History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 113

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Ohio > Licking County > History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present > Part 113

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"Our sketch would be imperfect were not some references made to the secular life of Brother Cunningham. The book trade has occupied the greater part of his life. This was fol- lowed by the insurance business, as agent, and in 1877 he re- ceived the appointment as statistician to the Ohio department of State, to which laborious charge he was reappointed in 1879 The volume of Ohio statistics issued for 1877, which has re- ceived commendatory remarks everywhere, was of his compila- tion. A similar volume for 1878 is in press. As a handle of literary merit he received the grade of magister artiam

"But my space is exhausted. Were a page of 'the Masonic newspaper ' left for friendship, a eulogy would follow, both in prose and verse, that would demonstrate how much we all love William M. Cunningham who know him."'

Sanford Cunningham, son of William M., died November 8, 1880, of consumption. He was an only child and much beloved. One of Newark's papers thus speaks of him:

"Few young men were more generally or more justly re- spected and beloved than was Sanford Cunningham, and the memory of his broken, and yet in a true sense, complete life, will cling around his early tomb with a sweet fragrance. He was a young man of unusual energy, ability, and ambition, and had he been endowed with a physical constitution in pro- portion to his mentality, he would have accomplished that dis- tinguished career in life, of which his energy and ability gave such abundant promise. The heroism with which he battled for years with the insidious disease that was sapping his life was greater than the heroism of battle fields, and yet he bore his sufferings with a patience and a resignation born of a calm, serene faith that never failed him. Chords of sympathy, deep and heartfelt, thrill unbidden for the bereaved parents, and yet, only the God of all consolation can comfort such sorrow."

NEWARK TOWNSHIP.

CARSON, NANCY .- Nancy Carson was long a well known citizen of Newark, where she died No- vember 25, 1872, in the seventy-ninth year of her age. She was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania, May 17, 1794, and came with her father's family to Licking county in 1816. She was a most excellent pioneer, well adapted to life on the fron- tiers; of rare industry, conscientiousness, and de- votion to religious duties. Nancy Carson became a member of the Presbyterian church of Newark, November 13, 1816, during the ministry of Rev. Dr. Thomas D. Baird, and continued her mem- bership there until her death, a period of fifty-six years, and always, while health permitted, attended its ministrations.

COPLEY, JOSEPH .- He was born in Madison township, January 16, 1845; he is the son of John and Mary Copley. Mr. Copley was born Decem- ber 25, 1798, in Yorkshire, England; he came to Licking county in 1842, and located in Madie

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township; he was married January 18, 1843; his first occupation was farming; he afterwards moved to Perry county and engaged in the woollen manu- facturing business; moved back September 1, 1862, and died October 11, 1864. His wife was born in Madison township, March 15, 1810. She is living with her son in Union township; they are the par- ents of only one child, the subject of this sketch. He was married May 29, 1870, to Miss Viola Han- cock, daughter of Nathan Hancock, Harrison township. She was born in Union township, March 8, 1851; they are the parents of Mary E., born August, 11, 1871; John W., who died August 8, 1873, aged five months; George, who died Feb- ruary 2, 1877, aged four years; Mattie, who died January 21, 1877, aged.eighteen months, and Lucy Perl, who was born November 11, 1878. Joseph Copley is a farmer; has taught school during the winter since 1864.

NEWTON TOWNSHIP.

COLVILLE, J. H., farmer, post office, Chatham. He was born August 8, 1830, near St. Louisville, Licking county. The following April his parents moved to Newark, where they lived till their death in May, 1848. His father, mother and brother died within a few days of each other, with a disease that was then known as erysipelas fever. The entire family was afflicted. It was considered con- tagious and very dangerous, and, at the time of his parents' death, none of the neighbors or friends would come to the house but one uncle. An aunt did the baking and cooking for the family, and would take it as far as the door and leave it. His parents were buried, but the funeral service was not held until the following June. His father was one of nine children. His grandfather, father and two uncles served in the War of 1812; his grandfather was major, his father lieutenant, his uncle Samuel was captain, and his uncle James a lieutenant. The youngest uncle, at the age of sixty years, en- listed and served in the late civil war, from Oska- loosa, Iowa. His father was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, in 1788, and came to Licking county in 1826. His uncle James was eighty- three when he died. Samuel was eighty-eight, and his uncle John is past eighty, and is living in Iowa. The subject of this sketch is one of nine children, and is the only one at present living. At his fa- ther's death his oldest brother returned to the farm, having been absent, and the children remained together, and worked the place in common until one of his sisters' marriage, when he and his brother-in-law took the place and worked it to- gether. He remained there about three years, when the farm was sold, and the proceeds divided among the heirs. He married Sophia Bline Au- gust 24, 1854. He rented the old homestead of

the party that purchased it, and lived there three years, when he moved to a farm near the "Goose Pond," lived there eight years, when he bought the farm near Chatham, where he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Colville have nine children: William, born January 3, 1856; Jacob B., born April 26, 1858; Flora, born July 18, 1859, married to Frank B. Preston, January 30, 1879, and lives in Chat- ham; Jennie, born April 14, 1865; Mary Bell, born March 29, 1868; Rachel Ann, born January 8, 1871; Ella, born September 17, 1875; J. H. Bastine, born April 16, 1876; Merlie, born Febru- ary 14, 1879. Mr. Colville, besides his farming, makes a specialty of raising fine wool sheep. At present he has a fine flock of blooded Merino sheep.

PERRY TOWNSHIP.

COOKSEY, JAMES O., farmer, post office, Cooksey, was born April 21, 1841, and was married to Miss C. J. Huffman, of Tuscarawas county, in 1867. They have had three children :. Laura Nellie, aged twelve; Lillian Leonia, ten; Sadie Vioria, nine. Mr. Cooksey lives near Denman's cross roads, and is a rising young farmer. He has been township clerk for several years, and the office never was in better hands. His father, John Cooksey, was born in Virginia in 1800, and is liv- ing in this township. His mother was also a native of Virginia. Cooksey post office was named in honor of his father in 1880.

CRAWFORD, JAMES M., farmer, post office, Per- ryton, was born in Coshocton county in 1840, and came to this county in 1866; was married to Miss Sarah E. Beckham, of this county, in 1861; they have had seven children: Ella J. (deceased); Ida (deceased); Eva, fifteen; infant; Anna, twelve; Carl, ten; Stella, two. J. M.'s father was born in Ireland ·in 1806 and died in 1850; his mother was born in Virginia in 1807, and has lived in Coshocton coun- ty seventy-two years; his mother's maiden name was Rebecca J. McCann. J. M. Crawford was elected justice of the peace in 1867, and held the office twelve consecutive years; has been trustee, and has held other offices of trust in this township; owns three hundred and sixty-three acres of good land and one of the nicest houses in the township; he is the eldest of four living brothers, all over six feet in height, and he has never been sick a day in his life.

CULLISON, Z. B., physician, was born in Coshoc- ton county, Ohio, June 7, 1837. He has been practicing medicine in this county eighteen years, moving to Elizabethtown in 1863 ; he graduated at Jefferson Medical college, Cincinnati, in 1857; practiced a short time in Mansfield before the war, in which he took an active part, going out in company

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E, Forty-third Ohio volunteer infantry. Since lo- cating here he has given his entire attention to the practice of his profession, and has built up an ex- tensive practice. He was married in 1862 to Miss Rebecca Ann Pigman, of Coshocton county; they have had nine children; two deceased. He and his wife's parents came from Maryland, and are of English descent; their grandfathers were among the first Methodist preachers in Ohio, and he and his wife are children of Methodist preachers.

ST. ALBANS TOWNSHIP.

CLEMONS, MRS. E. S., was born in Granville township June 12, 1837. She attended school at Granville about four or five years, and began teach- ing school when she was sixteen years of age. She was married to William H. Clemons January 15, 1857, by Rev. W. S. Burton, and emigrated to Washington, Washington county, Iowa, in March of same year, where they engaged in shipping cat- tle; also purchased a farm of eighty acres. They remained in Iowa about three years, and then re- turned to Granville township and purchased the old Clemons homestead. They have five children: Bell Rose, born July 8, 1861; Frederick Levi, born March 23, 1865; Charles C., born June 28, 1869; Johnnie Leclaire, born April 2, 1871; Maud S., August 6, 1873. Levi and Sophronia Rose, par- ents of the subject of this sketch, were pioneers of Granville township. The former was a son of Levi and Polly Rose, who were among the first settlers of Granville, having moved there in 1805, and was one of the active, energetic families of the county. Levi Rose died in Granville, May 16, 1879. Mrs. E. S. Clemons is now living in Alexandria main- taining her family.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

CAMERON, GEORGE, merchant tailor, Utica. He was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1840, and came to America in 1854. He went to work in a boot and shoe store at No. 174 on the Bowery, New York city ; remained there a short time, then went to Patterson, New Jersey, where he remained for a short time and then returned to the old coun- try. After he came to America the second time he apprenticed himself to a merchant tailor in New York State, and served his time, and in 1863 went to Cleveland, Ohio. He worked there about a year, when trade slacked up and he went from there to Sandusky. Trade was better there, for the reason that the rebel officers imprisoned on John- son's Island, when exchanged, had work done. He then went to Terre Haute, Indiana, and served a second apprenticeship, and on the fifteenth of April, 1865, he left there and went to Kansas City, Missouri. After travelling about the country for a long time he came to Licking county, and cut for H. B. Green, of Granville, and then went to

Michigan. He returned to Licking county and started business for himself in Utica. He was married to Mary Burns-a native of Ireland-of Genesee county, New York. Her parents came to this country when she was very small. She was born in 1840. Since coming to Utica he purchased property on Mechanics street, where he resides, car- rying on his business. He built an addition to the house he lives in, and has just completed a small brick house on the same street. He is ready at all times to cut or make a suit of clothes for all.

CAMPBELL JOHN R., farmer, post office, Utica. He was born March 9, 1815, in Washington town- ship. His parents moved here in 1809, from Penn- sylvania. They settled on the farm in the woods now owned by John Coad. There were of the family Julia, Joseph, Jane, John, Eliza, Mary, Sarah and Samantha, of whom four are living. He re- mained at home with his parents until their death. He then purchased, with his brother James, the homestead. His father died June 23, 1844, and his mother July 1, 1846. He was married to Louisa Hughes June 3, 1851. She was born November 17, 1820, and is the daughter of Jonathan Hughes and granddaughter of Captain Elias Hughes After their marriage they remained on this place until 1859, when he sold to John Coad and bought the farm they now live on. They have had three children. The first died in infancy. Romilla O. was born April 20, 1854, and died May 24, 1855 George S. was born March 24, 1862, and lives at home.

CANNON, JACOB, farmer, post office, Utica. He was born in Clay township, Knox county, in 1835. His parents were from Pennsylvania. His father died in 1859, fifty-five years old ; his mother in 1878, at the age of sixty-seven. They lived in Knox county about twenty-five years. There were four boys and five girls of the family. Jacob re- mained at home until he was twenty-one years old and then went to Illinois ; returned to Ohio and was married to Melinda Painter, of Licking county, in 1855. She was born June 12, 1836. They had eleven children, of whom are living, Amanda, Ellen, Mary, Roselia, James M., Ida May, Anzonia, Etbel and Grace.

Mr. Cannon enlisted in the Seventy-sixth regi- ment, company D, Ohio volunteer infantry, Cap- tain Kibler, in November, 1861, and served three years. He was discharged a the expiration of his term ; was in the campaign of the Southwest under Grant and Sherman; took part in the battles at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, skirmished on the ad- vance to Memphis, had three days' fight at Hayne's Bluff, was in front of Vicksburg; part of the amy was engaged at Port Gibson and the balance of tured Jackson. Rebel General Churchill fell beck

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HISTORY OF LICKING COUNTY.

to Vicksburg, and the Seventy-sixth attacked Ar- kansas Post in the rear, and was the first regiment that entered the fortification. This command was led by Col. William B. Woods, who took part in the battle at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge. His regiment was on the right. After this they fought at Ringgold. They were cut off at this fight and were placed in Joe Hooker's command. After this they went into winter quarters at Paint Rock, Ala- bama. At this time the entire command reenlisted and came home on a furlough in 1864. After coming home Mr. Cannon was taken sick, and on being sworn in was rejected on account of disease contracted in the war. He was sick three years, and has never been entirely well since. Mr. Cannon is at present an expert in shearing sheep, and during that season shears more than any one man in his neighborhood. He makes a specialty of doctor- ing sheep. He has invented an attachment to sheep shears which makes the work more rapid and easy, and prevents injuring the sheep.

CONARD, JOSEPH (deceased), was born in Lou- doun county, Virginia, and came to Licking valley in 1805. In 1808 he purchased a farm near the pres- ent village of Utica, where he lived and died, his death occurring February 14, 1873, at the ripe age of eighty-eight years.

BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP.,

DENTY, JOHN, farmer, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, in 1807, came to this county with his fa- ther in 1831. William Denty died in 1850, and his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1861. John Denty married, in 1825, Miss Maria Barber, of Anne Arundel county, Maryland. They were the pa- rents of three children. Amanda, married to William Weiant, of this county, but now living in Kansas; Martha, married to David Weiant, brother of William. Martha died March 5, 1880. John W. married Miss M. Moore, daughter of T. H. Moore, of this county. John W. and wife are the parents of four children, three living and one, Flora May, dead. Those living are George, born in 1864; Warren, born in 1866, and Lavina, born in 1872. J. W. Denty lives on the old homestead.

DOUGLASS, JOHN, farmer, born in 1822, in Mor- ris county, New Jersey, came to this county in 1842. He was married, in 1846, to Miss Louisa A. Green, daughter of Robert A. Green, of this county. She was born in 1830, in this county. They are the parents of ten children, nine of whom are living; one, Albert B., is dead. He died March 7, 1871. Mr. Douglass has a fine farm in this township besides a fine town property in Utica.

DUFFIELD, SAMUEL, wagon-maker, born in this county in 1823; lived at home until the age of eighteen, when he went to learn his trade. Went

to Iowa in 1854; lived in Iowa farming and work- ing at his trade six years; went to Colorado for a year and came back to this county in 1861, has worked at his trade since coming back. In 1845 he married Miss Matilda Scribner, of this county. Miss Scribner was born in 1829; she came to this county with her parents in 1836.

DUKE, SALATHIEL ALLEN, of Baxter, Drew county, Arkansas, was born in Bennington town- ship, near Homer, Licking county, January 14, 1828. His parents were natives of Virginia ; David Duke, his father, being a child of six years when his father, John Duke, moved from near Wheeling, Virginia, and settled near Zanesville, Ohio. This was about 1802. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Elizabeth Conard, whose father, Nathan Conard, was among the first settlers near Utica about the same time. This county was then inhabited by Indians; schools were almost unknown, and consequently the parents of Mr. S. A. Duke received but little education but endeavored to make up the loss by educating their children, and were always foremost in all educational !interests in their neighborhood. In religion, his father was Calvinistic, his mother Quaker, but both became Methodists. In politics his father belonged to the Democratic party, and always went with his party .. The son, however, was independent, thought for himself, and dates his opposition to the Democratic party from the repeal of the Missouri compromise. When the war broke out, Mr. Duke went to Helena, Arkansas, under authority of General Curtis, to organize a regiment of colored troops. A delay occurring, by reason of a change of department commanders, Mr. Duke was employed in finding homes in St. Louis for the thousands of contra- bands that were then entering that city from the South. For this work he neither asked nor received any compensation. In the spring of 1863 he went to Helena, and there, under the direction of General Prentice, began the organization of a colored regiment. His work here was, however, interrupted, and he accompanied Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas, who was then in the west for the purpose of looking after the interests of the colored people, down the Mississipi river; a plan having been devised for placing the contrabands upon abandoned plantations. Mr. Duke probably inaugu- rated the first successful efforts in this direction ; and was placed in charge of what was known as the " Out-post Plantation," two miles in rear of Good- rich's Landing, Louisiana. Prior to taking charge of this plantation, it was through his instrumentality that four hundred bales of cotton were taken out of the clutches of thieves and delivered to the Government. After disposing of the abandoned cotton on his plantation, Mr. Duke, after paying

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HISTORY OF LICKING COUNTY.

all expenses out of the proceeds, was enabled to turn over to the Government sixty thousand dollars, which would have been lost or stolen but for his occupation of the plantation. He also started the first colored school in that section, being within the sound of Grant's cannon, at Vicksburgh, and was taught by a freed-woman. When the planting season ended, he gathered the negroes together in a fortthe troops having departed from Goodrich's Landing, where a defence could be made in case of attack. Into this fort were collected during the winter some five thousand contrabands with all their possessions, to await, in the shelter of the fort, another planting season. The small-pox broke out among them, and Mr. Duke caused the erection of a hospital for the patients, near the gate of the fort, which fact probably prevented a rebel attack. In the fall of 1865, Mr. Duke settled in Arkansas, and still continues a resident of that State. In 1868, he was elected a member of the house, and in 1872 a member of the senate of Arkansas, on the Republican ticket. It was at this time that the well known trouble occurred between Baxter, the legally elected Republican governor, and Brooks. who contested his seat. A speck of war appeared in Arkansas, but Grant put his heavy hand on the contending parties, and the war was over. The . Republican party was, however, 'deposed and retired from power. Since that time, Mr. Duke has devoted his energies to building up his neigh- borhood and bettering his condition. He now owns about three thousand acres of land, five hun- dred acres of which is under cultivation, and all but sixty acres of this has been cleared in the last ten years. In 1849, Mr. Duke married Ruth E. Barnes, daughter of George Barnes and grand- daughter of Charles Barnes, a pioneer of the county who emigrated from Frederick county, Virginia, in 1811, having rendered military service under Lord Dunmore. Her mother was the daugh- ter of another pioneer family named Bacon.

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP.

DAILEY, WILLIAM, hotel keeper, born in Warren county, New Jersey, in 1825, came to Urbana, Ohio, in 1835; he was married in 1852 to Miss Sarah A. Brinnon, of Urbana, Ohio. She was born in 1823, in Virginia. They came to Homer in 1850. They have no children of their own, but have an adopted daughter, who is married to Mr. William Green, who is now a student in the medi- cal college in Columbus. Mr. Dailey enjoys all the custom of Homer, being a man who is cour- teous to travellers and sets a good table.

DAVIS, SARAH .- Mrs. Davis was a daughter of Captain Elias Hughes, Licking's pioneer settler of 1798, and was one of his twelve children who then composed his family. She was born in western

Virginia in 1790, and died in Burlington township December 12, 1869, in the eightieth year of her age. Sarah Hughes married Samuel Davis in 1808, and for some time after that event lived in Newark, then a village of about two hundred in- habitants. Mrs. Davis was pre-eminently one of the pioneer women of Licking county, having lived within its limits seventy-one years. She had been for forty years a member of the Christian church. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

DUSTHIMER, ISAIAH .- Mr. Dusthimer has been a life-long practical farmer, and is the descendant of one of the early settlers of this county. His grandfather and family came here from Loudoun county, Virginia, when his father, Anthony, was a small boy, and built his log cabin in the midst of an unbroken growth of timber. His father united in marriage with Rebecca Hoskinson, and Isaiah was their first child, born October 29, 1818. He was married March 16, 1848, to Mary Brady, the daughter of Levi Brady, born September 1, 1792, and Mary Brown, born June 15, 1794, a Pennsyl- vanian by birth. Mrs. Dusthimer was born March 18, 1825. Their children are: Elizabeth Jane, wife of Bourbon Coe, of Hopewell township; James M., John W., and Harvey E. Rebecca Ellen, twin sister to Harvey, died in infancy.

. GRANVILLE.

DAVIS, DAVID E., tailor, was born in Wales June 6, 1815. He is a tailor by trade, and has made tailoring his principal vocation through life. In 1831 he emigrated to America, and located in New York, where he worked at his trade about three years. In 1834 he commenced travelling and working at his trade as journeyman, in different towns, for one year. In 1835 he came to Ohio. and lived in Newark about eight months. In the spring of 1836, he came to Granville township, and located in the Welsh Hills settlement, in the northeast corner of the township. October 22, 1836, he married Miss Isabella, daughter of Deacon William Williams. Miss Williams was born in Wales February 29, 1812, and migrated to this county with her parents in 1820. Mr. and Mrs Davis settled in Granville township, where he en- gaged in carrying on a tailor shop, which business he has since been conducting, and is better known in the neighborhood by tailor Davis than by his right name. In 1847 he purchased and moved on the farm in the northeastern part of Granville township, where he now resides, and has since that time been carrying on the business of farming in connection with his trade. His companion de- ceased January 22, 1877. They reared a family of four children: Hannah, Ariadna, William H, and Samuel A. All are yet living, married, and have families. His son, Samuel A., served about time

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HISTORY FO LICKING COUNTY.

1 one-half years in the late war, in the Sixth io sharp-shooters, and returned home at the se of the war.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP.

DENNIS, JOHN, deceased, was born in Ireland 1773. He served four years in the Tyrone unty militia, and was discharged July, 1797. bout 1809 he married Miss Eleanor Dennis, rn in Ireland in 1786. They reared a family of ;ht children: Hugh, Francis, John, James, illiam, Ann, Eleanor and Margaret. In 1839 o of the sons, Francis and John, emigrated to nerica, and located in this county. Francis en- ged in farming, which business he has since fol- wed. John was a blacksmith by trade, and has de blacksmithing his principal vocation. In :42 Mr. Dennis, with his wife and the remaining : children, emigrated to America, and located in . Albans township in this county; remained out two years; then in 1844 they moved on the rm in the northwest corner of Harrison township, ›w owned by their son, Francis Dennis, where ey passed the remainder of their days. He died nuary 2, 1851. His companion survived him itil November 9, 1870. Two of the children are >w deceased : Hugh and Ann. William left home 1844 or '5, and has not been heard of since. he remaining five children -- three sons and two hughters are now living on the home farm in 'arrison township.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 113

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr. Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages: 826

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826