History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 59

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427

USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 59

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now in Shelby County that have given the time to the rifle that Mr. Bush has. The first deer he killed was in 1848, when he killed three in one day, near where Swanders Station now is. He has killed deer almost every year from that time to the present. The past year (1881) he, together with a party of others, went to Wisconsin for a deer hunt. Mr. Bush killed seven deer and a lynx. While in California he within two months killed fifty deer and one black bear. He and his partner, Nathan Travers, killed ninety-three deer, and sold $777 worth of venison, beside what they traded for provisions to live on during that time. In 1853 he returned home by vessel by way of the Isthmus, arriving at home between Christmas and New Year's. He then remained at home with his father until 1863, when he married Miss C. E. Rauth. By this union they have seven children, viz , Charles M., born 1865; Edmund R., born 1868; John H., born 1870; William W., born 1873; Frederick, born 1875; Maud M., born 1877; and George, born 1879.

Mr. Bush has the confidence of his fellow-citizens, having filled the office of infirmary director nine years, and at the present time is one of the commissioners of the county.

Mr. Bush, while in California in 1851, went out one day with a party of others in pursuit of a wounded grizzly. After being out some time the party separated. Shortly afterward Mr. Bush heard the bleating of a cub bear. He supposed she was calling for her dam, but, when he came up to where he supposed the cub was, he not only found a cub, but a full- grown grizzly and four cubs. Mr. B. concluded these were not the par- ties he was looking for, and the sooner he could get away from there the better,-so he took to his heels and ran as fast as he could, the bear after him. He threw his hat, ran about fifty yards to a leaning tree, which he attempted to climb. Just as he reached the tree the bear was upon him, and struck at him and knocked his gun from his hand He succeeded in getting part way up the tree when the bear caught him by the boot and held on. Both fell to the ground. The bear then ran to her cubs, and John made good time for the bushes; but before he reached them the bear was upon him again. Just as the bear reached him he sprang over a large pine log. The bear stopped on the log, and John reached the bushes and got away. During all this time his partner, who was near him, saw the whole affair, but climbed up a tree, and kept out of danger, never offering any assistance.

Mr. Bush has killed buffalo, antelope, mountain sheep, bear, wolves, and almost all kinds of wild game of the country.

THOMAS YOUNG

was born in Maryland in 1766. From there he went to Virginia, where, in about 1793, he married Mary Parker. The Youngs are of German descent, the Parkers of Irish extraction. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Kentucky, then to Hamilton County, Ohio, then to Mont- gomery County, where they lived a few years, then came to what is now Shelby County about 1808, and located on section 16, Orange Township, and took a lease on said school section. The land on which he settled had been previously settled on by Abram Cannon in 1806. It was here that Isaac Young was born March 17, 1810, he being the first white child born within the present limits of Orange Township. In 1832 he married Wilmuth Lucas. They have raised a family of five children, whose names and date of birth are as follows: Wallace, born 1833; Lydia, horn 1840; Elizabeth, born 1842; Minerva, born 1844; and Naaman, born 1849. Mr. Young is now the oldest settler in the township, and perhaps in the county, who was born here; he having lived in the same township, and within one mile of the same place, for seventy-two years. He cast his first vote for President for Andrew Jackson, and has voted at every presidential election since that time; but after the first election he voted the Whig ticket until 1856, since which time he has been an unswerving Republican. Mr. Young has been a member of the United Brethren Church for over forty years. He has retired from active life, having accumulated a competence for the remainder of his life. He has always had the confidence and esteem of his neighbors; always doing as he would wish to be done by ; never having had a lawsuit in his life. Mr. Young says he has bought corn at 8} cents per bushel, and had six months' time to pay for it. They sold wheat at 25 cents per bushel and hauled it to Piqua. To give the history of his commencement in life, his hardships and privations, would be but to repeat the old story, so often told. I will close by giving the manner they used to catch fish before they were able to buy twine to make seines. They would make what was called a brush drag or kind of sejne made of brush, and woven together and supported by grape-vines. A sufficient number of the neighbors would get together to handle one of these drags; they would sweep the river from one side to the other, and sometimes would catch barrels at one haul.

Naaman Young, son of Isaac Young, was born in Shelby County in 1849, and married Margaret J. Borton in 1879. They have two children, viz., Stanley D. and Mary D.

WM. P. BARKALOW.

The ancestors of the Buckalows-now written Barkalow-were among the first emigrants from Holland to New York-then New Amsterdam

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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.

They were worthy descendants of the hardy, industrious, and honest Dutch nation. The indomitable perseverance and success of the Dutch is everywhere proverbial. After aiding in the settlement of New York and New Jersey, some of the descendants of the Barkalows emigrated to Kentucky, from thence to Oblo. William P. Barkalow, the worthy ancestor of the Shelby County Barkalows, was born in New Jersey in the year 1768. Just when he removed from New Jersey we have been unable to ascertain, but we next find him in Maysville, Ky. In 1790 he married Mary Tapscott. It was in Maysville that their first child, John Barkalow, was born. In 1804 they removed to Warren County, Ohio, where he died in the year 1852, his wife having died in 1843, at the age of seventy years.

JOHN BARKALOW,

as stated above, was born in Maysville, Ky., in the year 1801, and came with his parents to Warren County, Ohio, in 1804. In 1821 he married Catharine De Nise, and in 1823 removed to Shelby County and settled on a tract of wild land in Orange Township. This land he cleared and culti- vated, and built a good dwelling, where he resided until 1861, when his dwelling and household goods were almost totally destroyed by fire, and in his efforts to save his family, in which he succeeded, he came near losing his own life. He then removed to the town of Sidney, where he resided until his death, September, 1872. His widow survived him until January 81, 1882, when she died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. S. De Nise. They raised a family of eight children, whose names and date of birth are as follows : Mary A., born Sept. 21, 1822 ; James D., Sept. 12, 1824; Eleanor, May 2, 1827; Sarah, May 22, 1829; Lydia M., Feb. 26, 1832; Celina, May 6, 1834; Nancy D., Nov. 19, 1836; and George D., March 4, 1839.

JAMES D. BARKALOW

was born in Shelby County in 1824, on the bank of the Great Miami River, four miles below Sidney, in Orange Township, on land entered by Wm. P. Barkalow, his grandfather, and has lived on the same farm from that time to the present. In 1849 he married Elizabeth Jackson, a daugh- ter of Edward and Jane Morris Jackson, who settled within the present limits of Orange Township in 1809. They have by their marriage two children, William W. and Frank A. Mr. Barkalow is now among the oldest residents of the township who were born here, having lived here fifty-eight years without intermission.

JOSEPH T. BARKALOW,

a son of Wm. P. Barkalow, and brother of John Barkalow, was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1817, lived with his father until 21 years of age, when, in 1839, he married Abba De Nise, who was born in Butler County, O., in 1821. By this union they had three children, viz., Elea- . nor, Mary, and Eliza ; the last two only now living. In 1842 Mr. B. moved to Shelby County and located on section 22, Orange Township : they lived here two years, then returned to Warren County and remained about four years, then returned to his former home in Orange Township, where he lived until 1872, when he retired from the farm and moved to Kirkwood, where he and his wife live in a comfortable home with a com- petence for their remaining days. They are now living in the enjoyment of plenty, having spent a life of hard toil. It is to be hoped that their last days may be their happiest.

JAMES S. DE NISE.

William De Nise was a native of New Jersey. He came to Butler County, Ohio, in 1808. Daniel De Nise, his son, was two years old at the time of their settlement in Ohio. He married Eliza J. Shank. He died in 1878, having lived on the same farm for seventy years. James S., a son of Daniel, was born in Butler County in 1832, and came to Shelby County in 1854. In 1853 he married Lydia M. Barkalow. They have had born to them five children, viz., James A., born 1855; Mary E., born 1857; George B., born 1859; Daniel, born 1868; and John B., born 1872. They are located on part of the old Barkalow farin in sec. 18.

ISAAC FULTON

was born in Shelby County in the year 1842. He is a son of Robert and Rebecca Bigham Fulton, who settled in Shelby County in 1839. In 1866 he married Nancy Barkalow, a daughter of John Barkalow. They have one child, Wm. B., born 1867. They are located on part of the Barka- low homestead in Orange 'Township.

HENRY P. JOHNSTON,

a son of Christopher Johnston, was born in Mercer County, Ohio, in 1840, where he lived, and was raised on a farm. In 1862 he entered the army in the 118th O. V. I., and served until the close of the war. During his service in the army his father moved to Miami County. When Mr. Johnston came home from the army he again made his home with his father. Here he formed the acquaintance of Miss Mary Barkalow, a

daughter of Joseph T. Barkalow, of Shelby County. They were married in 1866, and the following year located in Orange Township, on section 28. They have by this marriage four children, Nellie C., Rowland E., Lulie J., and Mary E. J. A brief sketch of the Johnston family will be found in the Washington Township history, under the head of Esq. John and S. A. Johnston, who are brothers of Henry P.'s father.

THOMAS DUNCAN.

The father of the above-James Duncan-was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, came to Montgomery County, where, in the year 1828, he married Matilda Wise. In 1834 they removed to Shelby County, and located in Washington Township. They raised a family of seven children. Mrs. Duncan died in 1853. Thomas Duncan is the oldest of this family; he was born in Montgomery County in 1832; he lived at home with his father until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1853 he married Sarah J. Doak. By this union they have raised a family of six children, Mary A., Clarinda, Sarah J., Samuel, James, and Viola M. Mr. Duncan is located on part of the old Doak homestead. Samuel Doak, the father of Mrs. Duncan, was born in Pennsylvania in 1798, came with his father- Patrick Doak-to the present limits of Shelby County in 1810, and located in what is now Washington Township, but had entered land in Orange; but on account of Indian troubles did not settle on his land until several years afterward. In 1827 he married Esther Heath, and raised a family of five children, John C., Sarah J., Chambers, James, and Samuel. Samuel Doak, Sen., died in 1845; his wife died in 1881.

HIRAM SARVER.

The Sarvers are of German extraction Their first settlement in America was in Virginia. The first of whom we can get any knowledge was Samuel Sarver, who was born in Virginia about 1790. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. After his term of enlistment in 1814 he married Sarah Brill. They raised a family of six boys. This family came to Shelby County in 1825, and located in Green Township. When they came to Ohio all the effects they had they brought on the back of one horse. Mrs. Sarver rode on this same horse together with the two youngest children. Mr. Sarver and the other children walking all the way. When they landed they had no money. They squatted on a piece of land, which several years afterward they bought. It is not necessary to describe the hardships through which they had to pass in a new coun- try, with a family of six small children and no means of support, except the hands of one man to provide food and clothing for his wife and chil- dren in the woods without an acre of cleared land. It was here in the woods that Hiram Sarver was born in the year 1828, three years after their settlement. He lived with his father until he died in 1843. He then hired out for six years at $25 a year and his everyday clothing. In 1853 he married Nancy Dickensheets, by whom he has had eleven chil- dren, seven of whom are living, viz., Margaret L. J., Mary C., Charles H., William G., Ella M., Carrie M., and Einery C. Mr. S. bought his present home with the money he earned before he married, working at $25 per year, except $100 he received from his father's estate. They are located on section 32. Henry Dickensheets, the father of Mrs. Sarver, was born in Maryland about 1795. When a young man he went to Ken- tucky, where he formed the acquaintance of Mary Hines, and came with her to Montgomery County, Ohio, about 1814, and was there married. It was here that Mrs. Sarver was born in 1831, and brought by her parents to Shelby County in 1832.

SAMUEL BIRD

was born in New Jersey in 1785. He was married to Alice Voorhees. They raised a family of eleven children. This family removed to Shelby County in 1832, and settled in Green Township. Here he entered a piece of land, which he cleared and made himself a home. He died in 1846. His wife died in 1853. Of the children there are six now living. Mrs. Angeletta Frazer was the sixth of these eleven children. She was born in New Jersey in 1824, and was brought by her parents to Shelby County when eight years old. She lived at home with her parents until 1837, when she married John L. Sarver. A short time after their marriage they bought eighty acres of land in the timber. They had but one hundred dollars to pay on this land. They erected themselves a cabin, and commenced to make themselves a home. Within six years of the time they com- menced on their place they had it cleared, and paid for, and good build- ings erected. A few years further on they had added to this three more eighty acre lots, which were soon put under cultivation. Mr. Sarver was one of the successful farmers of Orange Township. He was born in Virginia in 1817, and died in 1874. They raised a family of six chil- dren, whose names and date of birth are as follows: Samuel B., 1848; Perry Lee, 1849; Rebecca M., 1852; Elizabeth A., 1855; John G., 1859; and Jesse, 1862. At the death of Mr. Sarver he left an indebtedness of $1500, which Mrs. Sarver with the help of her children paid off, besides building their home. She has since the death of Mr. Sarver managed the farm herself. In 1875 she married George Frazer, with whom she lived until 1880. She resides on section 36.

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RES. OF J. B. FRANCIS, ORANGE TW'P. SHELBY CO. OHIO.

REBECCA RHIN

NOAH RHINEHART

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RES. OF NOAH RHINEHART , ORANGE TWP. SHELBY CO. O.

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DANIEL V. DINGMAN JR.

DANIEL V. DINGMAN SR.

SIDNEY, AS SEEN FROM THE DINGMAN FARM.

"OLD DINGMAN FARM" HOME OF D. V. DINGMAN, ONE MILE ABOVE SIDNEY, ON THE GREAT MIAMI RIVER.

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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.

JAMES MCCRACKEN

was born in County Down, Ireland (the native place of St. Patrick), in 1814. His parents were John and Ellen McCracken. They were Protestants, and in good circumstances, and gave their children a fair education. James lived at home with his father until grown to manhood. In 1848 he married Miss Mary A. Donaldson. After marriage he was persuaded by his wife to sell his interest in his father's estate, and cross the ocean to America, and seek a home. So he sold his part of the estate to one of his brothers for £65 ($325) per acre, and immediately sailed for New York. After reaching this country they soon found their way to Warren County, Ohio, where he superin- tended a farm for a few years, waiting to learn something of the country before purchasing a home. In 1851 he came to Shelby County, and bought his present home on section 11. Mr. McCracken has made a model farm of this place. In 1878 he bought another farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres. Mr. and Mrs. McCracken have two children, Henry S. and James N. In 1873 Mr. M. went back to his native Green Isle to visit the place of his birth, and thinking perhaps they would sell their home here and return to Ireland. But after going back he was not long in deciding to remain in the land where there were no landed aris- tocrats, but where all were equal, "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

DR. JACOB J. MILLHOUSE.

Maurice Millhouse, the grandfather of the above, was a Swiss. He followed the sea, and was a captain of a merchant vessel that traded between France and the American colonies. He married a French lady by the name of De Verne, whom he brought with him to America, and settled in Maryland about 1740. It was here in the year 1755 they were both massacred by the Indians, leaving three children. John Millhouse, one of these three children, was the direct ancestor of the Ohio Mill- houses. About 1776 he married Margaret Wrench, and came to Ohio in 1804, and located in Montgomery County, where they lived four years, then removed to Miami County in 1808. They raised a family of six children. David Millhouse, one of the six, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1801 ; was the youngest of the family. Catharine, one of these children, afterward became the wife of William Richardson, one of the early settlers of Shelby County. Barbary, another of these children, became the wife of Henry Dilbone, who, together with her husband, was killed by the Indians August 18, 1813, a sketch of which is given in another place in this work. Eliza- beth was another of these six children. She married Henry C. Line, the father of David M. Line, of Shelby County. Susan, another of the same family, married John Simmons, who enlisted in the regular army. While in the army, in August, 1812, he was stationed at Fort Chicago. The fort was destroyed by the Indians, and he with the other soldiers were all massacred. His wife, who was with him at the time, was taken pris- oner by the Indians, and was kept about one year, when she was restored to her friends, and afterward married . Redenbaugh, of Shelby County. David Millhouse married Eliza Gearhart. They raised a family of eight children. Dr. Jacob J., a son of David Millhouse, was born in Miami County in 1836, lived with his father until he became of age. He then went to school, and taught school until 1864, when he entered the army. After returning from the army in 1864 he commenced the study of medicine in Piqua under the instruction of Drs. O'Ferril and Ashton, and graduated at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincin- nati in 1869. He then located in Kirkwood, where he commenced the practice of medicine, and still continues its practice. In 1865 he mar- ried Miss Georgia A. Estabrook. By this union they have two children, Edward D. and Charlie E.

WILLIAM PROCTOR.

Richard Proctor was born in Ireland, came to the United States in 1792, and located in York County, Pennsylvania, where the same year he married Rebecca Stringer. They raised a family of eight children, only one of whom is now living, viz., William Proctor, the subject of this sketch, who was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1796. In the year 1817 he came to Ohio, and located in Butler County, where in 1822 he married Ruth Tannehill, with whom he had seven children. In 1831 he moved to Logan County, and settled in the woods where he had previously entered land. This land be cleared himself, then sold it, and bought a place in Shelby County, to which he moved in 1854. Here his wife died in 1863. In 1866 he married Mary Trahern, his present wife. Mrs. Proctor was the daughter of Eliacum Staples, who was of Scotch descent. Her mother was Nancy Neal, of English descent, who came to America early in the eighteenth century, and located in the State of Maine. Mrs. Proctor was born in New Hampshire in 1816. When quite young she was taken to Philadelphia, where in about 1832 she married Thomas Lloyd, with whom she had one child, Henri. Mr. Lloyd died in 1839. She afterward married Asa Trahern, with whom she lived until 1860, when he died. She then in 1866 married Mr. Proctor.

BENJAMIN WIRT

was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1807. He was the eldest son of George Wirt and Anna Spiker Wirt. George Wirt was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1784, and married in 1806. The Wirts emigrated to Ohio in 1825, and located in Montgomery County. It was here that Benjamin formed the acquaintance of Mary Walburn, to whom he was married in 1829. In 1835 they removed to Franklin Township, Shelby County, on a piece of land that he had previously entered. Mr. Wirt, like most other new-comers in that early day, commenced without any means, and lived, as all pioneers did, on the common fare of hog and hominy. Mr. Wirt, after clearing his farm sold it, and bought one in Orange Township, where he now lives. They have raised a family of three children, Sarah A., Catharine, and David. Mr. and Mrs. Wirt have lived to see their family of children grow up and become settled in life. Now these veteran pioneers are left as they began in life, all alone in the world. But they have a competence to live on for the rest of their days. They are both enfeebled with old age, and broken down by hard work. It is to be hoped that their last days may be peaceful and pleas- ant as their first were full of hard toil and unpleasant.

JOHN L. MCKEE.

To trace the ancestors of the Mckees we go to Ireland, but the date of their emigration to America is not definitely known, but perhaps dur- ing the last half of the eighteenth century. They first located in Penn- sylvania. It was here that James McKee was born in the year 1803. About the year 1825 he came to Shelby County, where in 1833 he mar- ried Sarah Mcknight, and raised a family of five children. John L. is the youngest of this family; he was born in 1845. He lived on the home place in Orange Township until he grew up to manhood. In 1868 he married Miss Mariah Diltz, but still remained on the homestead until, in the spring of 1881, he bought a stock of goods at Kirkwood, and has been engaged in trade since that time. They have a family of four chil- dren, whose names and date of birth are as follows: Jaines E., 1869; Albertes L., 1872; Willie F., 1874; and J. Clifford, 1876.

JOHN C. SIMES,

a son of John and Rebecca Walkup Simes, was born in Champaign County in 1814. In 1844 he married Amanda A. Hendley. By this union they have raised a family of seven children ; their names are as follows : William H., Mary A., Clarissa R., Florence S., Delphine C., George C., and Denton J. Mr. Simes, while he lived, had the esteem and respect of his neighbors, who elected him for a number of years to fill the office of treasurer of his township. He died February, 1878.

The O'Hendleys, or Hendleys as they are now called, were from Ire- land, came to the American colonies long before the Revolution, and married in America a lady from Holland. Wm. Hendley was a descend- ant of this couple: he was a resident of Boston, and was one of the party who made that large pot of tea in Boston Harbor. He served as a soldier throughout the Revolutionary War. We have no knowledge when or to whom he was married, but he raised a family of ten children. John D. was the youngest of these; he was born in Boston in 1792, married Clarissa Harrington in 1816, and raised a family of five children. Mrs. Simes was one of these five; she was born in Clinton County, O., in 1821, removed to Miami County in 1829, married John C. Simes in 1844, and came to Shelby County in 1850.

THOMAS IIOLMES (Sen.)

was born in Ireland in 1748; he lived on his native isle until he grew to manhood, and married Margaret Henderson, by whom he had four chil- dren-two sons and two daughters. She then died. He remained single for several years, then married Jane Miller about 1800, and immediately sailed for the United States with his wife and two daughters (leaving his sons to inherit his estate), and shortly afterward located in Harrison County, O. They remained in this county until 1826, when they came to Shelby County and located in Orange Township on land that had been settled on by Abram Minnear. Mr. Holmes died in 1831.

THOMAS HOLMES, Jr., a son of the above, was born in Harrison County, O., in 1814. When twelve years of age he came with his parents to Orange Township. At the death of his father, in 1831, he left home and worked by the month until 1834, when he married Dorcas Blue, with whom he has raised a family of ten children, with names as follows : Jane, Jemima, Elizabeth, Catharine, Mary E., Louisa B., Raper, Alice, Celia, and William. In 1835 he returned with his wife to Orange and located on the old homestead of his father, where he has lived to the present time.

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History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 59

Author: R. Sutton & Co. Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Number of Pages: 427

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427