USA > Ohio > Preble County > History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches > Part 50
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Dr. Christian Sayler is possessed of a strong constitu- tion; is still vigorous and sturdy, notwithstanding his years and with the exception of one winter, has always enjoyed excellent health. He is a man of remarkable mirthfulness, which quality he inherits from his father. Although his early educational facilities were very meagre, he has, by extensive reading, accumulated a large amount of valuable information, and has brought together, little by little, a large library. He has led a very industrious, active, upright life, and has long been one of the most influential and respected citizens of Preble county.
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HARRISON.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Harison township is situated in the northeastern corner of the county, and is known as township seven of range three. It is bounded on the north and east by Darke and Montgomery counties, while to the south and west lie the sister townships of Twin and Monroe.
The country in this portion of the county is hilly, ex- cept along the banks of the several creeks, where the richest land in the township lies. To these bottoms the attention of the pioneers was called, and these were the first lands entered within the limits of the township. The western parts of this township are more level than those in the eastern portions.
The principal crops are corn and wheat. A good deal of attention is also paid to the cultivation of tobacco, and competent critics say that the quality is not much inferior to that raised in those States where tobacco cul- ture is a specialty. Immense warehouses are being erected in different parts of the township for the storage of the fragrant weed.
About seventy-five per cent. of the soil of the town- ship is cleared and under cultivation. Very little timber is now found along the banks of the several streams, but along the uplands it is still standing in large quantities. The soil on the uplands is of a clayey nature, but in the bottoms a rich loam is found. Beech, oak, and poplar are the chief woods. Walnut is also found, but not in such large quantities as the others.
There are several quarries in the township which yield a good quality of gray limestone. This stone is in great demand for pavement and foundation work. At present there are as many as a dozen quarries in different parts of the township. There are also two lime-kilns which are in operation.
The prosperity of the township is doubtless largely due to the presence of two railroads within its limits. These furnish a ready means of transportation for the products of the soil, an advantage which is denied some of the other townships. Some years ago the people were led to believe that a railroad was to be built which would cross the southeastern corner, passing through Lewisburgh, but after spending an immense sum on the grading the work was abandoned, much to the disappointment of the in- habitants of Lewisburgh.
Four creeks flow within the boundaries of this town- ship, viz .: Twin, Miller's fork, Swamp, and Price's. Twin crosses into Harrison from Monroe, near the northeast- ern corner. It flows along the western side of the town- ship for several miles. It then flows nearly east through three sections and finally turns south again near Lewis
burgh. Miller's fork and Swamp creek are strictly branches of Twin, but are of considerable size. The former rises a little north of the dividing line of this township and Darke county. Both Miller's and Swamp flow into Twin creek about the same place, just east of Lewisburgh. Swamp creek rises near the village of Ve- rona, in the northeastern part of this township, and was named Swamp from the character of the country through which it flowed. Price's creek crosses the township in the southwestern corner. It only remains in the town- ship a short while, confining all its meanderings to one section, number thirty-one, and then passes on into Twin township. The creek takes its name from Major Price, one of the earliest settlers of Twin township, who located on the banks of this creek. All of these creeks afford good fishing, and, in Twin creek, some members of the finny tribe often reach the weight of four and five pounds. In earlier days these, with the game of the woods, must have formed an agreeable, and, often, a timely addition to the larder of the settler.
Harrison township boasts of the possession of three or four pike roads, all in a fine state of repair. One of these, which runs due north and south through the cen- ter of the township, is a toll pike, as the traveller some- times finds out to his discomfort. Of the other two, one extends from the toll pike in section twenty-one, to the northwest; the other is a part of the old National road, from Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri. This road was the offspring of Heny Clay's genius, and was intended to further the interests of the emigrants, furnishing a good road through the best lands of the west. It was completed only in the mind of the great orator. A considerable portion is piked now-thanks to the efforts of the counties through which it passed. The other roads in the township are in a fair state of repair. The hilly nature of the country, and the fact that a board of supervisors is not now numbered among the regularly elected officers of the township, is in a great part the cause of the neglect of these roads in some por- tions of the township.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The rich bottom lands along the three creeks which cross this township were entered early in the present century. The land is of the finest quality, and settle- ments were soon made upon both banks of the streams. Twin was the first creek to be located upon. Consider- able difference of opinion exists as to the date of the first settler's entrance, although all concur in the tradition that the first settler was George Leas, and that he settled on section twenty-one, on the north bank of Twin creek.
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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
Leas was a Pennsylvanian, born in Cumberland county, of that State. He probably entered the country soon after the beginning of this century, as there were quite a number of settlements in the year 1806.
The first settlement of any size was on Swamp creek, where old Tobias Tillman had located with his family. Tillman was an old man when he came to this country. He had served in the war of the Revolution, and was afterwards drafted into the War of 1812, but escaped service by sending a substitute. The year before his arrival in this county, his son, John, had arrived and en- tered his land. In the following year, 1805, Tobias Tillman, with his three sons and seven daughters -- four of whom were married before they came, and possibly more --- came to Harrison township and settled on Swamp creek, in the eastern part of the township. His sons were John, Jacob and Henry, and his sons-in-law were Martin Rice, husband of Barbary Tillman; Alexander McNutt, who had married Betsey; Jacob Loy, who had married Phobe, and James Abbott, who had married Catharine. This made a colony of eight able-bodied men, sufficient for their own protection, and a strong ad- dition to the force of the township. Tobias Tillman and wife Nancy (Sharp), made the journey from Tennessee on horseback, by riding turn about. His only posses- sions were a keg of powder and a horse. He immedi- ately commenced clearing land, and at the time of his death was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres.
Mr. Tillman had eight children, none of whom are now alive. John, who died in 1850, had seventeen chil- dren, nine of whom are still living, viz .: Jesse, who lives in Darke county; John and Henry in Greenville, Darke county; Joshua and Anderson live in Harrison township; Martin lives in Darke county ; Polly lives in Darke coun- ty; Rachel lives in Illinois; Sally lives in Manchester, Monroe township.
Anderson Tillman, grandson of the pioneer, was born in 1827, on the farm on which he is now living. He married, in the year 1852, Susan Emrick, who was born in Twin township in 1833. They have had six children born to them, four of whom now survive. Mr. Tillman owns a farm of about three hundred and twenty acres. Both his farm and his handsome residence are evidences of the prosperity of the owner.
Joshua Tillman was born in 1824. In the year 1842 he married Cynthia M. Estabrook, who was born in New York in 1822. Eight children have been born to them, three of whom survive. Mr. Tillman served three months during the war of the Rebellion in the Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry. He was engaged at Perrysville and Crabapple Orchard, in Kentucky, under General Jack- son.
Alexander McNutt, a son-in-law of Tobias Tillman, came from Tennessee with his father-in-law. He was a native of Virginia, and served in the war of the Revolu- tion. After moving to this State, he served in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Fort Recovery. He was at one time a lieutenant of the Ohio riflemen. To Mr. and Mrs. McNutt there were born thirteen children, five of whom are now alive, viz: John, Solomon, Peter, Jacob
and Elizabeth. Mr. Alexander McNutt was the first county surveyor.
At the time of McNutt's settlement on Twin creek, there was an old Indian named Possum, who had located there, and had cleared up as many as eight acres. For many years these two men were neighbors until, at last, the Etzlers moved in and located near the place, where the Indian was living. This was too much for the son of the forest. Too much company drove him farther west, and he left his laboriously cleared lands for the settlers.
About this time Joseph Singer came into the settle- ment. He came on foot from Virginia, and camped with the Indians for a year or two. He afterwards settled on the west bank of Twin creek, on section thirty-four. His wife was Elizabeth Rape. He had thir- teen children, all of whom lived to raise families. Two of his sons, John and Abraham, are now residents of Lewisburgh. John's present residence is on the site where his father built his first cabin, a litle affair about fourteen by eighteen feet.
The northeastern part of the township was settled by a party of Irishmen by the name of Cochrane. For a long time they lived there, but finally left in 1840.
Price's creek was chosen by John Judy, a Virginian, as a settling place, in the year 1812. It is doubtful whether any other settlements were made on this creek within the limits of Harrison township. Judy is said to have been the most powerful man in the settlements around, and some strange stories of his prowess are still related by the pioneers now living.
Tillman Rice was born in 1802, and died in 1875. His wife, Mary, daughter of John Meroney, was born in 1805. She died one year before her husband. Tillman Rice was the son of Martin Rice, one of the first settlers of this township. Martin came to Preble county with his father-in-law, Tobias Tillman, in the year 1805. He had married Tillman's daughter, Barbara, and settled on the farm now owned by Michael Horn, near Lewisburgh. He only stayed there a few years, and then moved to the farm now owned by Julius C. Rice. about one and a half miles north of Lewisburgh. Only two of the children of this pioneer are now living, viz: Jesse, who is living in Harrison township, and Dicey (Colville) in Darke county. Tillman Rice had six children, four of whom are living: John M., William H. and Levi live in Indiana, and Julius C. in this township. Mr. Rice owned a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, where his son, Julius, now lives. Julius C. Rice was born in Preble county in 1841. In the year 1862 he married Lydia, daughter of Christian Sheller. One child was born them. His first wife died in 1879. He afterwards married Sally A., daughter of Henry Horn. He owns a farm of ninety-four and a quarter acres, north of Lewisburgh-part of the farm entered by his grandfather, Martin Rice.
Alexander McNutt was born in Virginia, from which State he moved to Tennessee, and afterwards to Ohio, where he settled in Harrison township, in 1805. His wife was Elizabeth Tillman, a daughter of Tobias Tillman, who was among the first to settle in this town-
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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
ship. He had thirteen children born to him, five of whom are still living, viz: John, who is living in Wis- consin; Solomon, in Darke county; Peter, in Harrison township; Jacob, in Indiana; and Elizabeth, who has joined the Mormons. Peter McNutt was born in Harri- son township, in the year 1811, and in 1832 married Mar- garet Vance, born in Preble county, in 1816, and who died in 1875. He had eleven children by this marriage, nine of whom are still living, In 1880 he married the widow Rogers, nee Catharine Etzler, born in Pennsylvania, in 1823. Mr. McNutt owns about one hundred and five acres of land, besides several lots in town. He has given up farming, and is now residing in Euphemia. Jacob McNutt was born in 1834, and in 1855 married Salome C. Lock, born in 1830. They have no children. Mr. McNutt has been township supervisor, and has always been identified with the interests of the township. He still owns a farm of fifty-one acres, a part of the old homestead.
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John Lock, son of Captain John Lock, was born in Maryland, about 1780. From Maryland he moved to Euphemia, in Harrison township, about 1805. His wife was Elizabeth Stimell, who was born in 1775. John Lock was drafted into the War of 1812, but escaped service by sending a substitute. He owned the stone mill at Rock Ridge, built by his father, and at present owned by Bowman & Co. He died in Harrison town- ship in 1856, and his wife died five years later, in 1861. They had nine children, seven of whom still survive: Sarah, widow of Adam House, lives in Monroe town- ship; Eva, wife of Samuel Bunger, lives in Harrison township; Peter is married and lives in Illinois; George C., married, lives in Harrison township; Catharine, wife of Levi Dillon, lives in Indiana; William M., married, lives in Illinois; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Price, lives in Indiana.
Abraham Hapner moved from Virginia to Ohio, and settled in Harrison township, about 1805. His wife was Sarah Ott, born in Virginia. Abraham Hapner was entirely without possessions of any kind on his arrival in this State, but by dint of hard labor and industry, he became possessed of a farm of two hundred and twenty acres, which he left unencumbered to his children. Hapner was in the War of 1812. He died in Harrison township. Seven children are still living, viz: Jacob, married, lives in Monroe township; Jesse and Abraham live in Harrison; Fred lives in Elkhart county, Indiana; Eli, Susannah (Mrs. Charles Lock), and Andrew, all live in Harrison township.
Jacob Werts was born in Pennsylvania in 1783. From Pennsylvania he move dinto Ohio, and settled in Harrison township, section twenty-one, in 1807. His wife, Kathe- rine Bosler, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1790. She died in 1862, in Darke county, Ohio. Jacob Werts was constable during the War of 1812, and also captain of the Ohio riflemen. He has had fourteen children, all of whom lived to raise families. Of these nine are still liv- ing. Christopher, married, lives in Mercer county, Ohio. John C. lives in Brown county, Indiana. Baltzer lives in Illinois. Elizabeth, widow of Richard Phillips, lives
in Illinois. David, married, lives in West Baltimore. William, widower, lives in Darke county. Sarah Ann, widow of William Schlosser, lives in Jay county, Indiana. Jesse S., married, lives in Illinois. Nancy Jane, wife of Thomas Neal, lives in Allen county, Indiana.
In 1809 John Aikman migrated to Harrison township, section twenty-three, from Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania. He was born in New Jersey about 1760. In the early part of the Revolution he served under Captain Brady as a private, and participated in several engage- ments. He afterwards held several township offices in Harrison township. His wife, Mary Dysert, a Pennsyl- vanian, died in 1809 at Greenville, Ohio. He had six children, one only of whom, Benjamin D., survives.
Benjamin I). Aikman was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1796. His first wife was Rebecca Piles, born in North Carolina in 1796, died in 1840. He had eight children, four of whom survive-William Franklin born 1827, Elizabeth, born 1825, widow of Lewis Thomas Benjamin E., born 1836, Joseph, born, 1838. Benjamin. D. Aikman was married again to the widow Rhinehart nee Elizabeth Sellers, who was born in Virginia in 1802. By the second marriage he has had no children. Benja- min D. Aikman has held several township offices, viz .: constable, trustee, supervisor, etc. He had a brother, John, who served in the War of 1812. He served for twelve months in a block-house built on the Daniel Wolf homestead in this township. Mr. Aikman has spent a lifetime in clearing, and owns one hundred and sixty acres of land. He has always lived on the old homestead.
Thomas Wilson emigrated from Berks county, Penn- sylvania to Harrison township about 1809. His wife was Elizabeth Leas, born about 1802. Wilson was justice of the peace for six years-from 1872 until 1878, in which year he died in Harrison township. His son, F. J. Wil- son is one of the leading business men of Lewisburgh, being largely engaged in dry goods, etc. His store is lo- cated on the site of the first store ever kept in the town.
John Ott, sr., was born in Virginia in 1785, from which State he emigrated to Ohio and settled in this township about 1809. He was engaged in fighting the Indians at Forts Greenville and Recovery during the War of 1812. He was married twice. His first wife was Mary M. Lock, who was born in 1783, and died' in 1848. He was married subsequently to Anna Hinkel.
John Ott, son of the pioneer, was born in 1820. He married for his first wife Matilda Brown in 1844. She died the next year at the age of nineteen, leaving one child-John A. Mr. Ott was married again in 1848 to Barbara Link, born in Virginia in 1822. By this mar- riage there have been born eight children, seven living and one deceased, viz: Daniel, Matilda, Eliza Jane, Sarah, Barbara Ann, George F. (deceased), Eliza and Mary. The two last named are single, the rest are mar- ried.
Patrick McGriff was born in South Carolina in 1786. From South Carolina he moved to Virginia, and from there to Tennessee. From this latter State he moved to Ohio and settled in section six of Harrison township, about 1810. His wife was Elizabeth Price, of Mont-
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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
gomery county, Virginia. She was born in 1791 and | are living: William, living in Harrison township; Mag- died in 1864, surviving her husband about ten years. delen, widow of James Wilkinson, living in Darke county; Phoebe, widow of Thomas Walker, living in Phillipsburgh, Montgomery county. Patrick McGriff was constable for nearly fifteen years. During the War of 1812 he served under General Har- rison as second lieutenant of the company commanded William Wikle was born in 1801 in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. He married, in 1828, Katharine Yost, born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1808. They have had seven children, four of whom are still living. Andrew married and lives in Twin township. Elizabeth married and lives in Dayton. Katharine-single-lives at home. Lewis married and lives at Euphemia. by Captain Phillips. The children are: Price, who lives in Darke county; Alfred, who lives in Darke county; Phoebe married Uriah Gard, and lives in Man- chester, Monroe township; Jackson, who lives in Harri- son township; Elizabeth, who lives in Darke county; Parker C., who lives near Ithaca, Darke county; Rachel, who married Joseph Clark, and lives in Darke county.
Jackson McGriff married Lucinda Baker, of Darke county, who was born in 1842. They have four chil- dren, all of whom are living at home.
Jacob Kesler emigrated from Virginia and settled about a mile south of where Lewisburgh now stands, in the year 1811. The farm is now owned by A. P. Zeller. Jacob Kesler was a soldier in the war for independence. He died at the residence of his son George, near La- fayette, Indiana, in 1837, at an advanced age.
About 1812 Abraham Lock moved from Maryland to section twenty-one in Harrison township. He was born in Frederick county Maryland, in 1796. His wife, Mar- garet Ott, was born in Virginia, in 1794; died in Harri- son township in 1869. Abraham Lock was at one time the owner of a distillery in this township. He was a private in the War of 1812, and served in an engage- ment at Fort McHenry and at Baltimore. Lock was always a prominent citizen of the county. He died in 1872, in Harrison township. The members of his family were as follows:
John Lock married Deborah Dinwiddie, and lives in Kokomo, Indiana. George E. married Phoebe Combs, and lives in Harrison township. Abraham married Elizabeth Harsh (deceased); married a second time Jane Brightwell, and resides in Harrison township. Eli, mar- ried Sarah Brown, lives in Kokomo, Indiana. Sarah married Jacob McNutt, and lives in Harrison, township. Michael married Susan Lyons (deceased) lives in Kokomo, Indiana. Peggy married David. Bender and lives in La Salle county, Illinois. Daniel married Amanda Hapner, and lives in Harrison township. Mary married George Faulkner, and lives in Kokomo, Indi- ana. George E. Lock married Phoebe Combs, and has four children. Franklin married Jane Kisching, and re- sides in Harrison township. Levi married Josephine Dequasie, and resides in Harrison township. Mollie married Byron Ozias, and lives in Versailles, Darke county. Daniel married Martha McGrew, and resides in Harrison township.
John Wikle was born in Pennsylvania in 1777. He emigrated from Virginia to Ohio in 1812, and settled at Lewisburgh, Harrison township. His wife was Catha- rine Shirer; born in 1777 in Pennsylvania, and died in Darke county in 1861.
John Wikle was drafted into the army in 1812, but sent a substitute. He cleared up about fifty acres of land near Lewisburgh. He died at Lewisburgh in 1829. Eleven children were born to him, of whom three only
William Wikle has been road commissioner, deputy sheriff, and tax collector, and has held every township office. He has also cleared up about one hundred acres of land and owns about the same amount ; also two lots in town. At one time he owned about two hundred and forty acres. He has always been a prominent citizen and a hard working man. He had one son, Henry, who died in Jefferson barracks during the war of the Rebellion. He enlisted in an Illinois regiment. His brother, Lewis, was in the Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and saw three years of hard service under Sherman.
In 1814 Henry Hendrickson moved to section thirty- one from Virginia. He was born in 1787 in Roanoke, this State. He married, in 1821, Catharine Wilt, who was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, in 1784. Hendrickson was drafted in the War of 1812, but was never called out. His son was drafted in the War of the Rebellion but sent a substitute. Henry Hendrick- son died in Harrison township in 1870. He has had four children, three of whom are still living: Zachariah, born in 1822, died in 1858; Katharine Jane, born in 1826-single-lives at home; David, married and lives in Harrison township; Amelia, born in 1829, wife of Samuel Covert. Mrs. Hendrickson holds the original patent of the land granted by John Quincy Adams to her husband, Henry Hendrickson. This is the only deed they have ever had.
David Hendrickson was born in 1827. In 1854 he married Katharine Hapner, born in Harrison township in 1832. They have had ten children, seven of whom are still living.
Henry Horn was born in Germany, in the year 1755. At the age of nine years he came to America, and in 1815 he moved to Preble county from Rockbridge county, Virginia. He settled on the farm now owned by his eldest surviving son, Michael, on section twenty- seven, where he died in 1839. His body was buried in the cemetery at Euphemia. His wife died in Virginia the year previous to his removal to this county. He had thirteen childreen born to him, of whom four survive, namely: Sarah (Black), living in Lewisburgh; Michael, living on the old home farm in Lewisburgh; Susannah (McHuan), in Indiana, and Andrew in Logan county, Ohio. Michael Horn was born in Virginia, in 1802. He married Catharine, daughter of John Risinger, born in Germantown, Ohio, in 1808. They have had seven children born to them, six of whom are still living, vi :.: William, Elizabeth, Henry, Amanda, Allen T., and Isa- bel (Trimble). 'These all reside in Lewisburgh. Mr.
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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
Horn owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres, in | dred days' service in the last call of the rebellion, in the sections twenty-seven and twenty-eight. His son, Allen One Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio national guard. T. Horn, was born in Lewisburgh in 1842, on the old John B., born in 1834, was married in 1854 to Ellen Redman. They have had two children, one of whom, Ella, born in 1866, survives. John B. has been road commissioner and school director. He owns a farm of fifty-seven acres in Harrison township. homestead. In the year 1869 he married Frances B., daughter of William Sloan, born in 1850. Five children were born to them, three of whom are living. Mrs. Horn and the two children died in 1879. In 1880 he married Fannie M., daughter of Jeremiah Gilmore, of Hamilton, William Swisher was born in Pennsylvania, from which State he moved to Ohio, and about 1817 he set- tled in Gratis township. He was for twenty-one years a justice of the peace. His three children are living: Jesse, living in Darke county; Annie (Neff) who is liv- ing in Indiana, and Polly (Myers) living in Indiana. Ohio, born in 1857. Mr. Horn started business as a druggist, in Lewisburgh, in 1869. In the early part of the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in company H, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and served about four months. He was then attached to the field hospital near Murfreesborough, and afterwards sent to Nashville, where he served over two years as the assistant steward in charge of the drug department. He was discharged in 1865.
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