and a daughter. John Row the son, is a sprightly boy fifteen years old. Jenny Riggs is a lovely, bright girl, several years younger than her brother.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are genial and kind, having seen much of life in California and elsewhere.
JOB M'CAY.
Job McCay, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Jesse and Mary McCay, who were natives of Virginia. His father came to this state, in 1803, and remained but a short time when he returned to Virginia. In 1809, he again came to this state and settled on the waters of Lee's Creek. He had four children by his first wife, three daughters and one son : James, married and is dead ; Anna, married and lives in Greene County ; Eliza, married and lives in Clinton County; Charity, married and is dead ; Mrs. McCay is also dead. Mr. MeCay married again, and had three sons and two daughters by the second wife: William, unmarried and lives on the old homestead; Sarah, married and died; Jesse, single, has been entirely blind since he was seven years old; Leah, married and lives in Clinton County.
Job, our subject, was born March 24, 1833, and married Ann Marie McKee, in 1856. He came to the farm where he now lives, in 1858. They are the parents of ten children, three sons and seven daughters: John M., their oldest son, is by profession a school teacher, at this time following his profession in Nebraska; Jesse, died in infancy ; Mary Jane, Olin A., Martha E., Charlie G., Ada, Malissa, Bell, Almia, Maggie. William, the oldest son, was born in May, 1827. He is also a farmer and stock raiser. His post- office is Memphis, Clinton County. The two brothers, William . and Job, have been engaged together in business all their lives. Their interests are mutual and agreeable, and they are in perfect harmony. The one married has a large family of children; the
750
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
other single, yet no discord exists. They own some eight hundred acres of land, and are well to do respectable farmers. Their father served in the war of 1812. Job, with his family, located on a fine farm on the the Greenfield and Sabina pike, some four miles south from Sabina. William, some four miles west of this near the county line, on the waters of Lec's Creek.
ALFRED H. MARK.
Alfred H. Mark, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Jonathan and Susannah Mark, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to this state in an early day, and settled on the waters of Sugar Creek, in Concord Township; but subsequently moved on the farm which our subject, Alfred H. Mark, now occupies. The father died, in 1852. The widow remained on the farm until her death, which occurred a few years since. They had ten children, seven sons and three daughters: Joseph, removed to Iowa and died there; John, lives in Iowa; David, died when quite young; James, lives in the State of Indiana; Mary, died when a young lady ; Margaret, married Mr. Lewis, but is now dead; Isaac N., lives in the State of Iowa; Mary E., wife of Benjamin Jones, lives in Iowa; Alfred H., born June 23, 1836, and married to Mary Jane Haynes, January 27, 1854, daughter of Isaac and Susannah Haynes, of Clinton County, Ohio. They have had four children born unto them, three sons and one daughter: Frank J., Annie E., Charley and James Bruce.
Frank J. was mortally wounded by a kick on the head from a horse, in October, 1874. The accident occurred while with his father in the field gathering corn. After four days of suffering, he died. The daughter and two sons are at home.
The family seem to be a family of accidents. Mr. Marks, while yet in his teens, jumped from a train in rapid motion, and was dragged a long distance, causing a broken arm. Again, being on the first excursion on the Muskingum Valley Railroad, his head came in contact with a bridge, when near Lancaster, and his head badly scalped, besides being dangerously wounded. After his marriage, while engaged in removing a large barn, he fell quite a distance, which resulted in a broken and dislocated arm. He has received numerous injuries by being kicked by horses and mules. June 23, 1880, he suffered the loss of his right arm, by being
751
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
caught in a threshing machine, on the old Peter Brown farm. The arm was amputated by Drs. Foster and Wilson, of Washington. He remained in bed but fourteen days, after which he was moving about with the activity and cheerfullness for which he was noted. His son, Burch, was thrown from a horse, and had his leg broken. Charlie has had his collar bone broken twice. Annie's collar bone was broken. With all these misfortunes the family is happy and prosperous.
In 1878 Mr. Marks built a fine brick residence, at a cost of three thousand dollars, on the spot where he was born, which he now occupies. Politically he is a Democrat. The husband, wife and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His farm consists of one hundred and seventy acres, located on the Wilmington pike, some four miles west of Washington.
LORENZO MORRIS.
Lorenzo Morris, farmer, stock raiser and butcher, is a son of Zadok and Lydia Morris, who were natives of Virginia. They came to Ohio in 1818, and settled in what is now Green Township, this county, three miles north of Leesburg. Here the wife died in 1863. Mr. Morris remains on the same farm. They were the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter. Lauretta died at the age of sixteen. Jonathan married, and lives near his father.
Lorenzo, our subject, was born October 30, 1834. On the 16th of October, 1856, he married Miss Deborah A. Plumer, daughter of Eli Plumer. For ten years they lived and farmed in Clinton County, this state. In October, 1866, Mr. Morris purchased a farm of two hundred and thirty-seven acres, known as the Hays farm, in Concord Township, situated on what is known as the Snow Hill pike, near the Clinton County line. They soon removed to this farm, where they still remain. Mr. Morris has since purchas- ed adjoining lands, so that the farm now contains four hundred and twenty acres; good land, and well located.
Our subject is an active, energetic man, continually on the go. He has been extensively engaged in the feeding of hogs-feeding some twelve hundred each year. This business did well for Mr. Morris, until the cholera attacked his hogs, which in due time caused him to cease further operations in this direction.
752
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Mr. Morris was led by rather peculiar circumstances to engage on his farm in the butchering business, opening a shop in Wash- ington. The slaughtering of cattle, hogs, and sheep, is all done on the farm, some nine miles west from Washington, and the meat is hauled daily to town, where, from his commodious room, it is sold at low but remunerative prices. In 1879 he slaughtered one hun- dred and sixty-two beeves. In 1880 two hundred and eighty-two beeves were killed, besides hogs and sheep. During 1881 it is ex- pected to require from four to five hundred cattle, with a large number of hogs and sheep, to supply the demand, which is rapidly increasing. Mr. Morris purchases the majority of his cattle in the Cincinnati market. They are brought to his farm, where they are fattened for the knife. About one hundred head of cattle are constantly kept on hand, and they are fed, summer and winter, in large boxes, corn in unlimited quantities, with the best of grass in summer. As the fattest are butchered, others take their place. Evidently Mr. Morris has succeeded so fully in reducing this busi- ness to a system that it must prove quite remunerative.
Mr. and Mrs. Morris have six children, five sons and one daugh- ter. The daughter, Olive, is married to James Shoop, who is a school teacher. They have one child, and live on her father's farm.
William Azro is a promising young man. He has spent five years at the Adrian, Michigan, University, where he expects to graduate.
Walter is of age, and at home, working on the farm.
Jonathan, Elwood, and David, are also at home, working on the farm.
Mr. Morris is a Republican in politics; in religion a Methodist.
S. C. ROBERTS. .
S. C. Roberts, farmer, stock raiser, and physician. The subject of this sketch is a descendant of John Roberts, who, together with his two brothers, James and Henry Roberts, emigrated to the Colony of Virginia about the period of the English Revolution, in 1688. They were natives of South Wales.
William Roberts, son of John Roberts, referred to above, was the great grandfather of S. C. Roberts. He was born in 1724. His children consisted of eight sons: John, Henry, Azariah, Nehemiah,
753
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
Cornelius, William, Hanley, and Minor William Roberts, the sixth son, and grandfather of S. C. Roberts.
Minor William Roberts was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, in the year 1762. He was a soldier in the war for American Inde- pendence, and held a captain's commission at its close. He was a first cousin to General Andrew Jackson (their mothers being sis- ters). He was married to Hannah Fink, March 26, 1787. The certificate of said marriage is now in possession of S. C. Roberts, and is very highly prized by him as an heirloom of the family. Hannah Fink was of German descent, but was born in Virginia. Her father, Henry Fink, and her brother, Henry Fink, jr., were killed by the Indians at or near Clarksburg, Virginia, soon after her marriage to William Roberts. They raised twelve children : John B., Rebecca (Vanmeter), Henry, Hezekiah, Susan (Malone), Daniel, William, James D., Melinda (Mackey), Isaac, Elijah W., and Hannah (Search). John, Henry, and Hezekiah Roberts, were soldiers in the war with Great Britain, in 1812, serving to the end of the war. Soon after the marriage of William and Hannah Roberts, they emigrated to Bourbon County, Kentucky, and in 1798 to Ross County, Ohio, twelve miles east of Chillicothe, on the waters of the Kinnikinnick, where they lived on a farm entered from the government. They both died in the year 1835.
Isaac Roberts, the tenth child of William and Hannah Roberts, was the father of S. C. Roberts. He was born at the old Roberts homestead, September 3, 1804, and was married to Mercy Chedis- ter, December 22, 1825. They had a family of eleven children. Two died in infancy. S. C. Roberts, subject of this sketch, was the third child, born August 31, 1832. The next was W. E. Roberts. Wilmeth A. (Barnes), Margaret, Anna M. (Miller), Jacob U., James D., Harriet E., and Isaac A. Roberts. Jacob U., James D., and Isaac A. Roberts, served as soldiers in the Union army during the late rebellion ..
S. C. Roberts graduated as a doctor of medicine, with the highest honors, at Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, in the spring of 1853, and was married on May 10th, of the same year, to Miss Mary E. Bowen, of Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio, that being her native place. Her parents came from Martinsburg, Virginia. They lived happily together until July 4, 1877, the date of her death. They had six living children at the time of her death : Anna M., born April 16, 1854; Charles L., born January 23, 1860;
754
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Frank K., born April 8, 1864; John I., born December 4, 1866; Margaret A., born September 18, 1869; and Samuel C., born March 31, 1872. Anna M. Roberts, the eldest child, died March 29, 1881, after a lingering illness of more than two years, having contracted a cold that caused her death. She was a highly cultivated young lady for one of her years, and had much more than ordinary talent as an artist, besides having received a collegiate education at Dela- ware, Ohio. Her memory is almost worshiped by her father, sister, and brothers. Every room in her father's house bears evidence of her superior artistic skill. She was loved by all her large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Isaac Roberts, father of Dr. S. C. Roberts, subject of this sketch, died at Jackson Court House, January 18, 1873, of pneumonia, having lived there nearly twenty years. He was a lawyer by pro- fession, and was appointed commissioner of the board of enrollment in that district during the late rebellion, and also represented that county in the Ohio Legislature in the years 1863-64. His wife, Mercy Roberts, died May 25, 1869.
Dr. S. C. Roberts, our subject, became identified with this county in November, 1868. He, together with the Rev. R. Pitzer, who were then both residents of Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio, pur- chased of Dr. C. A. Trimble, eleven hundred and eight acres of land, situated in Jasper and Concord townships, immediately next the Clinton County line, what was known as the Trimble prairie lands, bought at a very early day by Ex-Governor Trimble, of Hills- boro (father of C. A. Trimble). Roberts and Pitzer paid for said lands fifty thousand dollars, and divided it equally between them, as to acreage, each residing on their respective parts of said lands. R. Pitzer sold his land several years since, and now resides at Washington. Dr. Roberts still remains on what was his part of the divide in the land.
Before coming to this county, he practiced medicine and surgery twelve years, very successfully, at Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio ; and since he has resided in this county he has been a physician and farmer, making a specialty of broom corn for several years. But for the past two years he has been engaged in general farming, and has also given some attention to the raising of fine stock- short-horn cattle and Berkshire hogs-having raised some of the finest and best ever produced in the county, with pedigrees equal to anything in the United States.
755
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
MARTIN ROWE.
Martin Rowe, farmer and stock-raiser, is the son of John and Francis Rowe, who were natives of Virginia. Coming to Ohio in 1811, they settled on the waters of the Wabash, this county, re- maining there until their death. The mother died in 1828, the father in 1864. They had five children, four sons and one daugh- ter: Willis, married and moved to Illinois, and died there in his seventy-first year; Anderson, married, lived and died in this county ; John, married, and lives near Washington C. H .; Mary Jane, married, moved to Illinois and died. Mr. Rowe married for his second wife Mrs. Lydia Furry, by whom he had six children, four boys and two girls: George, married, and lives in this county ; David, married, and lives in Washington C. H .; Harvey, married, but his wife is dead; Edwin M., married, and lives in Staunton; Sarah F., married, and resides in Brown County; Catharine E., married, and resides in Greene County, Ohio.
Martin, our subject, was born January 8, 1813. He married Sophia M. Johnson, daughter of William and Jane Johnson, Sep- tember 14, 1838. They at once commenced housekeeping on the farm where they still reside, on the road leading from Staunton to the Sabina pike, about one mile west from Staunton. They have eight children, all living, four sons and four daughters: Malinda Jane was married to E. R. VanPelt, whose biography appears in this book. Amanda A. was married to Henry Mark, whose biography appears in this work. Isaac Newton married, and lives in Green Township; he went into the army as a volunteer in the nineteenth year of his age, and served his country faithfully for three years ; he was honorably discharged, and reinstated. He was captured by the enemy July 22, 1864, and taken to Andersonville Prison, where he remained for months, suffering from hunger and abuse more than tongue can express. He left home a stout, robust young man, and came back a wreck, physically, unable to do physical labor, but commands the respect of all who know him. Mary F. was married to Lewis Mark, and lives in the neighborhood. Eliza E., married to MeStuckey, whose biography appears on another page. John William, married, and lives in this county. Virgil Clark, married, and lives in Green township, this county. Martin is sin- gle, and lives with his parents. The farm contains two hundred
756
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
and sixty-one acres, and is in a high state of cultivation. It is adorned with a commodious brick residence and a lovely yard. Mr. Rowe and wife have been members of the M. E. Church for forty-two years. They are a most excellent family, feeling very grateful to God for his rich blessings so bountifully bestowed on them.
JACOB SOLLERS.
Jacob Sollers, farmer and stock raiser, is a grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth Sollers, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, in 1807, and settled on the waters of Buckskin Creek, on the line between Ross and Fayette Counties. They were the parents of nine children, six sons and three daughters : Nancy died in infancy. John married, and lives on Paint Creek. Hiram died when a young man. Matilda married, and lives near Good Hope, this county. Allen married, and is now deceased. Samuel married, and lives in Highland County, this state. Jacob died when a young man. Mary died when a young woman, much afflicted. Isaac, the father of our subject, was born in this county, December 25, 1808. The 15th day of March 1838, he married Hannah E. Jones. The fruit of this marriage is eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters : Jonathan J, went into the army, served three years, lost his health, came home, and died. Mary E., a young lady, at home with her mother. Matilda, married to John Craig, lives near Washington. Wells B., married, and lives on the home farm, a portion of which he owns. Was out in the hundred days' service, badly wounded, being shot in the mouth and face. Isaac M., mar- ried, and is a minister of the gospel, a member of the Ohio Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now sta- tioned at Roseville, Muskingum County, Ohio. Eliza Jane was married in Washington Court House, Ohio, October 16, 1878, to Wheeler Ellis, of Georgetown, Colorado, by telegraph. A novel wedding! They were united in marriage when more than twelve hundred miles apart. The young wife started for the home of her husband immediately after the ceremony was performed. Alcina M. still lives at home. Barton L., Hannah E., and Samuel L., are at home with their mother. The father, and head of the family, died July 23, 1876. He was a man respected by all who knew him.
Jacob, our subject, was the sixth child, and was born May 10,
757
CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
1851. Married Martha A. Sharp, December 10, 1874, by whom he has three children : Jonathan L., John A., and Charles. He owns and lives on a portion of the old homestead, which consists of some five hundred and fifty acres of first-class land, situated on the Wil- mington pike, five miles from Washington. The mother and un- married children occupy the homestead residence. The family is much respected, being in harmony and prosperity.
JOHN STUCKEY.
John Stuckey, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Abraham and Margaret Stuckey, who were natives of Pennsylvania, but came to this state, in 1804, and settled on the waters of Buckskin Creek, in Ross County, this state, where they remained until their death. They were the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters : Jacob, married and died recently at the age of eighty- two years; Samuel, married, moved to Indiana and died there; Elizabeth, married James McCay, but is now dead ; Catherine, mar- ried, is also dead ;ยท Daniel lived to be an old man, remained single, but is now dead; one died in infancy ; Abraham, married, moved to Indiana and died ; David, married and died in this county ; Mar- garet, married, moved to Indiana and died; Simon, married and is dead; Barbara, died when a young women.
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.