History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 126

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 126

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).

In the winter of 1840-41 Mr. Curtis represented Knox county in the State board of equalization. For twelve years he held the office of trustee of the Central Ohio Lunatic asylum, and was the acting president of the board. Mr. Curtis was influ- ential in leading Bishop Chase to establish Kenyon college in its present location, as will be seen by reference to the chapter devoted to that institution. Mr. Curtis was for many years one of the trustees of the college, and while on the board, inaugu- rated the policy of the survey and sale of the college lands, thus substituting for an irresponsible tenantry a class of pro- prietary farmers in the immediate neighborhood of the college.

When Mr. Curtis came to the bar the court docket was full of cases against the "Owl Creek bank, of Mt. Vernon," or rather against its members, for it had no corporate existence. The subject was finally referred to a special commissioner and receiver, to which honorable position Mr. Curtis was appointed by the supreme court. After years of investigation and arduous labor, the intricate affairs of the bank were brought to a satis- factory conclusion. Every dollar of an outstanding liability

was paid, and the losses adjusted and equalized among the several members of the unfortunate association on acknowl- edged principles of equity and justice. Mr. Curtis' proceed- ings, and their results, were fully approved and confirmed by the court, with flattering commendation.

In 1848 Mr. Curtis organized the Knox County bank, and has been connected with that institution as its president ever since. ·

When aid and action were called for to obtain railroads, Mr. Curtis' services were required and freely given. He was the di- rector of the first railroad that entered Mt. Vernon, and also of several embryo schemes that failed after large expenditures. He is now a director of the Lake Erie division of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. He was also a large contributor and advocate of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad.

In the spring of 1873 Mr. Curtis received from President Grant the appointment and commission of a member of the board of visitors at West Point, to attend and report upon the examination of the graduating class, and to examine into the condition and administration of the affairs of the institution gen- erally.

While in this service he learned that some eighty youths, chil- dren of professors, officers and employes of West Point, were destitute of the usual means of common school education, ex- cept as to a few that had the advantages of private instruction. Being on a military reserve, the jurisdiction of which was in the Government, it was held that the residents were not included within the provisions for the benefits of the common school sys- tem of the State of New York. He therefore introduced a reso- lution recommending that Congress make provision by a suita- ble appropriation for maintaining, at West Point, a common school for the benefit of the children of that station. The reso- lution was also supported by Senator Sherman and Judge Thayer, of Philadelphia, and finally unanimously adopted, and its recommendations incorporated in the report of the board.

July 2, 1823, Mr. Curtis was married to Miss Elizabeth Hogg, daughter of Percival and Elizabeth Hogg, of Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio. She was a niece of William Hogg, esq., of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, an old and successful merchant. His family had but recently arrived in this country. They were from Chester-le-street, Durham county, England, where Miss Hogg was born June 22, 1803. By this marriage Mr. and Mrs. Curtis became the parents of eight children-six daughters and two sons-three only of whom survive-two daughters and one son. Their eldest daughter and child, Elizabeth, was married to Mr. John Gershom Plimpton, a merchant of New York city, February 19, 1845. Mr. Plimpton died in Mt. Vernon April 18, 1869, leaving three children-the eldest is now married to George C. Clark, esq., of New York, and a second daughter recently married to Mr. John B. Beardsley, a prominent drug- gist of Mt. Vernon. Mr. Curtis' daughter, Ella, is married to the Hon. Joseph C. Devin, late senator from Knox county in the State legislature, and a practicing lawyer, residing in Mt. Vernon. They also have three children. Mr. Curtis' son, Henry Lambton Curtis, is a graduate of Kenyon college, of the class of 1862. He was married to Miss Lucia Chittenden, of Keo- kuk, Iowa, October 28, 1868. He is a lawyer, and a partner with Mr. Devin. Mr. Curtis has also a grandchild, Emma Bridge, only child of a deceased daughter (Ada), who was mar- ried to Mr. Louis K. Bridge, of New York, also since deceased. Miss Bridge made her home since the death of her parents with her grandparent until the time of her marriage with Mr. Charles

646

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

D. Seebarger, of Chicago, October 15, 1879. Mrs. Curtis died on the seventeenth day of July, 1878, aged seventy-five years, honored and respected by all.

Mr. Curtis' pecuniary means have constantly kept growing from his memorable quarter, until to-day he is classed among the county's wealthiest citizens. Notwithstanding all this rapid accumulation, he has responded in a liberal manner to every benevolent and public enterprise that has been brought to his attention.

His time and money were freely given during the late Re- bellion in raising volunteers.

Holding, at the period of the war, as now, the appointment of United States commissioner for the northern district of Ohio, his judicial services were often required in disposing of cases connected with the military movements of that time.

CURTIS, HOSMER. lawyer, born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the twenty-ninth of July, 1788, was the eldest son of Zara Curtis, a Revolutionary soldier and officer in Colonel Sheldon's regiment of dragoons of the Connecticut line. On his mother's side he was allied to the Hosmers and Yales of Connecticut. In 1809 his father's family removed to Ohio, and settled in Newark; while he himself, then about twenty years old, removed with the family, and after a few years spent in school teaching, during which time he read law under the preceptorship of Edward Herrick and Jeremiah Munson, then eminent lawyers of Newark, was admitted to the bar in 1813, and prepared his first briefs in a little office that stood where the Newark market house now stands. The next year he served in the campaign for the relief of Fort Meigs, under General Harrison, and in the fall of 1814 married Miss Eleanor Melick, of Turkey Foot, Pennsylvania, a lady of distinguished excellence of character, and the mother of all his children except the youngest, Samuel P. Curtis, late of Washington city, now .eceased, who was a son by a second marriage. In 1815 he removed to Mt. Vernon, Knox county, where he regularly at- tended the courts from the commencement of his practice. The first prosecuting attorney for the county, an office that he filled for many years, he became the leading resident lawyer; and as nearly all the younger members of the profession in the county, who were admitted to the bar for the first fifteen or twenty years, were pupils from his office, he became generally known as "the father of the bar." He continued in full practice in Knox county forty-two years, and for a considerable part of that time, as was then the custom, he also regularly attended the courts of the adjoining counties, and the United States court at Columbus, Ohio. His great industry and indefatigable labor in the preparation of his cases, more than the power of his oratory or quick perception of his points, established his reputation for a clear knowledge of the principles of the com- mon law; while his probity of character always insured him earnest attention and the highest confidence and respect of both court and jury. In 1822-3 he represented his county in the Ohio legislature, and held several other important offices and public trusts, in all of which, as also in the large interests of his clients, which, in so long a period of practice, came under his care, his character for honesty and fidelity was ever preeminent. In 1857 Mr. Curtis removed to Keokuk, where several of his children had previously settled, and there resumed the practice of law in connection with Mr. Gilmore, and which he continued to pursue several years, when finding a nervous infirmity grow- ing upon him, about 1867 he retired from all professional en-

gagements, while continuing to give personal attention to ali his own private business. Naturally of strong mental powers, cultivated by philosophic research and study, he was distin- guished in the days of his best vigor for his capacity in obtruse speculation and close analytical investigation of every subject presented to him for consideration. He accepted no conclu- sion without duly weighing all the facts for or against the pro- position or theory. These traits marked his character through- out all his professional career, and the aspiration inscribed on the fly-leaf of his first law book: " God preserve my mental vigor," seemed to be mercifully and certainly granted him to the close of his life. He died at Keokuk, Iowa, on the four- tcenth of May, 1874, ripe in years, and the honors of a well- spent life. Of his surviving children, Henry H. Curtis resides in St. Louis; J. L. Curtis, banker, at Chicago; Charles Curtis, physician, at Quincy, Illinois, and his daughter, Eleanor, widow of Uzziel Stevens, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

CURTIS, GENERAL SAMUEL R., was born February 3, 1807, spent his childhood years in Newark, Ohio; applied him- self diligently to his studies, made a good scholar; sometimes was a clerk in the clerk's office of the courts of Licking county, Amos H. Caffee, esq., being the clerk; and in 1827 entered the West Point academy as a cadet, and graduated in 1831, with the appointment of brevet second lieutenant in the Seventh United States infantry, in which he served until June 30, 1832, when he resigned. He then studied law in Ohio, and was ad- mitted to the bar, but left that profession to devote himself to engineering, and from April, 1837, to May, 1839, was the chief engineer of the Muskingum river improvement. At the begin- ning of the Mexican war he was chosen colonel of the Third Ohio volunteers, serving under Zachary Taylor on the Rio Grande line, and was successively Governor of Matamora, Ca- margo, Monterey, and Saltillo. At the expiration, in 1847, of the term of service of his regiment, he remained as acting as- sistant adjutant general to General Wool.

Sometime after the close of the Mexican war General Curtis moved to Keokuk, Iowa, and was elected in 1856 a representa- tive in Congress, and was reclected in 1858, and again in 1860. He was also a member of the peace congress in 1861. In Con- gress he strongly urged the building of a railroad to the Pacific ocean, and all other Republican measures.

In June, 1861, General Curtis was commissioned colonel of the Second Iowa regiment, and ordered to duty in Northern Missouri, but soon went to Washington to attend the extra ses- sion of Congress. Resigning his seat in Congress in 1861, he entered zealously into the military service to preserve the Union. He served under General Fremont, and subsequently was ap- pointed to command the army destined to operate against the confederates in southwestern Missouri and Arkansas. General Curtis fought and won the important battle of Pea Ridge, March 6, 7, and 8, 1862, upon which he received a major gen- eral's commission, establishing his headquarters at St. Louis, December, 1862.

Gencral Curtis was in command at Fort Leavenworth, Kan- sas, during the Price raid in October, 1864, and cooperated in the pursuit and defeat of General Price's army. From August to November, 1865, he served as United States Commissioner to treat with the Sioux, Cheyennes, and other Indian tribes. He was examiner of the Union Pacific railroad from November, 1865, to April, 1866. His death occurred at Council Bluffs, lowa, December 25, 1866. General Samuel R. Curtis rendered

Joseph S. Davis

647

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

valuable civil and military services to his country, and was an elegant, high-toned, honorable gentleman, of intelligence and probity. He was a brother of Hon. Henry B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon.

DALLY, LANE, Hilliar township, farmer, was born in Hilliar township, February, 1842. He is the youngest son of John and Mary A. Dally, nee Walters, who were married in Richland county, Ohio, and in 1834 came to Hilliar and settled in the woods. They had a family of ten children. Mr. Dally died in 1869. His wife still survives him. The subject of this notice was reared on his father's farm. He was married to Miss Cypha Cumpston, of Licking county, Ohio, December 6, 1866. They have a family of five children.

DALRYMPLE, JACOB, Wayne township, farmer, post of- fice, Fredericktown, born in New Jersey in 1797, came to Ohio in 1809, and was married in 1821 to Phebe Lewis, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1802. They had the following children : Roda, born December 4, 1822; Aaron, August 18, 1824; Wil- liam, April 7, 1827; Mitchell Y., January 17, 1830; Robert M., June 28, 1833; Sarah S., April 1, 1837; Lafayette, June 16, 1841; Mary E., October 16, 1844.

Lafayette Dalrymple was a soldier in the late war, a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-first regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, but was soon discharged on account of sickness.

Robert M. Dalrymple was married to Nancy S. Strubble. They have two sons-Lorain E. and Lew M. Robert is en- gaged in farming the home place.

DALRYMPLE, WILLIAM BRICE, Liberty township, farmer, was born January 22, 1852, in Liberty township. He is the son of Andrew Dalrymple, deceased, who was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in March, 1810, where he remained until he was about twenty-three years of age. He then came to Ohio and resided near Fredericktown for some years. On April 12, 1838, he was joined in marriage to Mary A. Wolfe, who was born in February, 1821. She is a daughter of Christo- pher and Phebe Wolfe, nee Rhinehart, pioneers of Knox county, and whose history appears in this work. They had six children, four daughters and two sons, viz: Phebe, wife of Alex- ander Jackson; Susan, deceased, who married William H. Scarborough; Eliza J., wife of Thomas J. Scarborough; Ella, wife of Winfield Coe; and Squire and William Brice. Mr. Dalrymple died in October, 1871, in Liberty township, where he had resided about forty-three years. He was much esteemed for his many good traits of character. He was a leading citi- zen, and by his death the community lost a useful man. Mrs. Dalrymple resides on the homestead.

William B. Dalrymple was reared on the farm on which he yet resides. He is a rising young man of the township. He married Miss H. Coleville, of Liberty township, February 18, 1875. They have two children.

DALRYMPLE, SQUIRE D., Liberty township, farmer, was born in Liberty township, April 9, 1854, and is the son of An- drew and Mary A. Dalrymple, of whom mention is made in the biography of William B. Dalrymple. He was reared on the farm, and like the rest of the family, had the advantages of the schools and the instruction of kind and and excellent parents. He is a good farmer, and a young man who is much esteemed. He married Miss Sarah L. Allen December 17, 1874, daughter

of William and Joanna Allen, of whom mention is made. They have three children.

DARLING, WILLIAM, farmer, was born April 9, 1814, in Hampshire county, Virginia. He moved to Butler township, Knox county, Ohio, in 1820, and to Jackson township in 1835. He was married to Eliza Melick April 6, 1841. They have had ten children, viz .: Lucy A., James K., Morgan, Louisa, Cyrus, Nan, Sarah E., Avilda, Otto, and Loms. Mr. Darling is an old and respected citizen of Jackson; has served several terms as justice of the peace.

DARLING, JOHN, Berlin township (deceased), was born in New York in 1817; came to Ohio when a young man, and was married in 1842 to Mary Ann Rundle. They had three children -Richard L., Charles T., and James E. Mrs. Mary Ann Dar- ling died in 1852. Mr. John Darling married Lydia Ann Kin- ney in 1854, who was born in Knox county in 1820. They had three children-James E., born in 1855, Henry M. in 1857, and Alva B. in 1861. The father, John Darling, died July 25, 1876. James E. died in 1843, and James Edson in 1856. Henry Dar- ing was married in. 1877 to Mary Vore, who. was born in Mt. Vernon in 1857. They have one son, George W., who was born July 26, 1878.

DARLING, WILLIAM, Wayne township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown; born in Coshocton county in 1825, came with his parents to Knox county in 1829, and was married October 15, 1857, to Saprona Willis, who was born June 11, 1835, in New York. She came with her parents to Knox county in 1839. They have one son, Herbert Stanton, born January 17, 1862. He is now engaged in the study of medicine in Fred- ericktown with Dr. S. B. Potter. Mr. William Darling is one of the leading-men of this township, and owns a beautiful farm with excellent buildings.

DARLING, NICHOLAS R., Morris township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown ; was born in Wayne township in 1830' and married in 1864 to Margaret Ellen Bricker, who was born in Clinton township in 1830.' An infant child was left on the porch of their house in a basket (warmly dressed), on the morn- ing of October 7, 1880 (a mystery). They cared for and became attached to it, named it Eddie V., and were making arrange- ments to have it adopted, but it died in January, 1881.

Mr. Darling purchased the first threshing machine manu- factured by Altman Taylor & Co., Mansfield. They attribute much credit to Mr. Darling for his ingenuity, skill and patience in making many improvements so that the machine became a success. He used this machine for fifteen years. In 1864 they made him a very liberal donation on a new machine.

DARLING, GEORGE W., Hilliar township, clothier, Cen- treburgh, Ohio, was born near Newville, Richland county, Ohio, January 18, 1845. He was reared on a farm. He en- listed in the Sixty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, company C, in 1861; he participated in the battle of Shiloh and all the battles in which his regiment and company were engaged until after the battle of Stone River, Tennessee, when he was taken with typhoid fever and rendered unable to do service, and was discharged. He returned home and after regaining his health he went to Bloomington, Illinois, where he enlisted in company D, Third Illinois cavalry, and served with them six months; he was then detached on General Saul Meredith's staff as pri- vate orderly, and remained as orderly until the war was over, at Paducha, Kentucky, after which he joined his regiment, and

648

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

was with the expedition to Devil's lake, and thence to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and there mustered out of service October 10, 1865, having served in the two regiments about four years.

His busines life commenced in 1868, in Independence, Rich- land county, Ohio, in a country store. He bought a half inter- est in the business of William Severns, his father-in-law. The firm bought produce of all kinds. He was for a time agent of the railroad at that point. In 1873 the firm lost about all their property by fire. After the fire he travelled for some time for a woolen-mill and powder factory. In 1875 he commenced clerk- ing for Mr. Severns, his former partner, and he remained with him until August, 1879, when he purchased a stock of clothing and came to Centreburgh, where he carries a full line of all kinds of ready-made clothing, hats, caps and gentlemen's fur- nishing goods. He has a growing trade and carries about three thousand five hundred dollars worth of stock. He is a good business man and his customers never find a reason to complain from any misrepresentation, as he confines himself to business principles, truth and veracity. He was married to Miss Del- norta S. Severns, of Richland county, Ohio, January, 1868, and by this union they had four children, three of whom are living.

DARLING, ROBERT D., Wayne township, post office, Fredericktown; born in Wayne township, this county, in 1845, and was married in 1870 to Clotilda Lyon, who was born in Wayne township, this county, in 1846. They have four chil- aren, Nellie, born in 1871; Frank, in 1875; Nina, in 1877; and Willie, in 1879. Mr. Darling is a farmer by occupation, and has always lived in this county.

DAVIS, JACOB, Monroe township, was born near Hagers- town, Maryland, April 4, 1800, and came to Mt. Vernon, Knox county, with his father, Henry Davis, in 1815. He married Elizabeth Downs, daughter of George Downs, of Knox county, April 3, 1827, and moved to Monroe township, where he pur- chased land and erected a saw-mill on Schenck's creek in 1828. Shortly afterward he erected a grist-mill and added a fulling- mill and carding machine. Being an enterprising business man he not only ran his own mill but owned an interest in the Mon- roe mills, Gilcrest's mills, and Shamon's mills. Mr. Davis died September 12, 1837, and was buried in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran cemetery, the ground for which was donated by him. He was the father of nine children, of whom James Wood- bridge Davis was the youngest. He was born June 9, 1849, at the old homestead on Schenck's creek, and reared on the farm. He married Jennie Daymude, daughter of William Daymude, of Monroe township, December 14, 1876, and has two children, Elmer S. and Herman.

DAVIS, THOMAS, Berlin township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown, born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1809; was married to Jane Jenkins, who was born in 1815 in Loudoun county, Virginia. They had six children: Sarah, born 1838; John, in 1840; Martha, in 1841; Eliza, in 1844; Margaret, in 1847; Stephen Taylor, in 1859.

Mrs. Jane Davis died in 1850. Mr. Thomas Davis married again, his second marriage being to Elizabeth Baker, who was born in Wayne township, Knox county, in 1820. They had two children, W. Scott, born in 1852, and Charlotte Ellen, il 1855.

John Davis was a soldier in the late war. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentieth regiment, and continued inthe service until his health failed. After his health was restored he again enlisted, but was again discharged on account of ill

health. His health improved again, and he again enlisted, and received an honorable discharge at the close of the service.

Mr. Davis came to Ohio in 1838, and located on a farm in Berlin township, Knox county. He owns a well improved farm and has been identified with this county for forty-eight years. He has been a Methodist for fifteen years, and has been a Republican since the organization of the party.

DAVIS, W. SCOTT, farmer, Berlin township ; post office, Fredericktown; born in Berlin township in 1852, and was mar- ried in 1874 to Mary Morriston, who was born in Wayne town- ship, in 1854. They have three children: Robertie Bell, born in 1875; Steward, in 1877; Daisy Dell, in 1878. Mr. Davis is a farmer, and resides on the old home farm.

DAVIS, JESSE, farmer, Liberty township, was born in Cecil county, Maryland, October 16, 1812. His father, a native of Ireland, emigrated to the United States when quite young. He served in the War of 1812 under Commodore McDonough, and received a wound. He was a man of considerable attain- ments, taught a select school for some years, and married a Miss Mary Nebb, a native of York county, Pennsylvania. They had nine sons and one daughter, all of whom are believed to be dead except Jesse Davis, who learned the blacksmith trade, .which he followed for some years."

When about twenty years of age he went to Ohio county, Virginia, where, in April, 1835, he married Rosanna Frazier, who was born in Ohio county, West Virginia, January 9, 1808. They remained in Virginia until 1850, when they came to their present home. There were born to these parents four children in Virginia, viz: Samuel H., Robert F., Mary, and James W. Samuel H. and Robert F. enlisted in company G, Twentieth Ohio volunteer infantry Samuel H. was taken sick and died May 30, 1862. While sick he was commissioned second lieu- tenant, but was never mustered. Robert F. was discharged in the fall of 1863, on account of physical disability. He is now bookkeeper in the First National bank, of Canton, Illinois. Mary and James W. are on the farm.

Mr. Davis was captain of company D, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio National guard. When the regiment was called out some of the companies were consolidated. Mr. Davis was transferred to company A, which company he com- manded during his enlistment.

DAVIS, MRS. JOANNA, Liberty township, was born in Milford township, November 30, 1829. She is the daughter of Smith Bishop and Mary Ann Jeffries, of whom mention is made in the history of Milford township. They had a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters, viz: John J., Joanna, the subject of this notice ; Henry A., Benjamin F., Gilford D., Allen S., Clark N., and Adaline L., wife of James Ray, who resides near Columbus, Ohio.

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.

History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 126

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