History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 65

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 65

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Edmund Kincaid was born in 1818, in Gasper town- ship, Preble county. His parents, John and Mary Kin- caid, emigrated from Rockbridge county, Virginia, to Kentucky, and in 1809 came to Gasper township, Preble county. His wife, Janet Young, was born in Butler county, in 1826. Their two children are living on the home place with their mother, Mrs. Janet Kincaid. Her husband died on the farm which he owned in section twenty-seven, Jefferson township. Mrs. Kincaid's father, David Young, was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother, Ann, was born in Hamilton county. Both are dead.

James Paul was born in Ireland in 1784, and emi- grated to the United States, and settled in Adams

county, in 1811, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1836. His wife, Sarah Brown, was born in Pennsylvania in 1786, and died in 1822. They had four children-Jane, Mary, Nancy and James.

James, the father of James H. Paul, was born in Adams county, Ohio, in 1815, and came to Preble county in 1836. He married Susan Jane Campbell, who was born in 1817, and died in 1880.

Nancy, the daughter of James Paul, sr., was born in 1813, and came to this county from Adams county in 1835. She married Osborn Morrison in 1835, and to them three children have been born, one of whom, Alice F., wife of Perry C. Dowlar, is living near New Madison, Darke county, Ohio. Mr. Morrison was born in 1810, and died in 1871. His parents, Andrew and Martha Mitchell Morrison, emigrated from Kentucky about the year 1808, and settled in section nine of Jefferson town- ship.

James H. Paul was born in Jefferson township in 1842. In 1861 he married Miss Margaret Jane Brinley, who was born in 1843. ' Five of their six children are living, and at home. His farm consists of one hundred and eighty-three acres of land in section two. His parents were James Paul and Susan Jane, whose maiden name was Campbell. Mrs. Paul was born in Jefferson township in 1817, and died June 1, 1880. The old people had five children, two of whom are living-James H., and Catharine A., wife of Henry Miller, of New Paris.

Dr. Albert Hawley was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1822. In the winter of 1845-6 he attended lectures at the Ohio Medical college in Cincinnati. In 1846, having graduated with honor, he commenced the prac- tice of medicine at Gettysburgh, Jefferson township, at which place he has since lived and has been practicing his profession. His first wife was Martha Porterfield, of Jefferson township. His second wife, Elizabeth M. Watt, became the mother of his five children, all of whom are living.

John Adams was born in 1795, and his wife, Adaline Bowman, was born in 1801. They emigrated to Preble county at an early day, and settled in Washington town- ship near Eaton. They died in section one, Jefferson township, on the farm now owned by Josiah Clawson.

Israel B. Adams was born in 1828, near Westville, Preble county. In 1854 he married Nancy C. Smith, who was born in section one of Jefferson township in 1831. Two of their three children are living, both at home. Mr. Adams owns eighty acres of land in section one.

Dural Swain, who owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in the southwest correr of section twenty-two, is the son of Jacob Swain, late of Jackson township, and was born in Pennsylvania in 1810, settling with his father in Jackson, and afterwards removing to his present resi- dence. In 1834 he was married to Jane Kennedy, by whom he had four children, three, of whom are living. Mrs. Swain was born at Springborough, Ohio, in 1812, and is still living.

William Swisher came to Ohio from Pennsylvania about 1805, and settled about half a mile east of Win-

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chester. He had eight children born to him, three of whom are still living, viz .: Jesse Swisher, living in Darke county, and Polly (Neff) and Annie (Myers) in Indiana. Robert Swisher, a son of the above, was born in 1805, and in 1826 he married Annie Sayler, born in 1807. He had five children born him by his first wife, all of whom are living, viz .: Martin, in Eaton; Mary Ann (Marshall), in Kansas; William, in Dixon township; Elizabeth (Tay- lor) in Jackson township; and Annie (Morlatt), in Indi- ana. In 1839 his first wife died, and in the same year he married Maria Wilson. Four children were born to them, three of whom survive, viz .: Sarah (Gard), in Dixon township; Caroline (Bradley) in Missouri; and Nancy (Paddack) in Indiana. At the time of his death in 1840 he owned five hundred and ten acres. Martin Swisher was born in 1827. In 1852 he married Jane, daughter of Jehu Rhea, born in 1828. He has had seven children born to him, one of whom is deceased. He is the owner of about four hundred acres, part of which lies in Dixon township, and part in Wayne county, Indiana. He was justice of the peace for five years while living in Dixon township. He moved to Eaton in 1879, where he now resides.

George Crubaugh, born in Pennsylvania in 1808, emi- grated with his parents to Butler county, Ohio, and in 1840 he came to Preble county, and settled in Jefferson township, in section twenty-four. His wife, Almira Black- ford, whom he married in 1832, was born in 1811. Six children were born to them. His present wife, Elizabeth Wade, was born in 1820. She has borne him eight chil- dren. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of well cultivated land.

David A. Wehrly was born in Monroe township, Preble county in 1824. His wife, Christina B. Reinhold, was born in Europe. Her father, Christian Reinhold, died when she was three years old. Her mother died in 1878. She came to this country, in 1838, and settled in Monroe township, near where Samuel Wehrly lives. To Mr. and Mrs. David Wehrly have been born six children, five of whom are living. David Wehrly died in 1878.

Peter Mikesell was born in the State of Maryland, in 1782, and, about 1800, emigrated with his parents to Virginia. His wife, Mary Aldrige, was born in 1779. They were married in 1807. Two of their eight chil- dren are dead. In 1817, they emigrated from Viriginia to Ohio, and located in Gratis township, Preble county. In 1827, he moved to Gasper township, near the Pot- terf mills, on Seven Mile Creek, and there remained until his death. In 1811, David, the son of Peter and Mary Mikesell, was born in Virginia, and after his re- moval to Ohio, married for his first wife, Sarah Barnhart, who was born in 1818, and died in 1855. Ten of the twelve children, born by this marriage, are living.

Isaac McDonald was born near Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, in 1808, and settled in Jefferson town- ship in 1842, in section twenty-seven, where he owns ninety five acres of land. He has been married three times. His first wife, Miss Barbara Hopple, was the mother of two children, and died in 1845. His second wife, who died in 1871, was Polly Marshall, by whom he

had two children. His present wife is Deborah Warner, by whom he has had one child, since dead.

Guy Bloom, born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, in 1816, emigrated to Ohio in 1844, and settled in section thirty-four of Jefferson township, Preble county. His wife, Harriet Frances Jamison, was born in 1826. To Mr. and Mrs. Bloom have been born ten children, six of whom are living, and all in Jefferson township. Mr. Bloom is the owner of two hundred and sixty acres of land under a high state of cultivation, and his farm is one of the neatest in the township. Joseph and Rebecca Bloom were the parents of Guy. They were natives of Penn- sylvania, and settled in Darke county, Ohio, in 1827, where they died.

Samuel S. Richie was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1814. He is the son of Robert and Sarah Richie. His father was born in Philadelphia in 1789, and his mother, Sarah Steer, was born in Virginia in 1787. Both died in Philadelphia. In 1805, Robert Richie emigrated to Jefferson county, Ohio. They had six children, of whom Samuel S. Ritchie was the only one who settled in Jefferson township. In 1858, he settled in section seventeen. He can trace his ancestral line on his father's side to Ireland, and his maternal ancestors were from Wales.

His wife, Anna S. Shoemaker, was born in 1814, in Pennsylvania. Their nine children are all living. Eliza- beth, wife of R. F. White, of New Paris; Sarah M. re- sides in Burlington, New Jersey; Margaret W., wife of M. J. Barger, of Vermillion county, Illinois; Anna, wife of Nathan Coffin, of Texas; Robert, who married Anna Bell Lind, and lives in section seventeen; Grace and Charles reside at home; and Janet, wife of J. E. Mendenhall, who lives in Arkansas.

Mr. Richie owns five hundred and twenty acres of land under a good state of cultivation.

John Coblentz was born in Maryland in the year 1825, and in 1829 came to Ohio. He married Mary Jane Rob- ertson in 1847, who was born in Preble county in 1831. They moved to Jefferson township from Darke county in the year 1869. Five children have been born them, four of whom are now living. Mr. Coblentz owns a farm of one hundred and three acres, located in section four and five of this township.

Benjamin Denmire was born in Butler county, Ohio, in the year 1824. In 1849 he married Eliza A., daugh- ter of Frederick K. and Sally Smith, who emigrated to America from Germany at an early age. Six children were born them, five of whom are now living in Jefferson township, one of the six being deceased. Mr. Denmire owns one hundred and thirty-five acres of land located in section eleven. He has for several years held the posi- tion of supervisor, and also that of school director.

Mary, daughter of Henry and Sarah McGill, was born in 1809. In the year 1825 she came with her parents to Ohio from Virginia and settled in Jefferson township. In 1854 she married Samuel Kirkpatrick, who was born in Virginia in 1800, and came to Ohio when a young man. No children were born by this marriage. They took a child to raise-Margaret E. Reed, who afterwards

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married Nelson W. Hunt, and is now living in Hills- borough, Indiana.

Hannah Brown was born in Jefferson township in 1816, and in 1837 was married to James, the son of James and Margaret (Smith) Brown. Mr. Brown, sr., represented Wayne county in the Indiana legislature in 1814, but died soon after his election.

James Brown, jr., was born in 1814, and died in 1871. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born four children, of whom William, John M., and Ella J. are living. Mrs. Brown owns ninety-six acres of land in section thirty, of Jefferson township, where she resides.

Clinton Brown enlisted the first day of April, 1864, in company F, Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until September, 1864, on account of the loss of his left arm while transferring prisoners across the Ohio river at Cin- cinnati. James M. and Susan Pitman were the parents of Mrs. Clinton Brown.

David Sherer, second son of Jesse Sherer, of Washing- ton township, was born in 1838. In 1861 he married Miss Anna Thompson, who was born in 1842, in the State of Indiana. To them have been born six children, four of whom are living. Mr. Sherer resides in section twenty-seven, of Jefferson township, on one hundred and seventy-four acres of well improved land. Dennis Thomp- son and Elmira Grimes were the parents of Miss Sherer.

- Isaac Allen Tyler was born in Geauga county, Ohio, in 1832. He was married in 1859 to Catharine Hetzler, who was born in 1830. In the same year he moved to Butler county, and, after a stay of four months, he moved again, and settled in section eight of Jefferson township. At the time of his entry he bought land and has lived on it ever since. His wife died in 1877, leaving two chil- dren-Samuel C. and John W. In 1879 he married La- vina Jane Downing, born in Darke county, in 1843. Her mother belonged to the Morrison family, who were among the earliest settlers of Jefferson township, where they settled in 1806, coming from Kentucky. They were originally from Tennessee. Mr. Tyler owns a finely im- proved farm in this township, and is one of the most prosperous farmers in the county.

Mitchell and Lydia Murray came from Delaware about the year 1825, and settled at Eaton. They have had thirteen children, of whom Joseph is the eldest. He was born in 1831, and in 1860 married Margaret L. Wisenbaugh, daughter of Jacob and Mary Ann Wisen- baugh, who came from Montgomery county to Preble about forty-five years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Murray have five children been born, four of whom are living -- Elmer, Mary, Alfred, and Fanny. Their son Charles Horner is dead. Mr. and Mrs. Murray lived in Eldo- rado after their marriage until about fourteen years ago, when they removed to their present residence in section thirty-one of Jefferson township, where Mr. Murray owns over one hundred acres of land.

Frederick Ferris, born in Vermont, emigrated to Franklin county, Indiana, in 1811, and died there in 1843. His wife, Susan Nichols, was a native of Connec- ticut. She died in 1831. Both died in Franklin county. Mr. Ferris served in the War of 1812, under Major

Hackleman. They had eleven children, of whom Susan, William, John, Caroline, James, Mary, and Isaiah are dead; Ann, the widow of Michael Snell, is living in southeastern Indiana; Catharine is the wife of James M. Clements, of Newcastle, Indiana; Dr. Samuel Ferris is engaged in the practice of medicine in Newcastle, In- diana.

Dr. Allison B. Ferris was born May 30, 1824, in Franklin county, Indiana. He received a good educa- tion at the Franklin County seminary, at Brookville, In- diana. In 1842 he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Casterline, of Liberty, Indiana, and continued with him for four years. March 6, 1850, he graduated at the Cleveland Medical college. After his graduation he attended lectures in the winter of 1850-5 1 at the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati. He practiced for a short time at New Westville, and commenced the practice of medicine in New Paris February 13, 1852, where he has resided ever since. He was married June 27, 1852, to Elizabeth E. Frazer, who died October 13th of the same year. In June, 1854, he married Elizabeth M. Banta, daughter of Solomon Banta, of Eaton. She died Sep- tember 11, 1876. Their son, Charles E. Ferris, was born April 15, 1855, and married Belle Little, daughter of Jo- siah and Rebecca Little, of Richmond, Indiana, where the young couple reside. They have three children. May 27, 1878, Dr. Ferris was married to Miss Jennie D. McClure, daughter of Dr. Samuel McClure, of Win- chester, Indiana.

W. A. McWhinney, son of the late Thomas J. Mc- Whinney, of Jackson township, was born in 1838. In 1862 he married Margaret Cail, who died in 1876, leav- ing one child, Nancy R. In 1878 he was married to Mary Wisenbaugh, who was born in 1842.

Mr. McWhinney started in the dry goods business at New Paris in 1874.

Josiah F. Clawson was born in Dixon township in 1831. His parents, John and Mary Clawson, emigrated to Ohio at a very early day, and lived in Dixon township. In 1855 Josiah married Rachel Mettert, who was born in 1838. Their three children are living.

Mr. Clawson owns seventy acres of land in section one, of Jefferson township, where he resides. Mr. Claw- son's parents, Frederick and Catharine Mottert, emi- grated to Ohio at a very early day.

ITEMS.

The first wheat raised in Jefferson township is said to have been sown by old man Ireland.

It is probable that the six acres of corn planted by Levi Purviance, in the spring of 1806, was the first raised in Jefferson.

The grandfather of James and the father of David Ireland, is thought to have been the first person who died in the township. He is buried on the farm of the Purviances

In the War of 1812 Jefferson township furnished her full quota. The Indians returning to their old camp ground, drove off many of the settlers, and by making raids on the little farms that were left unprotected, by

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Samuel Smith

Samuel Smith, whose many charities will long be re- membered by the poor families of Jefferson township, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1802. Naturally of a mechanical turn of mind, his early life was spent in the shops and factories in the neighbor- hood. His father, Joseph Smith, whose family con- sisted of six children, Ann, Hughes, Hannah Hood, Elizabeth Rieley, Easter, John and Samuel, died in 1821. After the death of his father, Samuel, always at- tentive to the wants of his mother, shared with her his earnings, until her death in 1831.

The man who takes care of his parents will prosper, was a favorite adage which in later years he often re- peated to his neighbors. In 1827 he was married to Nancy Bunting, of Lancaster county. This union was terminated by the death of the wife in June, 1828. The offspring of this union, one child, died in infancy. He was married to Mary Jones, of Chester county, in 1833. They had ten children-Joseph C., born Decem- ber 5, 1833; Anna E., born March 10, 1835; Jacob J., born August 20, 1837; Nathan J., born June 20, 1839; Thomas J., born May 31, 1841; James S., born July 31, 1843 ; William C., born January 28, 1845; Phebe E., born November 29, 1846; John, born December 15, 1850; Mary E., deceased.

Of these ten, four are dead. Anna E., died April 10, 1875; Jacob J., died in the army October 25, 1862 ; Nathan J., died in the spring of 1864.

Three of the sons were in the army. Joseph C. was a member of the Fifth Ohio cavalry; Jacob J. and James S. volunteered in the Nineteenth Indiana battery.

Samuel Smith resigned his position as superintendent of the cotton mills on the Brandywine, and emigrated to Ohio in 1838. He purchased the farm of one hundred and three acres now known as the Smith homestead, near New Paris. About 1844 he engaged in milling, and personally attended to the business until shortly be- fore his death, when his sons, James and William, assumed control. He was engaged in the dry goods busi-

ness a few years, but the bulk of his estate was accumu- lated from the productions of the farm and mill. He was a man of uncommonly good business sense, his great and only fault being inability to deny the requests of his friends, who frequently involved him in heavy losses. His disposition seemed at times to be passion- ate, abusive and selfish, but the many charities to which his books and his neighbors testify, prove him to have been a kind-hearted and benevolent man. No poor man ever asked for a sack of flour and went away with- out it. He was known among the poor families in the community as a present helper in time of need. Mr. Smith always attended personally to his business and followed a favorite maxim, "Never do business on a slate."

In politics he was an old school Democrat, and fre- quently boasted of having voted for Jackson three times. In his family he was always exacting, but liberal. He was a natural mechanic, able to do anything to which he turned his hand. In this particular, he was somewhat like his illustrious cousin, Robert Fulton, the inventor of steam navigation. Fulton, when a youth, was a frequent visitor at his uncle Smith's residence in Pennsylvania, and his boyish pranks are now family tra- dition.

Early in 1879 Mr. Smith became affected with slow paralysis, which caused his death on the twenty-second of September of the same year. He met death as he met every crisis in business, calmly and philosophically. To do right had been his religion, and there was not a twinge of conscience to disturb the peace of his dying day. He is remembered as an honest, straightforward, outspoken and benevolent man.

The mill is now conducted by James and William, who have inherited much of their father's business tact, and "are held in high esteem by the community as up- right, honest men." The whole family revere their father's memory, which will live as long as gratitude holds a place in the human heart.

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stealing horses and driving off cattle, made it very dan- gerous for those who remained in the township and stood their ground.

During the late civil war the soldiers of Jefferson township were forthcoming and the provost marshal very seldom had the chance to "draw a bead" on a scared renegade who hailed from Jefferson.

EARLY SCHOOLS.

June 10, 1838, it was recorded that there be ten school districts in the township of Jefferson. The school sys- tem throughout the township is very effective, and the people have always had great respect for education, and from the first have availed themselves of all privileges of this kind.

The first school-house in Jefferson township was situ- ated on the farm owned by Patrick McGrew, a short dis- tance south of where the barn now stands. It was a pioneer log school-house of the most approved pattern of the rude architecture of the early days. It had a puncheon floor, and puncheons around three sides of the room, which were used as writing desks. There was a fire-place seven feet wide, in one end of the room, and in cold weather a sea of flame rolled out of the mud chimney that was plastered to the outside wall. Even in warm weather a smoldering fire was kept up, so that the copy books might be easily dried.

John P. Ireland was probably the first teacher. He was followed by Clements Ferguson, then a young medi- cal student, who afterwards became the leading physician of the community.

There was a school-house near Cedar Springs, at a very early day, and it was a notable fact that all who at- tended that school and drank of the neighboring springs, had good health.

Thomas Burnan`taught one of the earliest schools on the place north of Paris, owned by Oliver Mitchell.

EARLY MILLS.

The milling power afforded by Whitewater was utilized at a very early day. About 1814, John Ireland erected the first grist-mill in the township on the creek below Paris, not far from the present quarry. There was a still- house in connection with it at one time.

The New Paris mill, now owned by the Smiths, was built as early as 1825, by Silas and Peter Fleming.

Prior to 1835, James Woofter built a grist-mill about a mile north of New Paris. The mill is now operated by Captain D. F. Woofter. The mill is known as the Sugar Valley mill.

About 1840, Fletcher Doloff started a mill two miles north of Paris. There was a still-house connected with it.

Two or three hundred yards from the Doloff mill, more than fifty years ago, a "corn cracker" was put up by Robert McGrew. This afterwards became a regular grist- mill. Distilling was also carried on there.

There was a woollen mill just west of New Paris in very early times, which was run by the Barber brothers at the time that it was destroyed about the year 1845.

Robert Snodgrass had a tanyard just above this mill at a very early day.

The Coblentz saw-mill is located nearly three miles up the creek.

There is a saw-mill at New Paris which is run by Joshua Mackey.

There is a saw-mill not far from the Woofter mill owned by Thompson Fleming.

NEW PARIS.

This is, besides Eaton, the second largest town in the county, and is the local center of the business of Jeffer- son township. Surrounded by a productive and thickly settled country, it has become the seat of considerable local trade.

In the first settlement of the territory known as Jeffer- son township, James Fleming, an emigrant from Ken- tucky, entered the southwest quarter of section twenty, and soon afterwards, Andrew Ireland, also from Ken- tucky, bought land in the northwestern quarter of section twenty-nine. Andrew Ireland leased his land to a man named Campbell, and for awhile lived in his old State of Kentucky.

About 1816, New Westville, two miles south, and other towns not far from where James Fleming lived, were laid out, and it appeared to be necessary, as well as very desirable, that a capital be chosen for Jefferson township. It takes enterprise to conceive the plan of a new town. The founder of this town was James Flem- ing, and the foundation ground was his quarter section on Whitewater.

Accordingly, in 1817, Mr. Fleming proceeded to ma- terialize his plat which heretofore had only existed on paper. At this juncture, Andrew Ireland decided to cast in his lot with that of Mr. Fleming, and make a good sized town of it. Inasmuch as both founders had come from the vicinity of Paris, Kentucky, it was decided that the name of the place should be New Paris. The plats of the two founders were only separated by the, as yet imaginary, main street.

But New Paris was not to be a "paper town"-a town in name and not in substance. So the plat of twenty lots, with a main and a number of cross streets, was acknowledged August 18, 1817, before Isaac Ste- phens, justice of the peace. Messrs. Fleming and Ire- land had now marked out their plat on the chosen ground, and the next thing was to fill the lots with houses. They offered as an inducement to the people that the one who should erect the first house in the new town would be presented with the lot upon which he should desire to build. John H. Cottom was the man who accepted this generous offer, and immediately proceeded to erect a square log house on the lot where McWhinney's store now stands. In this house he opened a hotel in 1817. A man named Pryor soon afterwards erected a frame house on the corner opposite Cottom's hotel, on the site now occupied by Means & Johnson's store. Here the first store in town was opened and kept. It was what is now known as a general store. In those early days, be- fore the several branches of trade could be established in a locality, it was necessary that the store contain sup- plies of everything required by the community. Of such

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 65

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

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