USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 63
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Alfred Ogle, who represented Mon- roe County in the legislature in 1856-8, in partnership with Felix Ogle, succeeded Church Tuttle in the mercantile business. Alfred Ogle was a very prominent citizen and a local preacher of the Methodist church. He was also one of the early school-teachers in this vicinity. He and his brother Felix died in Middleburg.
Middleburg has been a good trad- ing point from its earliest years. In 1846 Wesley Neptune started a tan- nery here, which was continued by him and his sons until 1885. He did
a good business. Shoemaking was carried on quite extensively by Ed- ward P. Sullivan, who employed sev- eral hands, working up the products of the tannery.
The present business interests of the place are as follows :
C. H. Laws, Young & Lanam, mer- chants.
F. M. Shaklee, steam flouring- mill.
Mrs. Ahrendts, botel.
A. S. Sullivan and George Eich- horn, blacksmiths.
Thomas Tarleton and William Gregory, shoemakers.
Dr. A. Andrus, physician.
E. B. Moseley, dentist.
Wesley Neptune, an old resident, first visited the site of Middleburg in 1834. A sugar grove then covered the ground on which the village now stands, and all the surroundings were of the wildest sort. Settlers in the adjoining country were few and the improvements small.
Middleburg has long been noted for the excellence of its schools. It has a fine large two-story school- building, erected in 1873, which would do credit to a much larger place. The first school-house, also a two-story building, was erected about 1858 and was then the best in the county. It was destroyed by fire and replaced by the present house. William II. Pickett, now a minister of the Methodist church, organized the graded school and taught very successfully for several years, both in the public and in a select school. Leroy D. Brown, present State com- missioner of schools, also taught in
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R
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& . 0° Sullivan
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Middleburg schools, both select and public. The select schools were well attended.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
EDWARD P. SULLIVAN, one of the representative business men of the county, was born near Clarksburg, Harrison County, Va., September 22, 1829. His father, Strawther Sulli- van, was an industrious mechanic. By two marriages he had a family of ten children, whom he supported by daily labor. At the age of eleven years Edward met with that irrepa- rable loss, the death of his mother. After her death he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. His master was ex- acting and severe, and the appren- ticeship of the boy was attended with many hardships and struggles. At the age of sixteen, having ac- quired his trade, he began life as a journeyman shoemaker in his native town. About 1848 his father died, and the support of the family de- volved upon him, and for four years he was their entire support. His stepmother marrying again, he was relieved from his position as head of the family. Up to this time his life had been replete with poverty and privation, without education, except what he received in the school of ob- servation and experience, and with little prospect of either social or business preferment, life seemed to be shorn of its pleasures, but despite the obstacles which beset his way, he was determined to better his condi- tion in life and to conquer success at any cost. Soon an opportunity was offered to engage in business. A
gentleman by the name of Joseph L. Robinson, an uncle of John W. Rob- inson, of Louisville, Ky., proposed to furnish the capital ($100) for the establishment of a shoe store, Ed- ward to take charge of the business. The offer was eagerly accepted, and from this time he began to prosper. The co-partnership existed for about three years, in which time he accu- mulated $750, a sum that seemed to him a competency. With his little fortune he came to Middleburg, where a brother, Dexter W., had already settled. Deeming it a good location he returned to Virginia, closed up his business and returned to Middleburg, where he remained for seventeen years. By industry and close attention to business he soon became forehanded, and he be- gan to take a conspicuous position among the business men of the county. In 1872 he came to Dexter City, where he engaged in merchan- dising, in which he has since been successfully engaged. The life of Mr. Sullivan can justly be termed a successful one. Reared in poverty, without education, his way was so obstructed that one less resolute would have given up in despair. His career evidences the inevitable result of perseverance, industry and integ- rity. While Mr. Sullivan has ob- tained a well-won competency he has also been successful in the build- ing of an enviable reputation, and it is but just to say that but few, if any, stand higher in the public es- teem. He has been called at differ- ent times to the occupancy of posi- tions of trust and responsibility. In
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1861 he was elected county commis- sioner and upon the expiration of his term was re-elected. For over twenty years he has been the village magis- trate. In his political convictions he is a Republican ; originally, however, he was a Democrat, but the issues involved in the war placed him in the Republican ranks. Ile is a Method- ist in religious belief, and a patron of all charitable and religious enter- prises. During the war he took an active part in forwarding any war measures, and his time and money
were always at command. Four of his brothers, Dexter W., Isaac, Eben- ezer and William A., were Union soldiers. The last three gave up their lives in defense of the cause. Mr. Sullivan has been twice married. His first wife, Miss Martha Ogle, whom he married in 1858, died in 1871. In 1873 he was again married, to Miss Amanda Humiston, of Wash- ington County, Ohio. By the first union there was one child, Cora M. (Mugrage); by the second, two: Mattie C. and Ernest E.
CHAPTER XXVIII. JACKSON.
OLIVE GREEN TOWNSHIP, ORGANIZED IN 1819-CHANGE OF NAME - FIRST JUSTICES OF THE PEACE - TAXPAYERS IN 1826 - AARON HUGHS THE FIRST SETTLER - HUNTING ADVENTURES, AND OTHER DETAILS OF PIONEER LIFE - REASONER'S RUN - SLOW PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT - AN ENGLISH COLONY ARRIVES IN 1817 AND DOUBLES THE POPULATION -THEIR ADVENTURES - SEVENTEEN INMATES OF ONE CABIN -THE EARLIEST FAMILIES-EARLY SCHOOLS-POLITICS IN EARLY YEARS-BELL-MAKING BY THE KEITHS - WILBUR SPRAGUE'S NARROW ESCAPE -SHOT BY AN INDIAN - STORES AND BUSINESS INTERESTS - CHURCHES.
O LIVE GREEN TOWNSHIP, named after its principal stream, was one of the original townships of Morgan County, organized in 1819, and then embraced as at present, a full congressional township. A few years later, on account of the politi- cal complexion of the township, its name was changed to Jackson. It is the only township in the county whose boundaries were not changed after the erection of Noble County in 1851.
Jonathan Hughs was commissioned justice of the peace for Olive Green Township, August 18, 1819, and served a full term. Moses Grandstaff was commissioned justice October 21, 1819. These were the first magis- trates in the township.
The following list, copied from the Morgan County tax duplicate. gives the names of all owners of real estate in Olive Green Township (township 5, range 9), in the year 1836, and may therefore be regarded
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as a complete list of the pioneer settlers of the township at that date :
William Allison, William Bar- ton, James Britton, Henry Carroll, Joseph Carroll, Aaron Carroll, William Carroll, Peter Cadwell, . Mary Cadwell, Ebenezer Cun- ningham, Jarvis Eddleston, John Farley, Aaron Ilughs, Jonathan Hughs, George Johnson, Henry Gore, Jacob Jordan, Peter Keith, Benjamin Keith, George Legg, John and Thomas Merritt, William Ole phant, William Roach, John B. Ripley's heirs, Wilbur Sprague's heirs, Abraham Secrest, Thomas Taylor, John Taylor, Peter Taylor, David Wallace, David Wilson. Num- ber of acres, 3,638; value of land and houses, $4,449 ; tax on the same, . $44.29.
Aaron Hughs was probably the first settler of the township. He was a native of Hardin County, Va., and a thorough backwoodsman. He came to Ohio in 1804, and located on Will's Creek, in Guernsey County. After making considerable improve- ments there, he sold out and removed to what is now Center Township, Morgan County. He sold his prop- erty on Will's Creek for $500, and the money was stolen from him soon after, while he was stopping at a tavern. He lived two years on Olive Green Creek, in Morgan County, then sold out his improvement for $150, and with $80 of this, made an entry of the land in Jackson Town- ship, on which he lived and died. The year of his settlement in this township was either 1811 or 1812. 85
He was chiefly engaged in hunting and trapping, and was expert in the use of the rifle. Equipped with a gun and a pocket compass and ac- companied only by his faithful dog, he was at home anywhere in the forest. IIe killed deer and sold venison hams at twenty-five cents each ; got $2 and upward for the scalp of each wolf killed; and from skin, bounties and meat made more money than any pioneer could who devoted himself solely to farming. Hughs killed four large buck elk after coming to this township, and his son James killed another. These were the last elk ever seen in the western part of the county.
Aaron Hughs had a family of seven sons and five daughters. The names of his children were Phebe, Josie, Polly, Lucy, Rebecca, James, Amos, Gabriel, Aaron, Jonathan, William and John. Of these Gabriel is the only one now living in the county. William, John and Lucy still survive, and are residents of Iowa.
Gabriel Hughs was born in Hardin County, Va., in 1801, and has resided in Ohio since he was three years old. He has had far more experience in dealing with the world than usually falls to citizens of a new country ; also more extensive acquaintance with the difficulties and hardships that pioneers have to encounter. Mr. Hughs is still vigorous and healthy and delights to narrate his early ad- ventures. For fifteen years he ped- dled bells for the Keiths, traveling through northern Ohio and parts of Indiana. At first he went on horse-
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
back ; then as business grew better, with a wagon. The bells found a ready sale almost everywhere and the business was profitable. Mr. Hughs has owned and conveyed a very large amount of real estate during his lifetime.
In his boyhood Gabriel Hughs fol- lowed hunting with as much enjoy- ment as that occupation afforded to his father. Once his father shot and killed an old bear not far from his home, and the cubs which accompan- ied her, ran up a tree. Returning home for an ax, he went back to the place where the dead bear lay, at- tended by his sons, Amos and Gabriel, and his brother Jonathan. The cubs were seen on the ground but ran up a tree as the party approached. The tree was soon felled and four cubs were secured-three alive and one dead. Gabriel took a cub in his arms to carry home. After he had walked some distance the young bear became uneasy, manifested a desire to get down, and finally bit its cap- tor. Gabriel threw it down and kicked it to death. One of the cubs was kept until three years old, be- coming very tame so that it could be led about by a rope around its neck. Mr. Hughs finally sold it for $3 and a pen-knife.
When a boy of sixteen, Gabriel Hughs was accidentally shot by Tim- othy Gates while the two were deer- hunting. The boy was shot in the face and his jaw broken. His com- panion carried him to the nearest cabin, where he remained until the next morning, when he was carried home on a quilt and featherbed. He
was five miles from home when the accident happened. Mr. Ilughs still carries the scar.
Jonathan Ilughs was a brother of Aaron, and came to the township a few years later. He married in Mus- kingum County, settled in Guernsey County and came thence to Jackson Township, where he served many years as justice of the peace. Ilis children were Sarah, Leah, Eliza, Mary, Rebecca, Abraham and James.
Reasoner's Run derives its name from a hunter named Reasoner, who came from Guernsey County, built a camp on this stream and remained here for some time hunting and trap- ping. This was long before the township had any permanent set- tlers.
The settlement of this township was of slow growth. Many pioneers were afraid of hill-farms, thinking the land worthless, or nearly so, and therefore this region had few attrac- tions for them. The township is now well improved, and the farmers generally are prosperous.
In 1817, the arrival of several En- glish families nearly doubled the pop- ulation of the township. The mem- bers of this colony were Peter Tay- lor and his family, his brother John, a bachelor, Thomas Taylor, with a large family, Peter Cadwell and his family, together with his brothers, Richard, John and James, single men. two sisters, Margaret and Alice, and their mother, Mary Cadwell, Peter Gore and one son and two daughters. In all there were over thirty persons. Three only of these immigrants are now living-John Taylor, of Crooked
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Tree; Mary Keith (nee Taylor), of Keith's, and James Taylor, son of Thomas, now in Illinois.
These English pioneers left Liver- pool on a sailing vessel, and were sixty days on the ocean. They land- ed at Philadelphia, and after remain- ing about two weeks making prepara- tions for their journey into the west- ern wilds, started for Pittsburgh in two road wagons, each drawn by six horses. At Pittsburgh they bought a flat-boat, loaded themselves and their goods upon it, and started down the Ohio, some of the men rowing a part of the time to make better speed than the current afford- ed. They were intending to go to Cincinnati, then in the "far West," but falling in with one of the Keiths at Marietta, were led to aban- don their purpose, through his ac- count of the cheap and fertile lands yet unentered in Jackson Town- ship. Accordingly, they sold their flat-boat at about one-half its original cost, and all came to the township and began the difficult and laborious task of subduing the forest and mak- ing themselves a home. Their inex- perience caused the difficulties and hardships of pioneer life to assume mammoth proportions; but relying upon the old maxim, "Where there is a will there is a way," they betook themselves bravely to their unfamil- iar tasks, and soon had their cabins and clearings made and in good order. During nearly a year Thomas Tay- lor and his wife with their ten chil- dren, John Taylor, the bachelor, and Peter Taylor, his wife and two chil- dren all lived in the same cabin.
In the day time they could get along quite conveniently, as some mem- bers of the family were usually out of doors at work, but at night they found their quarters to be rather close.
Thomas Taylor settled on Big Run the year after he came, and there lived and died. His sons were John, Thomas, Peter and James. John . . amassed a good property, and died on Big Run.
Peter Taylor's children at the time of his arrival were John and Mar- garet. A son, Peter, was born later, and is still living in the West. John Taylor, oldest son of Peter Taylor, Sr., was born in England, January 1, 1814, and is still living. Ile has been a resident of Jackson Township since 1817, and is a worthy and respected citizen. His uncle John, who was one of the pioneer immi- grants, died a bachelor.
Peter Gore was a widower when he came to this country. He lived on the creek, near the old Hughs' farm. His children were Henry, Mary and Ellen. James Cadwell, after his marriage, settled where John Wilson now lives. Peter Fern- ley came from England a few years later, married one of the Cadwell girls and settled in the township. James Britton, another Englishman, came to the township soon after the Taylors. He was an elderly man, and died shortly after his arrival. One day as he was out with a neigh- bor looking through the woods, chancing to hear a cow-bell, he said in all seriousness, " I was not aware that you had a church here."
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
According to the recollection of John Taylor, the Hughses, Keiths, Carrolls, Wilbur Sprague and his family, the Merritts, and perhaps one or two others, were all that had set- tled in the township prior to 1817.
Marietta was the nearest trading place for these pioneers until Robert McKee opened a store at Olive, and Colonel Enoch S. McIntosh (still liv- ing) another at Ludlow. Rainey's mill at Macksburg was the only con- venient mill, and that was often stopped for want of water. About 1829 a horse-mill was erected at Peter Taylor's; Ebenezer Cunning- ham, who lived near where Dexter City now is, and John Morgareidge were the millwrights.
George Carroll, a fine old man, who had served his country in the Revolu- tionary War, came from Will's Creek, in Guernsey County, and entered three quarter-sections of land on Reasoner's Run. He used to say that at the battle of Brandywine he and another comrade were the sole sur- vivors out of all his regiment. His sons were Henry, Joseph, William and Aaron. A few representatives of the Carroll family still remain in the township.
Lewis Waller was an early settler, and lived on the school section. IIe was originally from Pennsylvania, but came here from Will's Creek. ITis brothers, Jesse, David, John and William, lived for a time on Big Run. Most of the Wallers went west. The Merritts also came from Will's Creek, and were intermarried with the Waller family. Daniel Merritt
married Jane Waller, and John Mer- ritt married Polly.
Moses Grandstaff, one of the first justices of the peace, was only a brief resident of the township. He mar- ried a sister of Lewis Waller. Jona- than Hughs, for many years the magistrate of the township, was a fine man and a leading citizen. Instead of encouraging litigation for his own emolument, he always sought to have his neighbors settle their disputes without resorting to legal measures. Many a dispute brought before him was amicably adjusted by the Squire's friendly advice without trial. The Squire lost his fees, but that did not trouble him if he could make two enemies friends.
Wilbur Sprague, son of one of the Washington County pioneers, came to the township about 1814, and set- tled on a farm adjoining that of Aaron Hughs. His adventures in the Indian War are elsewhere men- tioned.
George Legg came about the same time, and made an entry of eighty acres. He was a Virginian, and a shoemaker by trade.
THE KEITHS .- Peter and Benjamin, were among the most prominent early settlers. They came about 1817, and took up farms. They were Pennsylvanians, and had lived on Tick Hill for a short time before re- moving here. Both were blacksmiths and bell-makers. Benjamin was the grandfather of W. B. Keith, Esq.
The Jordans were early settlers on Will's Creek, about five miles from Cambridge. Afterward he removed to the headwaters of Duck
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Creek, near Hiramsburg, where their descendants still remain. Jacob was the father, and he came to Jackson Township. He had nine sons and two daughters. Jacob and Isaac (twins), Elijah and David, were among his sons who resided several years in this township.
Charles Moore and Jeremiah Wil- son, were among the first teachers in the township. Probably the first school-house was built near the west- ern line of the township.
An early school was taught in a cabin in the Hughs and Gore neigh- borhood. Williams was the name of the teacher. Soon after a school was taught by a man named Wickham, in a cabin on Reasoner's Run. At an early date a log school-house was erected on the school section.
Jacob Miller, who lived in the school section, was an early black- smith, and a good workman, but in- temperate.
The honor of having cast the first Republican or anti-Democratic vote in Jackson Township is claimed by several. Gabriel Ilughs says that Nathan Shockley (who lived as a squatter on Reasoner's Run) was the first Whig voter and for many years the only one.
John Taylor was an early justice of the peace. George Baker was a justice of the peace and a leading citizen for many years.
Until 1828 the township was a political unit -solidly Democratic. The Cadwells, Taylors, and other English settlers after becoming nat- uralized, voted against the Jackson- ians, and thus the political strength
of the latter was somewhat modified. It is related by one of the prominent early politicians that as he saw sev- eral anti-Jackson Englishmen ap- proaching the polls in a body on election day, he cried with an oath, " Here comes the British army !"
David Wilson, who married a Car- roll, was an early resident, and lived on Reasoner's Run.
John B. Ripley was among the first settlers. His descendants are still here. Hiram Ripley. his son, lived in the township several years, then moved away.
David Waller lived a number of years on the Wilson farm. He had a large family, most of whom went west. His brother Lewis was also an early resident of the township and died here.
John and Thomas Merritt were among the earliest settlers on Big Run. James and David, sons of Thomas, are still residents of the township.
William and Daniel Roach first settled on the Muskingum River, afterward removing to Big Run. William was killed by the falling of a tree, some years since.
The early settlers found it very dif- ficult to procure sufficient salt for their use. On one occasion Peter Cadwell went to Olive with three bushels of wheat. This he sold to Thorla & McKee for one bushel of salt, Mr. McKee stating that he did not particularly want the wheat, but would take it to oblige Mr. Cadwell, since he had brought it so far for the purpose of trading it.
William Allison was an early set-
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
tler in the southern part of the town- ship, on a farm adjoining that of Thomas Taylor.
John Farley lived on Big Run, and at one time operated a little horse-mill there.
Among the early settlers of the township were Peter and Benjamin Keith, from Pennsylvania, the former a soldier of 1812. They took up a quarter section of land, which is still in possession of their descendants. They were blacksmiths and bell- makers. They made many bells, which were sold to the early settlers for miles around. Peter was twice married -first to Miss Dickey, by whom he had four children : Benja- min, Robert, Elizabeth and John; and, second, to Miss Mary Taylor, who bore eight sons and two daugh- ters. Mr. Keith was a very devout man, and through his efforts an early church was erected at Keith's.
Philip W. Keith, next to the oldest of the children of Peter and Mary Keith, was born in Jackson Town- ship in 1827, and resided in the township until 1873, when he re- moved to Dexter City, his present home. He was for a time engaged in oil-producing. Mr. Keith married Miss Mary A. Shinn and is the father of two children: Charles W. (de ceased) and Henrietta. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant church.
The great-grandfather of Pardon C. Keith was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War and spent his fortune for the patriot cause. His grand- father was an early settler near Bev- erly, and his father a pioneer of
Jackson Township. Pardon Cook Keith was born at Keith's in 1834. In 1857 he married Elizabeth Wil- son, who died in 1859, leaving one child -William Elvin. In 1860 he married Susan Coffee. Children: Clara F., Leon W., Mary E., Lewis, Charles, Willard O., Orien W., Asa A., Pardon E. and Raymond C. Mr. Cook is a Democrat and a member of the Odd Fellows and Masons. He has held the office of justice of the peace and other township trusts.
W. B. Keith, a well-known citizen, was born September 11, 1856, on the farm which he now owns and where his parents and grandparents lived before him. His grandfather, a native of Pennsylvania, entered the land and reared his family here. W. B. Keith is a Democrat, and a member of the Odd Fellows' Lodge and En- campment. He has served as justice of the peace for seven years. In 1883 he married Sarah A. Reed, of Sharon, and they have one child- Harry W.
John B. Sprague is a descendant of one of the early pioneers of Washington County, who came to Ohio when the settlers were in con- stant peril from the Indians. His father, Wilbur Sprague, a native of New York, came to Ohio at the age of fifteen, and lived at the fort or block-house in the vicinity of where Beverly now is. One morning when milking he was surprised by nine Indians, eight of whom fired at him. One bullet hit his back and passed entirely through his body, carrying a brass button from his garments ahead of it. This took place near
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the entrance of the garrison. He was carried into the fort by his uncle. He recovered after two years of suffering. He married and settled in Jackson Township among its early pioneers. J. B. Sprague was born in 1818, on the farm where he now lives. In 1843 he married Har- riet Thorla. Children: Violetta, Eliza, Phebe M., Sarah S. and Benja- min W.
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