History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 44

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559

USA > Ohio > Preble County > History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches > Part 44

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The compensation received by teachers was very small, many of them receiving less than one dollar per day.

The writer has a distinct recollection of one of his preceptors, who taught a term of sixty days for thirty- three dollars. Wages, however, advanced and when it got to one dollar per day, it was considered a remuner- ative business.

In consequence of the pitiful conpensation paid teachers, there were but few well qualified teachers in the business.

Pioneer teachers were not required to procure a cer- tificate of qualification from a board of examiners. The most formidable ordeal he had to pass was when he came across a school director who was fond of assuming an air of learning and would administer his catechism.

The first law enacted by the legislature providing for a board of county examiners provided that applicants should be examined in orthography, reading, writing, and arithmetic, and if found qualified to teach these branches, a certificate should be granted. Sometime after the legis- lature amended the law so as to include English gram- mar and prohibited school directors from paying any teacher out of the public school fund who failed to get such a certificate. This law was unpopular in the start for the reason that there was a lack of teachers to supply the demand. This wise legislation immediately ad- vanced the compensation of teachers, and ambitious young men soon qualified themselves to comply with the requirements of the law. The whole tendency of legis- lation from that day to this has been to raise the stand- ard of qualifications of teachers-and Ohio can now boast of having a school system second to none in the Union.

In comparing the advancement of the pupils of to-day who have commodious and well furnished school-rooms and school apparatus of every description-text books of superior arrangement, and school terms of from eight to nine months per year, taught by highly educated teach- ers, with the advancement of pioneer pupils of the same age, who were cooped up in their little log cabin school- houses, destitute of anything entitled to the name of fur- niture, destitute of school apparatus, and entirely desti- tute of graded readers, by which pupils may be classified, but being compelled from force of circumstances to use as readers, anything that could then be procured, from the Testament down to the almanac, with school terms of from three to four months per year, taught by poorly qualified teachers, we are forced to the conclusion that pioneer children accomplished more-or that our chil- dren are now accomplishing less than could reasonably be expected.

Were we asked the question how did the children of the pioneers accomplish so much in the way of educa- tion, with the limited means of schooling they enjoyed, the answer would be, they did it by habits of industry, energy and perseverance. Their school terms were short, and they made the best possible use of them. Their books were carried home every evening, and those who had no candles or lard to burn in the old iron lamp, would strip the ross bark from shellbark hickory trees, and carry it home, which, by administering to the fire in the large fireplace of the cabin, would furnish them with a brilliant light. It was by this system of close application to their studies that the pioneer children accomplished so much under the unfavorable circumstances by which they were surrounded. Books were scarce, but those they had were well and carefully read.

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RES.OF ABRAHAM T. SAYLER _ GASPER TP. PRERI F Cn 0

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MRS.ABRAHAMT.SAYLER

ABRAHAM T. SAYLER

MRS.MARY SAYLER

MARTIN S. SAYLER

MRS.MARTIN S.SAYLER

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183

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

It was also a common practice during the winter months to organize lyceums or debating clubs, and discuss relig- ious, moral, and sometimes political questions, and this produced a taste for reading. Much of their time was thus employed when not employed in manual labor, and notwithstanding the limited means of education possessed by pioneer children, and the privations and hardships many of them had to endure, many of those who adopted a system of self-culture in after life became intelligent and useful citizens, and some of them were promoted to honorable official positions, among whom may be named Hayden Dooley, the eldest son of the first settler of the township, who had the honor of representing Preble county in the lower branch of the legislature of Ohio; Peter Shideler, one of the early settlers, who was one of. the associate judges of the court of common pleas of Preble county for some time; Martin F. Stephens, who was elected county treasurer two terms, and representative one term; and Henry Shideler, who represented Preble and Montgomery counties in the State senate two terms.

CHURCHES.

The first church of the township was located on sec- tion eighteen, and was built in 1818. It was a hewed log house, twenty-six by thirty feet, roofed with shingles, and was free for all denominations of Christians to worship in. This spirit of liberality was characteristic of pioneer inhabitants-selfishness and illiberality were then un- known. The trustees were Silas Dooley, William Caster, and John Railsback. This house served the double pur- pose of school-house and church. Elder David Purvi- ance was the first minister of the Christian denomination who preached there.

The writer is indebted to Silas Dooley, jr., for the or- iginal subscription list for the building of this church, which is deemed of sufficient importance to insert, at least the names of those who contributed to the build- ing. The condition of subscription was that those who were able should pay in money, and those who were des- titute of that great luxury, and had nothing but muscle, might discharge it in work:

John Railsback.

$30 00, ten days work.

George Dooley.

15 00, five days work.

Thomas Lewallen.

6 00, three days work.

Thomas Harris .. .

5 00, six days work.

John Garter

5 00, two days work.

. Samuel Kirsham

2 00, three days work.

Robert Campbell

Io oo, in shingles.

Silas Dooley

15 00, paid in work.

John Streat.

2 00, paid in work.

Michael Niccum

2 00, paid in work.

John Hill.

3 00, paid in work.

Littleberry Blackley

2 00, paid in work.

William Caster.

6 00.

James Harris.

8 oo, paid in work.

Sam Frame.

10 00, paid in work.

Reuben Dooley

20 00.

Moses Dooley

IO 00.

William Idner

1 00, in work.

John Wilson

I oo, in work.

John Hardy

3 00.

Samuel Martin

10 00.

Robert Rhea

3 00, in work.

Thomas Dooley

4 00, paid in work.

In the central and eastern portions of the township there were no churches built at so early a day. But Elder Benjamin Skinner, a minister of the Baptist church, frequently held religious service at the dwelling house of Armstead Huffman, and ministers of the Methodist church often preached at the house of Margaret Stephens, and sometimes at an old log school-house near by; and ministers of the New Light or Christian denomination frequently preached at the dwelling house of William Sellers.

The second church built in the township was located near Paint creek, in the southwest corner of the town- ship by the Baptist denomination. . Under the guidance of Elder Benjamin Skinner the church prospered, and accessions to the church were made rapidly. Elder Skin- ner was a self educated man, and had fine natural quali- fications for a revivalist, and succeeded in building up a prosperous church.

The writer has been unable to get the date of the building of this church, but from the best information at- tainable he believes it to have been built shortly prior to 1840.

Shortly after this the Methodists erected Salem church in the same vicinity, which is still in use.

Antioch church, near the center of the township, was built in 1845. The first trustees were Ebe Campbell, Conrad Bloss, James McCabe, William Stephens and William Jefferson. Jefferson is now the only survivor of the board. There was a pretty strong and prosperous church of the Methodist denomination maintained here for a number of years, and regular services held by the ministers in charge of the district, but since the large and commodious church was erected at Eaton by the Meth- odist Episcopal denomination, Antioch has been aban- doned.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

THE SAYLER FAMILY.

The Sayler homestead, located at the northwest cor- ner of section thirty-six, in Gasper township, a view of which is herewith given, was purchased by Christian Sayler in 1814. Christian Sayler was born of Swiss parentage, in Maryland, in 1785. When he was twelve years old, the father having died, the family moved to Franklin county, Virginia, and remained there unbroken till 1806, when Christian, with his brother John, came to Ohio and settled in Lanier township, on the east side of Twin creek. In 1811 Christian married Mary Teal, daughter of Samuel Teal, born in Frederick county, Maryland, September 11, 1789. While yet in child- hood, her father moved to Franklin county, Virginia, and remained there until 1805, when he emigrated to Ohio, and settled at the mouth of Aukerman's creek, on

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Moses Dooley

3 00, paid in work.

2 00, paid in work.

James Harris, sr.

184

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

land previously entered by relatives. At the time, therefore, of the marriage of Christian and Mary, both were well accustomed to the hardships of the forest and the toils of pioneer life. Three years after their mar- riage and two years after the birth of their oldest son, Abraham, who is the principal subject of this sketch, the young couple purchased the farm, which is now known as the Sayler homestead, and began to battle against an unbroken forest. The day time was occupied in the clearing by the husband and at the wheel by the wife, and night was made hideous by the horrid howl of wolves in the surrounding thickets.

Abraham T., the oldest son of Christian and Mary Sayler, and present owner of the homestead, a pictorial sketch of which appears in this volume, was born March 5, 1812. In early boyhood he became expert with the axe, and was a valuable assistant in reducing the farm to a state of cultivation. He never was strongly inclined to sports, as is proved by the fact that he never owned a gun, although the howl of the wolf was yet heard, and the extensive woodlands were filled with deer. Log rollings were the fashionable parties of those days, and Mr. Sayler says he once attended frolics of this kind seventeen days in succession, except Sundays. There was a distillery on the farm, which Abraham assisted to operate. He was always closely attached to home, and like other young men of his time, knew what hard work meant. He was married to Elizabeth Rinehart, third child of Abraham Rinehart, August 12, 1838. She was born May 25, 1817, her parents being among the early settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Sayler have had nine children, three of whom are living. Mary Magda- lene, born February 8, 1843, is married to N. S. Bennet, and living in Camden; Minerva, born November 2, 1847, is married to Patrick Guckain, and living on a farm in Gasper township, and Martin S., born July 19, 1850, is living on the homestead. He is married to Sarah A. Swihart, who was born June 26, 1857. Mar- tin S. and Sarah have had three children: Charles A. and Hugh J., born January 8, 1875, and Theodore, born March 21, 1878. Charley A. died July 24, 1876.

The remaining children of Abraham and Elizabeth Sayler were : William H. Harrison, born May 27, 1840, died November 10, 1840 ; Benjamin F., born Oc- tober 24, 1845, is now dead; Fannie Ann, born October 22, 1852, died January 11, 1864; Selinna, born April I, 1855, died March 1, 1856; Cicero, born February 3,

1857, died February 13, 1864; Adrian, born February 13, 1861, died December 28, 1864.

Benjamin F. was a volunteer in company E, Eighty- first Ohio volunteer infantry, which entered the service in 1862. Benjamin remained in the service till the con- federacy received its death blow at Appomattox. He was in General Logan's corps and was color bearer while on Sherman's famous march to the sea. While in the army he contracted inflammatory rheumatism, with which he died. His widow, whose maiden name was Mary Cosbey, is yet living.

In politics Abraham Sayler was a Whig until the dis-

The family of Christian and Mary Sayler consisted of | integration of that party, when he became a Republican, nine children, four of whom are living-Abraham T., and since the war has supported the Democratic party. In religion, he holds to the Universalist faith, but has never united himself with any religious society. Elizabeth Shewman, Joseph, and Maria Allen. Chris- tian Sayler was a hard-working, through-going man, who, with the assistance of his sons, improved the farm, and Socially Mr. Sayler is very genial and hospitable. He makes his visitor feel perfectly comfortable and at home. 1 at the time of his death, in 1852, left the family in good circumstances. After the death of her husband, Mrs. His whole life has been one of busy toil, and his ac- cumulations are amply sufficient to support him during declining years and start his children well on toward the goal of wealth. Sayler made her home with Abraham, who purchased the homestead. It is now pleasant to see this old lady, enfeebled by ninety-two years of toilsome life, sitting at a window of her son's comfortable home, contemplating with pleasure the changes which her eyes have seen and her hands helped to bring about.

WILLIAM MORTON.

A highly respected and substantial farmer of Gasper township, is William Morton, the subject of this sketch. He is the thirteenth child of Benjamin and Hannah Mor- ton, who were among the earliest settlers of the county, being natives of New Jersey. William was born on the Morton homestead in Israel township, March 2, 1838. A complete and elaborate sketch of his parents will be found in the biography of Hezekiah Morton, published elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Morton received the ben- ifit of an education such as the common schools of the time afforded. When he was sixteen years old his father died (June 7, 1854), and William was left in care of the home. He began life for himself in 1862, when he purchased the farm of one hundred and sixty- seven acres on which he now resides. Being unmarried, he lived with a tenant, and farmed the place, until 1873, when the tenant left the premises, and Mr. Morton was left entirely alone. He continued to be his own house- keeper as well as his own farmer until May 21, 1874, when he quit bachelor life, and was married to Emma I. Dooley, only daughter of Silas and Isabel (McCracken) Dooley. Emma was born June 1, 1847. Her parents were pioneers of the county, and among the most highly respected citizens of the township.

The family of William and Emma Morton consists of one child, Janney Belle, born May 27, 1876.

Mr. Morton is an energetic and thrifty farmer, who at- tends closely and exclusively to his own affairs. His home, a pictorial sketch of which appears on another page, is comfortable, and his farm productive. He takes little part in politics, and has never coveted official honors. During the war he was a member of the home guards of Ohio, and when Breckenridge made his famous northern raid in 1864, Mr. Morton was called into the hundred

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WM. MORTON

MRS.WM.MORTON

JANNEY BELL MORI

RES.OF WM. MORTON, GASPERTP. PREBLE CO.0.

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AHMARKLE Y.

DleStubbs

DeWitt Clinton Stubbs, of Gratis township, is the fourth son of Jesse and Mary Stubbs, and was born where his parents now live, on the seventeenth day of October, in the year 1838. He received the rudiments of his education at the schools in West Elkton and its vicinity, and his more advanced instruction at Greenmount college, Richmond, Indiana, and the Lebanon Normal school in Warren county, Ohio. He then attended the Bryant and Stratton Commercial college at Cleveland, Ohio, and after graduating from that institution, returned to his home, and engaged for a time in teaching. This oc- cupation, however, he followed only for a short time, giving it up to take the management of his father's farm while he was in the Ohio legislature in the sessions of 1860-61. This line of work, too, he was destined to follow but for a brief period. He left the farm, as many thousands of the young men of his time did, for the army. Entering the service as a private of the Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer in- fantry, he served until the close of the great struggle, and came back to the quiet and peace of civil life, bearing an enviable reputation and the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was successively promoted to the rank of sergeant, sergeant major, captain and lieutenant colonel, receiving his commission as the latter February 23, 1865. The regiment to which Colonel Stubbs belonged, was mustered out of service at Camp Denni- son on the twenty-first of June, 1864, with the exception of two com- panies of men whose time had not expired. These two companies and the veterans of the regiment were officially recognized as the Eleventh Ohio detachment, and assigned to Baird's division of the Fourteenth corps. They were commanded by Colonel Stubbs, and did excellent service during the remainder of the war, accompanying Sherman in his splendid campaign, and marching from Atlanta to thes ea.

Upon returning home Colonel Stubbs engaged in the pursuit of agri- culture upon the fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres, on which he now resides, just east of the village of West Elkton. This calling received his entire attention until he was called to public life, and its duties imposed upon him. He had, ever since attaining his majority,

been an active political worker, and intensely devoted to the principles of the Republican party. He had worked merely from a desire for the success of the great organization, which he believed to be the champion of right, and having no personal political ambition, sought no preferment at the hands of the party in whose cause he had exerted himself. . It was not through his seeking that he became, in 1877, the nominee of the Republicans in Preble county for the legislature. He had one hundred and thirty-five out of one hundred and sixty-eight votes in the county convention, and was elected by a majority of one hundred and sixteen in this then very close county. The estimation in which he was held where best known is effectively evidenced by the fact that in Gratis township, which gave the Republican State ticket in 1877 only forty-seven votes more than the Democratic, Colonel Stubbs had a majority of one hundred and forty-four. Mr. Stubbs was re- elected after serving two years, and is Preble county's present repre- sentative, his term expiring with the term of 1881. In his second elec- tion he had a majority in the county of three hundred and sixty-two, and in his own township, as in the first election, ran far ahead of the State ticket. During his two terms' service as representative, Colonel Stubbs has been a member of the committee on public buildings and land, on agriculture and on public works-of the latter chairman. He is perhaps most widely and well known as the man through whose in- strumentality the notorious O'Conner was exposed to the people, who, ignorant of his antecedents, had elected him to a seat in the legislature.

Colonel Stubbs has represented his county with the best of credit to himself and the satisfaction of his constituents. His substantial ability, capacity for hard work and his shrewd practical judgment, together with his earnestness of purpose and conscientious adherence to his con- victions while fitting him for the duties of public life, also made him eminently worthy of its honors.

Mr. Stubbs was married December 1, 1869, to Samantha, daughter of John and Charlotte Hankins, of Fayette county, Ohio, who was born October 31, 1838. They have two children, Lenora and Harriet.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

185

days' service, and placed on guard duty at Washington. Mr. Morton is a Republican, but holds liberal views, in both matters of politics and religion. He is known in

the community as an industrious unostentatious farmer, who enjoys, in a quiet way, the prosperity which succes- sive years are accumulating.

GRATIS.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

Gratis township lies in the southeastern corner of the county. In the congressional surveys it is designated "township four, of range three." On the north it is bounded by Lanier township, to the east and south lie Montgomery and Butler counties, and on the western boundary lies Somers township.

In appearance the township is varied. It has none of those long reaches of level country met with in so many of the other townships, until you approach the southern boundary, where, stretching out into Butler county, there is quite an extensive plain, embracing several thousands of acres. By far the greater part of the township is hilly. Numerous streams, some of considerable size, flow through this part of the county, and along their banks is found a limited amount of fine bottom land. In most cases, however, the hills rise from the very banks. These hill-sides are not, by any means, covered with inferior soil, but show, in every direction, their capability for richly repaying the efforts of the husbandman. Border- ing, as it does, on the edge of the Miami valley, Gratis partakes largely of the characteristics of that region, and, at an early day, attracted the attention of the pioneer settler.

The soil, like that of the rest of the county, is of a clayey nature, with an underlying sub-soil of limestone, except in the bottoms, where a rich loam is found. The forests at the present day are covered with a heavy growth of beech and sugar maple. These are, however, far more numerous now than when the country was first settled. At that time the principal growth was poplar, with a large intersprinkling of walnut. These latter have now almost entirely disappeared and given place to the present varieties. About twenty per cent. of the township is covered with timber, the rest is under an ad- vanced system of cultivation. The buildings show by their size and careful attention, the healthy and progres- sive ideas of their owners. No mere bare subsistence contents them. Their lands are made to yield their ut- most, and, in consequence, these farmers are the wealthi- est class in the township. Owing to the fact that many of them belong to the societies of Friends and German Baptists, both of whom discourage extensive display, they are enabled to lay up a large portion of their earnings and are now the moneyed class of the county.

The chief crops grown are the same as those of the other townships in this county. Corn is more extensive- ly grown than the other grains. Wheat raising, also, re- ceives a large share of attention. The culture of tobacco is yet in its infancy in this part of the country. The greater amount of labor required compared with that ex- pended on other crops is an impediment to any extensive cultivation of this plant. This branch of agriculture is, however, occupying a considerable degree of attention, and while the quantity is still small, the quality is in no way inferior to that raised in what may be styled, more strictly, the tobacco-growing country. The soil and climate seem admirably adapted for its culture, and the day approaches wher it will be classed among the chief productions of the township. At present a small patch of from one to six acres is all that is grown on one farm, and even this amount is found to pay handsomely for the labor expended.

There are no streams of any size in the township. The country is well watered but it is by small branches that flow through in large numbers. None of the streams which pass through the other townships do more than touch Gratis. Twin creek, on the northeast, enters sec- tions one and two; on the south, Elk creek passes through the southern parts of sections thirty-five and thirty six, and, again, in the north, a small creek call- ed Aukerman's branch, for a short distance, enters sec- tions three and four, but the body of the township is un- touched. The existence of a water-shed across the middle of the township is doubtless the occasion of this avoidance by the waters. From the very northern and southern boundaries the land ascends until it reaches its highest point in a ridge of land extending nearly due east and west across the township-about a mile north of West Elkton-and from this point the waters flow north to Aukerman's branch, or south to Elk creek. Although these larger bodies of water do not do more than touch the township, they, nevertheless, are, at these points, as- sociated with the earliest events of the county. It was at these points that John Leslie in the south, and Heze- kiah Phillips in the north, entered the county and made the first entries of land, and here the first settlements of any size were made.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 44

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 559

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559