USA > Ohio > Preble County > History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches > Part 17
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General Harrison in many ways manifested his high estimation of Major Lanier. His friendship for the father was also shown in acts of kindness for the son, (J. F. D.) who, when a little fellow of fourteen years of age, he invited to be with him and occupy a part of his tent at the important treaty he held with the Indians at Greenville, Ohio ; and long years afterwards, after the general's election to the presidency, and before his departure for Washington to enter upon the discharge of the duties of his office, he went to Madison and passed several days at the house of the son of his old friend, in a vain hope of securing some respite from the importu- nities of hungry office seekers.
The good example of industry and probity which Major Lanier's life afforded, no doubt had great influence in moulding the character of his son, J. F. D. Lanier, who after practicing law some years successfully, at Madison, became prominently connected with the State Bank of Indiana. Subsequently he removed to the city of New York, and was there for many years in the banking house of Winslow, Lanier & Co., engaged in negotiating western railroad securities ; and by his care, energy and success in this business, contributed greatly to the construction of that net-work of railroads which are now of such infinite value to the West. And although J. F. D. Lanier was too old, when the war of the Rebellion broke out, to take an active part in the field, as his ancestors had done in former wars, yet he was prompt to aid with his means the patriotic cause.
During the war, when on account of political compli- cation, the financial affairs were in a most embarrassed condition, Mr. Lanier advanced to the State of Indiana from time to time, aggregating at one time over a million of dollars, to aid Governor Morton in arming and equip- ping the Indiana soldiers, and to pay the interest on the funded debt of the State, for which the legislature had failed to make provision.
Major Lanier was a man of medium size, compactly
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built, and fine personal appearance. His conversational powers were good, and he delighted in wit and hilarity. It is said it was he who suggested to the board of com- missioners the name of Gratis township, from a remark made by Mr. Stubbs in urging its organization. Said Mr. Stubbs "we think we ought to have the township gratis ;" which remark so pleased Major Larnier, that he suggested to the commissioners to grant their petition for a township and call it " Gratis ;" and this incident is the origin of the name of that township.
Major Lanier, in addition to his fine social qualities, was a superior scholar and a remarkably energetic man. He contributed largely to the organization of the county ; and being the first clerk of the board of commissioners, he drew up all their forms, and so admirably arranged all the details of business in that department of county affairs, that the same is substantially followed to the present day. He did the same thing in the office of clerk of the courts, originating his own forms, and arranging the details of the business of the office very nearly on the same basis on which it is conducted at the present time. With no precedents before him, he originated all his own forms from the nature of the business in hand, and the old records yet attest his admir- able executive ability. In this respect he was the master pioneer of the county, and its present inhabitants should hold him in grateful remembrance for his early and almost gratuitous labors.
Major Lanier died on the twenty-fifth day of March, A. D., 1820. The name of this worthy man and pro- minent pioneer stands perpetuated in the county, in the name of "Lanier " township, which his fellow citizens gratefully bestowed as a tribute to his memory. . This early token of respect for the man, in all probability will perpetuate his name in all time to come; for being connected as it is with one of the territorial divisions of the county, it is in the most desirable form to be spoken of and referred to by all future generations. It is a standing monument to his memory, more lasting than a granite or marble shaft.
Major Lanier, it may be of interest to say, in con- clusion, erected the first brick building in the town of Eaton. It was a two-storied house, and stood on the site where the residence of Major H. B. Van Ausdal now stands. But the old house has passed away, with its proprietor, and not many years hence there will be none in the land of the living who ever saw either.
HON. JOHN M. U. MCNUTT .- On the first day of July, A. D. 1825, John M. U ._ McNutt was admitted to the bar as an attorney and counsellor at law, by the supreme court for Preble county, Judge Jacob Burnet presiding.
Mr. McNutt was a native of the province of Nova Scotia, and born on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1802. His parents were natives of the State of New Jersey, and had emigrated to Nova Scotia some few years after the close of the war of the Revolution.
Young McNutt came to this county in company with David Upham, in the year 1822, and first took up his residence at the village of New Lexington, on Twin creek. He was then just out of school, having received
a collegiate education. He engaged in the business of teaching soon after his advent into the county. At that day there was no such thing in this State as a common school system. The entire business of education was left to individual enterprise. All the schools of the country were subscription schools. The custom was, when the people of a neighborhood, by general consul- tation and agreement, had decided to provide the means of education for the rising generation, they first would select and agree upon a location for a school-house- usually convenient to a spring or running brook-and then the entire neighborhood would meet together on a day appointed, with axes, saws, frows, shovels or hoes, and teams, and prepare logs for the building, haul them to the selected site, pick out a suitable tree and fell it for clapboards for the roof, prepare puncheons for the floor, raise the building, put on the roof, lay the floor, build the chimney, "chunk and daub" the cracks be- tween the logs of the building, cut out a door, make and hang a shutter, and have a comfortable house for use and occupancy as an institution of learning-sometimes the whole completed in a single day, and not often oc- cupying more than two days. There was no attempt at elegance, or the least superficiality in these structures. Comfort was the only consideration thought of in their erection. Not unfrequently a single term of three months school would be the terminus of its occupancy for that purpose. Perhaps a few of the citizens on one or the other side of the district that erected such a house would, before a second school could be organized, unite with a different set of neighbors in another direc- tion, build another such house, and organize another school. But it is not our purpose to go into the history of the school system, or, rather, want of system, in exis- tence at the time mentioned. Our design was to state the fact that all teachers were compelled to rely wholly upon subscriptions, and do their own collecting. The terms of subscription were somewhat variable, ranging from one dollar and a half to two dollars and a half per scholar for three months school, owing mainly to the number of scholars obtainable in the vicinity; but the compensation seldom exceeded from fifteen to twenty dollars per month, and out of that the teacher had to provide his board. The article of boarding, however, was about on the same scale of economy, being from fifty cents to one dollar per week.
Young McNutt commenced the business of teaching under some such conditions as we have attempted to portray, soon after arriving in the county, and continued the business in the village of New Lexington or vicinity, for some two or three years. During this time he was a frequent contributor to the columns of the Eaton Week- ly Register, furnishing matter from time to time of very high literary excellence. Being a thorough classical scholar, of fine literary taste and broad intellectual en- dowment, his contributions to the paper were always received and read with marked interest. Whilst teach- ing, and during vacations, he pursued the study of the law, with the view of adopting that as a career.
After his admission to the bar, as above noted, he
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took up his residence in Eaton, and engaged in the practice of his profession in company with his preceptor, Lazarus Miller, esq. In February, 1828, he was ap- pointed to the office of prosecuting attorney, succeeding in that office David F. Heaton, esq., who had been elected a representative in the legislature the previous fall. He was continued in this office until the summer of the year 1833. In the year 1828 he was elected to the house of representative in the Ohio legislature, and again in 1829 he was elected to the same office. In the year 1832 he was elected to the senate of Ohio, from this and Montgomery counties, serving two years in that body. In both branches of the legislature he served with distinguished ability. Although a comparatively young man, but few, if any, of his fellow members ex- ceeded him in influence or practical usefulness in the business of legislation.
On the twenty-eighth day of October, A. D. 1828, Mr. McNutt was married to Miss Jane C. Hawkins, daughter of Joseph C. Hawkins, esq., clerk of the courts of Preble county. One son was born to them, as the fruit of this marriage, to-wit: Joseph Gideon Mc- Nutt, who became an attorney after arriving at manhood, and who is also mentioned in these sketches.
On the sixteenth day of September, 1826, Mr. McNutt was admitted a member of Bolivar Lodge, No. 82, Free and Accepted Masons. The lodge at that time was working under dispensation, but received its charter at the succeeding meeting of the grand lodge. On the twelfth day of May, 1827, the officers of Bolivar lodge were publicly installed, on which occasion Brother Mc- Nutt delivered an address prepared and suitable for the occasion. He was also chosen by his lodge to pro- nounce a eulogy, on the twelfth day of April, 1828, upon DeWitt Clinton, governor of the State of New York, who had died in the preceding month-which duty he performed to the entire satisfaction of the large assem- bly met to hear him.
After the conclusion of his senatorial term, Mr. Mc- Nutt was not again in the public service in any capacity. He died on the twenty-fifth day of September, 1837- his wife having died some year and a half previously.
In person Lawyer McNutt was of medium size, about five feet ten or eleven inches high, symmetrically propor- tioned, nervous-sanguine temperament, blond hair and florid complexion. Intellectually he was the equal of any of his compeers-exceedingly quick of perception, rapid in his deductions, seizing upon the strong points of his case, and the weak ones of his opponents, as if by intu- ition. Logical, terse, and compact in his arguments, he was strong, and ready, rather than ornamental in debate or before a jury. He was a thorough scholar, a diligent student, and untiring in the preparation of his cases. Almost from his first admission to the bar, he succeeded in securing a fair share of legal business before the courts, and before his health failed had the most lucra- tive practice of any member of the bar in the county.
ELISHA EGBERT, ESQ., was a native of Warren county, born about the beginning of the present century, read law and was admitted to the bar in that county in
the year 1823 or 1824. He came to Eaton and opened an office for the practice of his profession in the year 1824. He remained here some five or six years, and then emigrated to the St. Joseph country, in the northern part of Indiana. He there married a daughter of General McCartney, and amassed considerable wealth. He was elected to the legislature of Indiana several suc- cessive terms. He has been dead several years.
JOSEPH SEVIER HAWKINS, ESQ., was a native of the vil- lage of Eaton, born on the twenty-fourth day of October, A. D. 1812. His father was Captain Joseph C. Hawk- ins, who commanded a company of Preble county militia, in the War of 1812, called out to defend the frontier against depredations of the Indian allies of Great Britain. His grandfather was Colonel Samuel Hawkins, who was with the armies of both General St. Clair and General Wayne, in their campaigns against the Indians of the then northwest, and who received a wound at the battle of Fort Recovery, from which he never fully recovered; and, although he survived some dozen or more years after the battle, finally died from the effects of the wound.
Sevier Hawkins, as he was universally called and known, received a very fair education in the common schools of his day, having the benefits of the instruction of some of the best teachers of his time-among the rest Jones A. Mendall, esq. About the year 1828 he entered as a student in Miami university, at Oxford, where he prosecuted his studies for some years, but did not graduate; on account of some youthful freak, in the last year of his course, he was suspended by the faculty. He was so incensed at what he believed to be the injus- tice of his suspension, that he refused to return and complete his course; and was never back at the institu- tion until he went there as one of its trustees, many years afterwards.
After leaving Oxford he was employed for some few years in the wholesale dry goods store of Van Ausdal & ,Gray, in the city of Cincinnati. Subsequently, he re- turned to Eaton, and studied law in the office of his brother-in-law, J. M. U. McNutt, esq. On the twenty- third day of December, 1833, he was married to Miss Lydia Hubbell, of Eaton. No issue was born of this union.
At Oxford Mr. Hawkins had few class-mates, Abner Haines, Felix Marsh, Samuel Parker, late of Conners- ville, Indiana; Robert C. Schenck, Charles Anderson, and others. He was admitted to the bar at Dayton, at the same time with some of his said class-mates, and it was remarked at the time that all who were then admit- ted had white hair, and blonde complexions. After his admission to the bar he commenced the practice in part- nership with his brother-in-law, McNutt, which arrange- ment continued until the death of Mr. McNutt, in 1837.
At the October election, 1840, Mr. Hawkins was elected a member of the house of representatives from this county, in the legislature of Ohio, and was re-elected to the same office in 1841. In the year 1843 he was again re-elected to the same office, and again in the year 1847 he was re-elected, and at the ensuing session, he
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was elected speaker of the house of representatives. After an interval of one year, he was again re-elected in the year 1849, and on the assembling of the legislature, he was the Whig candidate for speaker of the house of representatives, against Benjamin F. Leiter, the Demo- cratic candidate; but was defeated by a union of the Democratic and Free Soil parties, which elected Leiter on the second ballot. This ended Mr. Hawkins' service as a legislator, having served five years in all. His standing in the legislature, as evidenced by his election as speaker of that body, was of the very highest order.
In the year 1848, his wife having been dead some years, Mr. Hawkins married Miss Cordelia Scott, of Cincinnati. This union was likewise childless.
After the death of his partner, Lawyer Hawkins contin- ued the practice alone until the admission of his brother, A. J. Hawkins, with whom he continued the practice, and with W. J. Gilmore, esq., up to the day of his death, which occurred on the fourth day of August, in the year 1852.
When the Mexican war commenced, Mr. Hawkins recruited a company for service in the army, of which he was elected captain. He marched the company to the rendezvous at Camp Washington, Cincinnati, but was one day too late reporting, as the requisition from this State was filled previous to his arrival, therefore his company was returned home and disbanded.
In person Captain Hawkins was of medium size, sym- metrical form, light hair and eyes, nervous temperament, quick and active in movement. Intellectually he had no superior among his cotemporaries at the bar. He was a profound lawyer, able debater, superior advocate before a jury, and well read upon all subjects of general interest, with a retentive memory and good command of language. In politics he was an active and earnest Whig.
ANDREW JACKSON HAWKINS, ESQ., was a native of Preble county, second son of Captain Joseph C. Haw- kins, born on the fifteenth day of July, 1815. He re- ceived a very fair education in the common English branches, in the public schools of his day. Before at- taining his majority he took a position with his brother- in-law, John M. Gray, in the wholesale dry goods house of Van Ausdal & Gray, in the city of Cincinnati, where he remained for several years. In the year 1835 his father went to Hagerstown, Wayne county, Indiana, with a retail dry goods store, and the subject of this sketch went with him. They remained there until the year 1841, when the father, Captain J. C. Hawkins, was appointed register of the land office at Fairfield, Iowa, and took his son with him to that place, as a clerk in his office.
After remaining in Iowa a few years, young Hawkins returned to Eaton, and went into his brother's office as a student of law, and after the requisite preparation was admitted to the bar, by the supreme court, at Columbus, and immediately entered into partnership with his brother in the practice, where he remained until his death, which took place at Mobile, Alabama, on the six- teenth day of February, 1849.
On the thirteenth day of February, 1842, Mr. Haw-
kins was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth De Groot, daughter of Robert DeGroot, of Eaton. One son was the fruit of this union, Mr. Joseph C. Hawkins, a mer- chant in Eaton.
For a year or more prior to his death, Mr. Hawkins' health had been declining, and in the winter of 1848-9, by the advice of physicians and friends, he was induced to try the effect of the milder climate of the gulf coast. On the journey he was accompanied by his father. Whilst sojourning a short time at Mobile, Alabama, he was suddenly seized with violent symptoms, and rapidly passed away, on the sixteenth of February, as above stated. His remains were brought back to Eaton by his afflicted father, and interred in Mound Hill ceme- tery, March 4, 1849.
The fatigues of the journey, the care of his feeble son, and grief on account of his decease, were too much for the afflicted father, who took to his bed immediately on his return to Eaton with the remains of his son, and died eight days after the funeral, March 12, 1849.
Andrew J. Hawkins was quite a small man. He was quiet and unobtrusive in manner, not given to much speaking, but fond of the society of congenial friends. He gained a fair reputation and standing as an attorney, and his known character for candor gave his voice great weight with the jury. In politics he was a pronounced Whig, but never held or sought office.
ISAAC F. CASAD and ISRAEL DEWITT were admitted to the bar as attorneys and counsellors at law on the fifth day of July, 1827, by the supreme court for Preble county. These gentlemen came here from one of the neighboring counties, merely for the purpose of being admitted. Neither of them ever lived or practiced in the county, nor is anything known of their subsequent career.
JAMES E. WALDO was admitted to the bar on the thirtieth day of June, 1828. He also was from a neigh- boring county, and his subsequent career is wholly un- known.
JOHN VAN AUSDAL, son of Judge Peter Van Ausdal, was admitted to the bar by the supreme court for Preble county, on the sixth day of July, 1829. He was a native of Preble county, born in Lanier township about the year 1806. His education was obtained in the com- mon schools of that day, supplemented by the advan. tages of the classical schools taught by Jones A. Men- dall, esq. In youth he was noted for his fondness of books, and of the classics, especially the writings of Virgil, and Cicero's orations. He was a superior Latin scholar. For several years during his minority he was employed as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of his uncle, Cornelius Van Ausdal, in Eaton; and most of his leisure hours, during that time, were passed with some one or other of his favorite classical authors in his hands.
He studied for the bar in the office of Messrs. Miller & McNutt. Some time after the death of Mr. Edmon- son, as noted in the history of the press, young Van Ausdal, in company with Dr. F. A. Cunningham, be- came connected with the Eaton Weekly Register, as edi-
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tor and proprietor. This arrangement continued but for a year or two.
After disposing of his interest in the Register, Mr. Van Ausdal went to Indiana and located at Logansport, then a new place of considerable notoriety on the Wabash river. Here he engaged in the practice of his profession, but died within a year or so after taking up his residence there.
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SOLOMON BANTA, ESQ., was born on the second day of October, A. D. 1801, in Montgomery county, Ohio. His father, Abraham Banta, was one of the first settlers on "Banta's creek," in Lanier township, he and his brother, Peter Banta, having settled there as early, per- haps, as 1802 or 1803. The subject of our present sketch was reared upon a farm carved out of the dense forests, with which this county was originally clothed, subject to all the . hardships and privations of pioneer life. There are not many persons now alive who can remember and appreciate the condition of the pioneer settlers of this county, and the gigantic labors which were required to transform it from a literal howling wilderness to the present state of cultivation and pro- ductiveness. Schools, and the source of knowledge and information, were at that day of the most meagre des- cription. Young Banta, being of studious and inquiring disposition, availed himself of every opportunity within his reach for acquiring an education. In another place place his name is mentioned in connection with some account of the best schools that have ever been taught in the county, not even excepting those of the present day, to-wit: the schools under the care of Jones A. Men- dall, esq.
By the time our subject had attained his majority, he was well qualified to become a teacher himself, to which occupation he devoted some time. About the begin- ning of the year 1824 he went to Lebanon, in Warren county, and took up the study of the law in the office and under the preceptorship of the late Governor Thomas Corwin, esq., and was admitted to the bar at that place, June 14, 1827. Soon thereafter he estab- lished himself in the practice of his profession in Eaton, and continued here some years. On the twenty-fifth day of December, 1828, he was married to Miss Malinda Small, daughter of James Small, who lived at that time two miles west from Eaton. Within a year or so thereafter he removed to Danville, Illinois, and en- gaged in the practice of his profession in that, then, new place. While sojourning there, the Black Hawk war broke out and Mr. Banta volunteered in the troops sent out to the frontier to protect the exposed settlements and suppress the Indian outbreak. He remained in the service until after the battle of Bad Axe, which closed the war by the surrender of Black Hawk.
Immediately after his discharge from the army, Mr. Banta returned to his place, where he remained until near the close of his life. Here he engaged assiduously in the practice of the law, and was reasonably success- ful in view of the crowded state of the profession and the limited amount of business done in the courts. He was esteemed a good lawyer, eminently safe as a counsel-
lor, but never brilliant as an advocate. His knowledge of the law was not surpassed by any of his colleagues at the bar. He was frequently chosen by his fellow citi- zens to serve on the board of education, in the city coun- cil, and as mayor. He also served several years as jus- tice of the peace.
On the fourteenth day of March, A. D. 1835, Esquire Banta was admitted to membership in the Masonic order, in Bolivar Lodge No. 82; of which order he continued an honored, useful and worthy member during the remainder of his days. He had frequent manifestations of the confidence and esteem of his brethren, by being called upon to fill the most important positions in the order. On the twenty-ninth day of April, 1879, at the city of Topeka, Kansas, Mr. Banta died at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. A. V. Auster. His remains were brought back to Eaton, and buried by the side of his deceased wife, who had preceded him a few years. After the death of his wife Mr. Banta had retired from business, disposed of his property here, and passed the time mainly with his children. He had but three children: James Banta, who lives in Indiana; Elvira J. Auster, wife of A. V. Auster, Topeka, Kansas, and Elizabeth Feris, wife of Dr. A. B. Feris, of New Paris, now de- ceased.
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