USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 70
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Philip F. Cost, retired farmer, Osborn, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, October 20, 1809, and is a son of John and Rachael (Souder) Cost, both natives of Loudon County, Virginia. They immigrated to this state in 1817, locating in Bath Township,. on the road leading from Dayton to Yellow Springs. Here they lived on a farm, and reared their family of thirteen children, nine of whom reached maturity. About the year 1840, they removed to Fairfield, where he died in 1850; his wife in 1866. Philip F. was reared on the farm, and received his education in the common schools of the time, having but slight opportunity to give to the acquiring of knowledge, as his services were required on the farm. By natural genius, however, he has been able to conduct a success- ful business, and accumulate a large property. He has been twice married. First, in 1829, to Jane Wolff, who bore him eight chil- dren; second, to Hannah N., widow of Joseph E. Williamson.
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Mr. Cost has followed farming all his life, though in his early man- hood he was employed at coopering during the winter season, as was the custom of many at that day. Since 1817 he has lived here, with the exception of eight and one-half years in Shelby County. Two of his sons, John Philip and George T., were in the war of the rebellion. The eldest was killed at Liberty Gap in 1863, and George T. lost his right arm at Stone River; he lives now near Xenia, on the Dayton Pike. Mr. Cost lived on the old home place till seven or eight years ago, when he removed to Osborn. His farm con- sists of three hundred and twenty-one acres. Five of his children are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Cost are members of the Reformed Church, of which they are active and earnest workers, having the disposition both to will and to do.
Mitchell J. Ennis, general store and postmaster, Byron, was born in Sugar Creek Township, April 30, 1818, and is a son of Thomp- son and Sarah (Mitchell) Ennis. Thompson came to this county prior to 1800, in company with four of his brothers, John, Jere- miah, Samuel, and Jesse, and a sister. They entered lands on Sugar Creek, where they lived and reared their families. Coming from Pennsylvania, they were hardy farmers, and gave their atten- tion to coopering, as did many other early settlers, during the winter season. According to the custom of that day, by hand dis- tilleries they manufactured their corn into whisky. Thompson was the father of nine boys and three girls: Vincent, John, Sarah, Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary, Jeremiah, Mitchell J., Thompson, Lemuel, William, and an infant, deceased. Of this large family six are still living, and five are residents of this state. Mitchell J., was left without parents at the early age of ten years, his mother dying when he was only five years old. After the death of his father, he lived with a farmer for two years, then with Dr. William Bell, of Bellbrook, with whom he stayed three years, and prac- ticed in the rudiments, i, e., the art of rolling pills, etc. He then went to the city of Dayton, where he served an apprenticeship in employment of Edward M. Burr, saddler, after which he again re- turned to Bellbrook, where he worked at journey work, and carried on the saddlery business for three years. Here he cast his first presidential vote for William II. Harrison. IIe then removed to Byron with his business, where he conducted the same for eight years, then began clerking for Schaner & Wilson; then followed the goods as they passed from this firm to Folkerth & Son, and
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afterwards to Wolf & Son, some ten years in all. At this time his health failing, he traveled through the southern part of the state selling fruit-trees, and during the winter of 1860-61, worked at his trade. In May, 1861, bought the property where he now keeps, restocked the establishment, and has continued business ever since, carrying a general line of goods. Mr. Ennis has been a happy old bachelor these many years. He is attached to the Masonic and Odd Fellows' fraternities, occupying high positions in both, being a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F. Mr. Ennis is a fraternity man not alone in name, but his daily life shows that he loves the principles of these organizations.
Joseph M. Folck, retired, Oshorn, is a native of this township, and was born July 9, 1824. Is a son of Daniel and Mary (Muir- heide) Folek. Daniel was a son of John George Folck, who came to this state from Pennsylvania, about the year 1802 or 1803, in company with the Wolf's, Wilsons, and Heffleys, and located near where Byron now stands, each buying a large tract of land with their surplus means. Here he lived and reared his family of four boys, George, Abram, John, and Daniel, and died in 1839. IIe was a practicing physician during this period, and many people came from a distance to receive treatment. After his death the farm was divided, being sufficient to give each a farm. Abram, however, de- sired money, and in the division the old homestead fell to Daniel. Here he followed the fortunes of the farm till his death, in 1841, leaving a wife and five children, George, Joseph, .John, Barbara, and Mary Ann, all of whom survive but George. After the death of his father, Joseph labored on a farm till he arrived at maturity, and then lived with his aunt, Mrs. Susan Folck, and assisted her in preparing medicine, afterward farming until the last four years, when he left the farm and removed to Osborn, where he is spend- ing his declining years in case and luxury. He was joined in wed- lock to Barbara Ann Shigley. The family seem naturally to turn their attention to the healing art, as three generations have been practicing physicians-Dr. John George; his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Dr. Susan Folck, who died leaving no posterity ; and Mrs. Dr. Bar- bara Folck, wife of Joseph M., who has been practicing for thirty- three years independently, besides several years in connection with Mrs. Dr. Susan Folck. During the first few years of her practice she traveled some, but for several years has given her entire atten- tion to her extensive office practice. Mr. and Mrs. Folck are active
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members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which they have been connected for many years.
John Haddox is a native of Harrison County, West Virginia; born December 29, 1791; son of Nimrod and Elizabeth (Saylor) Maddox, both natives of Virginia. They immigrated to this state in 1801 or 1802, stopping one year near Chillicothe, on Deer Creek. Not being satisfied there, they moved westward, and located in this county, on a farm, where he remained till the time of his death, acting in the capacity of justice of the peace during three years of the time, and died, in 1816, from injuries received by falling from a load of hay, caused by the sudden starting of the team. His wife died the same year, leaving three children, John, Nimrod, and Mary. John Haddox was reared on the farm, receiving but little education, and that in the common schools of the new country- log buildings, with greased paper for windows. After having attained his majority, he lived on a rented farm, and kept the fam- ily till in his twenty-fourth year, at which time he married Sallie Cox, and began life in earnest. After much hard work and shrewd management, he entered the southeast quarter of section 29, town 3, range 8, which, by the division of the county, now lies in Clarke, adjoining the county line. There he made a permanent home, and reared his family of seven children, of whom Malinda, William, John R., Sarah, George, and Maria are living, and Nimrod deceased. He continued living on the farm till some twenty years ago, when he rented his farms, and went to Jasper County, Indiana, where he bought nine hundred acres of land, a mill, and still-house, and put his boys on the same, remaining there about eight years. With the exception of this time, he has lived in this immediate vicinity since his boyhood; and although starting in life poor, he has, by good management, strict economy, and hard labor, accumulated a large property, owning several farms in this section of the country after having given his children a good start in life. Mr. Haddox is a man of strong constitution and temperate habits, and although now nearly fourscore years and ten, he is able to attend to his busi- ness affairs and see after his farms, visiting them at least once a week. In politics he is a staunch Republican, and says, with pride, that he never voted a Democratic ticket. He has been instru- mental in bringing about many of the improvements with which the county is now blessed.
Peter E. Hardman, farmer, was born on the farm where he now
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lives, April 1, 1824. He is a son of Peter and Sarah Edge Hard- man, natives of Virginia. The early history of the parents of our subject, demands a passing notice at our hands. His father was of German descent, born in Hardy County, Virginia, but was reared to manhood in Harrison County, where he married Margaret Hacker, in whose carly history a scene of horror and bloodshed, only paralleled by those of the Minnesota massacre of 1862 and 1863, was enacted. As related by them in after years, it was briefly as follows: She was eleven years old, and was at the house of a married sister, on Hacker's Creek, near Clarksburg, Virginia, when a company of marauding Indians passed through the country and murdered the entire family, tomahawking and scalping every one of them. Margaret tried to conceal herself behind a door, while the work of death was going on, but she was soon discovered, and one of the savages gave her a blow on the side of the head, which felled her to the floor as if dead. They then proceeded to take the scalps from the heads of the entire family: They dragged little Margaret by the hair a distance of some five hundred yards, severed her scalp and threw her over a fence, and left her to welter in her blood, but looking back and thinking that possibly life was not ex- tinet, one of them returned and stabbed her with his knife. The point, however, struck a rib, and it would seem that only by the direct intervention of fate was her life spared, and she the progeni- tor of a large family. She was left weak from the loss of blood, and was not able for some time to change her position, but finally was so far restored, as to be able to crawl in to the thick branches of a fallen tree, where she remained through the following night, in fear of the return of the dreaded enemy, after which she managed to get back to the scene of horror, at the now desolate house of her sister, where she was found and cared for. She grew to womanhood, and as we have said, was married to Peter Hardman sometime in 1798, and came to this state in 1808, and died July 20, 1815, in her thirty-ninth year. The remote cause of her death was the blow from the Indian tomahawk. She, however, bore her husband ten children, all of whom survive her. Mr. Hardman's boyhood, was spent among the mountains of his native state. He had early been apprenticed to a blacksmith, and his acquaintance with working iron and steel, became very useful to him in his new home in the west. He became a subject of divine grace as early as 1804, with so much zeal that in the course of another year he was
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licensed as a local Methodist preacher. He came here in 1808, and made a home on the east side of what is known as Tatman's Prairie. After defraying the expenses of the trip, which was by road wagon, with four horses, he had just $1.25 left. Here he lived .and labored, nor did he neglect the gifts or graces of preacher and exhorter, but whenever in private dwelling or in school houses, he could get an audience on the Sabbath or week-day evenings, there he delighted in preaching the Gospel of Christ. In October, 1815, he married for his second wife, Mrs. Sarah Edge, a widow with two children. She bore him seven children, making seventeen in all, besides the two of his wife's, which were adopted into the same family. He remained on the original farm, till 1852, when he re- moved to Osborn, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying the 30th day of July, 1857. His posterity consisted of seventeen children, eighty-two grandchildren, fifty-two great grandchildren, and four great, great, grand children, in all, one hundred and fifty- five souls. Peter E., the subject of this sketch, is a son of the second wife. He lived with his father until he was twenty-one, and then began cropping on the shares, having every thing furnished and he getting the one-third. After four years, he and his brother W. R., rented the farm up to the time of the death of their father, when the property was left them by will. They continued farming together up to 1875 or 1876, since which time, Peter E. has had the entire charge of the farm of one hundred and thirty-four acres, and has, also, a two-thirds interest in one hundred and thirty-six acres near Yellow Springs, besides a house and other property in Osborn. He has acquired his competence by hard work and loaning money, which he began by loaning nine dollars. He followed the plan carefully, always living within his means, and made it a rule to have a little surplus. For some years past, he has quit heavy or regular labor in the fields. In 1848, he married Maria Clayton, who has borne him seven children, four of whom, Sarah C., Owen P'., James R. and Cassius M., are living. George W., Ellen M., and Mertie, deceased-George W., in 1852, when three years of age, of scarlet fever; Ellen, an estimable young lady of nineteen, of spinal complaint, in 1873; and Mertie, the youngest, by ten or eleven years, of membranous croup, in 1872. During the last twelve or, fifteen years, Mr. Hardman has been' dealing quite extensively in cattle, buying, grazing and raising.
Reuben C. Hoover, physician, Osborn, was born in Shippensburg,
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Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1821, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Smith) Hoover. His father was a wagon-maker by trade, and followed that business where our subject was born. Dr. Hoover was educated at Shippensburg, and read medicine in Adams County, under Dr. Joseph M. Smith, his uncle. He attend- ed lectures at the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, and afterward at the Pennsylvania Medical College, at the same place, where he graduated. He practiced five years, between the two courses, at Centerville, Cumberland County, and five years at the same place after he graduated. In 1854 he came to this state, stopping one year at Springfield, after which he came to Bath Township, where he has remained ever since, practicing in Osborn and Fairfield. In 1843 he married Catharine Smith, who bore him five children : Calvin, Margaret (Mrs. Cox), Emma, Laura, and Reuben C., jr. Of these, two only are living : Reuben C., M. D., who graduated in 1876, at the Cleveland Medical College; and Mrs. Cox. Calvin was a physician, also, dying at the age of thirty- two. Dr. Hoover has now an extensive practice, and enjoys the confidence of many friends.
Simon S. Huffer, farmer, Osborn, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1813, and is a son of Abraham and Eliza- beth (Stoner) Huffer, both natives of the same county. They moved, with their family, to this state, in 1815, and located at what has since been known as Huffersville, within a short distance of where Simon S. now lives. Abraham was a weaver and distiller, and brought a still with him from Pennsylvania, which he used in a modest way the remainder of his life. They had six sons and one daughter : John, Samuel, Abraham, Joseph, Simon S., Annie Eliza, and Daniel S. Four of them are still living-Annie E. in Illinois, the remainder in this state. Ile owned some seven hun- dred acres of land where he lived. At an early date he built IIuf- fer's Mill, and did a flourishing business for the time, making as many as fifty and sixty barrels of flour per day. In many ways he assisted much in the growth and prosperity of the country. Ile died August 29, 1843, after, having attained the age of sixty-six years. His wife survived him until the 9th of August, 1862, dying in her eighty-third year. Simon S. Huffer, as has been seen, came to this state with his parents when only two years of age, and has lived where he now resides ever since. In his early life, he follow- ed farming, in connection with teaming, but since his marriage
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has devoted his entire attention to farming, making a specialty of raising grain. August 16, 1840, he married Maria Wise. They are parents of three children: Abraham J., born July 5, 1842; John J., born January 22, 1845; and Ann Maria, born January 7, 1847. Two, John J. and Ann M., are living, she at home, he near them. Abraham died September 12, 1871. Mr. and Mrs Huffer are hale and active, spending their declining years in the enjoy- ment of the fruits of their early life.
Simon Koogler, retired, Osborn, was born in Beaver Creek Township, September 30, 1817, and is a son of Jacob and Kindla (Harner) Koogler. He was a native of Pennsylvania, she of Ger- many, coming to this country when about five years old. . Both immigrated to Ohio in 1794, with their parents, and stayed for pro- tection in the fort called Columbia, a short distance above Cincin- nati, for some time., They then located where Camp Dennison now is, in Clermont County. In the year 1800, they moved to Beaver Creek Township, where they located on a farm, and there Jacob and Kindla (who was his step-sister) were married in 1802, being the fifth couple who were joined in wedlock within the limits of this county. There they lived the rest of their lives, and reared their family of ten children : Catherine, George, Samuel, Mary, Solomon, Mathias, Sarah, Simon, Jacob and John. All are living but Sarah and Mathias, and all residents of this state, except one, who is in Iowa. They are all farmers, each owning a good farm. She died November 27, 1858, aged seventy-five years; he died on September 15, 1870, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Simon has been a farmer all his life, living on the homestead until he was fifty-seven years old ; he then moved to Osborn and retired from active life, having been afflicted with rheumatism for the past ten years. In 1839 he married Elizabeth Parsons, a native of Rock- bridge County, Virginia. They are parents of nine children: Jacob II., Jane, David P., Sarah C., Isabella P., Eliza J., John W., Elizabeth E., and Annie L. Six are living; two, Jane and Eliza J., died in infancy. Jacob H., died in the army, a member of the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Of the remain- ing members, there are four who now reside in this county, one in Madison county, and one in the state of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Koogler are members of the German Reformed Church, with which they have been connected for forty years, trying to live consistent, Christian lives. In politics he has always been a staunch
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Republican. The family on Mrs. Koogler's side have been promi- nent in the wars of the country. Her grandfather was in the rev- olution, her father in the war of 1812, and two sons, Jacob H. and David P., in the rebellion. David P. was a member of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry.
John Louck, grocer, Fairfield, was born in York County, Penn- sylvania, January 12, 1813, and is a son of George and Catherine (Hoffman) Louck, both natives of Pennsylvania. The family were originally from Alsace, Germany. John's grandfather came to this country before the revolution, and was a member of the American . army. George Louck died at Baltimore, Maryland. His wife married again, but after the death of her second husband, came to this state, and died at Spring Hill, Champaign County, in August, 1874. John Louek spent his boyhood with his father, who was a butcher, assisting in his work. In 1821, went to Baltimore, where his father died in 1826. He afterwards went into the country, near Hanover, Pennsylvania, where his grandfather and an uncle lived, and made his home with them on a farm. He learned the trade of shoemaking, but not being satisfied with the business, he engaged in the butchering business, which he had learned from his father, and in 1835 came to Ohio, locating at Fairfield, where he has since remained, with the exception of about six months in 1844, when he went west and bought land, but becoming sick soon after arriving there, he decided te return to the valley of the Mad River. After coming to the state he teamed for a year and then opened a butcher shop. Afterwards farmed for several years, and on returning from the west in 1844, opened a shoe shop. In 1854 he was elected treasurer of Greene County for a term of two years, and in some unaccountable way was $2,480 short at the end of his term, which he promptly paid, taking nearly all the property he owned. The first house he ever owned he sold to pay a security debt. Of late, however, he has been more successful, owning the property where he carries on business and the house where he lives, together with some other property. During the past eleven years, he has been engaged in the grocery business at Fairfield. For the past forty years Mr. Louck has been an auctioneer in connection with his other business, being one of the best known criers in this section of country. In 1833 he was married to Elizabeth Burk. They are parents of eight children, Lney Ann, Catharine, Mary, Margaret, John, and Laura, living; George and Christiana, deceased. Mr.
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Louek came from Pennsylvania with a team through the then almost unbroken forest, and although he started on the 1st of- May, he frequently encountered snow-storms among the mountains. Hle spent seventeen days on the road. For a number of years past Mr. Louek has been identified with the pioneers of this and adjoin- ing counties, as the leader of the far-famed Old Folk's Choir. He has held the office of constable ten or eleven years, and at present (1880) is township clerk. These opportunities, together with his genial nature, have made him one of the best known men in the county.
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Peter Mitman, retired, is a native of York County, Pennsylvania, born February 12, 1810, and is a son of Jacob, and Magdalena (Herring) Mitman, of Pennsylvania. He was a farmer, and re- moved to this state, in 1838, locating near Fairfield, where he spent the remainder of his life. . They were parents of ten children, four of whom are now living. He died about the year 1859, at an ad- vanced age. Ilis wife preceded him to her last resting place some five years. Our subject was reared on the farm, and received his education in the common schools of that age, which, though limi- ted, he afterward developed by careful study, fitting himself for successful business operations. In 1833, while a single man, allured ` by the glowing reports of the west, he, in company with two other men started on a pedestrian tour through Ohio. Coming to Pitts- burg, thence down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, then again on foot by way of Dayton through this section, stopping over night at Fairfield, thence to Columbus, Wooster and Canton, to Trumbull County, intending to call on an acquaintance who had gone there sometime previous : not finding him, they continued their journey through Columbiana County, back to Pittsburg and home again, making the round trip in five weeks, his entire expenditures amounting to $24.00. In 1837, the times being hard in Penn- sylvania, and remembering the beautiful valleys of Ohio he had seen four years before, he again started for Ohio, this time having his wife and child, and his entire effects on a one horse wagon. Hle came over mountains, through unbroken forests, with untiring energy, till he reached this county and located near Fairfield. The following spring he rented a large farm in Montgomery County, as his father was coming with five head of horses. Here they worked together one year, after which his father bought the farm where Lewis C. Mitman now lives, which he sold to Peter, and he
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in turn to his son. Starting in life poor, Mr. Mitman labored hard with marked success to gain an independence in this world. At the same time, he has always devoted a portion of his means to the building up of churches and other institutions, for bettering the condition of society. He and his wife are members of the Luth- eran Church. He is the father of four children, Rebecca, Sarah, Lewis C., and Aun Maria, living ; and William O., deceased. Mr. Mitman has filled the office of trustee for many years, and in 1870 was land appraiser for his precinct.
Henry HI. Rockafield, farmer, Fairfield, was born in this township, October 6, 1836. Is a son of John and Susan E. (Cost) Rockafield, the former a native of Frederick County, Maryland, who spent his youth in three states, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, work- ing in coal mines, chopping wood on the mountains, and other pur- snits peculiar to that country. Came to this state about the year 1820, and engaged at work with Mr. Cost, afterward his father-in- law. After some years he married Susan E. Cost, and went on to a tract of land belonging to her father, which, in the course of time, he came in possession of. Here he labored for many years, and reared his family of thirteen children, ten of whom are now living. He died in July, 1859, and was buried on the farm, where he had spent the greater part of his life. His wife died ten years previous. Our subject was reared on this farm, and received his education in the common schools. After the decease of his father, he farmed the place till 1869, at which time the youngest heir be- came of age, and the farm was sold. He then went to German Township, Montgomery County, where he purchased land, on which he lived nine years, and then sold and came back near his birth- place, buying the property on which he lives. He has been twice married ; first in 1857, to Rebecca Carter, who bore him four chil- dren, and died in 1868. The second marriage was consummated in in 1869, with Mary Ann Haller. They have one boy as a result of this union. Mr. Rockafield served his country four months in the One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth Ohio National Guard.
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