USA > Ohio > Preble County > History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches > Part 40
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
William B. Silver was born in 1808, in Salem county, New Jersey. In 1835 he was married to Ann Johnson, and the next year settled in this township, removing from Warren county, Ohio. He has seven children liv- ing and two dead.
Thomas Morrow, who settled in section nineteen, in the year 1837, was a native of Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania, where he was born in 1783. He was a local magistrate in his native county for seventeen years, being appointed justice of the peace by the governor. He died in 1867 at Fair Haven, this county. His wife was Elizabeth Barr, born in 1788, and died in 1873. They had six children: David B. (dead), Mary, wife of Peter Tolan; Jane, Richard, Sarah Ann, wife of John Williams; Eliza (dead).
Richard Morrow was born in 1822; married in 1859, Isreldia Jones, who was born in 1836. They have five children living and five dead. Mrs. Morrow is the daughter of Andrew Jones, who was one of the earliest settlers of Union county, Indiana. He was born in Bowling Green, Tennessee, in 1787, and was a soldier of the War of 1812. Died in 1859.
Silas Hart was born in 1808, and died in Dixon town- ship in 1869, on the farm occupied by his son. By his wife, Hannah Enlinger, he had nine children, seven boys and two girls. The boys are all living. Mrs. Hart re- sides with her son Alexander, who is a single man. Mr. Hart is the proprietor of the oldest tile factory in the county, and does a thriving business.
Charles Wilkinson emigrated from Kentucky in 1810, and located in Gratis township, Preble county, Ohio. By his wife, Elizabeth (Evans), were born twelve children. William H. Wilkinson, the second son, married Anna Davis, in 1849. She was born in 1814, and died in 1878. To them were born eleven children, of whom eight are living, and in Preble county. Mr. Wilkinson, by dint of industry, has been able to purchase a large quantity of land. His fine home is situated in section twelve.
C. T. Wilkinson was born in Lanier township, Preble
county, Ohio, in 1849, and married Sarah E. Wright, who was born in 1850. Mrs. Wilkinson's parents reside in Gasper township, and are old settlers. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson has been born one child, Nona Della, in x872. They reside on a farm of ninety-two acres of land.
James Crothers was born in Ireland in 1839, and in 1854 or 1855, emigrated to Ohio. In 1864 he married Nancy Downey, who was born in Ireland in 1844, and came to Preble county about 1855. They have had six children, all living at home. Robert, the father of Mr. Crothers, resides with his son. Mrs. Crothers' parents died in Ireland.
Elisha Wilkinson settled in section fourteen in 1856. He was born in Butler county in 1816; married Rebecca Hazelton in 1840, and has had eleven children, five dead and six living. Three reside at home, and three within a short distance of the old home.
Joshua D. Hickman was born in Maryland in 1810; emigrated to Ohio in 1840, and in 1856 settled in Preble county, Dixon township, section eleven, where he now lives. He married, in 1839, Abigail Wilkinson, who was born in 1820. Mr. Hickman is the only survivor of six children of Abel and Sarah Hickman. His own children are five in number, namely: Abel, Frances Ellen (Mrs. Isaac N. Saul), John D., Minerva Abigail (wife of Will- iam H. Duggins) and George P. Mr. Hickman's farm consists of two hundred and three acres.
John Gentle was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1790, and came to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1807, and to Preble county in 1813, settling in Eaton. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving six months. He married Julia Hendricks in 1814, who was born in 1798. They had but two children: James B. and Elizabeth M; the latter died in 1833, in her sixteenth year; James B. married Catharine Acton, in 1843; she died in 1873, aged fifty years, having borne her husband six children, four of whom survive.
John Taylor was born in Ireland, county of Leitrim, in 1812. Margaret Anderson, who afterwards became his wife, was also born in Ireland, in Roscommon, in the year 1809. Both crossed the Atlantic in 1840, and both landed in Quebec, and afterwards came to the vicinity of Oxford. They became acquainted in Butler county, and were married in 1842. They had six children, five of whom are living and four are single, and live with their mother. Eliza Jane is the wife of W. H. Collins, of Union county, Indiana; Margaret Ellen, William Morris, John Draper, and Mary Ann are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor went to housekeeping in Butler county, came to Israel township in the spring of 1854, and after remaining there four years removed to Dixon township, where Mr. Taylor soon afterwards bought one hundred and thirty acres of land in section twenty-nine. John Taylor, the father, died in 1877.
John D. McDivitt was born in Ireland, in 1820. He came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. His wife, Elizabeth Pottenger, was born in 1825. They have had the follow- ing children, namely: Nancy Jane, Catharine, Charles Newton, Ella, Laura, Samuel, Clarence, and William; five are now living.
Digitized by Google
168
HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
Abraham Shoemaker was born in Virginia in 1840, and in 1861 emigrated to Indiana. In 1864 he removed to Ohio and settled in Dixon township, at which time he was married to Miss Mary Kindley, who was born in 1842, on the farm in Dixon township, where they now reside. Mrs. Shoemaker's parents were Dariel Kindley, born in North Carolina in 1797, and Susan (Weeks) Kindley, born in 1808. Mrs. Kindley, who could not read and write until after her marriage, acquired a fair education by hard study.
i
To Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker were born seven children, four of whom are living-Daniel, I.evin T., Martha, and Robert F. They own two hundred and forty acres of land in Dixon township.
William H. Hemp settled in section twenty-two, in 1866. He was born in Maryland, Frederick county, in 1834, and removed from that State to Ohio in 1842. He married Cordelia Shaffer, born in 1846, and has one child, Calvin E.
John Flora was born in Virginia in 1831, and the same year came with his parents to Preble county. He mar- ried, in 1856, Mary Caroline Potterf, granddaughter of the pioneer, Gasper Potterf. Mrs. Flora was born in 1839. They have eight children, viz .: Jacob, Mrs. Royal Harvey, Ida Alice, Anna, Lovina, Minnie, Ever- ett, and Edith.
John Dove, sr., was born in Lancaster county, Penn- sylvania, in 1783, and emigrated to Butler county in 1814. His wife was Rachel Wetzel, born in Northum- berland county, Pennsylvania, in 1793. From Ohio he moved to Hancock county, Indiana, where he died in 1865. His wife survived him ten years and died in 1875.
John Dove, jr., son of the above, was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1815. In 1843 he died, near Trenton, in Butler county, Ohio. His wife, Elizabeth (Collins), was born in 1817, and is now living in Montgomery county, Ohio. Two of their children are still living, William C. and Marcella C.
William C. Dove was born in 1840. He was in the war of the Rebellion until 1862, when he was discharged for disability. He was enlisted in the Eighth regiment, company B, of the Indiana volunteer infantry. In 1866 he married Sarah J., widow of C. W. Morris, who was killed at Atlanta in the War of 1861-65, while serving in the Forty-seventh Ohio, company B. They have had five children, two only of whom are now living.
John W. Cook became a resident of Preble county and Dixon township in 1871, having previously lived in Jay county, Indiana. The same year he married Miss Frances R. Wilkinson.
William Pugh was a native of Georgia, and settled at an early day in Dixon township. His wife was Lucy Young. William Pugh died in Illinois in 1864, leaving two children-Alexander, who lives in Indiana, and Sherwood, in Illinois-who are all who survive of a family of eight children.
W. D. Pugh, son of John and a grandson of William Pugh, was born in Preble county in 1846, and in 1870 married Josephine A., daughter of Isaac and Jane Dooley, born in 1847. Mr. W. D. Pugh has lived on
his present farm of eighty-four acres since his marriage. One child has been born to him. Mr. Pugh served in the war of the Rebellion during the hundred days' ser- vice. He was engaged at Cumberland, Maryland, un- der General Kelly.
Frank O. Dunlap was born in Lanier township, Preble county, in 1846. In 1872 he was united in marriage to Netta Johnson, born in 1851. She is the daughter of Isaac and Mary Ann Johnson, the latter of whom is now living in West Alexander. Her father died in 1879. Mrs. Dunlap is one of three children now surviving out of a family of seven. To Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap have been born two children. Mr. Dunlap is now residing in section fifteen of this township.
Vincent Rose was born in Washington county, Ten- nessee, in 1807, from which State he emigrated to Union county, Indiana, in 1827. In 1873 he moved to Ohio. His first wife, Sarah Bradway, was born jn 1807 and died in 1863. Nine children were born by this mar- riage: Matilda Jane, wife of George Brown, resides in Israel township; Thomas resides in Richmond, Indiana, and George in Liberty, Indiana. The rest are deceased. Mr. Rose's present wife was the widow of George Oxer, whom he married in 1874. Mr. Vincent Rose is the owner of sixty-four acres of land.
Harvy Paddack was born in 1847. In 1872 he mar- ried Frances, daughter of Lewis Paddack, who resides in Jackson township. One child has been born to them- Ruth, in 1880.
Washington, the seventh child and fifth son of William and Fannie Bruce, of Washington township, was born at the old home place, south of the present site of Eaton, in the year 1809. In 1852 he married Sarah Readmon, of Harrison county, Kentucky. She was born in 1822, and is living. For eighteen years after their marriage they lived in Kentucky, and then removed to Marion county, Indiana, where they remained eighteen months, when they removed to their present residence in Preble county, and settled in section three of Dixon township, just east of West Florence. They have one child, Charles W., who was born in 1858, and resides with his parents. Mr. Bruce, besides the one hundred and eighty-five acres of land adjoining his residence owns land near Eaton, and in Indiana.
Thomas B. Thompson settled in section twenty-three in 1877. His father emigrated from New Jersey, and settled in Butler county, Ohio, where Thomas was born in 1823. His first wife was Jane Crawford, who was born the same year and died in 1862. He had by his first wife five children, four of whom are now living. A daughter, Dorcas Jane, is the wife of Daniel Wilkinson. His present wife is Mary Hamlyn, who was born in 1844, and by this marriage there are four children.
Jehu W. King was born in Ridgeville, Warren county, Ohio, in 1829. His first wife was the widow of David Taylor. She was born in 1835, and died in 1857. By this marriage there was born one son, Edward T. King, who resides with his father. Alice E., wife of Wallace B. Goodall, of Ottumwa, Iowa, is the only child born to Mrs. Sarah King by her first marriage. Mr. King mar-
Digitized by Google
169
HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
ried for his second wife Sarah J. Booth, who was born in Cincinnati in 1828. To them have been born five chil- dren, one of whom is living. Leona is the wife of Frank Rhea, of Eaton, and William Charles, Henry and Maggie reside at the home of their father, in section twenty-four.
In 1857 Mr. King was admitted to the bar, and in 1866 commenced the practice of law in Eaton. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Preble county in 1865, and at the expiration of his first term again received that office. In 1869 he was elected probate judge, which of- fice he held for two successive terms. In 1878 Judge King moved to his farm of seventy-four acres of land in Dixon township.
Abraham Overholser was born in Virginia in 1810, and when five years old came to Preble county with his par- ents, who settled in Gasper township. His wife was Lydia, daughter of Daniel Brower, of Gasper township. Mr. Overholser died in 1877, and his wife is still living in Gasper township. John H. Overholser, the eldest son, was born in Gasper township in 1842, and in 1865 was married to Mary A. Bennett, daughter of Elijah Bennett, deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Overholser have been born three children-Ollie J., Daisy (deceased), and Charles L. They lived in Gasper township until 1878, when they removed to their present residence in section twenty-two of Dixon township.
Abraham Brubaker and family emigrated from Virginia to Preble county, and settled near Winchester, in Gratis township, in 1825. George Brubaker, their son, now living in Jackson township, was born in Virginia in 1813, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1825. In 1838 he married Miss Anna Banta, who was born in Lanier town- ship in 1818, where her father, Peter Banta, made a set- tlement a short time previous. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker had a family of eight children, who are living.
John Melling was born in Preble county, Twin town- ship, in 1808. His first wife was Catharine Shoemaker, who was born in 1815, and died in her twentieth year. His second wife was Susannah, daughter of William Mell- ing, a Virginian. She was born in 1815, and is still living. By his first wife he had one child, Daniel, now liv- ing in Gettysburgh, Preble county. There were six chil- dren born to him by his second wife, two of whom still survive-John Wesley and Stephen P .- both of whom are living at home.
Morris Cohee was born near Hamilton, Ohio, in 1821. He married Sarah, widow of Samuel Maddax. She was born in 1832. To Mr. and Mrs. Cohee has been born one child, George, who died in infancy. Mr. Cohee owns thirty-seven acres of land under a good state of cultiva- tion.
THE FIRST MILL
was built by James Kercheval, on Four Mile creek, in section twenty-eight, about 1805 or 1806. It was built of logs and ran only during the fall and spring months when the creek was high. Kercheval sold out to Gobel, who after a short stay sold his interest to Stratton, who was the one to first open a regular store, which he ran in connection with his mill. The mill is now owned by. the Niccum family.
The second mill was started by Ebenezer Elliott, on Four Mile, but farther south than Kercheval's. These two are the only water-mills ever started in the township.
Samuel Parks, at an early date, started a mill by horse- power, of the kind then known as "corn crackers." This was very little used, except during the summer months, when the creek was too low to start the water-mills.
At one time William Dallas had a mill in operation at Concord, but it has long since been destroyed.
THE FIRST SAW-MILL
started in this township was erected at the Kercheval mill during the time of Gobel's proprietorship, about 1814 or 1815.
The next was built in the northern part of the State, on Four Mile creek, near the county line, by George Kelly, and in 1822 one was started by Henry Morris.
There are now several in different parts of the town- ship, most of which are run by steam, owing to the lack of sufficient waterpower.
POST OFFICES.
In 1841 the first post office that was established in Dixon township was opened about two hundred yards east of the old Kercheval (or Niccum) mill. The first postmaster was Jacob Morris. The post office was called Stony Point post office. After a few years it was moved to Beechymire, where John McGahan was the first postmaster. This was afterwards carried over to Indi- ana. At an early date there was a post office at Sugar valley, which was kept in the house of the postmaster. peo. tem. No record exists to show who was the first postmaster.
THE FIRST STORE.
About 1820 Gobel, then owner of the old Kercheval mill, sold out to Mr. Stratton. He brought with him a large stock of goods and ran a store in connection with his mill. As this was the first thing of the kind in the township, the proprietor doubtless- made a profitable thing of it. A small shop had been kept there previ- ously by a man by the name of Steel, who, perhaps, ought to receive the name of having been the first to open store. A store was afterwards kept at Sugar valley by Larkin Norman. Neither of these stores are in exist- ence now, and nothing of the kind deserving of the name of store exists in the township.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
The only thing in the township that can be classed among the industries of the county is a tile factory, lo- cated in the southern part of the township in section thirty-five. It is run by W. F. and H. L. Bader, and has a capacity of ten thousand rods per year.
The first still-house was run by Mr. Culver, and was stationed in the northeastern quarter of section three, on the farm now owned by Stephen McWhinney.
In 1823 or 1824 a still-house was opened by an En- glishman named Richard Morris, or as he is popularly called, Dickey Morris. This was placed on the north- western quarter of section twenty-one.
At the time of the William Dallas mill there was a
22
Digitized by Google
170
HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
distillery run in connection with the mill; also on section twenty-one; and one was started in section sixteen, near Concord church, by Will White. This was afterwards burned down.
These distilleries were for the most part rather insig- nificant affairs; at the most they rarely exceeded four gallons a day. But the old settlers assert that the whis- key was far superior to any which can now be obtained.
Ebenezer Elliott, at one time, had a carding and full- ing mill at his mill on Four Mile creek, but it has long since disappeared. It was the only thing of the kind ever started in the township.
The first road in the township was the pike, which now marks the boundary between this township and Jackson. The second was one known as the Richmond and Camden road, running across the township, from southeast to northwest. One or two short sections of this road are still in use, but by far the greater part has been obliterated, and scarcely any traces of it are now remaining.
The first white child, as far as can now be ascertained, who was born in Dixon township, was Newton Larsh, son of Paul Larsh, a Pennsylvanian, who had settled on the present Larsh estate.
The first death is supposed to have been that of a young daughter of Eli Dixon's, who was buried in the present Burson burial-ground, in 1807.
EARLY INCIDENTS.
No record now exists of any disturbance being made in this township by Indian hostilities. The War of 1812 occurred so soon after the settlement of this region that its weak and helpless condition would seem to have in- vited attack, but none was made. Indians have been often seen passing through, or camping in, this neighbor- hood, but never daring to molest the inhabitants.
One instance occurred which excited a great deal of interest at the time of its occurence. Stephen Dixon, one of the four brothers who came together from Georgia, had moved with some families from the neighborhood and settled on the banks of the Wabash river, Indiana. Stephen was living with a family of Paddacks, who mov- ed from Preble county. Mr Paddack was the uncle of Ebenezer Paddack, of Jackson township, to whom we are indebted for the following narrative :
Soon after their removal from this county, and their set- tlement in Indiana, the little band were attacked and all killed or made prisoners. The two men, Paddack and Dix- on, were away from the honse, and their bodies were found, one in the field and one in the woods. The ground around the body of Dixon showed that he had made a fearful struggle against the overwhelming odds. He had a heavy hoe in his hands, the handle of which was almost cut to bits by the tomahawks of the Indians in their endeavors to strike the brave settler. The remains of some of the children and of the mother were found among the ashes of the cabin. Two girls could not be found. Whether they were destroyed with the rest of the family, or carried off into captivity, has never been satisfactorily settled. Rumors have reached the ears of
anxious relatives at different times, mentioning that some passing bands of Indians had been seen going to the far west, having in their possession two young white girls; but how true this is, or whether they were the lost Pad- dacks, none can say.
The year 1817 is mentioned for its severe winter. A fall of snow covered the ground for a depth of two feet, and a crust of snow formed thick enough to bear the weight of a dog but not that of a deer. The dogs of the settlers set out on a hunt for themselves, and the old settlers declare that such was the havoc made by this wholesale slaughter that "scarcely an antler" was seen in the country afterwards. The dogs could easily pull down a deer, which, at every step, would plunge up to its body in the treacherous snow, while they could glide along at full speed over the frozen surface, barely stopping to make sure of the death of one before starting off after a fresh victim. The reader can imagine how keenly this loss was felt by the settlers, when they reflect that the woods abounded in game before the snow-such as deer and turkey, and the former formed the chief supply of the early settler's larder for a long time after locating in the country.
THE FIRST ELECTION
held in this township was held near a large log in section sixteen, near where the Concord church is now standing. It is impossible to give the first officers, owing to the lack of records concerning the infant settlement. All that is known is that Eli Dixon, esq., then county com- missioner, and at whose instigation the township was organized, was elected first justice of the peace. Some time afterwards a house was built, which served the triple purpose of school-house, church, and township house. The present township house is a neat wooden structure, standing on a high elevation.
THE PRESENT OFFICERS.
At the last election in the township the following offi- cers were elected to office: Trustees, Philander McQuis- ton, David Railesback, and William Taylor; treasurer, Samuel Earhart; clerk, John W. Cook; justice of the peace, John M. Daugherty; constables, William Charles and Perry C. Flora; supervisors, Joseph Pierson for dis- trict number one, Henry Paris for number two, and Robert Gray for number three. The board of education was given under the head of "schools."
STATISTICS FOR 1880.
The present population of the township, according to the last returns, is one thousand one hundred and sixty- two (1162) persons. In 1830 the population numbered one thousand three hundred and sixty-six (1366) persons, showing a decrease of two hundred and four in fifty years. The present value of real estate in the township according to the returns of the assessor, is as follows: Value of buildings, one hundred and thirty-five thousand nine hundred and ninety-five dollars. Value of lands, seven hundred and fifty-four thousand nine hundred and thirty-five dollars. Total, eight hundred and ninety thou- sand nine hundred and thirty dollars.
Digitized by Google
171 -
HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in Dixon township, the seed from which the present system sprang, was opened at a very early day. The date of its establishment cannot now be accurately ascertained. It was built on the old Jacob Marshall farm. The present residence of Judge King stands very near the site of this school. The first to teach in this building was John A. Dailey, who had come to this county from New York with his brother George. They were both men of good education, as their former pupils are proud to testify, and gained an enviable name through this township by their success as teachers. The scholars came to this school from all parts of the township, and some even came from other townships. It is related that the teacher, together with some of his older pupils, kept bachelors hall. The con- struction of this school-house is deserving of mention. Logs, of course, were the materials out of which the walls were built. Clapboards, split from the trunks of trees, took the place of shingles, and were kept in place by weight logs stretched across them. The floor was formed of rough puncheons, and light was admitted by cutting into the top of one of the logs and pasting a greased paper across the hole thus made. The writing desk was the flat side of a split log, and was placed around the sides of the building so as to have the full benefit of the light from the windows (?). As the school was only kept during the three winter months, the weather was too severe to allow having the doors open, and the pupils and teacher were both dependent on the light which came through their panes of paper. The seats were logs hewn flat, and were supported by stakes driven into auger holes. A fire-place at each end sup- plied the necessary warmth. Such was the construction of all. the school-houses during this period. The men would get together and build one in a day. The teacher was paid by subscription, from one to two dollars per head a month. Perhaps more for the higher branches- such as Latin or higher mathematics. John Dailey taught in this school for three or four winters. Moses and A. R. Conger, Little John and Levi Gard, are the only ones now living around Sugar valley who attended this school.
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.