History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 75

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 75

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

further diversified by Paint creek (which probably de- rived its name from the Indians), a stream which rises in Gasper township, and flowing southeast through the northwest quarter of Somers, empties into Seven Mile creek a half mile below Camden. A drive of less than a mile westward from this village, reveals upon Paint creek a very singular formation, known locally as the "Devil's Backbone." At this place, which is in the southwest quarter of section number nine, the stream makes a sharp curve, flowing around a long, high, narrow spear, projecting promontory-like from the table land. From the roadway which winds down the hill from the neck of this peculiar ridge, the creek can be seen only a few rods distant, at either hand. It flows upon the north side close to the base of the "backbone," which it has evi- dently cut its way into considerably, and then turning at an acute angle around the spur, the greater part of the current flows away from the promontory and under the high bank upon the other side. Thus one side of the "Devil's Backbone" shows a precipitous rocky wall, washed by the stream, while the other is a steep incline. The greater part of the spur around which the stream flows is the blue limestone which abounds in this part of the county and shows frequent exposures. In early years the beautiful little bottom on the north side of the road was covered with a dense growth of maples, which made an impenetrable shade very gratifying to the picnic par- ties made up of youths and maidens now grandfathers and grandmothers. Among them this locality obtained the not very alluring name of "the shades of death." The maples are all cut away now, and one of the chief attractions of the place is gone, but the vicinity of the " Devil's Backbone" retains elements of picturesque lov- liness, of which the hand of man cannot rob it, and will never cease to be a favorite resort for the admirers of nature and the student of science. Many glimpses of beauty are afforded in the little glen which leads away from the "backbone" to the westward, and the narrow gorge, with its perpendicular, and, sometimes, overhang- ing walls of rock, surmounted by towering trees, in the dense shade of which the dashing stream of Paint creek runs rippling away to join Seven Mile.

There are a number of small streams or "runs" which flow into Seven Mile, but most of them are dry during a large portion of the year, and serve simply as conduits for the water from the hills during seasons of heavy rain- fall. Beasley's branch, so named from an early settler, and Rush run, are the principal of these minor water ways.

SETTLEMENT.

Somers township was settled in the opening years of the century, and filled up very fast when the beginning had been made. There were many among the pioneers who did not long remain in the township, and many others resided in it for years, but have no representa- tives there now. A third class, and quite a large one, is composed of settlers who lived long lives in the township, died there, and left large families, some members of which, in many cases, hold the original homesteads, the lands on which their fathers and grandfathers built their

first log cabins. Of these several classes we give all of the important information attainable, and more as a mat- ter of course, concerning the last mentioned than of the first or second.

The Hendricks family were settlers upon the site of Camden in 1803, but left in the spring of 1806 to locate at Eaton; and hence, but little need here be said of that distinguished pioneer, David E. Hendricks. (An elaborate biography of his life is given elsewhere in this volume). We may mention, however, in this connection, that he had located at Middletown in 1795, and his re- moval to the site of Camden, then an unbroken forest, was only a pushing forward into the wilderness, which was to be repeated three years later. When he sold his farm it was to a man by the name of Andrew Tharp, who, it is said, was influenced to purchase it by a remarkable dream, in which the appearance of the locality was so strongly and accurately pictured before him that on seeing the farm he immediately recognized it as that of which he had had a sleeping vision.

The Pottengers arrived in the township in 1803, and to-day the family has, in all probability, a larger representa- tion in the locality than that of any other of the pioneers. John, Robert and Dennis Pottenger, brothers, came from Kentucky, to which State they had emigrated from Mary- land. The first two located in section ten, and Dennis, in section two. John Pottenger's first wife was Jane Gil- key, and his second, Catharine Railsback, of Culpeper county, Virginia. The descendants of John Pottenger were ten in number, the first three born in Kentucky. Thomas, the eldest, married Eliza, daughter of Daniel Robbins, who was a settler in the neighborhood. William married Jane Ward, who is now living in Camden. John married Nancy Barrett. Dennis, the first born of the family in Ohio, was first married to a Hall, and afterwards to a Fort. All four of the above mentioned are deceased. Anna, the oldest daughter, married David Barnett. Nan- cy (deceased), married Joseph Nellinor. Cynthia mar- ried Alfred Bell, and is living in the township. James was twice married, his first wife being Martha Low, and his second, Isabella Eshelman. Reuben married Susan Findley, and Wilson, who is in Camden, Ellen Reed. John Pottenger, the father, died in 1838, at the age of seventy-four years.

Robert Pottenger married, in Kentucky, Fanny Gee. They reared a large family, viz .: Dennis, Samuel, Anna, Eunice, Harvey, Willett and Sanford-all removed to In- diana in 1825.

Dennis Pottenger married his first wife, Sarah Gray, in Kentucky, and after her death married Elizabeth Lowden, of Butler county. The children of Dennis Pottenger were William, Hetty Ann (Thralls), now in Florida, Dennis R., Louis and John. Hetty Ann and John are the only ones living, and the latter is in Kansas. Den- nis R. married, in 1847, Susan, daughter of Bazael Brown, of Wilson county, Kentucky. He died in 1879. and his widow resides in Camden.

Thomas and James Newton were settlers in 1803, or the following year, on the farm where the widow of Thomas Murray now lives. They were from Pennsylvania.

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The Irwins, William and Abram, brothers, came in from Kentucky at an early day, the former settling where James Taylor afterward lived, in section two.

Matthew McClung, from Maryland, settled at an early day at what is now Barnett's station, and raised a large family. McClung engaged in milling. He built a frame house in 1814, where David Barnett's house now stands, which was a remarkably good one for the time, and the especial wonder and admiration of the neighborhood.

Elisha Carter, a man who was generally regarded as one of the most intellectual of the pioneers, came from Kentucky and located on the northwest quarter of sec- tion ten. Mary Wilson is the only one of the family re- maining in the township.

James Ryan settled near "Fostertown," and the Bogues, three brothers, Quakers, located west of Camden during the early year of the settlement, but removed in 1829.

James More, who may be regarded as the founder of Camden, settled upon its site (section nine) about 1804 or 1805, and brought up a large family, none of whom, however, are now in the township. James More died in Camden in 1833.

In 1805 also came Isaac Sutton, another of the pro- prietors of Camden, and settled on the southwest quarter of section ten. In 1826 or 1827 he moved to Sugar creek, Montgomery county, Indiana, and with him went all of his family.

John Laman, sr., was born in North Carolina, from which State he came on foot to Ohio, and in 1805 he set- tled in section thirty-four of Somers township. His wife, Elizabeth Jones, died in 1877. They have had nine children-Phineas (deceased), Lydia (deceased), Keziah, wife of John Brown, of Gratis; Rebecca; Henry married Miss Cook; Elizabeth, wife of James Hartley; John; Martha, wife of William Taylor; Joseph, married Susan Frazee; John Laman, jr., married Mary Macy, of Somers township-they have three children. Mr. Laman owns a farm of two hundred and eight acres near Somersville. Joseph Laman married Susan Frazee, by whom he has had four children, viz .: John Henry, George Alpheus, Matie Elizabeth, and Sarah Ida. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land at the home place, and has bought an additional eighty acres, making two hundred and forty in all.

John Wright was born in Ireland in 1788, and emi- grated to this country at an early day, and came from South Carolina to Preble county about 1806, and settled in section thirty-one of Somers township, where he died in 1854. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a Covenanter. He did not vote for many years because of conscientious scruples. His wife, Margaret Cook, was born in Virginia, and came to Ohio in a very early day. They had five children, four sons and one daughter. Three are yet living, viz .: John, William, and Eliza (Jeffers). John married, in 1850, Martha Johnson, and has had eight children. He resides in Israel township and has been several times elected trustee of this town- ship. William married Mary E. Ramsey, daughter of John and Isaac Ramsey, and has a family of five chil- dren. His farm of one hundred and eighty-one acres is

one of the best in the county, and has been in possession of the family for seventy five years. James Wright, de- ceased, left one child, who lives with the family of Wil- liam Wright.

Robert Runyon and his wife, Elizabeth (Barnes), came to the township in 1806, and two years later removed to the Robert Harris farm, near Sugar valley.

Thomas Murray, was born in Cornwall parish, county of Donegal, Ireland, in 1779. In 1806 he emigrated to Philadelphia. The same year he came to Preble county, Ohio, and settled in section twenty-eight, Somers town- ship. His wife, Martha Lewellen, was born 1788. Her parents, John and Catharine, emigrated from Kentucky in 1806 and settled in this township, where they resided twenty-seven years. They then moved to Dixon town- ship. Thomas Murray died in Somers in 1859. He had ten children, five now living: John resides in Somers, Thomas in Butler county, Ohio; Phillip at Morning Sun, Israel township; William in Somers, and Sarah A., wife of Daniel Peters, in Camden.

John Lewellen and his wife, Kate De Vall, originally from Virginia, came to Somers township in 1809 from Kentucky, and settled on Paint creek on the farm now owned by Mrs. Julia Burson. They reared a family of ten children, of whom three are living, and Mrs. Murray, is the only one in Preble county.

Phillip Lewellen removed to this township from Ken- tucky about the year 1810. He was born in Bullet county, Kentucky, in 1795, and died in Dixon town- ship, this county, in 1877. His wife (Anna Runyon) was born in 1793 and died in 1874. They had a family of thirteen children, the following of whom are at this writing living: Julia (widow of Jonathan Burson), Martha (wife of Stephen McWhinney), Bafford, John, Sarah (wife of James Skinner), Dennis, Jane (wife of Daniel Ocker- man), James Harvey, Isaac and Jehu. Nancy, Wilson and Catharine are deceased. Wilson died In the service during the late civil war. James H. was born in 1830, and married Frances M. Gavin, who was born two years subsequently.

About the same time that Lewellen came into the county, Richard Newport made his settlement. Elisha Hancock came a little later, and after a few years re- moved to Richmond, Indiana, where his widow still re- sides.

At later dates than those we have mentioned came many other settlers, among them George Hornaday and Allen Harbard, Quakers, who located on Paint creek; Thomas Lincholn, who settled near Camden and soon afterwards moved away; John Ledwell, also a resident of the immediate vicinity of Camden, and a son-in-law of More; John Vandever and his brother, Noah, and the Davises, Giles and George, who were from North Caro- lina. They both located on section twelve, and each raised a large family. David Davis, son of Giles, was a very hard working, industrious man and became a large landholder in the northeast part of the township.

John K. Steele, a native of South Carolina, settled in Somers township in 1810, and died in 1831. He served six months in the War of 1812. His wife, Margaret

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Wilson, was born in Ireland and died about 1856. Eight children were born to them, three of whom are deceased. Mary, Margaret, James, Samuel and John are living. The home farm, located in section seventeen, is in charge of John and Samuel, who have it in a good state of cul- tivation and well improved.

Richard Stephen and his wife Letty (Bailey) arrived in the township some time during the War of 1812, and the husband was drafted and obliged to leave his wife and children unprotected in their cabin home in the woods. They located southwest from the site of Cam- den, and one mile from the township line. The Ste- phens were from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and were married there. They had two children when they came to Somers, viz: Rebecca (Hays) now in Dublin, Indiana, and Mary (Peters) a resident of the township. There were born after their settlement five children, four of whom are living, viz: Levi, in Iowa; Isaiah, in Illi- nois; John R. in Eaton, and B. B. on the old homestead in Somers; Morton is deceased. John R. Stephens is clerk of Washington township and justice of the peace, and has been county auditor and treasurer. Richard Stephens, the pioneer, died at his home in 1841.

William S. Douglas traces his ancestry to Scotland, whence his great-grandfather emigrated many years ago. His father, Joseph Douglas, was born in Pennsylvania, and in 1814, when fifteen years of age, emigrated to Ohio. He was very decided in his political views, and would only use "free labor" goods. His wife, Mary Steele, was the daughter of William Steele, of Ken- tucky. Of the six children of Joseph and Mary Doug- las, four are living. William S. is unmarried and lives on the home farm in Somers township. He has been a member of the board of education for six years, has been road commissioner, etc.

James H. Douglas, the fifth child of William and Eliza Douglas, of Israel township, was born in 1843, and married Mary J. Dewitt, daughter of William Dewitt, of Butler county. They have had two children -George Elmer and James Roland Harvey. Mr. Douglas has a fine farm in Somers township, where he resides.

Samuel Fowler and his wife Rachel (Inman) came from New Jersey in 1815, and located on section twen- ty-four, where they lived all of their lives. Samuel Fow- ler was born in 1786, and died in 1843, his wife surviv- ing him a number of years. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom grew to maturity. Benja- min I. was five years of age when brought to Ohio, and is still living, and has been since 1862 a resident of Camden; Samuel and Catharine are deceased; Rachel (Hollowell) resides in Indiana; Sarah (Ivin) is de- ceased; Vashti (Huffman) in Butler county; Matilda (Shaeffer) in the same locality, and Franklin, deceased. Benjamin I. Fowler married for his first wife Jane Tiet- sort, by whom he has had four sons, all now living, viz: George W., John T., Francis Marion and James M. His second wife was Catharine Hanger. There was one son by this marriage-Scott E.

George Hanger, father of Mrs. Benjamin Fowler, came

to Preble county at a very early day-about 1808. He married Miss Susan Loop, by whom he had four children, Mrs. Fowler being the second child. For his second wife he married Mary Swakenguest, who survives him; she is the mother of five children. Mr. Hanger died on his farm abont 1860.

Charles Beall was one of the pioneers of Somers, having come into the township with his parents, Thomas and Fanny Beall, in 1816. They emigrated from Mary- land. There were four children, all now deceased. Charles Beall was born in 1794. His wife was Sarah Orme, who was born in 1796, and died in 1864, in Israel township, at the residence of her son, Francis. They had five sons and four daughters. Five are living as fol- lows: Ezra, in Somers; Frances A., in Israel; William C., in Gasper; Mary Ann, widow of William Brown, in Lew- isburgh, Harrison township; 'and Rev. Alfred Beall, minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at Spring- borough, Ohio.

Mrs. Cynthiana Beall, daughter of John Pottenger, married Alfred Beall. He came from Maryland with his uncle, Thomas Beall, in or about the year 1825. Their children are : Ellen (deceased), William, Susan, wife of Finley Hoffman; Anna, wife of Charlie Kelly; Reuben, who married Miss Llewelyn; and James, not married.

William Bennett, grandfather of John H. and David Bennett, was one of the early settlers of this township. He was born in Virginia about 1766, and came to Ohio from Kentucky. He died in Somers township in the year 1835. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Bennett, son of William, came to Somers in 1818, and located on section twelve, where he lived all of his life. He was born in 1786, and died in 1866. His wife was Elizabeth Hopper, the daughter of Kentucky pioneers. She passed away in 1871, at the ripe age of eighty eight years. The following are the names of their descend- ants of the first generation: James Madison, Julia Ann (Frum), Alfred and William, all deceased; John H., a resident of Camden for the past three years; Jane (Loop), in Gratis township; Nancy (Loop), deceased; Sarah (Randolph), in Gratis township; Nimrod, deceased ; and David.

David Bennett is the youngest child of John Bennett. He was born in Somers township, in 1825. He married Martha J. Woods, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1831. She is the daughter of William L. and Mary McKee Woods, who lived in Preble county. To M1. and Mrs. David Bennett have been born two children: William L. married Amanda E. Raikes, and Oscar M. lives at home. Mr. Bennett owns ninety acres of land in section fourteen, where he resides.

John Reeve, sr., was a native of Gloucester county, New Jersey, and in 1816 came to Ohio, stopping for about two years in Warren county, and afterwards remov- ing to Somers township, where he died about 1870. His wife was Susan Van Skiver.

John Reeve, jr., is the seventh of twelve children. He married Margaret Brown, the daughter of Robert H. Brown. Her folks came to Preble county about fifty years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Reeve have been born two

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children: Lurton F. and Porter B. Mr. Reeve's farm consists of one hundred and fourteen acres, located on the Camden and Fair Haven pike.

Michael Dillman was born in Virginia in 1784, and settled in Somers township, east of Camden, in 1819. He died in 1834. His wife was Susannah Hypes. They had six children, all of whom are dead except Joseph and John. John lives in Illinois; Joseph married Julia Ann Craiger. To them have been born eleven children, nine of whom are living, viz: Adaline, wife of W. B. Brown; Henry married Mary Moon; David F. married Miss Borradaile; L. Milton, the lawyer, married Anna Carson, and lives in Illinois; James M. married Anna Brown; William married Mary Borradaile; Laura, Emma, and Elizabeth are unmarried; Mary E. is dead; and Lerton is a practicing physician in Brookville, Indiana. Mr. Dillman owns a well improved farm of two hundred and forty acres. In earlier life he was an extensive stock dealer, but is now leading a more retired life, and the farming is conducted by his children.

John and Mary Mills, from York county, Pennsylvania, settled in 1818, upon the southeast quarter of section nineteen. John Mills was one of the early justices of the peace, and quite a prominent man. He died in 1835, at the age of seventy-three.

Peter Sheafer, son-in-law of Mills, came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, and settled in the same part of the township. He was a miller by trade, and operated various mills. Among them the Bruce mill at Eaton, Gasper Potterf's in Gasper, Jones' mill in Somers, the McClurg mill north of Camden, and one built by himself on the creek, south of Camden. He was in Illinois from 1838 to 1847. He died in 1861, at the age of sixty-six. J. M. Sheafer, esq., of Camden, is a son- in-law of Peter Mills.

Zachariah Thornberry and his wife, Susan (Jones), located near the site of Barnett's mill in 1820. He died in 1830, and his wife in 1832. Among their children was the first wife of Judge Haines, of Eaton (Nancy Thornberry); Maria, wife of John Brennan, of Camden, and Mary (Bennett).

James Taylor came to Somers about the same time as the above, and located on section two.

Frederick Shaffer was born in Pennsylvania in 1787. In 1827 he emigrated to Somers township. His wife was Elizabeth Copp. Mr. Shaffer was one of the five thousand who volunteered to save Baltimore in the War of 1812. He served till till the end of the war, and is now a pensioner of that war. He has had ten children, six of whom are now living.

David Kennedy was born in . New Jersey in 1774, and in 1796 came to Cincinnati. He owned the first ferry crossing at Cincinnati when he was accidentally drowned while in the discharge of his duties. His wife, Martha Harden, was born in 1786, and died in Hamilton county in 1865. David Kennedy died in the same county in about ten years prior to the death of his wife.

Benjamin P. Kennedy, the only surviving child, was married first to Anna Baxter, and after her death, he married Sarah Frazee. Mr. Kennedy is the father of six

children, all of whom are living, save one: Jane is the wife of John Pottenger; Andrew J. married Sarah Frazee, daughter of Squire Frazee; Eliza is the wife of James White; Wilson married Anna Frazee; Martha is the fifth child, and Benjamin is dead. B. P. Kennedy has spent his whole life on the farm. He owns a good farm in Somers township, where he resides.

There are more than one hundred descendants of David Kennedy living.

Wilson Kennedy, the fourth child of Benjamin P. Kennedy, was born in 1840. He married Anna Frazee, by whom he has had four children, all of whom are liv- ing: Harry, Mary, Edith and an infant. Mr. Kennedy owns one hundred and fifteen acres of land in Somers township.

John H. Ross located in Somers in 1819, and still re- sides upon the farm which he originaliy settled. He was the son of Daniel and Phoebe (Hogalin) Ross, who were early settlers in Butler county, and from New Jersey. Mr. Ross was born May 20, 1797, and two years after com- ing to the township, January 4, 1821, married in Cin- cinnati Jane Orsborne, who was born July 1, 1800. She lived until 1872, and was the mother of ten chil- dren, viz: Elizabeth, deceased ; Charles, Sarah (Raikes), Phebe (Pierson), Mary Ann (Marsh), deceased; Eliza- beth Jane and Joseph, also deceased ; Cyrus, who lives on the farm with his father; John Wesley in Idaho, and Cornelius Denny, who was in the army and died from disease contracted there.

David S. Marshall's ancestors came from Ireland. His father was born there in 1810. About 1820 he came to Preble county and settled in Israel township. His wife, Margery M. Sample, was born in Somers town- ship in 1815. To them were born eight children, six of whom are living, viz: John, David, Mary A., Sarah M., Elizabeth and Rebecca Ellen (known as Ellen). David S. Marshall married Eliza E. Johnston in 1867. They have six children: Viva, Bertie, Eddie, Lida, Charles and Maggie. Mr. Marshall is a large farmer, and owns three hundred and twenty acres of land in Somers township.

Azel Pierce and his wife Lois Ladd came to Somers in 1820. Pierce died five years later, at the early age of thirty-two, having been born in 1793. His wife survived him many years, and was twice married, the first time to Charles Ross, and then to James Creeson. Pierce was one of the few Adams men in the county, and probably the only one in Somers. He left five children: Azel, deceased in 1847; Charles, in Sacramento, California; Mary Jane (Glasgow) deceased; Marinda (Otis) de- ceased, and Francis Augustus, a well known citizen of the township.

Augustus Pierce was born shortly after his father's death. He was raised in Preble county. In 1848 he married Nancy Barnett, daughter of David Barnett. She was born in Somers township in 1827. For five years after their marriage they lived in Camden, and prior to 1874, they resided in Gasper township. They moved to their present residence near Camden in 1874 Their seven children are all living, and five are at home.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

James Barnett and his wife Anna (Enoch) came from Pennsylvania to Butler county in 1803; moved to Jeffer- son township in 1819, and to the spot where Brubaker's mill now is, adjoining Camden, in 1823. James Bar- nett was born in Pennsylvania in 1771, and died in 1846. He was a miller, a weaver, a distiller and a fine mechanic. During the War of 1812 he was flour in- spector. He was the father of eight children, the first three of whom were born in Pennsylvania, and the oth- ers, except the youngest, in Butler county. Ezekiel Barnett, now deceased, had married, before he came to Somers, Eleanor Auspach, of Butler county. They had three children: Louis, now in Camden; Alexander, de- ceased, and James in Butler county. David Barnett married Anna, daughter of John Pottenger, who is still liv- ing with her husband at Barnett's station. They have had eleven children: Louisa (Corson) and Nancy (Pierce), both in Somers; Jane (Orebaugh), deceased ; John, deceased; Hannah (Payne) in Somers; Willis, de- ceased; Catharine, wife of W. C. Barnett, in Butler county ; Anna (Edmunds) at Lima, Ohio; Elizabeth, de- ceased; Eleanor (Potter) and James in Somers. David Barnett was born May 11, 1801. He has been promi- nently identified with the interests of Somers township, having been trustee for twenty-three years. He has also been a county commissioner; and in the session of 1844- 1845, was a member of the legislature. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1850-'51, and of the State board of equalization in 1870-'71. He was in- fluential in securing the construction of the Eaton and Hamilton railroad, and was for nine years president of the company. Nancy Barnett, sister of David, married John Pottenger, and lives at Eaton. James married Martha Creeson, reared a large family and, in 1875, removed to Harrison township. John married Jane Creeson and now resides in Indiana. Anna, Abner and William are deceased.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 75

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

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