History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 69

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

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The Eikenberrys were among the earliest settlers in the southwest part of the township. Henry Eikenberry and family, consisting of his wife and five children, and his father, Peter Eikenberry, came out from Virginia in 1807. They settled where Isaac Eikenberry now lives. They camped there for the first six weeks after their arrival, during which they built a small log house and moved into it. For a year after their settlement there were, it is said, no other settlers nearer than three miles of them. Peter Eikenberry died in the year 1800, and his was the first burial in the church graveyard near by.

Henry Eikenberry was born in Pennsylvania in 1772. He removed to Virginia, where he afterwards married Mary Landee. He died in 1828, and his wife survived him many years. They raised seven children, named as follows: Elizabeth, Samuel, Henry, Peter, Isaac, David, and Benjamin. Elizabeth, Samuel, Peter, and David are deceased. Henry was born in Virginia in 1800, and has resided in the county ever since his settlement in 1804, a period of seventy-six years. He married Polly Holda- man, now dead. Isaac was born in 1804, and was less than a year old when the family moved here from Vir- ginia. He married Sally, daughter of John Neff. Ben- jamin resides in Iowa. Peter Eikenberry was born in Preble county in 1804. He married Eliza Morningstar, who was born in Maryland in 1806. After his marriage he settled where John Brubaker now lives, which farm he eventually sold and moved to the place now occupied by his widow and son Peter. He died there in 1862.

David Eikenberry married, in 1828, Hannah Cloyd, and first settled about a mile north of where his widow now lives. Some years afterwards he removed to the old Cloyd homestead, which was settled by Stephen Cloyd in 1809. He died here in the spring of 1880.

William Campbell, sr., was born in Greenbrier county, Virginia, July 27, 1780. His father removed to near

Lexington, Kentucky, when William was but a lad. He came in 1807 or 1808, then a young man, to this county and located in Lanier township. He had learned the tanning business in Kentucky, and soon after his arrival here-in 1808 or 1809-he established a tannery near Twin creek, southeast of where West Alexandria now stands. The vats of this rude establishment were made of hewed puncheons. Mr. Campbell followed the busi- ness for a number of years. He, afterwards, with two others, run a line of stages from Hamilton to Eaton, and also bought and sold horses, driving them to South Carolina. About a year or two after he came to Lanier he found a wife in the person of Elizabeth Van Ausdal, daughter of John Van Ausdal, and began housekeeping in a cabin where he had established his tannery, in sec- tion eleven. He died in Eaton June 16, 1837. His wife survived him and died February 3, 1800. They raised five children. Maria, the eldest of the children and only daughter, became the wife of Hon. Francis A. Cunningham, and is now a widow residing in Eaton. James is the present mayor of West Alexandria. John V., attorney and ex-probate judge, resides in Eaton. Isaac is deceased, and William a prosperous farmer in Twin township. James Campbell, the only member of the family now residing in Lanier, was born in this town- ship August 29, 1812. In 1844 he married Caroline Dennison, daughter of James Dennison. Mrs. Camp- bell died, after a brief illness, September 7, 1880, aged fifty-seven.

Jacob Lesh was born in Berks county, Virginia, in the year 1793. When three years of age he removed with his parents to Bedford county, Virginia, and in 1808 came to this county. He was united in marriage to Mary Lautes, and shortly afterward settled in section eighteen of this township, and resided there until his death. His widow is still living at the advanced age of eighty-seven. There are six children living, to-wit: John, Aaron, and Mrs. Albaugh in this township, the latter on the homestead; Jacob and Susannah in Mis- souri, and Daniel in Indiana.

Joel Young came to Preble county from Maryland with his parents in 1809. His father, Henry Young, set- tled on Aukerman creek, near Winchester. Joel married Maria Swihart, whose parents were early settlers in Gratis, and located where his widow still lives. He died in 1869, aged about sixty-five. He had twelve children, eight of whom are living, as follows: Mrs. Josiah Eikenberry, Mrs. Christian Eikenberry, Isaac, David, Josiah, and Flizabeth in Lanier, and Mrs. Brubaker and Amos in Gratis. Daniel married Martha E. Longstreet, and re- sides on the pike west of West Alexandria.

Daniel Adney came from Virginia about the year 1808 or 1809, and entered the farm now owned by Harvey Heckman. Adney afterwards sold to Jacob Harter, and Harter to John Clawson. Clawson was called the "great Indian fighter," deriving this soubriquet presumably from his brushes with the Indians.

Samuel Mitchell, in 1808, settled on the farm now owned by Henry Rinehart, northeast quarter of section twenty-nine.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

William Smith entered the southeast quarter of section twenty in 1807, which he subsequently sold to Luke Vorhis.

James Cloyd came from Botetourt county, Virginia, with his family, consisting of his wife and seven children, in the fall of 1810. They wintered on Bear creek, in Montgomery county, and the next spring moved to Preble and settled on section twenty-six, where the widow of Eikenberry now lives. He died in 1816, and four of the family, one son and three daughters, are now living, of whom Stephen, now aged eighty-two, and living in the northeast part of Lanier township, is the oldest. One of the daughters, Mrs. Leslie, lives in Darke county; Mrs. Swihart in Montgomery, and Mrs. David Eikenberry in this township, where her father settled in 1810.

Jacob Deardorff was born in York county, Pennsylva- nia, December 27, 1781. When about nine years of age he moved with his father, Peter Deardorff, to Botetourt county, Virginia. While yet a young man he came to this county, and on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1811, he married Elizabeth Lesh. They began their married life in a cabin on the Joseph Potterf (now David Ockerman) farm, in section eight, and lived there until their own cabin in section eighteen was erected, where they took up their abode in the spring of 1812. Mr. Deardorff was a mill- wright by trade, but was skilful in woodcraft, being able to make almost any article of household utility. He also made plows having wooden mould-boards, fanning mills, and other farming implements. He assisted in the car- penter work of the old Nesbit building at Lexington, built in 1811. He lived to be about seventy-four years old, dying January 27, 1856, on the farm on which he first permanently settled. His wife died previously. He was the father of nine children, six of whom survive, viz .; Peter, a silversmith in Philadelphia ; Jacob, in this town- ship; Samuel, in Washington township; Benjamin, on the pike east of Eaton; Rebecca, in Dayton, and Silas, in Miami county, Indiana. Jacob married Sally, daughter of Daniel Harter, and is a prosperous farmer; Benjamin was married in 1854 to Miss Sarah R. Trout, who died two years afterward, and two years subsequent to her death he was married again to Miss Susannah Harter. He began teaching school soon after he became of age, and taught regularly and irregularly for a number of terms until his marriage, when he purchased and commenced farming on the old homestead. During the period of his school teaching he held the office of county school exam- iner, and after he began farming he served several years as county commissioner.

Isaac Banta was born in Lanier township, Ohio, in the year 1812, and came to Preble county at an early date with his parents, Peter and Effie Banta. They settled in Lanier township on Banta creek. His wife was Anna Reed, who bore him ten children, only two of whom survive: Hannah M., wife of George Harter, of Cali- fornia, and James Banta. Before his death, which oc- curred in the year 1847, Mr. Banta was a minister of the Christian church.

James Banta, eldest son of the above, was born in 1831, and is now residing in Washington township. His

first wife was Eliza Jane Halderman, by whom he had two children, one of whom still survives. Mrs. Banta died in 1861 at the age of twenty-five. In 1865 he mar- ried Elizabeth Chrisman, who was born in 1839. Five children were born them, all of whom are living. After his first marriage, Mr. Banta settled in Lanier township, where he lived for ten years. He then moved to Twin township. In 1876 he moved to Preble county and settled in Washington township. He is the owner of a fine farm of over one hundred and forty acres. While in Twin township he held the office of township trustee for several years, and has for several years been president of the school board.

Joseph Harter entered the land where Jacob Deardorff now lives, and after making an improvement sold to his brother, Daniel, about 1812, and moved away. Daniel resided here until his death.

Jacob Heckman, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1771, emigrated from Virginia to Ohio in the winter of 1811. He settled where his son, Isaac Heckman now lives, and died there in 1854. Mary Heckman, his wife, died some fifteen years before. They were the parents of six children, viz: Anna, Helen, David, Catharine, Isaac and Barbara. Anna was the wife of Henry Brow er, and Helen the wife of Abraham Wimmer; Catharine is now the widow of Joseph C. Harter, and resides in Indiana; Barbara became the wife of John Werhley. Isaac, who has ever since occupied the old farm where his father settled in 1811, was born January 9, 1803. He married in 1825 Mary Young, who was born in Mary- land in 1807. Mr. and Mrs. Heckman have had ten children, nine of whom are still living. Christian Siler was born in Bourbon county, Virginia, in 1794 In 1811 he emigrated to Preble county and settled on a farm now owned by Eli Fisher. In 1823 he married Miss Hannah Nichum, who was born in Kentucky, in 1801, and came to this county with her parents in 1812. John Nichum, her father, was in the war of 1812. There have been born to Christian and Hannah Siler eight children, two of whom are deceased. The survivors are Margaret, Chloe, Catharine, Nancy Jane, Susan B. and Clementine.

John Black and his family, consisting of his wife, Catharine, and children, John (his wife and one child), Frederick, Sarah, Susan, Jacob, Elizabeth, Polly and Abraham emigrated to Preble county from Rockingham county, Virginia, in the year 1812. The father purchased some four hundred acres of land in sections number three and four, a short distance south of where West Alexandria now stands, and this land has always re- mained and is now in possession of the family. John Black, sr., was born December 13, 1756, and died in 1826. He was a Revolutionary soldier. His wife died in 1853. They raised a family of nine children, the youngest of whom, Catharine, was born after the settle- ment of her parents here. She now resides in Wabash county, Indiana, and is the wife of Solomon Oswalt. Sarah (now the widow of Samuel Moore) resides in Montgomery county, O., and is now in her eighty-eighth year. These two are the only survivors of the family.

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John, jr., married Barbara and raised six children, three of whom are now living, viz: John in Illinois, Joseph in West Alexandria, and Mary Ann, wife of Jo- seph Jones, in this township also.

Frederick Black was born in 1793 ; was married in 1815 to Susannah Montle whose father, Christopher Montle, came from Augusta county, Virginia, in 1810 or 1811, and settled in the south part of Lanier township. Frederick Black died in 1861, and his wife in February 23, 1869, aged seventy-seven. They raised but two chil- dren, Samuel and John. The latter died in Darke county, in 1877. Samuel resides in West Alexandria, where he has been engaged in merchandizing for the last thirteen years. He was born in 1817, and has been twice married, first to Mary Ann Caton, and for his sec- ond wife Harriet Johnson. Frederick Black served six months in the War of 1812.

Abraham Black was born July 30, 1807, and was mar- ried to Nancy Stoner, April 16, 1830. He entered the service of the Government in October, 1861, in the Thirty-fifth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and was discharged at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September, 1864. He died May 17, 1875. His widow is still living. She is the mother of three boys and three girls, three of whom are living, viz: David, who married Mary Ann Porter, and lives on a portion of the homestead; Catha- rine, widow of J. L. Cupp, in West Alexandria, and Sam- uel S., where his grandfather settled.

Abraham Brower emigrated from Rockingham county, Virginia, to Montgomery county, Ohio, about the year 1801. He resided in Montgomery county until 1815, when he moved to Preble and settled on Banta's creek, south of West Alexandria, on what is now the Potterf farm. He cleared this farm, or a considerable part of it, and erected a saw-mill on the creek near by. He lived there until his death, in 1821. He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth, survived him many years. Her maiden name was Harter. They were the parents of twelve children. The survivors are Cath- arine, wife of John Hart, Nancy, widow of George Teal, Joseph, George, Susannah (Parker), Abraham, Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Hart, Henry, and Christina, wife of William Campbell. Mrs. Hart, Joseph, George, Henry and Mrs. Campbell reside in this county. The rest live in the west.

Joseph Brower was born in 1807; married Maria Spatty in 1838, and resides one mile east of West Alexandria. He has been, with the exception of a few months, a resi- dent of the township since 1815. A daughter is the wife of Dr. Tillson, of West Alexandria. George Brower re- sides in Euphemia, Harrison, township. He was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1810, and was married to Christina Swihart in 1837, and after her death again married. Henry, who lives in this township, was born in 1819, and in 1839 was united in marriage to Catharine Nevinger, who died in 1865. His oldest son, Albert, was married to May Black in 1877, daughter of Joseph Black, and occupies his father-in-law's farm near West Alexandria.

Jacob Brower moved in in the year 1815. He was born in Virginia in 1772, and died in this township in

1822. His wife was Anna Rudy, who was born in 1789 and died in 1876. They had eleven children born to them, of whom the following named are now living: Daniel, John, Sarah (Fouts), Jacob, and Susannah, wife of Daniel Dillman. Daniel Brower was born in the State of Virginia in 1803, and came to Ohio with his father in 1815.

Jacob Sorber, born in Pennsylvania in 1785, came to Preble county with a family of wife and four children in 1816, and settled on Twin creek, where the grist-mill southeast of West Alexandria now stands. Sorber was a millwright by trade, and soon after his settlement put up a . saw-mill on Twin, and sawed the lumber used in the con- struction of most of the buildings in the neighborhood. In 1832 or 1833 he built the grist-mill now owned by Mr. Brower, and carried on the milling business for many years. He died June, 1848, aged sixty-three years. His wife, Catharine (Wescoe), died in 1863, aged seventy- seven. Of nine children, four daughters are now living, as follows: Mrs. Anna Potterf, widow of David Potterf, in West Alexandria; Mrs. Judy Coover, in Greenville, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Brower, in Crawfordsville, Indiana; and Susannah, wife of Lewis Drayer, in West Alexandria.

Henry Eidson, sr., was a native of Bedford county, Virginia, and removed to Preble county in 1816. He settled near where Enterprise now is, in section fourteen and resided there until his death. He was a zealous and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is regarded as the father of Methodism in the com- munity in which he lived. His house was for many years a preaching place and a home for the preachers of his church, and the first meeting-house erected by the denomination in the township was on his farm. He died February 2, 1847, aged sixty-nine years and ten months. He had four sons and several daughters. The sons were Shelton, Boyce, Henry and William. Only two of the children-one son and one daughter-now survive, viz .: Mrs. Nancy Borden, in Olney, Richland county, Illinois, and Dr. William H. Eidson, in Liberty, Jasper county, in the same State. Henry Eidson, jr., who occupied the homestead, was a justice of the peace for some time in this township, and a leading citizen. Two sons of Boyce Eidson, who died in Johnsville, Montgomery county, G. H. Eidson and W. A. Eidson, reside in Eaton.

John Fisher, sr., emigrated to this township from Vir- ginia in the fall of 1817, and settled on the farm now owned by his son Eli. He was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, February 23, 1770, and died at the homestead in this township, January 25, 1844. His wife, Catharine (Humbert), survived him some twenty years, and was eighty-four at the time of her death. Mr. Fisher was an industrious, hard-working man, and died possessed of a large property, which he divided among his children. The most prominent trait of his character is said to have been his benevolence. He was the father of twelve children, eight of whom survive, as follows: Elizabeth, wife of Abram Halderman, and Jacob H. (who married Lavina Holsman), living in this township; Mrs. Jacob Dillman and Mrs. Henry Rupsam and Eli, who married Phebe Kesler, in Eaton; David, in West

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Alexandria, married Margaret Sample; Susannah Switzer, and Joseph, who married Christina Harter, residing in Washington township.

Peter Rinehard, Elijah Pappaw, George Morningstar, and others, came from Botetourt county, Virginia, in the year 1817. They came by way of Cincinnati, and were two days in effecting a passage across the Ohio river, being obliged to construct for the purpose a raft out of logs and boards to carry their wagons and stock across. Peter Rinehard settled in section twenty-one on the farm now owned by William Wright. He died in the fall of . 1850, at an advanced age.

Elijah Pappaw settled in Gasper township, but moved, in 1833, to Darke county.

William Wright, sr., came at this same time, being then a mere boy. He worked for Abraham Rinehard for a number of years and afterward married Eva Rine- hard, daughter of Peter Rinehard, and moved onto the farm where Henry Rinehard now lives. He subsequent- ly settled on the farm now owned and occupied by John T. Shaw, and resided there until his death, which took place in 1864, at the age of sixty-three years. His wife died a few months before. They had eight sons and three daughters, two of whom are dead. The others are: James, living in Illinois; Peter, Jacob, John, and Mrs. Elizabeth Gill, in Indiana; Andrew, in Darke county, Ohio; William, who married Anna Heckman, in 1857, and occupies the old Rinehard homestead; David and Mrs. Thomas Morningstar, in this township.

George F. Zitzer was born in Baden, Germany, Au- gust 5, 1782. He married, in 1818, Mrs. Catharine Frey, whose maiden name was Mangold. Their ac- quaintance was formed during their passage across the ocean to this country in 1817, and were married in Lan- caster, Pennsylvania. Mr. Zitzer was by trade a cabinet- maker, and in 1824 he came to Ohio and established himself in that business in West Alexandria, and contin- ued in it for many years with great success. His wife died January 24, 1860, aged sixty-seven, and he seven years subsequently, in his eighty-fifth year. They raised a family of seven children. The son, Mr. John Zitzer, of West Alexandria, came there with his parents in 1824, and has continuously resided in the place ever since, a period of fifty-six consecutive years. He has lived in the town a longer period than any other inhabitant, with the exception of Mrs. Alexander. Mr. Zitzer continued the business formerly conducted by his father and it is now carried on by his son George L. The other surviv- ing children of Frederick Zitzer are: Mrs. Elizabeth Heister, who lives in Montgomery county, Ohio; Mrs. Sally Singer, in Lewisburgh; Mrs. Susan Coplentz, in Springfield, Ohio, and Mrs. Louisa Ridenour, in Indiana.

Samuel Gregg settled in West Alexandria in 1828. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, and was married in October, 1821, to Sarah Miller, who died in West Al- exandria July 23, 1829. In March, 1831, he was mar- ried by N. Benjamin, esq., to Sarah Martin, who is still living, at the age of seventy-nine. Mr. Gregg is probably the oldest shoemaker in the county. He commenced working at the trade in 1808, and has followed it, with the

exception of brief intervals, ever since, and still works at the last at the age of eighty-three. He has never been farther away from West Alexandria since his settlement in the town than Dayton, and has yet to take his first ride on the cars.

Abraham Fisher settled in this county in the year 1829, having emigrated from Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He first settled in Montgomery county, near Dayton, but after a residence there of eighteen months, removed to Gratis township, in this county, near Winchester. He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1805. His wife, Lydia, died in 1839. Mr. Fisher resides with his son, David, who, of the six children, is the only one now residing in this county. David, in 1848, was married to Sarah, daughter of Christian Neff. She died November 24, 1878, and he was again married June 13, 1880, to Christina Deeter, of Miami county, Ohio.

Jacob Trout was married in the spring of 1831 to Elizabeth Bowman, and in the fall of the same year em- igrated from Rockingham county, Virginia, to Preble county, and settled in Lanier township, having previously purchased two hundred and twenty acres in section twenty-eight. He died in the spring of 1875, aged seventy-four. His widow, born in July, 1809, still occu- pies the old homestead. Their children were eight in number, all of whom are now deceased but two-Mary Jane, wife of Alfred Johnson, living with their mother, and Caroline Elizabeth, wife of John Halderman, of West Alexandria.

John Michael Buehner, born in Germany in the year 1783, emigrated to the United States with his wife, Au- gusta, and five sons, in the fall of 1833. He settled in Butler county, and lived there until 1839, when he came to Preble county and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Lanier township, which is now owned by Charles F. Buehner, his son. He died there in 1856, but the widow is still living, at the age of seventy-five. The family consisted of seven children, two of whom were born in this country. The names of the surviving children are as follows: John M., who married Christina Campbell, and now lives in Washington township; Charles F., who married, in 1851, Margaret Pappaw, and occupies the old homestead in this township; Gotlieb, who lives in Wabash county, Indiana ; Mrs. Leah Ailer, and Ann Dorothy, wife of William H. Laird, both living in this township.

Joseph Potterf, oldest son of Gasper Potterf, the pioneer of Gasper township, was a resident of Lanier, and operated the old oil mill, south of West Alexandria, for some time. He married Elizabeth Kesling, and had a family of thirteen children. He died, in 1859, while temporarily residing in Iowa, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife died September 30, 1872, aged seventy-six years and six months. Nine of the children are living as follows: James and Samuel, in Defiance ; George T. and Mrs. Esther Fouts, in Lanier; Mrs. Saur, in West Alexandria; Joseph, ir. Washington township; Mrs. Dun- lap and Mrs. Singer, in Iowa ; and Mrs. Ozias, in Kansas.

George T. Potterf married Susan Ozias, and occupied the old Brower place, south of West Alexandria.

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LAMARK

JACOB FUDGE.

The subject of this memoir was one of the earliest pioneers of the county and a prominent and valued citizen for considerably more than half a century. He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, December 26, 1779. His father died when he was about three years of age, leaving a wife and two small boys, Jacob and David. The mother subsequently re-married and the family removed to Kentucky. They resided in Kentucky until Jacob was about fourteen, when they emigrated to Warren county, Ohio, settling where Lebanon now stands. Some six years afterward they set- tled on Clear creek, in the same county, near Springsborough. After living there a few years Jacob and his brother David, having at- tained their majority, concluded to strike out for themselves. They made their way to what is now Lanier township, Preble county, Ohio, and purchased five hundred acres of land on Twin creek, in sections thirty-four and thirty-five. This tract is now occupied by F. N. and Jacob Fudge, and is as rich and productive a soil as the county affords.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 69

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

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