History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 47

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

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six families in Perry township when he settled there. He had ten children born him. John H. Bowman, his son, moved to Preble county in 1837. He married Mary Ann, daughter of Benjamin Darraugh, of Winchester. Five children have been born him-Rebecca, Henry, Florinda, Benjamin Franklin, and John Winfield. Mr. Bowman came to Gratis as a tailor; but has been in the mercantile business for thirty years. For seventeen years he has been postmaster, also has held the offices of re- corder and mayor of corporation. His son John W. Bowman, married Laura A. Gebhart, and has two chil- dren, Benjamin and Clotilda. His business is general merchandise.

Thomas Wall, a native of England, emigrated to this State at an early date. He was for many years a mem- ber of the Queen's Guards, in the English army. He was crippled in Dublin by the accidental discharge of a gun. After coming to Ohio he settled in Cincinnati, as a brass founder, and while there moulded and cast the first bell ever cast in the city. The castings of the city clock at Hamilton are his work. Mr. Wall was twice mar- ried; first to Catharine Floyed. She was the daughter of John Floyed, of Cincinnati, one of the first settlers there, and who claimed to have made the first keg of beer ever made there. By his first marriage Mr. Wall had nine children, only three of whom survive-William, Thomas, and Edward. His second wife was Hannah Waller. The fruit of this union was three children-Charles P., Solomon, and Lewis. Charles P. married Emma Floyed, by whom he has had three children. His farm comprises about sixty acres, a part of the old Goodwin place. Lewis was born in 1858. He married Mary, daughter of John Skillman, of Hamilton county. His farm comprises sixty-seven acres. There is in Mrs. Wall's possession some antique chinaware bearing the stamp of the year 1572; also two guns brought to America over one hun- dred and fifty years ago by one of her ancestors.

Abraham Flory was born in Franklin county, Virginia, from which State he emigrated to Ohio, and settled in Gratis township in 1823. His son, Henry, married Ma- rillis P. Egans. They are both living. Their children were: Nancy, wife of Joseph Brubaker; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Brubaker; Joseph, married to Mary A. Eikenberry; Abraham, married to Tennie Frantz; David, married to Leah Frantz; Jacob, deceased; and Daniel, deceased. David and Leah Flory have had ten children, viz .: Min- erva (deceased), George, Mary, Joseph (deceased), Er- vin, Martha, Willis, Jennie, Jessie, and Addie. Mr. Flory was for a long time a preacher in the German Bap- tist church. He has a farm of two hundred and forty- five acres.

David Branson was born in New Jersey about 1812. In 1822 he emigrated from. that State to Ohio, and set- tled in Wayne township, Butler county. His wife was Mary, sister of Jesse Kenworthy, of Gratis. They had two children-Amos and Thomas. Amos was born in 1831. His wife was Priscilla, daughter of Joseph Evans, of Clinton county. They have three children-Mary, William, and Lydia. Mr. Branson owns a farm of one hundred and four acres.

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192

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Daniel Stover, a Virginian, settled in Ohio in 1826, in Lanier township. His wife was Susannah Funk, who died in 1870, in Lanier township. They had eight chil- dren-Mary (deceased), married Jacob Coffman; Susan- nah (deceased), married David Coffman; Nancy; Jacob, married Catharine Chrisman; Elizabeth, married Wilson Eby; Sarah, married Joseph Schenk; and Hannah (de- ceased). Jacob Stover has only one child-John C. Mr. Stover is a farmer, living with Mr. Chrisman. Both he and his wife are members of the German Baptist church.

Job Smith was born in New Jersey in the year 1776. He emigrated from that State, and settled on section seventeen of Gratis township, in 1827, where he died in 1844. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Mahlon Gibbs. They have had nine children, seven of whom survive, viz .: John, William, Charles, Louisa, Ann G., Ellis C., and Mary H. Ellis C. Smith has been married twice-first to Mary Swann, and then to Bathenia Swann. He has had five children, four of whom are now living, viz .: Albert W., Mary A., Charles A., and Kittie. He was born in the year 1818. His farm con- tains about one hundred and forty-two acres. For two terms he was a member of the board of education, and also supervisor for some length of time.

John Thomas was born in Pennsylvania in 1791. He lived most of his early life in Virginia. His wife, whom he married in Maryland, was Mary Wright. He settled in Winchester about 1827 and kept a tavern. He also was engaged in cabinet making. For twelve years he was a justice of the peace, and during the years 1851 and 1852 he served his State in the legislature. He has had ten children, seven of whom are still living, viz: William W., Moses W., Matilda W. (Kelly), Emily A. (Cazad), James L., John G., and Harriet E. Of these the first four are living-Thomas in Iowa and the re- mainder in Ohio-John G. being a resident of Win- chester, Harriet E. (Bradstreet) of Dayton, and James L. of Camden. The latter has resided in Dayton since 1862. His wife was Mary Elizabeth Patton. Mr. James L. Thomas has been a justice of the peace of Somers, and has held the office of mayor of Camden since 1874.

Joseph Mullendore was born in Virginia in 1795. From Virginia he moved to Ohio about the year 1805, and settled in Montgomery county. In 1828 he moved to Lanier township. He died in Gratis township in 1846. His wife, Elizabeth (Stump), died in 1868. Their children were: Daniel, Jacob, Elizabeth, Cath- arine, Susanna, George, Joseph, Aaron, and Noah. The latter, after graduating at Miami university, went to Cali- fornia, where he was shot in a difficulty which arose about an editorial in the paper which he was editing.

Jacob Mullendore married Maria Beachler, and has had eleven children. He owns a farm of two hundred and seventy acres.

John Brower was born in Pennsylvania, from which State he moved to Lanier township. During his life he was a member of the German Baptist church, of which he was for thirty years an elder. Noah Brower, a grandson of the above, is one of eight chil-

dren. His father was a resident of Dayton for fourteen years previous to his death. He owned a farm of three hundred and twenty acres. Noah Brower married Caro- line Neff and has one child. He was at one time en- gaged in the saw-mill business. He is at present a trustee of the township. His farm contains forty acres.

In the year 1808 John Stiver settled in Montgomery county. He was born in Pennsylvania about 1791. From this State he emigrated to Ohio, and died in Jackson township, Montgomery county, in 1821. His wife was Margaret Vance. After the death of Mr. Stiver she married for a second husband Abraham Gar- rer. John Stiver had four children, two of whom are still living: Mary, who married David Basore, and is now living in Indiana, and Absolom, who married Ra- chel, daughter of William Sayler. They have had no children born to them, but have adopted two-Esther Bickers and Winfield Freeman. Mr. Stivers is a lawyer, and has practiced for seventeen years. He was justice of the peace from 1852 to 1870, and again from 1874 to 1880. In 1862 and 1863 he was a member of the State legislature. He was a county commissioner from 854 to 1857.

John E. Thomas was born in Pennsylvania about 1790. He emigrated from Virginia to Ohio in 1829, and settled in Gratis township. He was justice of the peace for sixteen years, and has represented the coun- ties of Preble and Montgomery in the Ohio legislature. His wife was Mary Wright. They have had ten chil- dren, seven of whom are still living.

James L. Thomas was born in Butler county in 1823. He married Mary E. Patten, and has had five children, four of whom are living. Mr. Thomas is by trade a carpenter and millwright. He has been justice of the peace for three terms and mayor of Camden for four terms.

Joseph Fahrney was born in Maryland in the year 1817. In 1840 he came to Ohio and settled on section one of Gratis township. His father, who died in Mary- land in 1837, was a physician and a man of considera- ble wealth. Joseph Fahrney is one of a family of eight children. His first wife was Catharine Neff, by whom he had four children. By his second wife he has had five children. He has a farm of four hundred and sev- enty-five acres.

Peter Fahrney, who married Clara, daughter of Adam Stover, had two children-Flora W. and Latin.

John Bookwalter, eldest son of John and Catharine Bookwalter, was born in Johnstown, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, in 1812. In 1822 he moved with his par- ents to Montgomery county, Ohio, and settled five miles southwest of Dayton. His mother died soon after their arrival in this State. She had contracted a trouble in her lungs during the journey which terminated in consump- tion. At the age of sixteen he learned the wagon-mak- ing trade, and in 1833, started his shop in Winchester. In the year 1835 he married Mary Mikesell, by whom he had eleven children, seven of whom are now living. His wife died in 1869, and in 1870 he married Sarah A. Gorsuch. No children were born of this marriage. Mr.

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MRS. JESSE STUBBS.

Jesse Stubbs is of historic English stock. His ancestry on his fath- er's side runs back to the family of early Quakers of that name in Eng- land, and his mother was a lineal descendant of a sister of Sir Isaac Newton. Samuel Stubbs, the father of our subject, was born of Quaker parentage in North Carolina, in 1766. He was one of a family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom lived to an average age of sev- enty-seven years. While Samuel was yet in infancy the family moved to Georgia, where, January 5, 1791, he married Mary Jones. The genealogy of this lady is traced from Sir Isaac Newton's sister as fol- lows :

Rachel Newton, sister of Sir Isaac, was married to Francis Jones, father of Henry Jones, who was father of Sarah Jones, who married Francis Jones, who was the father of Mary Jones, the wife of Samuel Stubbs.

Samuel was married in Wrightsborough meeting house according to Quaker custom. He first settled near Augusta. In 1805 he moved to Ohio and settled on the farm near the present village of Elkton, on which his son Jesse was born and has always lived. Samuel and Mary had ten children, but all are now dead except Sarah Hayworth, who resides in Clinton county, and Jesse. Mary died in April, 1843; her husband followed her July 28, 1846. Upon the death of his father Jesse came into possession of the homestead.

In Georgia Samuel Stubbs suffered in common with his parents the evils of military occupation during the war of the Revolution, and was a supporter of the second war with England. His whole early life was spent on the frontier, both in the south and in Ohio, and was therefore no stranger to pioneer hardships. His old age was spent in ease and contentment.

Jesse Stubbs, youngest son of Samuel and Mary Stubbs, was born November 13, 1809, on the spot where he now resides, near West Elkton, Preble county, Ohio, and which he has made his home from birth, having lived nearly seventy-one years in the same place, which, perhaps, can be said of very few, if any, of the old settlers of Preble county.

During his minority he received a common school education-such as was common for the time and place.

On the twenty-second day of September, 1830, he was married to Mary Jones, daughter of John and Sarah Jones, who resided near West Milton, Miami county, Ohio, and from that union were born the following named children, to-wit: Harriet, Lewis D., Susannah, De- witt Clinton, Eleanor J., Julia A., Deborah M., Samuel N., and John J. Stubbs.

Soon after arriving at maturity he was elected to various township offices, such as trustee, etc.

In 1833 he was elected justice of the peace, in which capacity he served for nine years. He also held the appointment of administra- tor and executor of various estates from 1834 to 1880, inclusive, never being without one or more estates on hand to settle during the time.

He was one of the directors of the underground railroad during its existence, but never stole nor employed any one to steal slaves from their masters; but when they came of their own accord they were al- ways fed and treated with kindness, and frequently assisted on their way to a land of freedom-always esteeming it a privilege to have the

opportunity to show mankind how they should treat each other under trying circumstances.

During the winter of 1858 he went to Kentucky for the purpose of purchasing the family of a colored man by the name of Craig Lang- ford, who had been previously emancipated by his old master, and had come to Ohio leaving his wife and seven children behind him in slavery. The amount required to make the purchase was five thousand and sixty-two dollars, a portion of which was raised by subscription, but the major part he advanced himself.

His friends had many misgivings as to the advisability of his making the trip, and expressed fears that he would fall into the hands of a mob and never return alive.

In due time, however, he returned, having accomplished the object of his visit without molestation. A large portion of the amount he ad- vanced in making the purchase has since been refunded by the said Craig Langford.

During the fall of 1859, he was elected representative from Preble county, to the general assembly of the State of Ohio, and served dur- ing the sessions of 1860-61, and among other things, while there, was instrumental in having the laws regulating the settlement of estates of deceased persons amended, which amendment remains on the statutes of Ohio, with some small additions, to this day.

The Rebellion having broken out, he gave his votes and his influence to prepare the great State of Ohio to meet the crisis.

In politics he was first a Whig, and then acted with the Anti-slavery party. He went to the Buffalo Free-soil convention which nominated Van Buren for president, and afterwards assisted in organizing the Re- publican party, and has remained in that party ever since.

In matters of religion hehas always been liberal. His parents hav- ing been Friends or Quakers, and having been raised and educated under that influence, so far as home and fireside goes, that society seems the most natural to him, although he is not a member of any religious denomination.

In connection with this sketch we will also add that Mr. Stubbs' wife is still living, and that the twenty-second of September last was the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding day. They have both enjoyed re- markably good health during the greater part of their journey through life. Mr. Stubbs having been out on the ground every day since he was six years old, and Mrs. Stubbs having enjoyed much better health than the majority of women of the present day.

Jesse Stubbs is a man of large attainments and extensive experience. Although his early training was meagre, he possesses a considerable knowledge of social and natural history and the practical sciences. He has always taken an especial interest in meteorology, and has a very complete meteorological record since 1832. He acted one year as weather reporter for the Smithsonian institute at Washington. There is in his house an interesting and valuable collection of geological specimens, mostly collected by himself. He has visited nearly all the places of interest to the lover of nature and student of science, from the Rocky mountains to the Atlantic. A remarkably accurate knowledge of events of his own time testifies that he has been a close observer. His has been a busy and useful life which has been a benefit to his family, his community, his county, his State and his country.

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A.M.MARKLEY SC

Elijah Cooper Mrs Elijah Confer

Elijah Cooper, the subject of this biog- raphy, was born in Preble county, Ohio. The beginnings of the Cooper family are somewhat obscured by the mists of time. However, it has been ascertained that the first William Cooper was born in Coles- hill, parish of Amersham, Hertfordshire, England, in 1632. Being a Quaker, he received a certificate from the Monthly Meeting, at Coleshill, on the fifth day of twelfth month, 1678, for himself and Mar- garet Cooper, his wife. He came to the coast of New Jersey and bought lands at Pyn Point, between the mouth of Cooper's creek and the Delaware river, in what is now the city of Burlington, New Jersey. He was a man of wealth and great influence. He was a member of the Colonial legislature, and at one time a judge of the superior court. He was con- stantly associated with William Penn, and obtained the first right to keep a fer- ry over the Delaware river between Cam- den, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. He died on the old estate in 1710. His son Daniel was born at Coleshill, January 27, 1673. and died in New Jersey in 1715, leaving a son, William, who became the father of Jacob Cooper, the father of Wil- liam who was born in Berk's county, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1756, and about 1775 removed to Union district, South Carolina. He was in the Whig army during part of the Revolutionary war, though greatly -averse to war in general, he being a member of the society of Friends. He lived in Union district, South Carolina, where he owned a large plantation, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He would not own slaves and on this account he, with all other Quakers, was sociably ostracised. So strong had this feeling become that in May 1807, after having sold out, he brought his family to Ohio, and settled about one half mile east of Somerville, on the place now occupied by Oliver Beadle. William Cooper was very wealthy and entered hundreds of acres of lands in the counties of Butler and Preble. Of his five

MRS. ELIZABETH COOPER.

children, Lydia, Martha, Jonathan, Ja- cob and Ralph, four attained maturity. Elijah Cooper's grandfather, Jonathan Cooper, was born in South Carolina Au- gust 31, 1781, and died August 8, 1859. He was eccentric in some things, and during the last forty years of his life never wore hat nor stockings, either in winter or summer. His son William, who was born in 1807, married Elizabeth Kellum, who was born in Preble county in 1812. She is the daughter of Elijah and Sarah Kellum who emigrated from Georgia at an early day. After their marriage they settled in Gratis township, about a mile north of Bennett's mill, or. what is known as the "coal diggins" farm. They had four children. Jona- than was killed by an accident when thirteen years old; Sarah J. is the wife of Milton Stubbs ; Esther Ann is the wife of Joseph Stubbs ; Elijah spent the first years of his life in the vicinity of West Florence, on the farm now owned by Robert Bell. In 1850 his father removed to a farm in the southeast corner of sec- MARKERY SE. tion three, Wayne township, Butler coun- ty, and here Elijah resided with his father until December 3, 1864, when Mr. Cooper was married to Amy A., daughter of the late John and Harriet Conarroe, of Wayne township, Butler county. She is one of nine children and was born in Wayne township on the last day of the year 1847. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been born four children viz ; William, born in 1865 ; Jennie, born in 1868 ; John E., born in 1874 ; and Clarence J., born in 1879.

Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cooper commenced housekeeping on the farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres of land located in the southwest corner of section five, of Wayne township, Butler county. This fine farm was presented to Mr. Cooper, by his father as a wedding gift. Ile continued on this place until the fall of 1870, when he moved to what is known as the old Roberts farm, in the

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northwest corner of Wayne township. After remaining there until the winter of 1875, he removed to Indiana and lived in West Richmond for about eighteen months. Thence he removed to his present resi- dence in section thirty-three, of Gratis township. The farm, known as the Lane farm, consists of one hundred and ninety-three acres of land, than which there is no better in the county. Since Mr. Cooper has taken possession of the place he has greatly improved it, and to-day, with broad acres of good land, thoroughly cultivated, weil timbered and neatly fenced, the farm presents an attractive appearance, the beauty of which is to be even still more enhanced by the erection of a handsome residence, and the remodeling of the farm buildings. Be- sides this farm worth twenty thousand dollars, Mr. Cooper owns twenty-thousand dollars worth of real estate in Butler county, viz .: the farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres, upon which he commenced

! life ; and eighty-nine acres on Elk creek, Wayne township ; also seventy acres of the homestead farm upon which he was born.

In addition to his extensive farming operations, Mr. Cooper raises considerable stock, paying much attention to the raising of fine hogs and horses. He has fattened over one hundred head of hogs each winter since he came to the county, and always has on hand a fine lot of cattle.

In the years 1877-8 he was engaged in the grocery business with Hiram Stubbs, in West Elkton, but he has always succeeded best at | his chosen work, that of the independent farmer. Without unduly eulogizing it may be said that Elijah Cooper is an upright, whole- souled man, and hence a substantial and an esteemed citizen of the community. He is a staunch Republican.

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193

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Bookwalter died in 1879. G. W. M. Bookwalter married for his first wife, Rebecca Bowman, by whom he had one child, now deceased. His second wife was Sarah, daughter of John Russell, of Winchester. George Book- walter was engaged in painting for thirty years. He has been mayor of Winchester for eighteen years, and clerk of the township nineteen years, both of which offices he is now holding.

Josiah Bookwalter married first Sarah E. Mitchell. Three children were born them, only one of whom sur- vives. His second wife was Eva McKee, by whom he has had one child. He is a partner in the firm of Book- walter & Fetherling at Winchester-carriage-makers.

John M. Bookwalter married Louisa Conarroe, daugh- ter of Richard Conarroe, of Butler county, Ohio. Their children are Ivea L. and L. Veturia. One child is dead. Mr. Bookwalter is a carriage-trimmer by trade. He was in the one hundred day service during the Rebellion.

Benjamin F. Bookwalter married Elvira, daughter of John and Catharine Russell. They have six children. He is engaged in the blacksmith shops of Bookwalter & Fetherling.

Jonathan Horner was born in New Jersey about 1798, from which State he moved to Ohio, and settled in But- ler county in 1807. His death occurred in Gratis town- ship in 1852. He married Hannah Artrim, by whom he had four children, namely, Rachel (deceased), Sarah, Berziller and Elizabeth (deceased).

Berziller Horner, born in 1826, married Elizabeth Kinsey, by whom he had five children: Hannah Ann, Mary Elizabeth, Maria Frances, Elenora and Emma. Mr. Horner owns a farm of about eighty-seven acres.

Jonathan Cooper moved from Georgia in the year 1803, and settled in Wayne township, Butler county. He died in Somersville. During the latter part of his life he never wore a hat or a pair of socks, either in sum- mer or winter. His son, William, was born in Butler county in 1803. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Elijah Kellum. They have three children: Sarah, wife of Milton Stubbs; Esta, wife of Joseph Stubbs, and Elijah, who married Emma Ann Conarroe. The latter has three children: William, Jannie G. and John. He, Elijah Cooper, has about five hundred and forty acres, including land in Butler county. Mr. Cooper was a resident of Butler county until his thirty-fifth year. He is now a dealer in stock.

G. F. Deter Kesling was born in Virginia, from which State he moved to Kentucky, and finally settled in Ohio, in Warren county, in the year 1805, where he died in 1852. He was drafted into the War of 1812, but escaped service by sending a substitute. During his life he was a farmer and distiller. His wife was Margaret Null.

William Kesling was married twice-first, to Martha Lyons, by whom he had eight children, and after her death, to Mary Doley.

Dr. Isaac Kesling is now a resident of Winchester, Gratis township. He is a successful practitioner of the Eclectic school, having graduated at the Cincinnati Eclectic College of Medicine. Dr. Kesling married Eliza Ann, daughter of John Potterf, an old family in

Preble. The township of Gasper was named from Gas- per Potterf, one of this family.

Jacob Lesh, a Virginian, emigrated at an early date from that State to Ohio, and settled in Lanier township. His wife was Mary Lantis. Their son, Henry, married Julia Ann Morning Star, who is now living. Henry died in Lanier township in 1853. Their children are: Jonas, Lydia and Leander S.

Jonas Lesh married Sarah A. Phillips, and has three children. He is a carpenter and builder by trade. Five generations of this family are buried in Preble county.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 47

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

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