USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 35
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 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109
To Gen. Robert and Minerva (Eddy) Jackson were born twelve chil- dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eleventh in order of birth, the others being the following: Phoebe Ann, born on November 24, 1822,
316
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
who was thrice married, her first husband having been Matthew Corry Jacoby, her second John Thomas Dawson, and her third Jefferson Joseph Reed, and who by her first husband was the mother of three children, Robert Scott, Henry Martin and Rebecca Jane, the latter of whom married the Rev. George G. Mitchell, and by her second husband, three children, Minerva Alice, Elizabeth Ann and Kate Josephine; Joseph Addison, Janu- ary 6, 1825, who died on October 1, 1834; Elizabeth, September 8, 1827, who married John Corry and had four children, William Henry, Minerva Emazetta, Anna Maud and Lizzie Alta; Joshua M., November 17, 1829, a veteran of the Civil War, who married Mary Matilda Gowdy and had five children, Robert A., Charles Conditt, Joshua C., Joseph E. and Mary ; Mary, January 28, 1832, who married John R. Nash and had two sons, Robert Hervey and Hugh Lee; Nancy Jane, June 3, 1834, who married Prof. Robert Hood; Dona Martha, May 3, 1836, who married George Royse; twins, who died at birth in 1838; Robert Eddy, December 23, 1840, who died on August 24, 1843, and James Harvey, July 27, 1847, who died on June 10, 1849.
Andrew Jackson was eleven years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Xenia and his schooling was completed in the schools of that city. Upon leaving school he entered the employ of Merrick & Company, dry-goods merchants at Xenia, remaining there until the fall of 1861, when he went to Michigan with his brother-in-law, Professor Hood, a civil engi- neer, and under the direction of the latter took a course in surveying, geom- etry, trigonometry and bookkeeping. In the following spring he returned to Xenia and resumed his place in the Merrick store, being given charge of that concern's books, and continued thus engaged until August 8, 1862, when he enlisted as a member of Company H, Ninety-fourth Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, and went to the front with that command, his first skirmish with the enemy coming on the 3Ist of that same month at Tate's Ferry, Kentucky. In the battle of Perrysville in October following Mr. Jackson received a wound in the left shoulder, but was not seriously incapacitated, for he was able to participate in the bloody battle of Stone's River a couple of months later. With his command he then took part in the Tulla- homa campaign and then on through the South, taking part in such battles as those at Dug Gap, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca. Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Smyrna Camp Grounds, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek, the siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Bentonville, and was present when Johnson surrendered on April 26, 1865. He was mus- tered out of service on June 5, 1865, after a service of two years and ten months, the war then being at an end. During a part of the last year of this service he was detailed as chief clerk to the inspector-general of the First Brigade, First Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps.
317
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Jackson returned home and was almost immediately thereafter appointed to a position as assistant engineer in the maintenance-of-way department of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, a position which he occupied for a year, at the end of which time he resigned to accept the position of engineer and amanuensis to the president in the office of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railroad, at Cincinnati, presently being promoted to the position of general ticket agent and paymaster of that road, and remained thus connected for six years or until his resignation and return to Cedarville. In the meantime he had married a daughter of James Dunlap, the lumberman, and upon his return to Cedarville took charge of the latter's extensive lumber interests, not only at that place but at Cincinnati and in the Michigan lumber camps, at the same time giving direction to the operations on his farm in the Cedarville neighborhood, and presently began to give particular attention to the breed- ing of fine horses on the farm, with particular reference to animals for the speed-ring. For years Mr. Jackson continued this active interest in horses. The famous Wilkes strain was his favorite and the "Onward" branch of this strain gained for him many good marks. He maintained a track on his farm and trained both trotting and pacing stock, among the notables there trained for racing having been "General Jackson" and "Miss Jack- son." For six successive years Mr. Jackson held the position of starter judge of the horse races at the Ohio state fair. Mr. Jackson is a Republican and was elected to represent this district in the sixty-eighth General Assembly and was re-elected for the succeeding term. During his service in the Legis- lature Mr. Jackson gained so many friends that during the succeeding session of the General Assembly he was chosen sergeant-at-arms of the House and so satisfactorily did he perform the duties of that office that he was re-elected for six succeeding sessions and thus served until the seventy-sixth session, at the last session receiving the vote also of the Democrats, a compliment said to be unparalleled in the annals of the Legislature. In 1891 Mr. Jack- son was appointed a member of the state commission to locate markers or regimental monuments to the memory of the fifty-five Ohio regiments that were represented on the field during the battle of Chickamauga. This com- mission was the first of the similar state commissions on the field and four years was occupied in its labors, the Ohio monuments being dedicated on September 19, 1895. For twenty-two years (1890-1912) Mr. Jackson was a member of the Cedarville school board. Then the Cedarville board and the township board were consolidated and Mr. Jackson has since continued to render service as the clerk of the united board, in that capacity rendering service at the time of the erection of the new school building at Cedarville in 1916, a building that is regarded as a model of its type in the state of Ohio. In 1912 Mr. Jackson was elected clerk of Cedarville township and
318
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
in 1917 was re-elected to that office for the fourth time. Since 1899 he also has been continued in office as justice of the peace in and for his home township, his neighbors long ago apparently having come to the conclu- sion that they want no other "squire" to sit in local judgment. When the Cedarville Building and Loan Association was organized in 1896 Mr. Jack- son was elected secretary of that concern and has ever since been retained in that position. Mr. Jackson's home is surrounded by forty acres of well- kept land just out of the southeastern limits of the city of Cedarville.
On December 17, 1868, Andrew Jackson was united in marriage to Mary J. Dunlap, who was born at Cincinnati on March 1, 1845, daughter of James Dunlap, mentioned above as having been extensively engaged in the lumber business at Cincinnati and at Cedarville and who died at his home in the latter place on January 25, 1890, he then being seventy-six years of age. To this union four children were born, namely: Pearl J., born on May 13, 1871, wife of Ralph G. George, of Jamestown, this county; Frank A., July 10, 1876, now serving as sheriff of Greene county and a biographi- cal sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume: Clara G., Novem- ber 9, 1878, wife of H. H. Cherry, a farmer living in Xenia township and further reference to whom is made elsewhere, and Fannie D., December 30, 1880, wife of R. L. Baldwin, of Chicago.
JOSEPH DEVOE.
The late Joseph Devoe, former trustee of Caesarscreek township and for years a citizen of that township, who met his death in an automobile accident in 1912, was born on a farm in Jefferson township on March 7, 1850, son of David and Mary (Ary) Devoe, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, the Devoes and the Arys having been here from the early days of the settlement of this part of Ohio.
David Devoe was born on a farm in the vicnity of the village of Paint- ersville in 1822, son of Joseph and Abby (Oglesbee) Devoe, who had settled there upon coming over here from Virginia in 1817. Joseph Devoe, the pio- neer, was born in the neighborhood of Winchester, Virginia, a son of David Devoe, who was born in France and who had come to this country with his widowed mother when a lad, the family settling in Virginia. Joseph Devoe grew to manhood in Virginia and there married Abby Oglesbee and in 1817 came with his wife to Ohio and located in this county, establishing his home on a pioneer farm in the vicinity of where the village of Paintersville later came into being. He was a Whig and a Methodist. His wife died in 1858 and he in 1860. They were parents of six children, David, Evaline, who
319
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
married John Ary, George W., Ephraim, Sarah Jane, who married Nathan Fisher, and Asa.
Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Paintersville, David Devoe grew up a farmer, a vocation he followed all his life. He married Mary Ary, who was born in this county on August 13, 1825, and after his mar- riage made his home on a farm in Jefferson township until 1868, when he bought a farm in the neighborhood of Paintersville, in Caesarscreek town- ship, occupied the same and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on January 23, 1899, he then being in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His widow survives. They were the parents of eleven children, namely : Eliza Jane, who married Thomas Bone and moved to Illinois; Sarah, who married William A. Powers; Lucinda, who married L. V. John- son; Joseph, the subject of this memorial sketch; William, of Jefferson town- ship; Aaron, of Caesarscreek township; Margaret, David and George, who died in childhood ; Elizabeth, who married Isaiah Mason, and Jesse, of Xenia township.
Joseph Devoe grew up on the farm in Jefferson township, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools and was eighteen years of age when the family moved to the farm in the Paintersville vicinity. He remained at home until his marriage in the spring of 1872, when he and his wife began housekeeping on a farm in Caesarscreek township, south of the place where Mrs. Devoe now lives, and there remained for several years. They then moved to the place on which Mrs. Devoe is now living, known then as the Fisher place, and there established their permanent home, Mr. Devoe culti- vating the farm of seventy-five acres until his tragic death on September 30, 1912. Joseph Devoe was a Republican and served as township trustee and as a member of his local school board. He was a member of the Methodist Protestant church at Paintersville, as were his parents before him and as is his widow, and for years served as a member of the board of trustees of that congregation.
On March 28, 1872, Joseph Devoe was united in marriage to Caroline Faulkner, who was born on a farm in the Paintersville neighborhood, in Caesarscreek township, daughter of David and Emily Jane (Musetter) Faulkner, the former of whom was born in that same neighborhood on October 7, 1819, a son of Thomas and Mary ( McGuire) Faulkner, who were among the earliest pioneers of that section of Greene county. David Faulkner grew up on the home farm and remained there until his marriage in September, 1838, to Emily Jane Musetter, who had come to this county with her parents from Virginia. For a time after his marriage he lived on a rented farm, but later bought a farm of his own in that same neighborhood and there spent the remainder of his life, becoming the owner of a farm of
ยท
320
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
one hundred and ninety-four acres. David Faulkner was a Republican and for several terms served as trustee of his home township. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant church at Paintersville and he for years was class leader of the same. He died in 1896 and his widow survived him for four years, her death occurring in 1900. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Mary, widow of Francis Linkhart, of Xenia, who is now making her home with her sister, Mrs. Devoe, on the farm; Harvey C., a farmer living north of Paintersville; Caroline, widow of Joseph Devoe; Samuel P., a farmer of Caesarscreek township, whose biographical sketch presented elsewhere in this volume carries much additional information regarding the Faulkner family in this county; Elijah B., now a resident of West Carolton, Ohio; Harriet Ann, who married Thomas B. Linkhart, of Lumberton, and is now deceased; and Elizabeth Catherine, wife of John Anderson, of Xenia.
To Joseph and Caroline (Faulkner) Devoe were born three children, namely: Anna Belle, who married Stacy Wilson, a farmer, of Jefferson township, this county, and has one child, a daughter, Goldie; Mary E., who married Adolph Lowe, now living in North Dakota, and has four children, Elmer, Mable, Helen and Hester, the last two named being twins, and Ida May, who married West Caplinger, now living in the neighboring county of Clinton, and has two children, Forest and Everett. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Devoe has continued to make her home on the farm.
SEBASTIAN GERHARDT.
Sebastian Gerhardt, a farmer of Miami township, this county, living on rural route No. 3 out of Yellow Springs, was born in the village of Hustead, in the neighboring county of Clark, February 7, 1875, a son of Sebastian and Margaret (Peterson) Gerhardt, natives of Germany, who were married in this country and later established their home on a farm in Clark county, this state, where they reared their family.
The senior Sebastian Gerhardt received military training in his native land and was twenty-five years of age when he came to this country. On the way over he met and fell in love with Margaret Peterson, a fellow pas- senger on the vessel on which he had taken passage, and after their arrival on this side they were married, later becoming residents of Clark county, this state. During the Civil War Sebastian Gerhardt served as a soldier of the Union and on account of his previous military training could have had a captaincy had it not been for the difficulty he was still experiencing in the mastery of the English language. He and his wife were the parents of
Mary a Gerhardt
Sebastian Gerhardt
321
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being Matilda, Catherine (deceased), Jacob, Philip, Flora (deceased), Daniel and Emma.
The junior Sebastian Gerhardt was reared in Clark county and there received his schooling. He became a practical farmer and after his marriage became established on the farm on which he is now living and has ever since then made that his place of residence. Mr. Gerhardt's agricultural operations are carried on in accordance with modern methods. He is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Clifton and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
On December 30, 1897, Sebastian Gerhardt was united in marriage to Mary A. Hilt, who also was born in Clark county, January 22, 1877, daughter of David Hilt and wife, who are now living retired at Yellow Springs and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union three children have been born, Fern, born on June 18, 1899, who was graduated from the Yellow Springs high school in 1917; Philip, November 7, 1900, now a senior in the high school, and Anna, June 25, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Gerhardt are members of the Bethel Lutheran church.
JAMES FREDERICK HARTSOOK.
The late James Frederick Hartsook, a veteran of the Civil War and a farmer of Caesarscreek township, who died at his home in the vicinity of Eleazar cliurch in that township on November 12, 1912, was a native son of Greene county and had resided here all his life. He was born on a farm three miles east of Xenia on February 31, 1831, son of Elijah B. and Eliza- beth (Stidley) Hartsook, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Virginia, who came to this county in pioneer days and became early set- tlers in Caesarscreek township. Elijah B. Hartsook was the first of the name to settle in Greene county. In 1834, some years after coming here, he bought an unimproved tract of land, the place on which the widow of his son, James F. Hartsook, now lives, in Caesarscreek township, and there established his home, the family living in the open and cooking their meals by the side of a fallen tree while the first log cabin was being erected on the place. The tract eventually was cleared and in due time came to be profitably cultivated. Elijah B. Hartsook for many years served as justice of the peace in and for his home township. He and his wife were Methodists and not long after settling in Caesarscreek township he gave a plot of ground for a church site and buying ground and led in the work of erecting Eleazar
(20)
322
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
church, most of the lumber that entered into the erection of the first church edifice there being contributed by him. He took an active part in church work and all the rest of his life took care of the church building, acting as custodian and care-taker free of charge. He was reared a Democrat, but later became a Whig and upon the organization of the Republican party became affiliated with the new party. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, Washington Harrison, Frances, James F., Jackson, Eliza- beth and Catherine, three of the boys going to southern Wisconsin and there establishing their homes. James F. remained on the home place, which he later bought ...
James F. Hartsook grew up on the pioneer farm on which he was born and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools. He enlisted his services in behalf of the Union and went to the front as a member of Com- pany D, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served for two years and ten months, during that period par- ticipating in a number of the important battles and engagements of the war, including those of Winchester, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Hartsook returned to the farm and after his marriage in the spring of 1868 established his home there and continued to reside there the rest of his life, his death occurring in the fall of 1912. Mr. Hartsook had joined the Eleazar Methodist Protestant church in 1865 and ever afterward took an earnest interest in the affairs of the same, for more than forty years acting as care-taker of the church building, a labor of love which his father before him also had rendered for years. He was a Republican, and served at one time and another as an office holder in his home township.
On May 28, 1868, James F. Hartsook was united in marriage to Mary J. Hale, who was born at Bellbrook, this county, daughter of Silas and Miriam (Opdyke) Hale, the former of whom was born in that same vicinity on August 26, 1803, son of John and Sarah (Bowen) Hale, who had moved up here from Kentucky in 1802, the Hales thus being one of the very oldest families in Greene county, all of which, together with a comprehensive his- tory of the Hale family in this county, is set out in a biographical sketch relating to Mrs. Hartsook's brother, Silas O. Hale. To James F. and Mary J. (Hale) Hartsook were born five sons, namely : Luther, who continues to make his home on the old home place, managing the farm for his mother, and who married Lavina Peterson and has two children, Vera Leona and Frederick Christopher; Allen S., who died at the age of seven months; Harper K .. a farmer in Caesarscreek township, who married Cora Jessup and has one child, a daughter, Wanda; Silas, who died in youth, and Harry, who is engaged in the telephone business in the West.
323
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
JOHN M. PETERSON.
John M. Peterson, a farmer of Caesarscreek township, and the pro- prietor of a farm on rural mail route No. 6 out of Xenia, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on May 9, 1845, son of Jacob J. and Deborah (Mock) Peterson, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter, in Fayette county, Ohio, daughter of John Mock, and whose last days were spent in Caesarscreek township, Jacob J. Peterson dying at the age of fifty-six years, his widow surviving him to the age of seventy-eight.
Jacob J. Peterson was but a lad when he came to this county from Vir- ginia with his parents, Jacob Peterson and wife, the family settling in Caesars- creek township, where they established their home. The elder Jacob Peter- son and his wife were the parents of nine children, of whom Jacob J. was the fifth in order of birth, the others being Moses, who settled in Caesars- creek township; Felix, who established his home in Xenia township: Joel, who moved down into the neighboring county of Clinton; Samuel, who made his home in Xenia township; Mary, who married Jonathan Kettle- men; Catherine, who married Joseph Boots, Mrs. Christina Bargedell and Hannah, who married George Eyman. Jacob J. Peterson grew to manhood on the home farm in Caesarscreek township and after his marriage estab- lished his home on a farm in that township and there spent the remainder of his life. He was a Republican and for some time served as director of schools in his district. He and his wife were members of the Reformed church and their children were reared in that faith. There were eight of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being as follow: Lydia, who married Allan Long and is now de- ceased; Mary E., who died in the days of her girlhood; Hiram, who be- came a farmer in Caesarscreek township and is now deceased; Jacob L., who moved to Indiana and there spent his last days on a farm; Daniel N., who also moved to Indiana and there died; Virginia Ann, who is now living in Indiana, widow of James R. Babb, and Amy F., who has been married twice, her first husband having been William Sutton and her second, Mar- tin Snyder.
John M. Peterson was reared on the home farm in Caesarscreek town- ship, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and remained at home until his marriage when twenty years of age, after which he estab- lished his home on the farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres, on which he is now living in that township, though now living practically retired from the active labors of the farm, the same being carried on by his son-in-law, E. S. Conklin. In 1887 he erected the substantial brick house on the place.
324
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
He is a Republican and a member of the Reformed church, in which he was reared.
In 1865 John M. Peterson was united in marriage to Martha C. Sutton, who was born in New Jasper township, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Sutton, who were the parents of the following children: Philip, Griffith, William, John, Jacob, Lucinda, Daniel, Raper, Sarah, Mary, Nancy, Louis, Elizabeth, Temperance and Martha. Mrs. Peterson died in March, 1906, at the age of sixty years, leaving one child, a daughter, Flora Belle, wife of E. S. Conklin, who is farming the home place for Mr. Peterson.
JOHN ALLEN HICKMAN.
The late John Allen Hickman, a veteran of the Civil War, who died at his home in Caesarscreek township on June 24, 1908, was born in that township and had lived there most all his life. He was born on January 10, 1843, a son of Riley and Sarah (Ford) Hickman, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter, of Virginia, who had come to Greene county with their respective parents in pioneer days and were here married. After his marriage Riley Hickman located on a tract near where Mrs. J. A. Hick- man, widow of his son, is now living, formerly known as the Turner farm, but presently found that he had settled on the wrong claim, through an error of location, and he then moved to the tract just south of the one mentioned and there established his home, spending there his last days. Riley Hickman was both a farmer and a cabinet-maker and in the latter line the products of his shop were in wide demand among his pioneer neigh- bors. He and his wife were the parents of six children, Gilman, David, Martha, Jacob, John Allen and George, the latter of whom is still living, now a resident of New Burlington.
John Allen Hickman was reared on the home farm in Caesarscreek township and received his schooling in the neighborhood district school. From boyhood he was a hard worker, being required to give assistance early and late in the labors of developing the home place, and also, under his father's direction, became a carpenter. Though but eighteen years of age when the Civil War broke out he enlisted his services in behalf of the Union, in 1861, and went to the front as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty- fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the war. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Hickman returned home and until his marriage in the fall of 1870 was engaged working as a carpenter in that neighborhood. After their marriage
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.