History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 77

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 77

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Camden was laid out in the year 1818, the town plat being acknowledged before 'Squire Isaac Stephens on July 4th, of that year, under the name of Dover. William Moore, one of the early pioneers of Somers township, may be regarded as the founder of the town. He laid out the greater part of the plat, the lots west of Main street, while Isaac Sutton laid out those on the east side, and James Black the northern portion. Additions have been made by Felix Marsh, esq., Samuel Pottenger, and others.

The name of Dover proving unsatisfactory to the peo- ple of the village, it was changed to Newcomb, in honor of George Newcomb, of Montgomery county, who was a State senator from the district which is composed in part by Preble county. His name is uniformly spelled in the

records without a final "b," but the name of the village has always been spelled with one. In 1835 the name of Newcomb was exchanged for that of Camden, which was bestowed as a sort of memorial of Camden, South Caro- lina, where the Revolutionary battle was fought.

CAMDEN STATION.

The agents of the Hamilton, Eaton & Richmond railroad at Camden, have been William Pottenger, N. W. Carroll, V. D. Rees, Abram B. King, and the present incumbent, Henry H. Payne. These five men have together served about twenty-eight years. The telegraph office was established in 1862, and during the eighteen years that have elapsed since then, four different opera- tors have had charge of it, viz: E. C. Phillips, J. C. Winters, E. C. King, and the present operator, W. J. King, who has been there since 1873.

PERSONAL MENTION.

Stephen Payne became a resident of Camden about the time that the village was laid out, and his family is still represented in the town and township. He was from New Jersey and a very early settler in Butler county, where he married Sarah Potter. On coming to Camden he went into the business of tavern keeping, which he followed for many years. He removed from Camden about 1840, and died in Piqua in 1844. Three sons of Stephen Payne became residents of Camden and vicinity, viz: Moses P., Daniel, and Jonathan. The first named was born in Butler county, and moved to Camden from Miami county, and after a number of years (about 1858) moved to Illinois, where he died in 1863. He married Mary Ann Robinson. Henry H. Payne, the station agent at Camden, is a son of theirs. Daniel Payne, born in Butler county, in 1817, came to Camden in 1839, and died there in 1878. During the long term of years that he resided in the village he was one of the most valuable citizens it had. His liberality and public spiritedness secured for the town a great many improvements, and it is very commonly remarked that Daniel Payne did more for Camden than any man who ever resided there. He was a very active, energetic man, and was engaged in many industries, being a tailor, a clock merchant, a teamster (in the ante-railroad days), a hotel keeper, contractor, etc. He was at one time ex- tensively engaged in buying horses, and driving across the country to the seaboard cities, and was one of the first who engaged in the business. Daniel Payne was married in 1841, to Mrs. Elizabeth Young, daughter of John and Dorothy Cummings, who is still living in Cam- den.

Mrs. Allie Button is the third child and eldest daugh- ter of John and Elizabeth Zimmerman, who emigrated to Ohio from Georgia, in 1805, and settled below Cam- den, in Somers township. Mrs. Button's parents had eight children: John B. (deceased); Jacob, residing near Sugar valley; Allie, Eli A., residing in Clermont county, Ohio; Maria, wife of John Patterson, of Indiana; William (deceased); Simon Peter, and Elizabeth, wife of Sylvanus Hulse. Allie Zimmerman, born in 1803, was married in 1822, to George Button, who was born in

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Kentucky in 1792, and died in 1863. To Mr. and Mrs. Button were born nine children, five of whom are living. They are: John Z. (deceased); Nancy (deceased); Eliz- abeth, wife of Harmonious Rhea, living in California; Sarah, wife of Isaac Doty, of Nebraska; George L., in Nebraska; William (deceased); Thomas (deceased) ; Helena, wife of Oscar Silver, of Dixon township; and Mary Esther, wife of Dunham Hart, of Dixon township. Mrs. Button resides on the home place of one hundred and twelve acres.

Jonathan H. Payne, now living near Camden, was born in Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, in 1826. He is the son of Stephen and Sarah B. Payne, who came to Butler county from New Jersey. His father died in Mi- ami county in 1844, after which time Mrs. Payne and her family removed to Camden. Jonathan Payne was married in 1848 to Hannah, daughter of David Barnett. She was born in 1832. To them have been born five children, all living in Preble county. Anna L. and Dan- iel C. are living at home. Mr. Payne owns seventy acres of land in Somers township, section twenty-three, where he has resided for twenty-six years. In his younger days he was a teamster between Camden and Cincinnati.

Howard Young, county commissioner, has been a res- ident of this county since 1866. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1824. His father, Robert Young, was one of the earliest pioneers of Milford township, having come out from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania in 1801. Shortly after his arrival he married Jane Ogle, who emi- grated from the same county the same year. Howard Young resided in Butler county until his removal to this county in 1866, with the exception of two years, during which he lived in Illinois. On removing to this county he located in Camden, where he has since resided. Mr. Young has been trustee of Somers township, and was elected to the office of county commissioner in October, 1879. He was married in 1846 to Jane Steel, of Aurora, Indiana, by whom he had one child-John H., living in Somerville, Butler county. His wife died in 1850, and he was again married in 1852 to Hester Smyers, of But- ler county.

Arka Place, his wife and several children, came from New England prior to 1825, and located in the village, where the old gentleman followed the trade of shoemak- ing. Among the family was Ira K. Place, a grown up son who became quite a prominent man locally. He was the first postmaster, and served several terms as mayor. He died in Camden recently, and there is now no representative of the family there.

In 1829 Eleanor, widow of Robert Jones, came to Camden, with her family, from Maryland. She lived un- til 1866, and died at the age of ninety. Her children were: Mary A. (Reed), now in Jefferson township; Susan (widow of the late Dr. Dunham) and George W., both in Camden. Mr. George W. Jones, on arriving at proper age, learned the hatter's trade, which was then one of the most remunerative that a man could follow. He was engaged in it until the business was seriously interfered with by the big manufactories in the cities, and then abandoned it, taking up farming.

Isaac Mitchell, who settled, originally, in Jefferson township, was one of the early residents of Camden. A son, James A., died in the village in 1879, and Malinda, widow of Amos W. Yoast, is the only one of the family left.

Robert H. Brown, now a resident of Camden, came to the village in 1828, with his parents, who were from Ireland. His brother James died recently, and another brother, David, is in Oregon. Robert H. married Mar- garet Wright, whose parents were early settlers in Butler county, and who came to Camden with her brother-in- law, Bradbury.

John Brennan, a cooper by trade, came from Balti- more to Camden in 1830, and is still living there, as is also his wife, who was originally a Thornbury, but when he married her, Mrs. Maria Solomon.

There is in Camden a descendant of Job Hall, one of St. Clair's soldiers who was killed at the old garrison in 1792 in an engagement with the Indians (which is fully described in Chapter IV of this work). The person al- luded to is Hannah, wife of James F. Morlatt. Han- nah, widow of Job Hale, came from Kentucky to Butler county about 1808 or 1810, and settled on Four Mile creek, where she died in 1853, at the great age of one hundred and eight years. Her daughter, Elizabeth, married Peter Titsworth, and about 1832 settled in Som- ers township, on the farm now owned by Buford Davis. They had several children, of whom Hannah, the wife of Mr. Morlatt, is the only one now in the county. Mr. Morlatt is the son of James and Helena (Francis) Mor- latt, who came from New Jersey to Warren county in 1800, and to Gratis township in 1819.

The Fornshells are among the oldest families in the village. Benjamin Fornshell and his wife Sucellia (Frye) came from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and brought with them a family of seven children, viz: John, now deceased; William, who is a resident of Somers township; Margaret, deceased; Thomas; Matilda (Mikesell); Joseph P. and Arabella (Will), the last four of whom reside in Camden. Benjamin M., also living in Camden, was the only one of the family born in the place. Benjamin Fornshell, the father, was born in 1792, and died February 24, 1878, and was married in 1814 His wife was born in 1793, and died June 28, 1863. Mr. Fornshell was the first tinner in Camden and the only one, until his son, B. M., went into the business, and the only coppersmith in the county. It is a remarkable fact that he followed his trade actively, until he was eighty-two years of age. Joseph P. Forn- shell married Jennette, daughter of Calvin and Sarah Seymour, who came from Chautauqua county, New York, to Butler county, Ohio. When the family was coming down the Ohio river, from Pittsburgh, with lumber rafts, they had a very narrow escape from drowning, by the dashing to pieces of the ratts upon sand-bars.

Clinton Chadwick, son of Samuel R., and Jerusha (Hopping) Chadwick, has been a resident of Camden since 1834, and one of its most active, and influential citizens. He came, originally, from Morris county, New Jersey, where he was born, to Hamilton county, in 1818.

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and from there, in 1826, with his parents, to New Jeffer- son township. His mother died in 1834, and his father married, for his second wife, Ann Roberts (nec Kinzie), and, in 1838, moved to Winchester, where he died in 1844. He followed merchandizing in both of the vil- lages, which have been mentioned as the places of his residence. Beside Clinton, who was the oldest, Samuel R. Chadwick was the father of Ann Eliza (Erwin), Reuben, (deceased); Marcus, in Indiana; Caius C. (de- ceased); Samuel, in Dayton ; and R. R., in Chicago.

Nathaniel Wilbur Carroll came to Camden in 1838. He was born in Dudley, Worcester county, Massachusetts, April 13, 1813; married Olivia, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Rees, of Butler county, who emigrated from Delaware in 1827. Mr. Carroll died, November 18, 1862. He was one of the leading citizens of the village, and prominent in many important works. He was a member of the State board of education in 1859, and later of the State board of public works, and also one of the directors of the Hamilton & Eaton rail- road.

William J. Lounsbury was in Eaton as early as 1838, in Camden in 1840, and is still a resident of the place. He was born in Connecticut in 1818, and emigrated to Ohio from Morris county, New Jersey. He has been engaged in various business enterprises in the village, connected with the railroad as paymaster, etc. Is at present a bookkeeper at the Cincinnati stock yards. Mr. Lounsbury, who is one of the oldest residents of the vil- lage, was married in New Jersey to Minerva Ulery, who is still living.

John H. Johnson came to Camden during the early years of the village, and died there in 1849 of cholera. He was a shoemaker, and one of the first in the village. He married Eliza Burnett, of Camden, and reared quite a large family, all of whom are living except the eldest, Curran. Their names are Theodore, Maria (Thompson), in Cincinnati; Rebecca, Missouri (Brisbin), and Mary, all in Cincinnati; and Frances (Bennett), in Camden. Theodore Johnson, who is one of the leading business men of Camden, has been engaged in the boot and shoe trade for twenty-six years, and for the past fifteen has been in business for himself. He married Eliza Brower, daughter of John and Elizabeth Brower, of Camden.

J. H. Bohn, born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, emigrated from Lancaster county of the same State to Ohio in 1842, locating at Camden. The follow- ing year he entered the drug business, which he carried on as long as he lived, his son, J. H. L. Bohn, being as- sociated with him during the latter part of his business career. Mr. Bohn died November 21, 1875. His wife, Henrietta (George), who was born in 1809, is still living, and makes her home with her son.

Joshua Howard came to Camden in 1844, and has ever since been a resident, engaged in the livery busi- ness. He is the son of David and Mary (Gower) How- ard, who came from Virginia to Ohio as early as 1810 or 1812, locating in Butler county. Joshua Howard has been twice married, his first wife being Mary Powles and his second Susan Berkhalter.

Jacob Collett, a native of Germany, but since his four- teenth year resident in the United States, has been in Camden since 1854. He has been in his present busi- ness-tailoring-for the past sixteen years, for himself, and built the store which he now occupies.

David Morris, a native of Butler county, born in 1827, has been a citizen of Camden since 1856, and one of its leading merchants (shoe dealer). He is descended from an English family who emigrated to America during the war of the Revolution. His grandfather, Robert Morris, was one of the first settlers in the town of Hamilton. Mr. Morris was married in 1849 to Rachel Ann Lamar.

Joseph D. Danner, born in Pennsylvania, in 1808, set- tled in Montgomery county in 1825. He there married Catharine McClellan, and in 1850 came to Camden, where he died in 1860. His wife is still living, though in advanced years. They have a family of eight children, viz .: Elizabeth and N. J., both deceased; Mary (Pau- lus), in Indiana; Phebe (Mace), deceased; W. A., a resi- dent of Camden; Margaret and Sarah Wilson, deceased.

W. A. Danner is a butcher, and is following his father's occupation. He was born in Montgomery county in 1840. He married N. J. McLain, daughter of David and Mary McLain, who were early settlers in the south part of the township.

Stephen Bertsch is a newcomer, but one who has identified himself prominently in the business interests of the town, having opened a wagon shop, from which is turned out a large amount of work. He is a German of twenty years residence in America, and came to Camden in 1876 from Hamilton,

RESIDENTS IN 1834.

The following names are given by Mr. Clinton Chad- wick as those of the heads of families in Camden in 1834, when he came to the village to live, viz: Samuel Mitchel, James B. Hackett, Daniel Huffman, Ward Richards, Stephen Ingersoll, Robert Harris, Jacob Webb, Robert White, Clinton Chadwick,

Hughey, Susan Jones, Alexander Johnson, Robert H. Brown, Joseph Woodward, Howell Potter, Ezekiel Bar- nett, Robert Mitchell, Eli Zimmerman, Harrison More, Benjamin Fornshell, Brown, Jared V. Hop- kins, David Brown, George Button, Eli Davis, Moses Nelson, William McMechem, C. C. Walker, Jacob Ridenour, John Brennan, Isaac Mitchell, John Runkel, Ira K. Place, Damarius Terrill, David Barnett, John Robinson, C. C. Bruce, Nathaniel Elliott, Thornton Bennett, Robert Irwin, M. C. Williams, Owen Ingersoll, John H. Johnson, Mitchell, Alfred Lee, George Jones, Lurdum Dunham.

MILLS AND MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP.

The first mill which was within convenient distance of the early settlers of Somers township was a "corn cracker" on Seven Mile, in Gasper township, owned by Gasper Potterf, and located where Henry Early and M. S. Wear now live. It was built before 1806, and, pro- bably, as early as 1804.

The first mill built in the township of Somers was

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erected where Barnett's mill now is, in 1808. It was a grist-mill, and the grinding stones were gray heads. There was also a saw-mill at the same place which was built between 1808 and 1810. Both were the property of William Irwin. The grist-mill was in use until 1825, and the saw-mill went out of existence earlier and was replaced by another which stood where the present mill is. The second mill was built by Matthew McClung and his sons, Matthew and James, in 1823. They after- ward (about 1823) built a grist-mill just south of the pres- ent structure. It was a merchant mill and originally had but one "run" of stones, though in later years its capacity was enlarged by the putting in of three or four pairs of good buhrs.

In 1816 a grist- and saw-mill was built at Camden, on the site of the Brubaker mill, by Major Robinson and his son James. It was a small affair and had but one run of stones.

About the same time as the above a grist- and saw-mill was built by John Stubbs, on Paint creek, northwest of Camden. Simultaneously with the above a saw-mill was built upon Seven Mile by John Stubbs, uncle of the man just mentioned. This mill was south of Camden, on the northwest quarter of section fifteen. In 1834 he built a good grist-mill and put into it three run of stones. This mill was burned in 1862, when owned by Burnett (James) & Whitesides (William); rebuilt by them in 1866 and again burned in December, 1875. This was a very large three-story frame, slate roofed, and cost about forty-five thousand dollars.

James Barnett and sons, James, jr., and David, built, in 1831, a mill at Camden, where the Brubaker mill now is. It was a merchant and grist-mill and contained three pairs of buhrs. They sold out to Obed Harrell, he to N. W. Carroll, he to Clinton Chadwick, and he to B. C. Bell & D. R. Pottenger. The firm finally became B. C. Bell, Barnett & Whitesides, and these gentlemen man- aged the property for some time, but at length became involved and failed. Then John and Henry Brubaker bought the mill at assignee's sale in 1873.

David Barnett finished, in 1835, the mill began by the McClung's, and after running it for a number of years abandoned it and built, in 1850, the present grist-mill, two miles north of Camden, at Barnett's station. This is a three-story brick structure, standing upon a stone basement, and its dimentions are fifty-two by sixty-two feet. It is provided with five runs of the best buhrs, and all of its machinery and appliances are of the most approved kinds. The saw-mill was built by the Barnetts in 1834.

A saw-mill and lath and cresting machine, which was built two and a half miles south of Camden, by John Kellough, was in operation for a number of years, but has gone into disuse.

A steam saw-mill was also built and run two and a half miles west of Camden by John Mills and his son Amos.

There are other steam saw-mills in Camden village. The one now owned by David Overhaltz, and operated as a saw-mill and stave factory, was built by him in 1870. :

J. B. and D. S. Bostwick, in 1874, put machinery into the large building in the south part of the town, which was built by Barnett & Whitesides for a grain warehouse about 1860, and afterwards enlarged by Benjamin Myers and used by him as a pork-packing house. They oper- ated this saw-mill until 1876, when it was purchased by Will S. Fornshall, who now carries on a general saw-mill business, and manufactures poplar and hardwood lumber, door and window frames, and all kinds of building ma- terial.

The third mill is owned by J. B. Bostwick and was started by him in 1877. In connection with it is a brick- yard and tile factory, carried on by Bostwick & Fry (S.L.), which was established by them in 1878. They turn out about one hundred and fifty thousand brick per year and about six thousand rods of tile of all sizes.

Carding wool was one of the principal mechanical in- dustries at an early day. John Stubbs, sr., had a carding- machine in connection with his saw-mill as early as 1810 or 1812, and up to 1832 did a great deal of work. At a later date than the establishment of the Stubbs' mill, carding was carried on with horse-power, at Camden, by Samuel Cornwell. Still later, from about 1840 to 1850, the business was conducted on the main street of Cam- den by John and Amos Mills, and from about 1854 to 1860 by Samuel Hibbard. The same Mr. Hibbard had a woollen factory in the village as early as 1847.

Stave and shingle cutting was carried on by Barnett & Whitesides at the mouth of Paint creek from 1868 to 1873. The building which they used is still standing and is in use as a tobacco house.

In early years, from about 1825 to 1830, a plow fac- tory was carried on in the southeastern part of the township by Stephen Mason.

MERCANTILE MATTERS.

The first store in Camden was undoubtedly that in which James Black kept a small but varied stock of goods such as were commonly found in pioneer settlements. He opened business in 1818 and followed it until 1824. In 1826 Hezekiah Bradbury opened a store which he con- ducted successfully, though on a small scale, for a num- ber of years. Mitchell & Lee started in 1830, or a little earlier-perhaps in 1828, and Joseph S. Woodward about the same time, the latter continuing until 1839. Judge William Hall was one of the early merchants and was cotemporaneous with the last three mentioned. Stephen Ingersoll had a store and distillery from 1830 to 1836. George A. Chittenden started in business about the same time that Ingersoll did, but only remained in town about a year. Deem & Achey were also engaged in merchandising for a short time. Jacob Ridenour opened a general store in 1825 and remained in active service as a business man until 1840. Clocks formed a large specialty in Ridenour's store. In 1831, Reuben Chad- wick and Ward Richards started a store in partnership. They both died in 1834, and their place in the business of the village was taken by Clinton Chadwick, who con- tinued in trade for many years-until 1862, carrying it on very extensively. The last twelve years, William

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Pottenger was his partner. William McMechem was in business from 1830 to 1850. C. C. Walker was a well known merchant from 1836 to 1842.

N. W. Carroll carried on the clock business in its palmy days, beginning in 1840, and made quite a good sized fortune, a portion of which he afterwards invested in Barnett's mill, which he managed for several years. He died in 1863.

E. P. Wait, commonly called "the Yankee clock man," came to Camden in 1842 and left in 1846, making a very snug sum from the sale of clocks, groceries and whiskey. He afterwards started a bank in New York, and made two or three hundred thousand dollars, which he lost in a cotton speculation. He now resides at Springfield, Ohio.

Benjamin Myers opened a store and went into the pork packing business in 1850. He made a large fortune and lost it all in one year (1863), but rallied from the severe reverse and re-engaged in the business in 1868, which he is now carrying on.

Gard & Jones went into the dry goods business in 1856 and carried it on for a number of years. Andrew Coffman began business in 1850, and soon after sold to William Hall & Son who conducted the store for one year. Thomas and Reuben Pottenger took Mr. Myers' store in 1863, after his failure, and carried on the busi- ness until 1873, since which time, until 1880, it has been in the hands of Cyrus Pottenger.

All of the foregoing were "general stores." The ear- liest store which could be called distinctly a grocery was started in 1833 by Robert H. Brown who is still a resi- dent of Camden. He had a grocery and liquor store on the west side of Main street as late as 1842. About the same time Eli Davis had a similar store on the opposite side of the street. From 1840 to 1844, Fowler & Fran- cis were engaged in the same business, and from 1848 to 1854, John Sponable carried on business in the same line. He was bought out by James Babcock, who run the store for two years. Thomas J. Longnecker carried on a grocery and bakery from 1850 to 1856. Joseph McCord was in the grocery line from 1853 to 1863.

BUSINESS HOUSES IN 1880.

The following is a classified list or directory of the business houses of Camden in the fall of 1880:

Dry Goods-M. Earhart, Benjamin Myers, Charles Morlatt.

Groceries-Robert Williams, sr., John Fowler, James Kenworthy, A. L. Borradaille, Henry Neff, William R. Patterson, Henry Coons.

Hardware-John Coons, M. Earhart.

Drugs-J. H. Bohn.

Boots and Shoes-Theodore Johnson, David Morris, P. A. Dearth.

Harness Makers-George W. Will, Joseph E. Smith, P. A. Dearth.

Tinners-B. M. Fornshell, J. E. McCord.

Furniture Dealers-Mrs. James A: Mitchell, Lucien Koons.

Meat Markets-W. A. Danner, William Brower, Os- car Pocock.

Millinery-Mrs. Olivia Brown and Miss Lina Harris. Livery-Will S. Fornshell, George Fowler & Brother, Joshua Howard.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 77

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

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