History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio, Part 45

Author: R. S. Dills
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1037

USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 45

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).

William Allen, clerk, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and is a son of Arthur and Kitty Allen. They had a family of seven children, and immigrated to Ohio in 1862. Will- iam the subject of our sketch, was married to Miss Susan MeBra, daughter of Charles and Frances McBra, of Kentucky. . They had a family of three children. Alice A. and Louis A. are dead, leav- ing only Lee Allen to comfort them in their trials and troubles through life. When the call was made in defense of our flag, he stepped to the front, and enlisted in the Sixteenth Colored Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel W. B. Gaugh, in Company K, Captain Possell commanding, and after going with his regiment through the bloody battles in which it participated, he was discharged on the 16th day of March, 1865, and returned

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to Xenia, where he has since lived as a man of trust and honor, in the employ of Samuel Allison, for over seventeen years.

Warren Anderson, printer, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Montgom- ery County, Ohio, May 28, 1832, and is a son of Noah and Mary Anderson. He is the eldest of ten children. The family moved to Elkhart County, Indiana, when Warren was in his sixth year. He assisted in clearing a farm of one hundred and twenty acres out of the thick woods. At the age of nineteen, broken down by hard labor and exposure, he entered a dry-goods house, with J. H. De- frees, at Goshen, in the same county, where he remained two years, after which he entered S. E. Davis' store for a few months. Ile then engaged in teaching, and taught his first school in 1852, a few miles south of Goshen. In 1854 he came back to Ohio, and opened books for his uncle, in his store on Wolf Creek, ten miles west of Dayton, Ohio, and remained with him until 1856, when he removed to Yellow Springs, Greene County, and entered the preparatory de- partment at Antioch College, under Horace Mann, where he re- mained four years, teaching during the winter, in order to prepare himself for a classical course, up to the year 1860. When Presi- dent Mann died he was at his bedside, and received his kind fare- well. The following fall and winter he taught school at Cass, Miami County, and in the spring of 1861 became principal of Goshen Seminary, Clermont County, Ohio. Being near Camp Den- nison, the war demoralized the school, and it was discontinued for a time. In the winter of 1861 he taught near Tippecanoe City, Ohio, and in 1862 was principal of the Industrial Academy at Hills- boro, near Richmond, Indiana. The same year he returned to Goshen, Indiana, and commenced the study of law with George D. Copeland. Subsequently Copeland bought the Goshen (Indiana) Times, and Mr. Anderson became assistant editor. In 1863 he resigned, and visited Washington, D. C. In the winter of 1863- '64 he taught school in Miami County, Ohio, where he cast his vote for Honest Old Abe for president in 1860, and again in 1864. In 1864 he dismissed school, and enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-Seventh Regiment, Ohio National Guard. The regiment was mustered at Camp Dennison, sent to Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy, at the head of Chain Bridge, near Washington, D. C., and participated in the battle of Fort Stephens, July 12th, assisting in the repulse of General Early, in his march upon the capital. Was discharged, August 30th, at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and came to

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Xenia in the spring of 1865, where he continued his law studies with Hon. R. F. Howard, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1869. In the winter of 1865-'66 he taught school at Alpha, Greene County, Ohio, keeping up the study of law. In the winter of 1866- '67 he was principal of Xenia High School, during which time he organized the Euphranine Literary Society, which still survives. Was secretary of the Republican Central Committee from 1866 to 1869, and secretary of the Greene County Sabbath-school Associa- tion in 1869; was married, May 30, 1867, to Miss Cannie Vigus, who was teacher of German in Xenia College, and a graduate of that institution. May, their first child, was born December 26, 1868, and died July 6, 1869. Their second child, Florence, was born March 16, 1874, and is still living. He was appointed mayor of Xenia in February, 1867, to succeed IIon. John Little, who re- signed. In April following he was elected to the same office for two years. Was also elected justice of the peace for Xenia Town- ship for three years, ending May, 1870. As one of the officers, drafted the articles of incorporation for the Young Men's Christian Association of Xenia, in January, 1869. In April, 1870, was ad- mitted by the Supreme Court of Ohio to practice law. Was one of the founders, with Hon. J. F. Patton and T. L. Tiffany, of the Xenia Gazette, in August, 1868, and its chief editor until 1870, when he sold his interest to Colonel R. P. Findlay, and in Novem- ber, 1870, removed to Ottawa, Kansas, where he established the Ottawa Herald, December 4th, same year. Sold out the Herald in 1871, and purchased an interest in the Journal of that city, which was founded by Hon. I. S. Kalloch, present mayor of San Francisco, California. Was admitted to the Kansas bar, December, 1871. Sold out the Journal in the fall of 1872, on account of ill health, and returned to Xenia, Ohio, where he resumed the practice of law, and in 1873 edited the Xenia Enterprise, afterward changed to "News," and now called the Xenia Democrat-News. Was again appointed by council mayor of Xenia, February, 1876, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. J. W. Keever. Was correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, and in October, 1875, was again elected justice of the peace of Xenia Township for three years. November 7, 1878, started the Xenia Nonpareil, changing its name, in the summer, 1879, to Xenia Sunlight. Sold his interest, in May, 1880, to O. W. Marshall, and the same year established the Yellow Springs Review, of which he is still editor and proprietor. Mr. Anderson has al-

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ways been a Republican in politics, as was also his father, who was Republican representative from Elkhart County, in the Indiana Legislature, in 1861-'62.

A. J. Archdeacon, telephone proprietor and agent, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio, in the year 1846, on ` the thirtieth day of September. He is a son of George and Mary Archdeacon, of Cork, who immigrated to America, in the year 1841, with a family of eight children : Jane, Richard, Nicholas, George, Benjamin F., Edward T., May E., and A. J., our subject, who is now thirty-four years of age. IIe is only four feet high and weighs ninety pounds. He is a member of the Odd-fellows, has filled all the chairs, has climbed to the topmost round in the order, and is the smallest Odd-fellow in Ohio. He is one of the liveliest of the lively, and a general favorite wherever he is known; says his fighting weight is eighty-five pounds, and is now trying to bring himself down to enter the ring with the champion light weight of England sometime in August next, (day not set).

John S. Armstrong, insurance agent, Xenia, Ohio, was born at Portersville, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1833. His father, James Arm- strong, was born near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and his mother, Jane S., was born at Portersville, Pennsylvania, in 1812. They moved to Johnson County, Missouri, about 1857. He has five brothers, and six sisters, located in different parts of the United States. He received a good common school education at Porters- ville, and commenced teaching when seventeen years of age. Soou after this, he entered the Butler Academy and completed the pre- paritory course, and then entered West Minster College, Pennsyl- vania, finished his course in Ohio University,. Athens, Ohio, then entered the senior class at West Minster, and graduated in the re- gular collegiate course in 1859. When twenty-six years of age, he taught for some time, and studied theology. At the breaking out of the war, he enlisted in the Ninety-Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which being full, was mustered in the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment, at Camp Portsmouth, as orderly-sergeant of Company E; was soon appointed sergeant major of the regiment, chief clerk of the chief of artillery, Army of the Cumberland. He then received a commission as second lieutenant, and served for some time as regimental adjutant. In 1863 his regiment was changed to first regiment, Ohio heavy artillery, and he was promoted to first lieutenant, and assigned to battery C., and served in this company

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until the close of the war. He united with the associate church in 1855, and still continues a devout member and believer. He is also a member of the Knights of Honor. He was married in 1864, to Miss Esther E. Allison. Her father, Samuel Allison, an old citizen, of Greene County, and her mother, Mary C. Allison were born and reared in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Ohio in 1819. His wife received a thorough education at Glen- dale Female Seminary, then taught school for sometime at Hagers- town, Ind. They have five children, Harry C., Frank S., Walter R., Mary B., and Maggie E., the last named now at rest in the New Jerusalem. In 1871, he received an appointment as United States Indian agent for Capote, Wemeunche, Utes, and Irearilla Apache Indians of northwestern New Mexico, ,and remained with them about two years. IIe was employed in freight, and ticket depart- ments of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, almost four years. At present, he is agent for the Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia.

John W. Baldwin, farmer, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, in the year 1827. He is the son of James and Amy Baldwin, both natives of Virginia. They immigrated to Ohio, in the month of May, 1829, with a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. John, the subject of our sketch, was married in the year 1857, to Miss Laura A. Bonner, daughter of Styth and Maria H. Bonner, of Greene County, Ohio. They have a family of three children, William II., Annie M., and Mary A., all now living. John W. enlisted in the Union army, in 1861, under Captain Samuel T. Owen, in Company C, Seventy-Fourth Reg- iment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Granville Moody, and was engaged in the following battles: Fort Henry, Neeley's Bend, Stone River, Hoover's Gap; Tullahoma, Dug Gap, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Dalton, Resaca, Dallas Gap, Pine Mountain, Pumpkin-vine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach-tree Creek, Chat- tahoochie River, Atlanta, and Jonesborough, Georgia, where he re- signed his commission as second lieutenant, and came home, No- vember 4, 1864. He received his education in Greene County, where he has spent the greater portion of his life; is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is one of the leading farmers of Greene County.

Brinton Baker, dealer in saddles and harness, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1807. Thomas and Sarah,

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his parents, were both born in Pennsylvania, and immigrated to Ohio in 1812, and have since made this county their home. It is said the first saw mill in the county was built by them. Brinton, the subject of this sketch, was married, in 1831, to Miss Eliza Hiv- ling, of Xenia, Ohio. Six children were born to them, Abraham H., Sarah, John A., Joshua S., Eliza J., and an infant. Abraham, the only one living, is in partnership with his father, was educated in Xenia, and has spent his life here. Mr. Baker was reared by Quaker parents, and is a very moral man. He served as county treasurer from 1852 to 1857, and has been a county infirmary director for fifteen years. He has always been, and is to-day, one of the energetic business men of Xenia. Abraham is now living on the same lot on which he was born. In 1865 he was married to Miss Sallie A. J. Miller, of Frederick City, Maryland, and is the father of three children, Mary E., John A., and Rachel J., all of whom are living with their parents. When the war broke out, he was one of the first to respond, and after its close came home with an honorable discharge, and resumed his labors at his trade. IIe and his father to-day are in the foremost rank in their business.

Andrew HI. Boughman, retired banker, Xenia, Ohio, was born in the State of Maryland, in the year 1807. Ile is a son of An- drew and Esther Baughman, who immigrated to Ohio about the year 1800, with a family of six children, four sons and two daughters. Andrew, the subject of this sketch, while yet in Mary- land learned the milling trade, and after coming to Ohio he at- tended a mill owned by John Harbine, and continued with him about two years. He then rented J. Snyder's mill, and attended it on the shares for some six years, and then with Casper Snyder bought it, and run it until the year 1853, when they sold out. HIe then came to Xenia, and engaged in farming, trading, etc., and in 1876 he was elected president of the First National Bank of Xenia. When he came to this country his circumstances were such that he was compelled to walk the whole distance from Hagerstown, Mary- land, to Xenia, and worked for sometime for his board and clothes. His untiring energy, and industrious habits and faithfulness to business have gained for him a position in life, and among business men a place attained by very few. He held the office of township trustee, and was commissioner for twelve years; president of the city council for a number of years; has been a member of the Odd-fellows for thirty-four years, and is a member of the grand

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lodge and grand encampment; has been a member of the Reform Church for over forty years, filling some office of importance nearly all the time. He has never had any children, but like a Christian gentleman has raised three children of other parents. He was married in 1833, and his wife is still living, assisting in cheering his declining years.

George A. Barnes, furniture dealer, Xenia, Ohio, was born in that city, July 14, 1837. He is a son of Henry and Ruth Barnes, who had a family of thirteen children. George A., the subject of our sketch, was married December 27, 1872, to Miss Julia Ann Wright, daughter of George and Sarah Wright, of Xenia, Ohio. They have a family of five children, two sons and three daughters, Clarence, Anna, Lester, and a pair of twins, Ethel and Ester. IIe spent his time with his father at the carpentering business until he was twenty-one years of age, and in 1856 he left home and went to Pike's Peak, and, not liking things there, continued his travels to California, where he remained but a short time. He came back to Salt Lake; and then to Kansas, where he took charge of a mail train. He then resided at St. Joe, Missouri, when he went to Kan- sas City, and thence to Santa Fe, New Mexico. While at Salt Lake, his business was with General Percival Smith, as superinten- dent of supply trains for the government. Ile then went to Santa Fe, and from there to the Rio Grande, to Texas, and when the first notes of war were sounded he was in New Orleans, and had to make his way overland, as best he could, to Evansville, Indiana, where he enlisted in the first regiment he met, the Twenty-Fourth Indiana, Colonel A. P. Hovey. He went into camp at Vincennes, where he joined Company A, and was mustered in as a private, then promoted to corporal, and in a short time was promoted to duty sergeant. When the regiment was ordered to St. Louis, they joined Fremont, and his company was ordered on duty to guard the first gun-boat built, the ironclad " Benton." He then went with Fremont to West Missouri, where the famous Zagoni charge was made. He was again promoted, to orderly sergeant, and, re- turning to Jefferson City, Missouri, they took boats for the Tennes- see River, and participated in the fight at Fort Donalson, Fort Henry, and Shiloh, where the regiment was assigned to Lew Wal- lace's division. He was then promoted to sergeant-major. They then crossed the country to Memphis, arriving in time for the naval engagement, and remained in command of the city for a

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week; thence to Helena, Arkansas, when they were ordered up White River, to reinforce General Curtis; was in several engage- ments on White River; then returned to Helena, where he was promoted to captain, and assigned to the First Arkansas regiment, to raise the first colored regiment on the Mississippi River, by order of Adjutant-General Thomas. He was promoted to major of the regiment, which was mustered in as the Forty-Sixth United States Infantry, equipped and in service inside of two weeks, at Lake Providence. It was then assigned to Goodrich's Landing, where one entire company, officers and men, were captured and shot down. He was also in the massacre at Millakin's Bend, and in three months they had only three hundred and eighty-one left out of one thousand and fifty men. From there they went to Vieks- burg, where he was under Sherman; up the Yazoo, and had a fight at Chickasaw Bayou; then returned to Memphis, and took charge of a picket post in 1863 and 1864; thence to New Orleans, where he was made enrolling officer, under General Banks; and from there to Brazos Santiago, on the western coast of Texas; thence up the Rio Grande, and captured the last rebel stronghold. The war being over, he got a leave of absence for six months, and raised a company of three hundred men called Cortenas' Guerrillas, who were equipped by the United States, and crossed the river and organized the liberal movement under the great Mexican chief, General Cortenas, at Bagdad, Mexico. They then went to Mata- moras, and after a week's siege captured the entire garrison, con- sisting of French and Austrian troops. Afterwards the prisoners were sent to Viseconise. When their army gained force sufficient, they went into the interior and through the war until Maxamillian was captured at Queratta, and saw him shot. He afterwards join- ed his regiment at Brownsville, and from there returned to New Orleans, where he took the yellow fever in 1867, and was compell- ed to resign on account of ill-health. He returned to Xenia, and was soon appointed superintendent of the county infirmary, which position he held three years, since which time he has been engaged in the furniture business, and has a trade second to none.

Hon. Isaac M. Barrett, miller and farmer, Spring Valley, was born in Saratoga County, New York, in 1827. He is the son of George and Mahala Barrett. His father is a native of Vermont; his mother, of New York. They had a family of ten children, Ma- ria B., Sarah, Mahala M., Mary L., Calista A., Rosanna, Isaac M.,

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Slocum, John R., and Merritt H. They immigrated to Ohio in 1838. Isaac M., the subject of our sketch, was married, in 1852, to Miss Rebecca Swayne, daughter of Thomas and Eliza Swayne, of Clarke County. They have a family of ten children, Swayne T., George, Evans, John R., Isaac M., Don Carlos, Clifford, Clara Bell, Mary Ella, and Hattie. George and Isaac M. are dead. His wife died in January, 1855, and in March, 1859, he married his present wife. He held the commission of major in the service; was at Cumber- land Gap, Virginia, and was mustered out in 1863. He also held the office of internal revenue assessor for the Seventh Congressional District for over three years, and represented Greene Comty in the legislature for four years, from 1873 to 1877. Received his ap- pointment as revenue assessor from Abraham Lincoln, being the first appointed in the seventh district. Ile inaugurated and organ- ized the entire system of levying internal revenue taxes for that district. Mr. Barrett is a self-made man. He inherited nothing from his ancestors, but through his untiring energy has climbed to his present position. He is not only one of the most popular of men, but among the wealthiest, owning some of the finest farms in the county, and is also owner of the Spring Valley Mills, one of the best paying institutions in the county. He is a Republican in politics, and always is a ready worker for the cause of right, and gives with a liberal hand to the needy.

Peter O. Benham, farmer, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Greene County, Ohio, in 1839, and is the son of Peter and Catharine Ben- ham, both natives of Cincinnati, Ohio, who came to Montgomery County, Ohio, about the year 1830, with a family of twelve chil- dren, six sons and six daughters. Peter, the subject of our sketch, was married, February 18, 1864, to Miss Elizabeth A. Stemble, of Xenia, Ohio, daughter of Frederick Stemble, one of Xenia's oldest inhabitants, who held an office in that place over twenty years, a fact to which every boy in Xenia, during his reign as city marshal, can testify. Our subject has had a family of six children, three of - whom died in infancy, and the living are Blanchie S., Harry F., and George W. When the war broke out, he was among the first to respond to the call, and on the 8th day of October, 1861, enlist- ed under Captain Fisher, in Company E, Seventy-Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued in the service until May 22, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge. He was in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Jonesborough, Kenesaw and

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Lookout Mountains, Peach-tree Creek, and Fort McAllister, on the Atlantic Ocean; was sergeant of his company, and for bravery was detached, on the 18th of October, 1863, and placed on General Jeff. C. Davis' staff, who was in command of the Fourteenth Army Corps, and held the responsible position of commander of an am- bulance train. He was captured on the 22d of February, 1865, by General Wheeler's force, and put in Saulsbury Prison, and from there to Andersonville, and thence to Libby, where so many of our brave soldiers suffered worse than death. He was finally released, and on the 22d day of March, 1865, started for "Home, sweet home." He received his education in the Beaver Creek High School, where he has spent the greater portion of his life. He is a member of the Odd-Fellows, and holds the office of vice grand, and is also a member of the Encampment. He now resides on a farm, about two and a half miles west of Xenia, and by his genial disposition and correct habits has gained many warm friends.

William T. Beall, farmer, Xenia, Ohio, was born in Allegheny County, Maryland, in the year 1798. He is a son of John and Eleanor Beall, who immigrated to Kentucky about 1810, and stopped at Maysville about two years; came to Ohio in the year 1812, and located on Cæsar's Creek, with a family of nine sons and four daughters. William T., the subject of this memoir, located in Greene County in the year 1823; was married in the year 1822, to Isbellanna Alexander, a daughter of old Colonel John Alexander, who was a representative of the county to congress for two terms. Mr. Beall has an interesting family of four sons and six daughters. Ile received a portion of his education in Maryland, and a portion in Kentucky, and finished it in Greene County. He was, after the war of 1812, one of the old militia captains, who used to pa- rade in after days with their cornstalk guns, etc., and were so noted for obeying orders from their officers. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now one of its trustees. He is a solid Republican, and gave four of his sons to the Union, and only regreted that he had not a dozen more to give. His eldest son, John A., was lieutenant of a company in the Ninety-Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and his third son, Eli C., was color-ser- geant in the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry ; and George W., and Washington T., were privates under Colonel Robert Stephenson. All proved themselves gallant soldiers, and at the close of the war were honorably discharged. His youngest

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son, Washington, is now seeking his fortune among the Black Hills. The old gentleman and lady were agreeably surprised on the anniversary of the fiftieth year of their married life; he being presented with a fine gold-headed cane and pair of spectacles, and his wife with a very fine breast-pin and pair of spectacles; but they were still more surprised to see the host of friends that greeted them on the occasion.

James M. Beatty, carpenter, Xenia, was born in Rochester, New York, in 1840. He is a son of James and Isabella Beatty, both of whom were born in Ireland, and immigrated to New York, and from there to Ohio, about the year 1848, and settled in Montgom- ery County, with a family of four sons and one daughter, Robert, James, William, George, and Katie, all of whom are now living. James, the subject of this memoir, when he first came to Ohio, en- tered into the carpenter business with his father, where he re- mained two years, and when the war broke out he enlisted in Com- pany A, Ninety-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Anderson, our ex-governor, and remained in the service of his country for three years, undergoing many privations and having some very narrow escapes. He was taken prisoner on the 20th day of December, 1863, at Chickamauga, and remained such for twenty months. While a prisoner he was conveyed to Belle Island, near Richmond, and thence to Smithsburg, Camp Libby, where he re- mained some two months; then he was removed to Danville, Vir- ginia, and put in prison No. 5, where he remained about four months; and from there he escaped and was recaptured by blood- hounds at Plymouth, and taken to Warrington and put in jail; thence he was taken to Rolla and put in conscript camp, where he remained some three weeks; thence to Andersonville, Georgia, where he remained just one year; then he was sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he went into prisoners camp. From there he started, on the 25th of April, for home. On the 27th, the boat blew up, and from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred lives were lost. During his prison life he made several escapes, but in every instance the blood-hounds brought him to bay. He was promoted to second sergeant during the war, and after he landed in Column- bus he felt as though he was again breathing the free air of Ohio, his beloved " Home, Sweet Home." At one time during his im- prisonment, himself and comrades made their escape through a tunnel one hundred and sixty feet long, which they dug, and came

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History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio, Part 45

Author: R. S. Dills Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1037

Author: R. S. Dills
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1037