History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 11

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 11

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).

Henry H. Gandy settled one mile south of Amity, about 1812-14, and lived and died there. He reared a large family of children. Luke Knapp, an Englishman by birth, came to America and settled in Connecticut. where he resided several years; thence removed to New York, where he died. In 1812. his son, Elihn Knapp, moved to Pennsyl- vania, and in 1815 came to Madison county and settled on land on the west side of Big Darby. where the cemetery is now located, and died there in 1823, and his wife in 1836. His wife was Amy Anders, by whom he had three children, Electa. who married Joshua Holtner; Cynthia. who married Solomon Norton, and Elihu, who married Kesiah Norton and settled in Darby township.

Richard Stanhope, with his family, settled on the William Atkinson land, in 1812, the only colored family in that day in the neighborhood. He was a very honest man and quite a good farmer, yet very illiterate. with no advantages of education. He was never- theless affable and good natured, with the politeness peculiar to his race. James Gut was then one of his nearest neighbors and practiced a good many jokes on Richard. one of which we shall retell. It seems that all the early settlers cultivated flax, for the fiber, which was converted into clothing. This crop was always sown in a certain change of the moon. The following Friday after this change was the proper time, which, in this instance, happened to be Good Friday. Mr. Gut informed him that Good Friday of that year came on Sunday. Being a religious man. Stanhope was loath to desecrate the Sabbath, so he sowed his flax on Saturday night. Stanhope had been a slave of George Washington's and was with him during the Revolutionary War. He later sold his farm on the Plains and removed to Urbana in 1836, where he died, it is claimed, at the extreme old age of one hundred and twenty years.

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

Peter Strickland, who was a New Englander by birth, settled on the east bank of the Big Darby opposite Amity, and remained a resident of the township the rest of his life. He was married four times and reared a large family of children, nearly all of whom settled in Canaan township. He was one of the early settlers, a very industrious farmer. a good neighbor and a well-to-do citizen. David Garton, a native of New Jersey, emi- grated to this county and settled on Big Darby, about two and a half miles south of Amity. about 1812-14, and remained a resident of the county until his death. He married Martha Harris, by whom he had two sons. Hosea, who married Rebecca Harris, and David. His wife died and he later married Hannah Richman, with whom he lived until his death. By his last wife he was the father of several children. Mr. Garton was an honest and upright man in his life and character.

Isaac Fuller. a native of New York. married Lucy Warner, and settled on the east bank of Big Darby, about two miles south of Amity, about 1812. He liere erected a grist-mill about 1814-15, which was one of the first mills erected in Madison county, and, though roughly and poorly constructed, proved a great convenience to the early settlers of the county. He later added a saw-mill to it. Mr. Fuller ran the mill for forty years, when he sold the property to Mr. Byers and moved to Iowa, where he died. He was the father of the following children : Arnold, who married Sallie Green; James married, but his wife lived but a short time, and lie subsequently married Lucinda Francis; Shubel married Rhoda Ann Worthington ; Henry married Hannah Taylor; Olive married William Harris; Nancy married George Harris, These children are all by a former wife, whose name is forgotten. By his last wife, Lucy Warner. he had one child, Isaac, who married Arminta Fuller and settled in Iowa. Henry Robey settled just west of Jacob Millikin, about 1816. He married a Miss Johnson, by whom he had no children; she died and he married Mrs. Millie McDonald, by whom he had four children, Hezekiah, Henry, Nelson and Millie. About 1830 he removed to Hardin county, Ohio, where he resided until his death. He was a man of very reserved habits, never holding or desiring office, but an excellent man and neighbor, and one of the best blacksmiths and mechanics of his day; possessing great skill, he could make any kind of tool or implement that was needed on the farm or in the house, and hence was a man of great value in a frontier community.

Elisha Bidwell settled in the southwest part of Canaan township about 1816. Mr. Bidwell was a man of excellent character, and took a great interest in educational matters and the general good of the community ; but as a business man he was not very successful. Knowlton Bailey settled in the township about 1816-17, but remained only a few years and moved to Jefferson township, where he resided until his death. Samuel Beebe, a New Englander by birth. settled in the township about 1815. He had served during the Revolutionary War. Stephen Hallock, a native of Vermont, was another early settler here, probably about 1816-18. He married Rhoda Beach. They were the parents of two children, Hymen and Washington. Mr. Hallock died a few years after settling here, being carried away during one of the sickly years of 1822-23. Lemuel Greene settled one mile below Amity about 1818-20. He married, for his second wife, Rachel Brown, by whom he had a large family of children, of whom were Asa, Ira, Sallie. Maria, Louisa, Nancy and Cynthia. Mr. Greene was a shoemaker by trade and resided in the township until his death, Levi Francis is thought to have settled in the township about 1820; he reared a large family of children.

Mathias Slyh, a Virginian, settled on the farm known by his name about 1820. He buried his first wife and married, for his second wife, Sallie Patterson, with whom he lived until his death. He was a member of the Baptist church, and one of the township's most substantial and esteemed citizens. Warren Frazell settled east of Amity about 1825, where he lived until his death. He was a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

church for many years; he reared a large family of children, who became good, respectable citizens of the township.

Richard Kilbury was born in Vermont, where he married Obedience Baldwin, and, in the fall of 1814, emigrated to Ohio, settling in this township on lands in survey No. 7386. After residing here a short time, it proved so sickly that he moved to near Cleve- land, and later to Maumee valley, but, after a short residence there, he returned to Madison county and resided in Canaan township until his death. He was a blacksmith by trade and spent his life following that vocation. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a man of firm and substantial character and undoubted integrity and held several township offices. He was twice married and was the father of nine children. He died in May, 1854.

Luther Lane, born in Massachusetts, married Lodica Green, a native of Connecticut. They removed to Vermont about 1800. In 1817 they came to Ohio and settled in Union county. near Milford; thence, in 1829, they removed to Pike township, Madison county, where Mr. Lane died the same year. Mrs. Lane had died during their residence in Union county, in January, 1823. They had the following children: Fannie married David Harrington and settled in this county, where they resided several years and where she died ; Eliza married David Gitchel and settled in Union county; thence they removed to Illinois, but later returned and she died in Plain City ; Lodica died unmarried ; Elizabeth married Otis Williams and settled in Madison county, where she died ; Hannah became the second wife of Otis Witham, and settled and died in this county ; David, the youngest, married Elizabeth Cox, and settled in Union county ; and Luther, the next elder than David, married Elizabeth Morrison, and in 1833 settled in Canaan township. In 1834 he entered into the mercantile business with Dr. Lorenzo Beach in Amity, in which he continued for eight years. In September, 1841, he purchased and settled upon a farm.

Elisha Perkins came and settled on the Plains when that strip of prairie was still the pasture land of the wild animals that frequented this portion of the county. He did not live long, however, after reaching his new home, being carried off by those deathly years of 1822-23. His sons were Isaac, James, Eli, Horace and Dr. Hiram Perkins.

Lewis Ketch settled on the Plains in 1814. He was a shoemaker by trade and worked with Nahum King in a shoe shop at his tannery on the Plains. He did not live for many years after reaching his new home. His widow married Parley Converse, with whom she lived till separated by death. Samuel Sherwood, the father of A. H. and J. C. Sherwood, settled on the Plains in the year 1814 and lived on the farm known as the Calhoun farm. The house in which he lived was built on a high piece of ground that proved to be a gravel bank, and was used to improve the Wilson pike. Mr. Sherwood was an economical and industrious farmer, but fell victim to the sickly years of 1822-23.

EARLY FAMILIES.

In 1817 a large family of brothers and sisters came to Madison county, following Uri Beach, who came in 1814. The brothers of the family were Uri, Ambrose, Amos, Lorenzo, Roswell, Obil and Oren Beach, the last two named being twins. They were natives of the state of Vermont. At first they all settled in Darby township, but subse- quently most, if not all, of them became settlers of Canaan township.

Uri Beach, when he first came to the state of Ohio in 1812, worked for a short time near Marietta ; thence he went to Worthington, Ohio, where he married; thence he came to Madison county and settled on land in Darby township, later owned by Solomon Cary, residing there until 1819, when he removed to Big Darby and settled where Amity is now situated. He was among the first to turn attention to the satisfaction of the wants of others. His first enterprise was the erection of a saw-mill. At that time there was but one mill in this part of the county of that kind, the Saeger mill, farther up the Darby,

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

near the border of Union county. He selected a site for the mill on what was called Finch run, and here built a mill that proved a real blessing to the community. Mr. Beach soon recognized another great want, namely, means by which to facilitate the domestic operations in clothing the families and rendering them comfortable during the winter months. Among the early settlers, the manufacture of woolen goods for the family was a tedious operation, especially in preparing the wool for spinning. Before this latter operation could be performed, the wool must be carded into rolls, which then had to be all performed by hand, with a pair of what was called "hand cards." This operation was exceedingly slow and laborious. Something to facilitate the labor of carding was the great want of the people. The operation of spinning and weaving was only a second- ary consideration, for a woman who did not know how to spin and weave was not considered at all qualified for the holy state of matrimony. To supply these wants, Uri Beach undertook to build a carding-mill. The chief obstacle that crossed his path was the great distance and the question of the transportation of machinery. The site was selected for his carding machine just below his saw-mill, not for the purpose of using the water of Finch run for power, but because it was near his other mills. The building was erected, the machinery obtained, and all put in running order. For a few years the machinery in operation was a picking, carding and fulling machine, to which he after- wards added two small spinning jacks. This factory was in operation for fifteen years or more. It is thought that the first frame house in the township was the one standing on the hill, at the foot of which stood the carding-mill.

Uri Beach, in Company with his brother, Lorenzo, purchased of Doctor Comstock a tract of land from which they laid out the town of Amity, and here Mr. Beach died.

Ambrose Beach, the next son in age to Uri, purchased a farm on the Plains, just east of his brother, in the same year they came to Ohio. This place was his home for several years. He, having had some experience as a clothier, finally consented to connect him- self with his brother in the factory, where, for several years, he was engaged in the manufacture of woolen cloth. The weaving in this factory was all done by hand, with what was called a spring-shuttle loom. He later sold his farm on the Plains and pur- chased land in Brown township. Franklin county, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days.

Dr. Lorenzo Beach, the fourth son of the family, was born in Vermont in 1797, and came to Ohio as early as 1813. settling at Worthington, with practically no worldly effects. His education was only such as could be obtained on a country farm in the Green Mountain state, where the entire time of the farmer is taken up with an endless fight for a living from the sterile soil. He studied medicine with Doctor Carter, of Urbana, and commenced his practice at Amity, about 1820, being, it is believed, the first practicing physician ever located in that place. During the sickly seasons of 1822-23 he and Dr. James Comstock, who was associated with him, attended nearly all the sick of the district, which extended for many miles around, but the center of the virulence was between the two Darbys. His field of practice must have been large, for his fame is still considerable among the old residents of this portion of the county. However, it is believed that he lacked faith in himself and his remedies, to a degree that prevented any enthusiasm in his profession, and that the responsibilities attached to the life of a physi- cian became exceedingly irksome to him. Therefore, he abandoned his profession for the more Incrative, and to him more agreeable, life of a merchant. For several years subse- quent to 1833. he was actively engaged in merchandising and, later, in real estate opera- tions. Seeing an opportunity for the better employment of capital and his abilities, he removed, in 1853, to Livingston county, Illinois, where he continued to reside until his death, in August, 1878, at the age of eighty-one years.

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

Roswell Beach, who purchased land in Darby township, where Solomon Cary after- ward lived, observing the prosperity of his brothers in the woolen-mill, and the population about Amity rapidly increasing, and that there was a growing demand for greater and more extended facilities to meet the demands and wants of the people, he, with his two younger twin brothers, Obil and Oren, in order to meet these requirements, selected and purchased a, site on Big Darby creek below Amity, on what was known as the Stone farm, Here they built a damn and erected a building for a factory, purchasing the machinery of the elder one of their brothers, also a new set of cards and other machinery necessary for extensive operations in a new country as this then was. In connection with this plant, Mr. Fulton, a son-in-law of Roswell Beach, put in operation a pair of buhrs for grinding corn. It was expected by the proprietors of this enterprise that large profits would be realized as a reward for their outlay and labor. However, this factory was in operation for only a few years.

The village of Amity had greatly increased in population, but with each returning fall the inhabitants of the little town suffered severely from malarious diseases. It was suggested that the stagnant water produced by the erection of the factory dam across the Darby was the existing cause of the suffering of the inhabitants; consequently, a petition was circulated and signed by many citizens of the place, asking the court to declare this property a public nuisance. Effort was made by the petitioners to substantiate the claims set forth in the petition. This was the first case of the kind ever put before our courts of justice. After hearing all the testimony in the case, the court declared the property to be a public nuisance ; therefore, this dam across the Darby was torn out in the early part of the summer.

The facts are, that during the autumn of that year there was more suffering from sickness than any previous year. The effect upon the owners and proprietors of the factory can be easily imagined. But there were a few citizens interested in the financial welfare of these men, who gave them something to relieve their embarrassments. They, however, became disheartened and discouraged. sold their effects and removed to the West. where. by industry and frugality, they recovered from this financial shock. Roswell settled in Iowa ; Obil aud Oren settled in Kansas. The latter died in 1863.

Dr. Charles McCloud, a native of the Green Mountain state. emigrated with his father, Charles McCloud, to Delaware county, Ohio, and soon afterward to Madison county, where his father, in 1814, purchased a farm one mile east of Chuckery, and here they settled. and here young McCloud, then only six years old, was reared. He was born February 2, 1808. He studied medicine with Dr. Alpheus Bigelow, of Galena, Delaware county. Ohio, and on the completion of his studies located in Amity, Madison county, Ohio. The first year or so his practice must have been light, for he engaged to teach school for a term or so; but in a few years his practice became very extensive, his patrons being scattered all through the Darby Plains, up Big Darby and on Sugar run in Union county, and in the neighborhood of Dublin, Franklin county. In 1844 he was the Whig member of the lower house of the Legislature of Ohio and in 1850 a member of the convention to revise the Constitution of Ohio. In figure he was slight, never weighing over one hundred and fifty pounds, with a slight stoop in his shoulders. His complexion was dark. In manner he was grave almost to severity. This gravity was not assumed, but natural, rarely leaving, even in family circles. He was an inveterate reader, and in his younger days must have been a great and keen student of his profession, as he had a well-worn library. Later in life he gave up his profession and entered merchandising, but still kept up his habits of study. He took up the study of astronomy at one time in his life and later became an enthusiastic student of geology, so much so that he delivered several lectures on it, illustrated by maps of his own drawing. A few years before his death he

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

took to reading fiction and poetry. He read the works of Charles Dickens with great interest, and was not only a great reader of Shakespeare, but became a critical student of that great poet as well. He was a debater and writer of more than ordinary force. He was in no sense a politician, and what positions of honor he occupied were unsought. As a physician, he was cautious and conscientious, and in his diagnosis and prognosis of disease remarkably accurate, which secured to him the great confidence of his patients. Although commanding a large practice, it appears that he accumulated but little from his profession, as he was a poor collector and his charges astonishingly low. Doctor McCloud, in all the relations of life, was honest and upright, his character being absolutely above reproach. He married Mary Jane Carpenter, by whom he had four children. He died in Plain City, April 1, 1861, at the age of fifty-three years.

William D. Wilson, the son of Valentine and Eleanor Wilson, was born on February 27, 1807, and was only nine years old when his parents settled in Somerford township, on Deer creek. Here he spent the years of his youth and, arriving at maturity, married Nancy Moore. He purchased two hundred acres of land on the Darby Plains, in Canaan township, at eighty cents per acre. This purchase amounted to one hundred and sixty dollars, to meet which, he borrowed the money, with his uncle Daniel as his security. He located in Canaan township about 1829-30, so can hardly be called one of the town- ship's pioneers, but rather one of its settlers. He at once built a cabin, and very soon entered quite largely into the stock business, as his land was better adapted to grazing at that day than tillage. As a financier and trader he was a remarkable success. Shrewd and careful in all his transactions, economical and industrious, and carefully investing his gains in more land, he soon became the owner of a vast amount of the best land on the Darby Plains, counting his acres by the thousands. He died at his homestead place, March 25, 1873, at the age of sixty-three years. He was the father of eight children : Alexander, who married Martha Jane Milliken; Ellen married Benjamin Morris, but died, childless. December 3, 1857; James Monroe married Achsa Burham; Lafayette married Sarah Temple; William M. married Mary M. Slyh; Sarah married John Price; Wash- ington married a Miss Wilson, of Kentucky; and Taylor, who married Eliza Daily, died on February 17, 1875.

A Mr. Martin, probably a native of Pennsylvania, settled in the township about 1812. The following were his children: George, Rachel, William, Benjamin, Susan and Jolin. They lived here for several years and then removed to Champaign county, Ohio. A Mr. Richey, of Irish descent, settled on land later owned by the Wilsons, about 1816-18. Joseph and Isaac Bidwell settled about the same date. Among other early settlers of whom it is impossible to learn any important history, were David Harris, Paul Alder, a brother of Jonathan, Christian Adams, Joseph Loyd, John Johnson, David Ellis, J. Phelps and Patrick Johnson.

EARLY MILLS.

We have already seen how Uri Beach built the first saw-mill in Canaan township about 1820, on what was then known as Finch run. This mill was situated on the south bank, west of the Plain City pike, on the brow of the hill. Traces of the old mill race can still be seen, but of the mill itself the last vestige has long since been removed. This mill sawed all the lumber for the first frame buildings in this portion of the county and for the bridges across Big and Little Darby creeks on the National road. This saw-mill and the one later built further below on the Darby at the grist-mill by Isaac Fuller have been the principal water-power saw-mills of the township: since their time, there have been several portable steam-mills that have, as occasion demanded it, been transported to various portions of the township.

In about 1814-15 Isaac Fuller, having located on the east bank of the Big Darby,

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

about two miles south of Amity, erected a grist-mill which was one of the first in this part of the country, right opposite on the west bank of the stream. Mr. Fuller ran this mill for over thirty years, when he/was succeeded by Mr. Byers; he died and was followed by John Acton in the ownership of the mill.

A little below the Beach saw-mill, spoken of above, the same Uri Beach, soon after erecting his saw-mill, built a large, two-story frame building, with a basement, which was quite an imposing structure for the day. The basement was where the power for driving the machinery was placed. The power made use of was unique and the wonder of the age; though very cumbersome, it fully met the owner's expectations. It consisted of what was called "tread power." A large tread-wheel was placed in a horizontal position, or rather at an angle or incline of about ten degrees, and this, by its revolutions, com- municated motion to a smaller cog-wheel fitting into it. which, by an upright, communi- cated motion to the machinery above. Then. upon this inclined tread-wheel were placed a yoke of oxen, which were tied in position and, the wheel tending to move downward by the weight of the oxen, to the lowest point of the wheel, the oxen were made to keep walking up the incline of the wheel, which kept it in motion. The stopping of the machinery, at the will of the operator, was effected by means of a heavy friction brake, let down by lever power upon the tread wheel. The entire arrangement was a curious devise, but, nevertheless, effectual and powerful, propelling a large amount of machinery. This factory was in use for about fifteen years, employed about forty hands, and was a great benefit to the people of the then new settlement. It was succeeded by a mill built by his three brothers just below Amity. As has already been pointed out, this was declared a public nuisance a few years later, and the dam was torn away and the mill became useless.

SURFACE, SOII. AND STREAMS.

The one principal stream of Canaan township is Big Darby creek, which enters the township from the north about one and a half mile west of its eastern boundary, flows southward until it reaches the Franklin county line, and continues its southerly course, forming the boundary line between Franklin county and this township, until it reaches the southern limits of Canaan township. In the north part of the township it receives a tributary known as Mammoth run, which, in spite of its name, is a very small stream. It follows a general easterly course entirely through the township before it empties into Big Darby. In the south part of the township Big Darby creek receives Three-Mile run. which takes its rise in the southwest part of the township, flows almost due east until it mixes its waters with those of the Big Darby.

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 Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 11

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150