History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 143

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 143

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Mr. Johnson died in Knox county in 1858; Elizabeth died in 1843; John T. in 1857; Ida in 1858; Mary in 1859; Joseph in 1863; and Charles D. in 1864.

Joseph Johnson enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty- fifth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and was killed at the battle of Chickamauga.

JOHNSON, ORLIN B., Middlebury township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown, born in Vermont, June 7, 1811, came to

Ohio with his parents, in February, 1814, and located in' this township. He was married in 1844 to Elizabeth Burke, who was born in Maryland and came to Ohio in 1834. They had a family of five children, of whom three are living, viz: Abigail, George, aad James.

Mr. Johnson is among the very earliest settlers of this county. He has been a justice of the peace nine years in this township; has also been one of the leading men, and has always been ready to promote every good work and cause.

JOHNSON, JOSEPH, Miller township, farmer, was born in Knox county, August 31, 18Ir. His father was born in Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1775, and married Rebecca Baker, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, about 1802. She was born March 3, 1778. Her father was a Revolutionary sol- dier and served under General Morgan. John Johnson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier of 1812. They emigrated to Ohio in 1806, and settled in the town of Clinton, this county, He was probably the first carpenter in the county. He resided there about three years when he purchased a quarter section of land where he lived until he moved with his son, Jo- seph Johnson. His wife died in 1835, and he died in 1839. They had a family of nine children, six sons and three daugh- ters. Thomas, William, Margaret, John, Isaac, and Mary Jane have died. Joseph, Sarah Ann, married to James Dean, and Samuel, are still living. Mr. Johnson was raised to work early and late, assisting his father on the farm. When twenty- one years of age he left the parental roof to seek his fortune.

His early training fitted him to successfully battle with the problem of economy. He worked until he had two hundred dollars to pay on a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, which he purchased for one thousand two hundred dollars, pay- ing the two hundred dollars in hand, and agreed to pay the balance, one thousand dollars, in two annual payments of five hundred dollars each. This land was entirely covered with tim- ber. The problem was how to make that amount. He set to work, and during the winter cleared ten acres of land, put five acres in tobacco, three acres in corn, and two in oats and pota- toes. Out of the tobacco he made his payment. The following winter he cleared more land, planted nine acres in tobacco, and again made his payment out of the weed. He has cleared up his first purchase and added more to it. He is a careful, syste- matic farmer, and his farms show careful husbandry.

Mr. Johnson is a man of strong individuality, and retains his mental faculties with a clearness seldom seen in a man of his age. He is social and pleasant in his habits, and makes all feel at home who cail upon him.

November 6, 1834, he married Mary Cosner, daughter of Philip Cosner, of Morris township. They had eleven children, all of whom are living, viz: Samuel, Dorothy, married David Neible; Martin V., James Scott, John C .; Sarah J. married Henry Martin; Willliams, Joseph; Mary married Jacob Yoak- um; Ann V., Emma and William M. All the Johnson's sons- in-law and daughters-in-law are living. They, with their chil- dren and the Johnson family, number thirty-six individuals. There never has been a death in the family which, perhaps, has no equals in Ohio,

JOHNSON, ISAAC N., deceased, was born May 23, 1814, on his father's farm in Morris township. He was reared on the farm, and at the age of thirty he married Eliza Dripps, daugter of John Dripps, esq., of Licking county. He reared a family of eight children, as follows: Thomas Jefferson, Morgan, Scott,

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Frances, Marietta, Ellen, Ida and Viola, of whom Frances and Ida are dead.

In 1842 Mr. Johnson purchased of C. P. Buckingham eighty acres of land in Morris .township, near the old homestead, and in 1853 engaged in fruit growing, which he made a success, having about thirty acres planted in fruit trees of all kinds adapted to this latitude. He was an industrious and liberal man, and after a life of usefulness departed July 29, 1878, and was buried in Union Chapel cemetery.

JOHNSON, H. P., editor, is a son of Rev. Johnson, Metho- dist Episcopal clergyman, a member of the North Ohio con- ference. H. P. was born in Ohio and attended the Delaware college; prepared himself himself for the editorship. He pur- chased the Fredericktown Free Press September 24, 1880, suc- ceeding Mc. F. Edwards. He is conducting the paper with ability and success.

JOHNSON, ELIJAH, Fredericktown, stonecutter, was born in Tennessee in 1841, came to Ohio in 1863, and was married to Hannah Jackson, who was born in Virginia. They have five children: Samuel, William, Kate, Loa, and Dwight.

Mr. Johnson was a slave in Tennessee till 1862. He is en- gaged in the marble and monumental works of John Getz, of this place.

JONES, GENERAL G. A., superintendent of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad, Mt. Vernon. General Jones was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1812. In 1813 his father emigrated to Washington county, same State, and located at Claysville and West Alexander, where the sub- ject of this sketch resided till 1834, when he came to Mt. Ver- non. At West Alexander he engaged in purchasing produce and buying wool. At Claysville he had charge of a general store for Mr. George Wilson.

After his arrival here he engaged in merchandizing and deal- ing in produce and wool, in which he continued till r850, when he gave up that business. In 1850 he was appointed United States marshal by President Zachary Taylor for the district of Ohio. He superintended the census of Ohio that year, holding the position for four years. He then, in connection with John H. Winterbothan, engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements, employing the convict labor at Fort Madison. In this business he was employed about eleven years. He then spent about seven years in prospecting, and visited several of the most important mining regions of the United States and the oil fields.

In 1869 he was elected superintendent of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad, which office he still retains.

JONES, ELIAS O., Wayne township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown, born in this township, July 20, 1838, and was married March 23, 1870, to Amanda Clarke, who was born in Holmes county, Jannary 8. 1848. Their children are: Ada C., born February 21, 1871; Amanda M., October ro, 1872, Eura, September 19, 1874; Carrie M., April 21, 1877, and Jennie A., April Io, 1879.

'The following have deceased: Anna M., died July 27, 1873, and Jennie A., October 26; 1879.

KAHN, D. & CO., clothing and furnishing goods, Mt. Ver- non, Ohio. This firm was formerly known as Hexter & Weineaman, afterwards as J. H. Hexter, and then succeeded

by the present firm of D. Kahn & Co. Mr. Kahn, the senior partner, is of the well known firm of Kahn, Halhan & Co., of Cincinnati, wholesale dealers in clothing, cloths, etc. Mr. J. C. Levi, the junior member of the firm, is a native of Philadel- phia, and recently a citizen of Dayton, Ohio. The firm is carrying a stock of three thousand to four thousand dollars, consisting of ready-made clothing, hats, caps, and furnishing goods. They occupy the corner room in the well known Ward block, corner Main and Vine streets, and is known as "The Lucky Clothing House." This establishment was organized in April, 1879, and the stock in trade purchased by the present firm in January, 1880.

KARR, JOHN, shoemaker, Fredericktown, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and came to Knox county in 1830. He was married August 8, 1830, to Miss Deliah Ayers, who was born in Ohio January 1, 1811. They had the following family, viz: Corydon, born August 25, 1831; Maria L., May 4, 1833; James N., December 29, 1835; Thomas A., November 14, 1837; Elizabeth R., September 22, 1839; Martha E., April 7, 1841; John E., July 7, 1843, and Deliah, October 26, 1845. Mrs. Deliah Karr died April 12, 1846.

Mr. Karr afterwards married, February 18, 1847, Elizabeth R. Winterringer, who was born in this county August 22, 1824. They had the following family, viz: Joseph S., born December 5, 1847; Aaron L., August 24, 1849; George B., December 26, 1851; infant daughter, April 18, 1854; Mary Eva, April 18. 1857; Charlie F., February 26, 1859, and Willie B., August 24, 1861.

The following are married: Corydon Karr married June 23, 1853, Margaret S. Powell. They reside in Buffalo, New York. James A. married Martha Dunham, and is living in Chicago, Illinois. Elizabeth married Henry Mohler. John E. married Anna Baughman; Aaron L. married May Carr, and lives in Green- field, Iowa. Joseph S. married Ellen M. Patton, and lives in Nebraska. Deliah Karr married Peter P. Laughlin. They reside in Buffalo, New York. Charles F. Karr married Olive M. Weirick, April 15, 1879, adn is living in Bellville, Ohio.

Mr. John Karr has been constantly engaged in working at the shoe trade in this place more than fifty years, and is yet so engaged, having reared a large family, and is yet hale and vig- orous.

KARRIGER, GEORGE, retired, Berlin township, post office, Fredericktown, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and married Elizabeth Haines, who was born in 1809. They had the following children, namely: Ester A., Lydia A., Cordelia, John H., Rebecca, and George W. The deceased members are John H., who died in 1857; and Mrs. Elizabeth Karriger in 1879. Her parents emigrated to Ohio when she was an infant. The Karriger family located in this county in the woods. On the northwest corner of the Ellicott section they built a cabin and commenced clearing and improving their farm. They are living on the old homestead. Mr. Karriger has re- sided here seventy years.

His father, John, was born in the east in 1755; married Mar- garet Frederoff, and had a family of thirteen children. He was a soldier in the Revolution and died in Knox county in 1846. Mrs. Karriger died in 1850.

KARRIGER, GEORGE W., Berlin township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown; was born in this township in 1850, and was married in 1872 to Abbie Foote, who was born in this county. They have two children-Lottie B., born in 1873, and

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

Lewis, born in 1876. George W. resides on the home place in this township, and is engaged in farming.

KELLAM, SAMUEL M., Middlebury township, farmer, post office, Fredericktown, was born in Zanesville, Muskingum county, Ohio, December 8, 1821, and was married March 2, 1843, to Elizabeth Stilley, who was born in Knox county, Jan- uary 4, 1823. They had one son, James S., born January 30, 1844, and died August 11, 1858. Thzabeth Kellam died in Decmber, 1847.

Mr. Kellam subsequently married Nancy Gardner, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, December 11, 1825. They had three children, viz: Viola L., born September 19, 1849; Edwin B., January 14, 1851; and Eva E., October 11, 1853. Mrs. Nancy Kellam died June 25, 1854. Viola L. died July 17, 1850. Eva E. died February 3, 1854.

Mr. Kellam married for his third wife Margaret Cassell, who was born January 13, 1830, in Carroll county, Maryland. They have one son-Charlie E. Kellam-born October 24, 1863.

George I. Kellam was born September 5, 1849. He was a son of George H. Kellam, who died when George I. was an infant. He was reared and educated by Samuel M. Kellam, and re- sides in Lafayette, Indiana.

Edwin B. Kellam now resides in Aftan, Union county, Iowa, and is engaged in farming. Mr. Kellam moved with his par- ents to Delaware county, Ohio, in December, 1839, and there cleared up and improved a farm.

Samuel M. learned the carpenter and joiner trade in that county, and came to Knox county in 1841. He continued to work at his trade in Fredericktown until March, 1870, when he purchased a farm in Middlebury township, and has since re- sided there.

KELLER, CHRISTIAN, produce dealer, Mt. Vernon, Ohio, a native of this State, was born near Lancaster, Fairfield county, April 19, 1819, and in 1828 his father came to this county where he resided until his death. C. Keller has resided within the limits of this county since 1828. He received such an educa- tion as the subscription schools of that day afforded, and by dili- ence and energy he acquired a good English education. His first business engagement was with the firm of J. A. Sherman & Co., where in appreciation of his faithfulness and abilities he was retained eight years. He then engaged in the dry goods and produce business, which he conducted with success for seven years, after which he sold out the dry goods and engaged in the grocery, butter and eggs and produce business, which he car- ried on about eighteen years and during which he did business to the amount of over two million dollars. He quit the retail grocery trade about eleven years ago, and he now sells all his groceries out of the wagons. He keeps an average of fifteen two-horse wagons on the road and furnishes employment to about twenty-five men, nearly all of whom have families. He ships about five thousand barrels of eggs and about ten thou- sand packages of butter per year, and in a good fruit season he ships about four thousand barrels of dried apples for export trade. His business is on an increase of about ten per cent. He was married in November, 1848, to Miss Julia A. White, who was a native of Vermont. They had one child, a daugh- ter, who died when about twelve years old.

KELLER, HENRY, Pike township, farmer, post office, North Liberty; born in Knox county in 1829, and was married in 1850 to Elizabeth Grubb, who was born in Bedford county,

Pennsylvania, in 1829. They have four children, Daniel, Mary E., John W., and Delpha.

Mr. Keeler owns a good farm with all the modern improve- ments. He is a minister of the German Baptist church, and officiates at the Owl Creek church of Berlin township, and his labors are highly appreciated.

KELLEY, FRANK, of the firm of J. P. Kelley, Mt. Ver- non, Ohio, son of Andrew Kelley, who was one of the pioneer hardware merchants of Knox county. He engaged in the hard- ware business in Mt. Vernon in 1844, in which he continued un- til 1870, with the exception of eighteen months. In 1870 his son, John P. Kelley, took charge of the business, and conducted it until 1879, when he went west and engaged in business there, his brother Frank remaining to close out the business here, with a view of changing the stock to that of agricultural implements, in which business he expects to engage on his own account, and in which he will be sure to succeed, as he is a young man of character, energy, and ability, and makes friends of all with whom he comes in contact. He was born February 17, 1854, and is one of a family of eight children, four of whom are living.

The hardware business, as conducted by Kelley & Sons, has been a success, and they carried a stock of about six thousand dollars, consisting of foreign and domestic hardware, etc., and is the oldest existing firm in this line in the city.

KELLEY, J. A., was born May 1, 1851, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, received a common education at the public schools, after which he learned the trade of carriage smithing, at which he worked four years; for the next few years he was engaged in various ways. In 1878 he established his present business, which consists of staple and fancy groceries, and all kinds of wines, brandies, ale, beer, and choice liquors generally. He was married July 29, 1877, to Miss Lovina E., daughter of Frederick Weber, of Mt. Vernon.

KELSER, JOHN (deceased), was married to Mary Drake, who was born in Holmes county in 1838. They had two sons, John W. was born in 1863 (he is now residing with his grand- mother, Mrs. Margaret Drake); Philip S. was born in 1865.

David Drake was married to Margaret Freshwater, who was born in Brook county, Virginia. They had eight children, Nancy, Martha, Mary, Sarah E., Normanda, William, and in- fant. William Freshwater (deceased), was a native of Virginia; he was married to Nancy Chain, who was born in Pennsylvania. They had eight children, William, Reuben, Margaret, Mary, Fanny, Sarah, Nancy and George. Mr. Freshwater came to Knox county in 1818, and settled in Union township; he after- wards moved to Holmes county and died in that county.

KENDER, ISAIAH, landlord, Union township, post office, Danville, was born in Carroll county, Ohio, October 5, 1835. He remained there nntil 1848, when he came to Knox county, and settled in Jefferson township with his father. In 1865 he married S. E. Myers, who was born April 28, 1838. They set- tled in Brown township, Knox county, on a farm which he still owns. In 1878 he moved to Rosstown and bought the Union hotel, which he is conducting with fair success. He has three children: Odessa, William, and Alma.

Isaiah Kender enlisted in the Eighty-second Ohio volunteer infantry in 1861, and went to the war from this district. They landed first in Virginia, and were organized in the Eleventh corps under General Siegel, and was with him in four battles.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

In the battle of Red Tree Creek he was wounded and had to have his arm amputated. Shortly after he recovered from this injury he was made a prisoner and taken to Andersonville, where he laid five months before he was exchanged. Five months after he was exchanged he was discharged from the service and came home, where he has remained ever since.

KENYON MILLS, College township, Gaines & Dial pro- prietors. These mills are located in college township, on Owl creek, one mile southeast of Gambier. The grist-mill was erected in about 1840, by the late Daniel S. Norton, and the saw-mill was erected shortly afterwards by the same party. 'The grist-mill contains three run of buhrs, aud has power to grind three hundred bushels of wheat per day. The saw-mill is capable of sawing two thousand five hundred feet of lumber per day.

KERR, JOHN (deceased), was born in Pennsylvania. His - wife was a Miss Sarah Chambers, a native of Ireland. He emigrated with his family to the great Northwest Territory, and settled in what is now Franklin county, Ohio, and remained there several years. In 1803 Mr. Kerr and family moved on the Sullivan tract of land, some four thousand acres lying in and around what is now Fredericktown. Mr. Sullivan was then a resident of Franklinton, Franklin county, and knowing Mr. Kerr to be a man of sterling integrity and moral worth, gave him fifty acres of land, including a mill site, if he would settle upon it and build a mill there. The offer was accepted. In 1807 the town of Fredericktown was laid out by Mr. Kerr on the fifty acres thus donated.

In the fall of 1807 he constructed a dam, raised a little log house, and set one run of stone to grinding, or "cracking corn." After laying out the town Mr. Kerr purchased four hundred and fifty acres around it. The town was surveyed by W. Y. Farquhar, and named Frederick, in honor of Frederick, Maryland. Mr. Kerr remained there until 1812, when he moved to what is now Nashport, Muskingum county, and kept tavern in that place for some two years. He then sold his property to Mr. Nash, the proprietor of Nashport, and re- turned to Knox county, and located in Pleasant township, on the farm now owned by Robert Miller, esq., formerly treasurer of Knox county.

In the year 1815 he erected the Kerr (or now the Miller) grist- mill. This mill was totally destroyed by fire on the night of the - of August, 1880, after a service of sixty-five years. Its destruction was the work of a fire fiend.

In 1819 Mr. Kerr erected the brick residence now occupied by Mr. Robert Miller. ' He remained on his mill property and followed farming and milling as his vocation until 1837. Dur- ing that year he emigrated to the Plat purchase, in the western part of Missouri, where he died. The exact date of his death is not now remembered. He had six childred by his union with Miss Chambers, viz: Martha, Jane, Benjamin, Thomas, Dorcas, and Chambers. Only two of the number are now liv- ing, Benjamin and Thomas.

After the decease of his wife, which occurred on the twenty- second of August, 1811, at Fredericktown, he married Miss Anna Wells, of Nashport, Muskingum county, who bore him four daughters: Amanda, Sarah, Emily, and Mary, all of whom deceased in Missouri.

His second wife went west with him in 1837, where she died. In 1822 Mr. Kerr was elected to and filled the office of county commissioner of Knox county, Ohio, and served as such for

three years. During his term of service the township of Pleas- ant was laid off and organized, and he gave it the name the township now bears.

KERR, BENJAMIN, farmer, of pleasant township, post of- fice, Mt. Vernon, is the oldest son and third child of John and Sarah Kerr, both now deceased, was born on the west bank of the Scioto river, in what is now Franklinton, Franklin county, Ohio, April 14, 1800. In 1803 he came with his parents to Knox county, and they located at Fredericktown. He re- mained with his parents until 1827. He assisted in the erection of the Kerr, or now Miller, grist-mill, in 1815, and the present residence of Mr. Miller, in 1819. In about 1826 he sank the first well on the public square, in Gambier. for Bishop Chase.

October 30, 1827, he married Miss Rosa Elliott, daughter of William and Elizabeth Elliott, nee Eaton, who came to Knox county in 1815. Miss Elliott was born in Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 22, 1806. After the marriage of Mr. Kerr he settled on the homestead farm in Pleasant township, and remained there until 1838, when he sold the mill property, purchased and moved on the farm where he is now living, in the same township, ad- joining the mill property.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kerr resulted in a family of seven children-Sarah A., John B., William E., Eliza J., Cham- bers, Wilson S., and Rose E. Rose E. has been a sufferer from infancy-from spinal disease. For nearly forty years she has been confined to her chair, and has never walked a step in all that long period of time. John B. and Eliza J. are dead. John B. died at Helena, Arkansas, in 1862, while serving his country in the war of the Rebellion. He was captain of his company.

Mr. Kerr is still living on his Pleasant township farm, and en- joying remarkable health for a man of his age-four score years. Milling and farming have been his principal avocations.

KERR, JOHN, deceased, was born in Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio and settled in Franklin county. In 1803 he moved to Fredericktown, this county. In 1807 he laid out the town and erected a mill there, one of the first in the county. In 1812 Mr. Kerr moved to Nashport, Muskingum county, and remained there about two years, and then returned to Knox county and settled on a farm in Pleasant township. In 1815 he built the mill on his farm now known as the Robert Miller mill. In 1837 he removed to Missouri, where he died. His son, Thomas, was born in Fredericktown in 1803, and is supposed to be the oldest man, native born, now living in the county.

KERR, DAVID B., farmer, Pleasant township, son of James and Mary Kerr, was born in Morrow county, Ohio, February 17, 1845. His father, James Kerr, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, and was brought to Knox county by his parents in 180S, where he grew to manhood. In 1824 he married Miss Hannah Baskens, of this county. They settled in Morrow county, Ohio, and reared a family of five children- four sons and one daughter.

Mrs. Kerr died in 1838. He was then united in marriage with Mary Barnes, of Morrow county, by whom he had eight children-seven sons and one daughter. He died December 6, 1867. His companion is still living.

David B. Kerr, son of the foregoing, was brought up on a farm and has made farming his vocation. October 18, 1866, he married Hannah Bebout, of this county, daughter of Enoch and Eliza Bebout. They settled on a farm in Clay township, this county; remained two years, then moved on his father's

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

home farm in Morrow county. In 1870 they returned to Knox county, purchased and moved on a farm in Pleasant township known as the Scott-Miller farm. In 1880 he sold the Miller farm, purchased and moved on the Enoch Bebout farm, where they are now living. They have three daughters.

KERR, JAMES, deceased, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, and came to Knox county in 1808 with his parents. In 1824 he married Miss Hannah Baskens, of this county, and removed to Morrow county. He died in 1867.

KEYS, JOHN, Liberty township, farmer, born in Lancaster- shire, England, December, 1856. His father, John Keys, was born in Canada, and taken to England when about two years old. He learned the shoemaking trade, and married Sarah Clements in England. They had ten children, seven of whom are living.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 143

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