History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 69

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions > Part 69

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he built a two-story log cabin close by. When the cabin was completed, he went to Ross county after his six children. The trip was made with the usual conveyance of the day-a wagon and a team of horses. After the family was reunited and installed in their new home, work went on with renewed energy.

In 1841 Mr. Porter began to collect material for a new house. The framing and dimension lumber was sawed from logs taken from his own land and hauled four miles to the nearest saw-mill : the weather-boarding, finishing lumber and doors' were hauled from Dayton, Ohio; the lath and lime for plastering were brought from Springfield, but the brick was burned on the ground close by. The house was completed and ready for occupancy in December. 1842. The event was celebrated at Christmas time by a house- warming and dinner. to which all his. neighbors and friends were invited. This affair lasted for two days. After the house was occupied by his family, he built a barn which, when completed, was one of the largest in Madison county at that time.

James Porter was always interested in public affairs, and especially education. He donated the land for the Garrard school house. This house has long disappeared and has been replaced by a brick building in a different location, being now known as the Oak Run school. In 1844, at his invitation. there was a reunion at his home of the soldiers of the War of 1812. A few of those who attended were, Colonel Brush, Doctor Toland. Jacob Thompson. George Cornwell and others from Madison and adjoining counties.

In 1850 James Porter was accidentally killed at a house raising. At his death the estate was divided up among his children. By his energy and enterprise he had brought under cultivation between four hundred and five hundred acres of land. The home place came into the ownership of his daughter. Harriet Porter-Coover. This farm was willed by his granddaughter. Bertha Coover. to Madison county as an experiment farm for the advancement of agriculture.

James Porter is given as a typical pioneer, whose energy and enterprise, in con- nection with his compatriots, Samuel Prugh, Valentine Wilson, Matthew Bonner, Jacob Thompson. James Rankin, Thomas Jones, Coleman Asbury and others, through them- selves and their descendants. have built up Madison county from a wilderness and have made it one of the leading counties of Ohio.

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DAVID WATSON JR.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

THE WATSON FAMILY.

Of the early families in Madison county, Ohio, none from their earliest settlement have contributed more to the general progress of this county, than this sturdy family, whose descendants may yet be found occupying conspicuous places in the social and business life of the county today. The Watson family in Madison county dates from David Watson, Sr., who came to this county when it was but a wilderness and when Indians still lived about in great numbers.

David Watson was the son of Walter and Rachael Watson, who were born in Mary- land. Mrs. Walter Watson was a strong. consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Walter Watson, the father, was noted for his great physical strength. David Watson was born in Calvert county, Maryland. He was a man of keen intellect and in early manhood was noted for his great physical prowess. He left home when four- teen years of age. with a Captain Brandon on a sailing vessel. While on the vessel he discovered a negro slave as a stowaway, whom he secretly fed, and when the vessel reached Beverly. Massachusetts. the negro gained his freedom. David Watson attended school a short time while in Massachusetts, living in Captain Brandon's home, the cap- tain having sailed for England. On March 23, 1798, the captain having returned, David Watson embarked on the vessel and sailed for Newfoundland and experienced many exciting adventures among the ice floes. He returned home with a great catch of fish and immediately prepared for a second voyage. This voyage took them to the coast of what was then called British America.

After this the captain, who had been offered a berth as first mate on a British East Indian merchantman. declined to accept. but gave David his choice of going as a cabin- boy, which he accepted. On this voyage David encountered many experiences, and suffered somewhat at the hands of the captain, who had a very violent temper; he also took part in a fight with a school of whales which attacked the ship, and on this voyage was intro- duced to Neptune. "the old man of the sea." During this voyage he incurred the cap- tain's displeasure and suffered severely, at one time being flogged with the cat-o'-nine- tails, a punishment inflicted in early seafaring days. They touched various ports and were on their homeward voyage when captured and taken prisoners by a French sloop- of-war. This was done because France at this time was demanding the return of funds loaned to this country during the Revolutionary War, this incident occurring under the presidency of John Adams. They were taken to Cayenne, South America, the cargo confiscated and the crew thrown in jail.

They remained in jail about ten weeks and at this time, a Captain Adams. of Balti- more. hearing of their imprisonment. came to the jail and inquired if there was not a little American boy in jail. David at once replied, "Yes." He took David aboard his ship and sailed for Lisbon. Portugal. where they soon arrived and while there witnessed

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the horrors of an earthquake, which almost destroyed Lisbon. Here they disposed of the cargo and sailed for Hamburg. While at the latter place David had the pleasure of seeing the King and Queen of Denmark.

From Hamburg, they set sail for London and, while at this place, saw many crim- inals hung from the gibbet. From England the ship sailed to Bordeaux, France. After leaving Bordeaux, the ship was seized by a British man-o'-war and the cargo confiscated. They at length set sail for New York and in time arrived there, after a voyage from home lasting six years.

After arriving, David started for his home by way of Philadelphia. While in Phila- delphia he shipped on a packet and in four or five days reached Alexandria, Virginia. He visited Washington and eventually reached home, his parents during his absence having moved one hundred miles away from their former home and were now living in Frederick county. Virginia.

In the fall of 1803, David while attending a religious revival, became possessed with great religious fervor. About this time attention was being given to the great unknown West, to which settlers were flocking each day from beyond the Alleghanies David proposed to his father that they move to Ohio and his father consented to David going, promising to come with the family if the new country was as good as represented. A Mr. Helphenstine was going to Ohio about this time and David, joining him, reached Chillicothe in October, 1805, remaining here until the following January.

Here they met Colonel Langam, who was starting for the back-country of Ohio to lay warrants and divide land. David and his companion joined him as assistants. They reached their destination, where David assisted in surveying land, of which seventeen hun- dred acres later became the homestead of David, his property, which he bought with services, also trading his horse and watch for a part of it. The party, including David, returned to Chillicothe. In 1806 David started back to Virginia and, finding many will- ing to join him. mustered a company of thirty-nine persons, who accompanied him back to Ohio. Of these persons, David Watson was the only one alive in 1870. On this trip. Jonathan Minshall, the founder of the Minshall family in this state, accompanied him. David Watson's father built a log cabin, as did also Jonathan Minshall, these being the first structures of the kind in this part of the country.

About this time the colony felt the need of spiritual guidance and, after consulting with his father and Mr. Minshall, it was decided that Mr. Minshall should bring the Rev. Mr. Lakin, from Chillicothe, who came and delivered the first Methodist sermon preached in this part of the country. Thereafter meetings were held in the elder Watson's home until 1822. During this year David's mother died suddenly. her funeral sermon being preached by Rev. John Strange. About 1818, Bishop Asbury visited these parts and David Watson met him at a camp-meeting held where Mechanicsburg now stands. On July 28, 1807, David Watson went to Franklinton to secure a marriage license, and he was married July 29, 1807, taking Mary Helphenstine as his partner through life. She was born on March 5, 1793, her family having been neighbors of the Watsons in the East. They commenced housekeeping in a cabin belonging to a Mr. Smith, which stood where Samuel Watson, the son of David, later lived.

Later David and his wife moved into their own cabin, which he had erected, and after encountering many vicissitudes and obstacles of early indebtedness, soon had a start which was substantial for those days. London having been designated as the county seat, cabins were springing up in the new town and David, having a surplus of farm products, was one of the first to bring foodstuffs for sale into the new town of London. This was about 1810.

In 1812 the early settlers, as a consequence of the war of 1812, were called upon

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to build a blockhouse near where Marysville now stands. David assisting in this. David had joined a military company that was formed and camped in Franklinton. Becoming ill. he and others were discharged and returned home. From 1818 to 1824 David Watson was hired to distribute the laws in a district embracing fifteen counties in this section of Ohio. In 1822 David's father died, his mother having died earlier in the same year.

Among the Indians living here David was very popular, and was greatly admired by them for his physical prowess, often wrestling with them. He hired one of these Judians, for the sum of one dollar and a half. to blaze a trail for him to Clifton on the Miami to a grist-mill, the grain having previously been taken to Chillicothe. This was the first path to be opened to the Miami and was much used thereafter. David Watson prospered and might be said to have been one of the most popular men of his day in the county. During his latter years he was a man of great religious fervor and helped to mold the religious sentiment in this part of Ohio. He furthered all good causes, and to him the county owes a debt of reverence for his prominent part in the substantial foundation he helped to lay for the present attainments of Madison county. His wife died on January 10, 1855. To their union were born the following children : Sussanab, born on September 29, 1808; James. December 20. 1810; Eliza- beth, June 15, 1815; Mary E., September 16, 1817; Samuel HI., September 7, 1821; Isabelle, September 10, 1824; Stephen, June 4, 1827; David, Jr., June 24. 1830; Cath- erine P., April 26, 1833: Josephine, March 19, 1836; Louisa, December 27, 1840.

David . Watson, Jr., the ninth child of David and Mary Watson, was born in the old homestead erected by his father and, like most boys of his time, was reared to the pursuit of agriculture. He grew to manhood in this county and here spent prac- tically all his life. He was married to Elizabeth Jones, who was born in Madison county, the daughter of John C. and Sarah A. (Taylor) Jones. The Jones family .came to this county from Tennessee in 1821. Zacheus Jones, the father of John C. Jones, removing to this county in that year; his father, Solomon, came to the United States from England.

David Watson, Jr., and his wife established themselves in the old Watson home- steud erected by his father, which was situated four miles southwest of London, ou the Xenia pike. This was the original land which was bought by David Watson, Sr.

David Watson, Jr., was a quiet man, of a retiring disposition, but when the call for volunteers came during the Civil War he volunteered and was selected as captain of his company, serving with credit. He was known and loved for his boundless charity. and his name was synonymous with everything that meant Christian charity und benevolence towards all men. No one was ever turned away from his door hungry and bis bounty was extended to all who were in need. He lived an unostentatious life, preferring that his many kindly deeds be received as quietly as they were per- formed. He had no ambitions to shine as a spectacular citizen, and preferred to do the little good of each day unheralded and unsung. He was truly a good man, who will ever he remembered as one of the kindliest and most benevolent men who have ever lived in this county.

To David Watson, Jr., and his wife were born the following children: Robert, Mary and Louise. Of these Mary became the wife of Lee Williams and lives in Lon- don; Robert, now deceased, was a brilliant law student in Harvard University until removed by death in his twenty-fourth year. Louise is the wife of Rea Chenoweth and lives in London.

David Watson. Jr., died on June 11. 1886, and his wife died on April 25. 1905. Their remains are interred in Paint township cemetery.

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WYATT MINSHALL.

For many years no name was better known in the business and financial circles of Madison county than that of Minshall, James Q. and Wyatt Minshall, father and son, having been in their day two of the most prominent figures in the business life of London, the county seat, and thus exerting a wide influence throughout the whole county. The Minshall family was established in this county in 1807, several years before the creation of the county as a political entity, and in all the years since has done well its part in advancing the best interests of the commonwealth.

James Q. Minshall, for many years president of the Madison National Bank, of London, father of the immediate subject of this memorial sketch, was born in Paint township. this county, on March 17, 1815, son of Jonathan and Eleanor Minshall, pioneers of this region. who emigrated from Virginia to Ross county, this state, in 1806; one year later moving from Ross county to the section now comprised in Paint township, Madison county, where they established their home and where they spent the rest of their lives. becoming widely recognized as among the strongest factors in the early development of that section of the county. James Quinn Minshall, son of this pioneer pair, began life for himself at the age of twenty-one, at which time he left the parental roof to take a position with one Anderson, who kept a stage station and tavern near by and subse- quently a hotel at Lafayette, this county. During three years of such service. James Q. Minshall accumulated the sum of three hundred dollars, which he used to good advant- age in setting himself up as a farmer and dealer in live stock. He prospered from the very start of this venture, his energetic and progressive methods bringing liim rapidly to the front, until he presently was recognized as one of the most substantial men in this part of the state. He gradually increased his original land holdings until he was the owner of thirty-five hundred acres of choice land in Range. Paint and T'uion town- ships, this county, and was a large stockholder in the Madison National Bank, of Lon- don, of which for a long time prior to and until his death, he was the president.

Shortly after engaging in business for himself, and with firm faith in his future. James Q. Minshall was united in marriage to Hannah Watson, daughter of Samuel Watson, a well-known pioneer of this county, and to this union five children were born, namely : Wyatt, the immediate subject of this memorial review, Clarestine, Leon, Sarah and Addie. The mother of these children died in June, 1866, and in April, 1867, Mr. Minshall married, secondly, Lydia Powell, to which union there was no issue. James Q. Minshall died at his home in London, this county, on August 28, 1875, and there was general mourning throughout the county when the news became known. From a penni- less boy, he had attained a position of power in influence in the community, a position he never abused. Tireless in doing good and nobly generous in his private charities. his warm heart and sympathetic nature rendering him incapable of turning a deaf ear to the cry of want, he made for himself a name which long will endure throughout this county.

Wyatt Minshall, son of James Q. and Hannah ( Watson) Minshall. was born on the the home farm near Midway, in this county, in 1839. and was reared there, receiving his education in the schools of that neighborhood. On October 21, 1863. he enlisted in Company K, Ninety-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. and was taken prisoner by the enemy shortly after entering the service. After some time spent in a Confederate prison pen . he was paroled and returned home. where he was married to Elizabeth Fisher. When his furlough expired, Wyatt Minshall rejoined his regiment, with which he remained until the close of the war, during which time he saw some very brisk action. Upon the cessation of hostilities between the states, Mr. Minshall returned to Madison county and entered upon a business career that proved remarkably successful. For

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more than thirty years he was connected with the Madison National Bank, of which his father so long was president, and during this time was active in all movements designed to advance the best interests of London and Madison county. A notable characteristic of Mr. Minshall was the systematic and exact methods employed by him in the transaction of his extensive business affairs. Mr. Minshall was an earnest and active member of the Methodist church at London and at the time of his death had been for years a member of the official board of that church. His death occurred at his home in London on Monday, December 29, 1902, and was the occasion for wide mourning throughout the county, for he, even as his father had been, had been a good citizen. tried and true, faithful in all his relations with his fellow men.

To the union of Wyatt and Elizabeth (Fisher) Minshall there was born but one child, a daughter, Minnie, now the widow of the late Charles Cheseldine, for many years a prominent merchant of the city of London and president of the Madison National Bank. who is living with her two sons, Raymond and Kenneth, in their pleasant home in London.

JOHN C. BRIDGMAN.

No man in Madison county, or indeed in all central Ohio, has a wider acquaintance and a more devoted following of faithful friends than has John C. Bridgman, the venerable president of the Madison National Bank, of London, this county. Though long past the octogenarian stage, Mr. Bridgman is still a man of remarkable vigor and activity, the energy which forced him to the front of affairs in this county having sus- tained him long beyond the time when most men are content to lay down the cares of business and retire to the calm of their firesides. With mind as alert as ever and with bodily powers unimpaired by the weight of years, Mr. Bridgman still continues his life of ceaseless and tireless activity and is still regarded, as he has been for many years, as one of the most important factors in the commercial and financial life of this section. John C. Bridgman, who has been prominently identified with the affairs of Madison county for the past seventy years, traces his ancestry back beyond the time of the British protectorate, the Right Hon. Sir Orlando Bridgman, English knight and baronet, having been lord-keeper of the Great Seal of England prior to the Cromwellian period. Sir Orlando's son, James Bridgman, came to America in 1640, escaping the turmoil which preceded the establishment of Cromwell's dictatorship, and settled at Hartford. Connecticut, later removing to Springfield, Massachusetts, and thence to Northampton. New Hampshire, where he established his family. John, his only son. had six sons, John, born in 1674; James, 1677: Isaac, 1680; Ebenezer, 1683: Thomas, 1686, and Orlando, 1701. John, the eldest, had a son. Jonathan, born in Connecticut, who located on a farm on Moose mountain, near Hanover, New Hampshire. He, too, had six sons, Isaac. John, Asa. Abel. Gideon and Orlando, all of whom became ministers of the Baptist church. The Rev. Abel Bridgman married a Miss Fowler, a cousin of O. S. Fowler. the celebrated phrenologist, and their son, Erastus, born at Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1796. married Mary Flagg. a native of Massachusetts, daughter of Dr. Bazelle Flagg, to which union were born seven children, Mary Frances. John C., Nathan C., Adeline, Charles, Augusta and Mendal. all of whom are still living save the latter three. The father of these children died in 1874, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1868, and both are buried near Hanover, New Hampshire.

John C. Bridgman. fifth child and second son of Erastus and Mary (Flagg) Bridg- man, was born at Hanover. New Hampshire. on March 24. 1831. and was there reared. He obtained a fair common-school education, which he supplemented by a part of an academic course. and on January 19. 1853, was united in marriage to Lucy R. Pelton.

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who was born in New Hampshire on May 2, 1834, daughter of David M. Pelton, who was born in Lyme, New Hampshire, on November 26, 1804, son of David M. and Lucy (Stone) Pelton. Upon the death of David M. Pelton, Sr., his widow married the father of Millard Fillmore, and thus became the stepmother of the thirteenth President of the United States. David M. Pelton, Jr., married Sally Ross, who was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, to which union five children were born, namely: Lucy B., who married Mr. Bridgman, born on May 2, 1834; Isabelle F., August 3, 1840; David C., June 26, 1843; Brewster, August 23, 1848, and Franklin R., August 20, 1852. David M. Pelton, Jr., died on April 3, 1872, his wife having predeceased him a little more than one year, her death having occurred on February 8, 1871. The latter's father, Thomas Ross, was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, having enlisted at the age of eighteen.

The year following their marriage, John C. Bridgman and wife came to this county. arriving in London, the county seat, on April 13, 1854. Mr. Bridgman then was twenty- three years of age, full of energy, enterprising, industrious and far-sighted; possessing boundless confidence in his ability to make a firm place for himself in his new home. He was for a time employed in the dry-goods store of W. W. Fellows, as a clerk, remain- ing there, however, only six months, at the end of which time his services were secured by Samuel Teney, from whose store he went to the store of Shaw & Toland, where he remained about a year. In 1856, two years after his arrival in this county, Mr. Bridg- man recognized the possibilities in the calling of the crier of public sales, and entered actively into the business of auctioneer, in which he was destined to achieve a remark- able success. This was at the beginning of the famous stock sales in Madison county, and for many years Mr. Bridgman devoted his whole time to this business, his success as an auctioneer becoming little short of phenomenal; the name of "Jack" Bridgman becoming well known all over central Ohio, his jovial manner, free and ready wit and sterling common-sense qualities winning for him the friendship of all. In the year 1882, as an instance of his wide success, Mr. Bridgman's sales aggregated more than three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1908 Mr. Bridgman was elected president of the Madison National Bank, of London, and ever since has occupied that responsible position, long having been recognized as one of the leaders in financial circles hereabout. Though past eighty-three years of age at this writing (1915), he retains the heartiest interest in affairs and is generally acknowledged to be one of the strongest personal forces in the entire community.

To John C. and Lucy B. (Pelton) Bridgman were born seven children, four of whom are still living, namely : Franklin R., of Muskogee, Oklahoma, prominently identified with the Nowata county oil field, in which he has large holdings, as well as being the owner of eight thousand acres of fenced land in Oklahoma, on which he annually raises more than a thousand head of cattle, besides being connected with large interests in and about London, this county, being the owner of seven hundred acres of land in the northern part of Madison county, married Laura Wilson, daughter of Taylor Wilson, of this county, to which union three children have been born, Dorothy, Orlando and Janice: Marian Frances, who married William Chrisman, of London, this county, to which union was born one child, a daughter, Lydia. who married Graham Denmead, of . West Liberty, this state, and has one son, Robert G .; Mary Stratton, who married Earl Davis, of Columbus, Ohio, to which union two children have been born, Marian and Robert, and Ollie. who married John S. Adkins, an architect, living at Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, to which union two children have been born, daughters, Elizabeth and Marcia. Mrs. Bridgman died in 1906, and Mrs. Chrisman keeps house for her venerable father. she and her family living in the old Bridgman home in London.

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 69

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207