History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 118

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Ohio > Knox County > History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present > Part 118

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Mr. and Mrs. Gilman Bryant lived to celebrate their golden wedding, which proved to be a rare and interesting occasion. It was celebrated in Mt. Vernon, at the residence of their son- in-law, Mr. James W. Miller, March 2, 1859. The following, as taken from the published account of the affair at that time, will be interesting to their descendants and friends:

"The occasion was the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of our old, well known, and esteemed fellow- citizen, Gilman Bryant, and his respected lady, as it was also the thirtieth anniversary of the marriage of their eldest daughter, Mrs. George Browning, the oldest native of this city now living within the county. The highly interesting and affecting cere- monies were heralded to the guests by the following card:

Married: March 2, 1809, GILMAN BRYANT, ELIZABETH TIIRIFT. Golden Wedding.

J. W. Miller and Lady, Compliments. Wednesday Evening, March 2, 1859."

The party was composed almost exclusively of relatives, num- bering some seventy persons, and embracing five generations, viz: The remarkable mother of Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Coleman, a spirited old lady of eighty-seven years; the bride, Mrs. G. Browning; Mrs. S. L. Taylor, daughter of Mrs. Browning, and the four children of Mrs. Taylor, Emma, Fannie, Georgie, and Eddie.

At a giving signal the company repaired to the dining-room to partake of the wedding supper, which was rich, rare, and abundant. Upon several cakes were beautifully iced names, de- vices, and dates, and on the bride's cake a pair of delicate little doves in the act of billing. The company being seated the Rev. Charles Hartley, of Utica, chaplain of the occasion, arose and pronounced a beautiful and appropriate blessing.

After feasting upon the good things, all returned to the par- lors, where the parties directly participating were grouped in a semi-circle as follows: The bride and groom in the centre, Mr. and Mrs. Browning and Mrs. Coleman on the right, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and their daughter Emma on their left; thus pre- senting in the eldest born of each family an unbroken chain of five generations, the eldest and youngest occupying the ex- tremes of the figure. Thus placed, and with the guests stand- ing around them, the Rev. Mr. Hartley presented himself to the centre of the group and invoked the blessing of heaven up- on all present in a very impressive prayer, after which, in a most eloquent and feeling manner, delivered an appropriate ad- dress. The address closed, Mr. Hartley advanced to Mr. and Mrs. Bryant and requested them to join hands, when the mar- riage ceremoney was re-enacted in a most solemn and beautiful manner, the parties renewed their pledges of love made fifty years ago, and the gallant groom placed upon the finger of his bride the golden ring as an emblem of the unending duration of his affection. Then followed the congratulations and a general kissing of the happy pair, in which ancient custom the whole company participated with a zest that smacked loudly of the olden time.

Hannah Moffett, the great-great-grandmother, was born in Leeshurgh, Virginia, February 27, 1772, four years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and at the time of the golden wedding it was ascertained by an enumeration that her lineal descendants reached the extraordinary number of one hundred and sixty, of whom only twenty-nine had deceased, and of these but four adults.

Quite a host of other relatives, husbands and wives, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, were present, includ- ing five generations in another line of descent through Mrs. J. W. Miller, her son, J. B. Miller, and his little daughter, Jennie May.

Mr. Bryant did not long survive the golden wedding. There seemed to have settled upon his heretofore jovial disposition an air of sadness. To the solicitous enquiry of family and friends he expressed the strange belief that the event just celebrated had some connection with the close of his earthly career. The frailities of age reminded him of an inability for further useful- ness, and on the tenth day of June, the same year, he passed away, greatly lamented by all who knew him.

BRYANT, SAMUEL, was born in Morris county, New Jersey, October 15, 1799. His father, James Bryant, moved with his family to Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and remained there until 1804, when he came to Ohio and located in Wayne township, this county, bringing only a part

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

of his family with him, but the same fall he returned and brought the younger members of his family. Mr. N. M. Young, Mr. Bryant's brother-in-law, came with him. At that time the country was very thinly settled. They located on a farm in the west part of Wayne, where they attacked the forest and cleared up a home on which they lived four years. They then purchased a farm near Fredericktown where they began anew. Mr. Bryant went to the district schools and received an education such as that day afforded. His time was mostly spent in converting the forest into a harvest field. When about twenty years old he taught school some, and practiced survey- ing for a number of years. He resided on the home farm until 1866, when he came to Mt. Vernon where he still resides. He was married April 4, 1822, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Samuel Potter, by whom he had a family of three children, Ellen B. Headley, now dead; Cassander E., a physician and surgeon of Mt. Vernon, and Orlando, a farmer, two and one-half miles east of Mt. Vernon. Mr. Bryant is now in his eighty-first year, and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, settlers in the county.

BRADDOCK, JOHN SELLERS, dealer in land warrants and real estate, Mt. Vernon, Ohio, The name of Braddock (Saxon Broad-Oak) at once suggests a chapter in colonial his- tory inseparably connected with that of the country, and to trace the history of that family, connecting the past with the present, is the object of this sketch.

Major General Edward Braddock was born in England about 1650, served with distinction under George II, and won for himself the name of an "honest, brave old gentleman." He died at Bath, June 15, 1725, and left one son, then about thirty years of age.

Edward Braddock, jr., was born in England about 1695. On the eleventh day of October, 1710, he entered the army with the rank of ensign in the grenadier company of the Cold Stream guards, "the flower of the British army." Promotion followed rapidly, until, on the twenty-ninth of March, 1754, he was made major general, and in the September following was appointed to the command of all the troops to be sent against the French in America. On the twenty-first of December he sailed for Hamp- ton Roads, in Virginia, where he arrived February 20, 1755. His military career in America, and especially his unfortunate defeat at Braddock's Field, July 9, 1755, and his tragic death four days later, are too well known to require repetition here.

His cousins, John and Raphael Braddock came to America about the same time, located in Baltimore county, Maryland, served in the Revolution, and, after the close of the war, or in 1789, they moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania. Raphael Braddock had four sons-Frank, David, Cyrus and Harvey. David was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, and moved to Washington county, Pennsylvanla, where he died in 1814. Joshua Braddock, son of David and grandson of Frank, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1781, married Susanna Sellers (born October 15, 1783) in 1807, by whom he had ten children-Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret, David, Susan- na, Joshua, Mary, Arena, Anna, and Robert M. Braddock. He moved to Knox county, Ohio, in 1814, and located temporarily in. Morgan township, on the Jacob Sellers farm, where he re- mained until 1816, when he entered six hundred and forty acres of Government land on Schenck's creek in Morris township. He was one of the early settlers in that section of country.

Possessed of Christian character and high moral worth, he was greatly beloved by his neighbors and friends; he was fond

of sport and enjoyed hunting, having killed during his resi- dence in Morris township fifty-four bears, and deer in numbers. He died January 9, 1837.

David, the fourth child and oldest son of Joshua and Susan- nah Sellers Braddock, was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania, November 8, 1813; and Catharine Headington was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, March 6, 1817, and they were married on the twenty-fourth day of March, 1836. David Braddock and Catharine H. Braddock had twelve children, six sons and six daughters. Joshua C. and David W. reside in Sacramento, California; j. Thomas, Rebecca H., Eliza A,, Arena E., and Ruth A. reside near Charleston, Illinois. Two sons and two daughters died in infancy.

John S., the sixth child and second son is the only member of David Braddock's family residing in Ohio. He was born at the old homestead in Morris township, Knox county, Ohio, December 13, 1844, and received a common school and prac- tical education. He was sent by his father, at the age of nine- teen, to Illinois, where he farmed two years. Upon attaining his majority he returned to Knox county, Ohio, and engaged in teaching school during the winters of 1866-7-8-9 and 1870, and travelling the summer months, hunting up, purchasing and selling land warrants. In July, 1870, he went to Nebraska and entered three thousand five hundred acres of land, and in Oc- tober of the same year located in Mt. Vernon, and engaged in the purchase and sale of real estate, together with the land warrant and scrip business; where, by industry, integrity and promptness he has built up a successful and prosperous busi- ness. On the fourth of March, 1869, he married Miss Maggie Burson, daughter of Edward Burson, esq., of Morris township, Knox county, Ohio, who was born January 16, 1851, in Parke county, Indiana.

John S. and Maggie B. Braddock have six children: Orrinda Kate, born September 19, 1870; Edward Burson, born De- cember 3, 1872; Walter David, born March 6, 1875; Maggie May, born May 8, 1877; John Sellers, born June 17, 1879; Alice Anna, born February 23, 1881.

BRYANT, WILLIAM, Wayne township, deceased ; born in New Jersey in 1795, came to Ohio in 1810, and was married to Elizabeth Norton. They had three children, Anna, born in 1819, James in 1821, and William in 1830. Mrs. Elizabeth Bryant died.

Mr. Bryant afterwards married Maria McGinis, who was born in 1810. They had three children, David, born in 1832 ; Jacob, born in 1837, and Rebecca, in 1839. Anna Bryant is dead ; William died in 1877.

Mr. Bryant located in this county at an early day, when the county was mostly in timber and the howl of the wolf, panther and wild-cat could be heard in the forests. He assisted in clearing up the county and building up society and establishing churches. Jacob Bryant was in the late war, a member of the Twentieth O. V. I., remained in the service three years and received an honorable discharge.

BRYANT DAVID, farmer, post office Lucerne. He was born in Knox county in 1832 ; married to Abigail Struble in 1858. They had three children, Naomi Maud, William, and Samuel. Mrs. Abigail Bryant died in 1875. Mr. David Bryant subsequently married Abigail Foote, who was born in Knox county in 1847. Mr. Bryant is a farmer by occupation.

BRYANT, CASSANDER E., M. D., Mt. Vernon, was born in Knox county, Ohio, March 3, 1826. He spent his youth

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

on a farm, attending school in the winter at the country schools, and at the schools at Fredericktown. When about twenty-one years of age he commenced reading medicine with Dr. Lewis Dyer, of Fredericktown, and with Dr. T. R. Potter, his uncle. of the same place. He attended two courses of lectures at Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, graduating in the spring of 1850, and began practice the same year in Fredericktown, with his preceptor, Dr. Potter. He remained there one year and then came to Mt. Vernon. He practiced with Dr. W. F. Mc- Clelland about five years, and with Dr. J. N. Burr for some four years, being in partnership with them. In the spring of 1868, on account of failing health, and in order to get out of practice, he went to Europe, and travelled extensively, remaining there during the summer. He has given up practice.

June 2, 1857, he married Miss Caroline L. Scott, daughter of the late A. G. Scott, of Gambier, Ohio. They have two chil- dren, both daughters, and at home. His parents are both living.

BRYANT, GEORGE M., proprietor livery, feed, and sale stables, South Main street, adjoining the Philo house, Mt. Ver- non, was born in Windsor county, Vermont, June 12, 1825. Up to the year 1853 he followed farming and contracting on rail- roads. In 1853 he came to Ohio and engaged in railroading in Cincinnati and neighborhood, which he followed eighteen months. He then came to Mt. Vernon and went into building and contracting. This business he continued in up to 1875. His next venture was the establishinent of a livery and feed store, in which he is still engaged. His stock in trade is valued at two thousand dollars, consisting of twelve horses and fourteen vehi- cles, among which may be found single and double carriages, barouches, phaetons, and all in good order ready for instant use. His establishment affords first class accommodations for the travelling public.

BUCKMASTER, CORBIN W., Liberty township, was born in Charlestown, Jefferson county, Virginia, April 24, 1798. His father died abont a year after, and his mother, who mar- ried again, died about six years after. He was then taken by his grandfather, with whom he remained until the sixteenth year of his age, when he went to learn the trade of hatter with his uncle, with whom he remained about two years. In 1816 he came to Zanesville, Ohio, and remained three years, being then twenty-one years of age. He then travelled as a journey man in Kentucky, thence to St. Louis. In the spring of 1821 he went to New Orleans, took passage thence to Baltimore, and thenec to his old home in Virginia, where he married Miss Catharine Davis, November 28, 1822. She was a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, born July 29, 1803. He remained in Virginia until 1827, when he came to Zanesville, where he followed his trade for a number of years. He held the office of constable for seven years and justice of the peace for twelve years. While justice of the peace he filled nine civil dockets and one State docket. Ile was considered by all a man of sound judgment. They had a family of nine children, three of whom are living -- William, in Nebraska; Henrietta, wife of J. P. Wintermute; and Catharine, wife of Hiram Fisher.

Mr. and Mrs. Buckmaster are spending the evening of their lives at the residence of their son-in-law, J. P. Wintermute, Mt. Liberty.

BUCKWALTER, JOSHUA, farmer, Berlin township; post office Fredericktown; was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1823, and calle: to Wayne county, Ohio, with his

parents at the age of ten years. He was married to Rachcl Nelson, who was born in Ohio. They had five children: Jehiel, Benjamin, Ann (deceased), Mahala, and J. C. Mrs. Rachel Buckwalter died in Knox county, Ohio, in 1864.

Mr. Buckwalter's second marriage was to Rachel Buckholder, who was born in Knox county in 1834. They have four chil- dren-Herman, William B. (deceased), Rachel, and Philip. Mr. Buckwalter located in Berlin township in 1856, is engaged in farining, and is one of the leading men of the township.

BULYER, ANDREW, carpenter, Pike township; post office North Liberty; born in Pike township, Knox county, in 1832, and was married in 1854 to Martha Grice, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1830. They have two children, Samantha and Byron, both living with their parents. Mr. Bulyer learned the carpenter trade in this county, and has been working at it in different parts of the county.

BULYER, DAVID, farmer, Middlebury township; post office Fredericktown; was born in Pike township February 4, 1836; married in 1864, to Amanda Reep, who was born March 2, 1846. They have two children-Henry Warry, born January 7, 1865, and Lucy, born January 1, 1866. Mr. Bulyer is en- gaged in farming in Middlebury township. He has lived in this township for nine years, and is one of its active and ener- getic citizens.

BUNN, GEORGE W., Mt. Vernon; was born in Mt. Vernon on the seventh of July, 1839, and attended R. R. Sloan's academy, where he received a good English education. When but eleven years old he commenced to learn the painter trade, working during the summer and going to school during the winter. In this way he served nine years at the trade, after which he en- gaged in business for himself, in which he has continued ever since, and in which he has been highly successful. His busi- ness, like his trade, has been ascending the ladder round by round until it has become quite extensive. He employs from twelve to twenty hands per year. He was married to Miss R. M. Crandell, daughter of Russel Crandell, of this city, and had a family of four children, three of whom are living.

BURGER, LEVI S., farmer, Pike township, post office North Liberty, born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and was married, in 12 58, to Catharine Wohlford, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1827. They had elevcu chil- dren : Allison P. (bora in 1855), George W. (in 1860), James L. (in 1861), l'riscilia 1. (in 1864), John E. (in 18(5), Catharine L. (in 1867), Jacob A. (in 1869), Joseph H. (in 1871), William A. (in 1873), Edward I. (m 1876), and Lomorie Bianche (in 1878). The deceased members of the family are George W., Joseph H., and John E.

Mr. and Mrs. Burger are worthy members of the German Baptist church. His father, Jacob Burger, was born in Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, in 1796, and was married to Susan- nah Rush, who was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, in 1798. They had ten children: Rebecca, Elizabeth, Mary, Susan (deceased). Catharine (deceased), Levi S., Hannah, Joseph, Abraham, and Maria (deccased). Mrs. Susannah Bur- ger departed this life in 1848, Jacob Burger in 1886.

Mr. Burger emigrated to Knox county in 1835, and located in this townslip on the same farm where his son Levi now resides. He was a very industrious man, and by Ins in- dustry, economy, and perseverance, he succeeded in clearing and improving one of the most beautiful farms of this township.

MUSSTENG. B

I Buyaut

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

He was a deacon of the German Baptist church, of which he was a member for many years, and remained firm in his religious faith until his death.

BURGESS, MRS. LYDIA GRIFFITH, Milford township, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, May 31, 1798. Her parents, Jesse and Ruth Plummer, nee Griffith, were natives of Maryland, and of English extraction. Mr. Plummer was a Quaker in religion, and his wife a member of the Episcopal church.

They remained in Maryland until about 1825, when they caine to Ohio, and settled in Morris township, where Mr. Plummer purchased a farm, and where they lived and died, being highly respected citizens. They had a family of ten chil- dren, three of whom, only, are yet living.

The subject of this sketch was married to William P. Bur- gess, a native of Maryland, in 1816. They remained in Mary- land until about 1825. Mr. Burgess was engaged in the drug business, and settled in Mt. Vernon, where he opened a dry goods store, and was successful, and became possessed of con- siderable property in Mt. Vernon and other parts of the county. He died in 1845. They had a family of ten children, viz: Oliver, a minister in the Methodist church; Louisa, married to W. T. Bristow; John, a Methodist minister; Lafayette, deceased; Jane P., deceased; Lydia J., deceased; Sarah W., married William Reinick, a Methodist minister, now deceased; William T., postmaster, Fairfield, Iowa; Ella and Leonidas.

Mrs. Burgess is an active lady for one of her age, and retains the use of her mental faculties to a marked degree.

BURGOON, DAVID J., farmer, Milford township, was born in Licking county March 21, 1832; his father, David, and his mother, Rachel, nee Coe, were born in Frederick county, Mary- land, and were reared and married there, and about 1824 came to Ohio and settled in Licking county, where he lived in various places until about 1836, when he moved to Morgan township, Knox county, and in 1845 purchased a fifty acre tract of land, slightly improved, in Milford township, and the same spring moved on it, where they lived and died. Mr. Burgoon died

August, 1856, aged about seventy-four; his wife survived until 1863. They had four children who grew up, viz .: Darius (de- ceased), Catharine (married to Calvin Milburn), Ann E. (de- ceased), and David J., the subject of this notice, who was raised on a farm, and had the sanie means of schooling as the boys of his day. He has always followed farming. He was a member of company B, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio National guard. Mr. Burgoon was married to Miss May J. Speilman, daughter of William Speilman, in 1859; they had six children, three of whom are living-two died in infancy, Emma I., died when two years old. The living are: Sarah E. (married James E. Beech), Clyde E., and Ann E. Mr. Burgoon is a good citi- zen, a successful farmer, and has the esteem of the community.

BURKE, THOMAS, farmer, Middlebury township, post office, Levering; born in Waterford May 13, 1846, and was married August 14, 1870, to Lizzie W. Martin, who was born in this township; they have two children, viz .: Hannah M., born March 7, 1871; Furney F., July 30, 1873. Mrs. Burke died October 25, 1878, in this township.

BURKHOLDER, JOHN, Hilliar township, patentee of the celebrated Acme wheat steamer, Centreburgh, Ohio, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, December 15, 1815. His parents were born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and went to Vir-

ginia, where they remained until 1833, when they came to Ohio and settled near Martinsburgh, Knox county, where they re- mained until about 1858, being engaged in farming and the manufacturing of lumber.

'The subject of this notice removed to Rich Hill, Hilliar town- ship, about 1857. When he first started out he worked for some time at cabinet making, but subsequently engaged in the saw-mill business for a number of years, and also in the milling business. From his knowledge of the milling business, he con- ceived the idea of making a more perfect wheat steamer than was ever before used; so after many months of study he pro- duced his Acme steamer, on which he received a patent, January 29, 1878. It is acknowledged by all millers who have used it to be the most perfect and complete separator of the wheat and condensed steam extant. The great advantage of the Acme is that it toughens the bran, thereby admitting a perfect sepa- ration and producing a much finer grade of flour than could be otherwise produced. The steamer is now being used in some of the best mills of the country, and to the entire satisfaction of the parties using them. Mr. Burkholder has also in course of construction a scourer and separator, which is intended to make wheat in a perfect condition for the manufacturing of flour. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Dudgeon, of Harrison township. They had a family of five children, three of whom are living.

BURKHOLDER, WILLIAM, farmer, Middlebury town- ship, post office Fredericktown, born in this county in July, 1831, and was married in 1858, to Samantha Murphy, who was born in this county in 1836. They have the following family, Frances E., born in 1862; George in 1870; Anna in 1874, and Ethel in 1876. His father, Jacob Burkholder, was born in Pennsylvania, came to Oliio in 1842, and reared a family of six children, Sarah, Henry, Elizabeth, Catharine, George and Mary. Jacob Burkholder died in 1853; Mrs. Elizabeth Burk- holder died in 1864.

BURR, JONATHAN N., M. D., Mt. Vernon, was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, November 15, 1800. Dr. Burr's family are of English extraction. His ancestor was Jehu Burr, who came to America with Winthrop's fleet in 1630, and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. They belong to the Puritan branch. Ozias Burr, the father of the subject of this sketch, was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Lois Jennings, and his second wife was Miss Elizabeth A. Couch. One child was the issue of the first marriage-a daughter-who married Mr. Charles Sherwood, and resides near Bridgeport, Connecti- cut. By the second wife eight children were born in Connecti- cut and one in Ohio, making in all ten children by the two marriages.

Dr. Burr is the second son by the second marriage. His parents immigrated to Ohio in 1818, and settled in Franklin county, near Worthington. They brought with them a family of eight children. Seven of the ten children are living-six sons and one daughter. Young Burr taught school his first winter in Ohio, and the following spring began reading medi- cine with Dr. Daniel Upson, of Worthington, with whom he studied one year. In 1820 he went to Columbus and entered the office of Dr. Samuel Parsons, with whom he read medicine until the fall of 1822, when he went to Transylvania Medical college, Lexington, Kentucky, and attended the winter's course of lectures.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 118

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096