History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 68

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 68

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Booth Burditt, the father of Mrs. Elliott, settled in Perry in 1820, where Mrs. Elliott was born in 1825. He was one of the pioneer local preachers of the county, and was a member of the first class organized in Perry Township. It was at his house that the first meetings were held. He died in July, 1843. Mr. Elliott also has been identified with the M. E. Church since he was fifteen years of age.

LEONARD T. ELLIOTT

was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1827. Came with his father, Leon- ard Elliott, to Shelby County in 1830; has lived in the county, and on the same farm from that time to the present. In 1848 he married Eliza- beth Kemp. They have had born to them two children, Irwin V. and Lillie L. Mr. Elliott is located on part of the old homestead of his father.

JACOB L. BARRINGER.

The grandfather of the above was of German birth; came to America just previous to the Revolutionary War, and settled near Philadelphia, where he bought two large farms. These he sold some time afterward, and took his pay in Continental script, which was good at that time, but before he disposed of it was not worth a dollar. It was here that Jacob Barringer, the father of Jacob L., was born in 1778. From there they removed to Virginia, and married Lucinda Linsey, and moved to Wil- liamsport, Maryland, previous to the war of 1812. It was here in 1818 that Jacob L. was born, and in 1820 was taken to Virginia, where he remained till 1831, when he came to Montgomery County, Ohio, lived there till 1838, when they removed to Miami County. It was after this that Jacob L. learned the brick mason trade in Springfield, Ohio; worked at his trade a few years. In 1842 he married Susan Black, and moved to Clarke County, Ohio, lived there a few years, then returned to Miami County, where he remained until 1851, when he came with his wife and three children to Shelby County, and located on section 12, Perry Township, where he bought eighty acres of land in the woods. He has made of this piece of land a fine home with good buildings. Mrs. Barringer died July 15, 1881, having raised a family of six children, whose names are as follows: Jane, Oscar J., John A., Jacob I., William T., and Henrietta F.

O. J. BARRINGER,

son of J. L. Barringer, was born in Miami County in 1846; came with his father to Shelby County in 1851, and has lived in Perry Township from that time to the present. In 1878 he married Miss Sally S. Thorn. By this union they have one child, Eda, born 1879. Mr. B. was thrown on his own resources at the age of nineteen years. Having acquired a fair common school education, he taught school and clerked in a store for several years. In 1873 he engaged with J. E. Wilkinson, of Pem- berton, in buying and shipping grain, at which business he is still en- gaged. In 1875 he was appointed agent for the C. C. C. and I. Ry. at Pemberton; also agent for the United States Express, which position he fills at the present time. Mr. B. has the confidence of the people of his township, as shown by his being elected treasurer of the township for a number of years.

URI M. STILES.

Three brothers by the name of Stiles came from England to America as early as 1750. One of them located in New Hampshire, one went to the Carolinas, and one to New Jersey. The direct ancestors of Uri M. settled in New Hampshire. It was here that Asel Stiles, the father of the above, was born in 1783, and lived there until manhood, at which time he went to New York State, where he married Urana Johnston in 1805. In 1813 they removed to Ohio, and located in Greene County, where they lived until 1832, when they removed to Logan County. Their family at that time consisted of father, mother, and eight children. It was here that Uri was brought when but a few months old. Here he lived, and was educated in the common schools of the neighborhood. He remained with his parents while they lived. His father died in 1859; his mother in 1862. On December 24, 1862, he married Rachel A. Wilkin- son, and the following year settled in Perry Township, on the same sec- tion settled on by the grandfather of Mrs. Stiles in 1818. Mr. Stiles remained on this place until 1878, when he removed to his new home in Pemberton, where he has built a fine brick dwelling, one of the best in the township. Mrs. Stiles died January 14, 1881, leaving two children, viz., Ann U., born 1868, and Stella M., born 1877.

There are but few who have had more ancestors who have taken an important part in the freedom of our country from the British yoke than did the ancestors of Mr. Stiles. His grandfather Stiles served five years in the army of the Revolution. His grandfather Johnston, together with seven of his brothers, also served throughout the war. One of them was killed at the battle of Bennington. They were present at the surrender of Burgoyne. Also Mr. Johnston was by the side of Gen. Washington when the news was brought to him of Benedict Arnold's treason.

G. W. LIPPINCOTT

was born in the State of New Jersey in 1826. His parents were Jacob Lippincott and Debro Burge Lippincott. He came to Shelby County in 1847, and married Sarah J. Line in 1856. They have raised a family of five children, viz., James, John, Edward, William, and Franklin.

EMERY F. MARRS

was born in Illinois in 1855; came with his father, William Marrs, to Shelby County in 1860. In 1879 he married Jane Key. From this union they have two children, Myrtle D., born 1880, and Harry Lee, born 1881.

ISAIAH W. STALEY.

About the year 1750 Conrad Staley, a German by birth, emigrated to America, and located in the colony of Pennsylvania near Lancaster. It was here, in the year 1762, that John Staley, the father of the subject of our sketch, was born. About 1780 he went to North Carolina, and a few years afterward married Mary Smith, and had a family of fourteen children, eleven of whom lived to grow up to manhood and womanhood. Isaiah W. was the twelfth child, and was born March 8, 1808. He lived with his father till he was eighteen years of age. His father was a blacksmith by trade. Isaiah learned the trade with his father. At the age of eigh- teen his father gave him his time. He then started out to travel and see the country. He spent five years travelling from place to place. He would stop and work at his trade a short time in a place, then start again and travel until his means were nearly exhausted, then stop and work awhile. In this manner he did until he had travelled over North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, without any object in view except to see the country. As early as 1827 he visited his relatives in Shelby County. He finally in 1832 brought up in Little York, Montgomery County, where he formed the acquaint- ance of Susan Hutchins, to whom he was married the same year. At the time of his marriage he had but $40; with this he started shop, and worked a short time until ague and sore eyes compelled him to quit work. By the time he was able to work again he found himself $85 in debt, and not a dollar to pay with. He went to work again as soon as able and paid his indebtedness, and worked on until he had saved $100. With this money he took his wife and two children to Allen County, Ohio, near Fort Amanda, and entered eighty acres of land. This was in February, 1836. They soon got tired of their home in the woods, and the following June he traded his land for eighty acres in Perry Town- ship, Shelby County (the same is now owned by Daniel Vandemark), agreeing to pay $200 difference. He moved on to this land in 1837. At the time he settled on it there was not a stick cut. He remained here until he had cleared sixty-two acres, when he sold it to Daniel Vandemark for $4000 cash. A short time previous to the sale of this land he had bought one hundred and thirty-five acres in Logan County, and moved on to it. This also was all in timber, which he cleared, and built upon it a saw-mill on the Miami River opposite Nicewonger's mill. Mr. Staley within the next fourteen years bought some six hundred and sixty-two acres, and during the same time bought the Nicewonger flouring mill. In 1876 he sold bis six hundred and sixty-two acres and mill for $14,000, and moved on to another tract of one hundred and six acres, for which he

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paid $5000, and afterward sold the same. Mr. Staley has owned in Logan and Shelby counties fifteen hundred acres of land. He now owns in Perry Township seven hundred and seventy acres, all well improved. Mr. Staley has cleared with his own hands over three hundred acres-perhaps more than any other man in the county. When he located in the woods first, he took a lease on some land that had been deadened. On this he raised his first grain. From that day to this he has never bought a bushel of grain. Mr. Staley has made what he has got by industry and economy, never having had a dollar given him Neither would he ever receive a gift or present from any person. His father, when he died in North Carolina, left a large estate, but Isaiah would never accept a dollar of it. He said his proud spirit would never let him receive help. He says he started without anything, and determined when he started to make a success of life by his own industry, and has adhered to that resolution to the present. Mr. and Mrs. Staley have had a family of eleven chil- dren, viz., Roswell P., Amanda E., Catharine E., Preston C., Martha, Mary J., Columbus, Milinda, Napoleon B., Harriett, and John. The first five named only are living, the others are buried in the cemetery at Pemberton.

DANIEL VANDEMARK, Jr.

The Vandemarks are originally from Holland. They came to Amer- ica previous to the Revolutionary war, and settled in Pennsylvania. Here, in the year 1782, Daniel Vandemark, Sen., was born, and lived until 1809, when he moved to Fairfield County, Ohio. In 1805 he married Catharine Bush, born in Pennsylvania in 1784. They remained in Fair- field County until December, 1814, when they came to Shelby or rather Miami County, and located two and a half miles south of where Sidney now is. The family at that time consisted of father, mother, and three children. Henry B., the fourth one, was born after their arrival in Shelby County. Elizabeth, the eldest one, was born in 1806. She after- ward married Hiram Wilson. Catharine was born in 1810. She mar- ried Judge William A. Carey. Daniel was born in 1812, and Henry B. in 1815. Mr. Vandemark died in 1840; his wife died in 1848.

Daniel Vandemark, Jr., was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, October 3, 1812, consequently was less than three years of age when brought to this county. He lived at home with his father until 1839, when he mar- ried Margaret Duboise, and shortly afterward located in Green Town- ship, where he lived until 1865, when he removed to Perry, where he now resides. Mr. V. has raised a family of four children, viz., Laura, Marcus E., Elizabeth, and Josephine. His opportunity for education was limited. He had to walk two and a half miles through the woods to Sidney, and cross the river to get to the school-house, made of buck- eye logs, where he received his first school instruction. Mr. Vandemark has been one of the large land owners of the county. He at one time owned over one thousand acres, some of which he has given away, but still owns over six hundred acres. He has been quite an invalid for a number of years, and has retired from labor, but has a competence for his remaining days.

OLIVER MAGIE

was born in Scotland, and came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, and served in the Federal army all through the war. Was taken prisoner by the British, parolled, took the oath, but did so under com- pulsion, and again joined the Federal army, and served throughout the war.

Joseph Magie, the father of Oliver, was born in New Jersey in 1770, migrated to Hamilton County, Ohio, as early as 1793. Here he married Abigail Crane. He had learned the tanning trade previous to coming to Hamilton County, and it is said he tanned the first leather that was tanned in Cincinnati. Served in the war of 1812. He died near Cin- cinnati in 1850.

Oliver Magie, the subject of this sketch, was born in Hamilton County in the year 1812, where he lived until 1834, when he married Miss Nancy Clark, and the following year came to Shelby County. He bought eighty acres of land in Perry Township, for which he was to pay $200. He and his wife had one hundred dollars, which they paid on their land. They lived on their place a year or two, became discouraged, and starved out, and returned to where they had come from, rented land, and remained there until 1840, when they returned to their land in the woods, where he has remained to the present time. His wife died in 1851, leaving eight children. In 1852 he married Polly Castle, by whom he had three children. His second wife died in 1856. He married his present wife, Miss Sarah Richardson, in 1857. From this union they have two chil- dren. Mr. M. has been the father of thirteen children, only six of whom are now living. He has passed through afflictions and privations that but few have met with. He says he has paid out for doctor bills alone not less than three thousand dollars. He has seen the time when they had eaten the last morsel of meal that was about the house, and had not a cent with which to buy more; was refused corn by a heartless neighbor who had plenty, because he had no money to pay for it. No wonder they became discouraged, and returned to where there was plenty. Mr. M. now has a pleasant home, with a competence for the remainder of his days. It is to be hoped that the bitter cup of affliction has been passed for the future of his remaining days.

JAMES JOHNSTON.

The father of James was Charles Johnston, one of the first settlers of Mosquito Creek. He was born near Lexington, Ky., in the year 1790. He was brought by his father, Silas Johnston, to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek, within twelve miles of where James now lives, in the year 1799. Here he married Miss Nancy McCaw. After marriage he moved to Urbana, where he engaged in trade. His principal trade was with the Indians for furs, skins, etc. They lived in Urbana until the spring of 1818, when they moved to Perry Township and located on the N. E. quarter of section 21. Silas Johnston, his father, was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and also a major in the war of 1812. Charles and two of his brothers were in the war of 1812.

Charles Johnston was said to have been the first white boy that lived on the banks of Mosquito Creek. An incident is related of Silas John- ston and two of his sons who came to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek to build a cabin previous to their moving to their land. They were camped near where they purposed building their cabin. There was an Indian camp close by. One evening as they were sitting around their camp fire, a couple of Indians came to their camp. They were drunk and became quarrelsome. Johnston's gun stood beside a tree close by. One of the Indians started to get the gun, but Johnston anticipated him and got the gun first, drew up to shoot the Indian, but changed his mind and hit him with the gun and knocked him down. The Indians then left, but Johnston knew they would soon return with others; so they put out their fire and went and secreted themselves in the woods elsewhere until morning. They then returned to Kentucky and remained there some nine months, when they again returned to their home in the woods. Charles Johnston was one of the early Commissioners of Shelby County. He continued to reside on his farm until about 1863, when he moved to Pemberton, where he resided until his death in 1865.

James Johnston was born in Perry Township in 1826, on the place entered by his father, Charles Johnston. His father's family consisted of fourteen children, twelve of whom were born in Perry Township. In 1848 he married Miss Lephia Newman. By this union they have had three children, two only now living, viz., Nancy J. and Charles W. Mr. Johnston has lived in Perry Township fifty-six years, never having had a home anywhere else. He now resides on section 15, where he has a fine farm with good improvements. He commenced for himself when he was nineteen years of age. He bought his time of his father, agreeing to pay him one hundred and fifty dollars. The first money he earned for himself was by scoring timber at forty cents per day ; the next was to work for ten dollars per month. In this way he made his start, work- ing by the day and month until after he married, when he still worked at fifty cents per day for furniture to keep house with. In this manner he kept on until he had saved enough to buy forty acres of land. From this small beginning he has now got a comfortable home of 140 acres of well improved land.

JOHN LINE

and wife came to Perry Township in 1831 or 1832. Mr. Line died in 1846, leaving a wife and six children, whom she raised to become men and women. By her own efforts she supported them while young. George, the oldest son, entered the army and died at Bermuda Hundred in 1864. The second son remained at home and died. The third son, Martin, entered the regular army in 1863, served to the close of the war, was with Sherman in his march to the sea, returned home, and died of consumption. Of the three daughters only two are living, Mrs. Lippin- cott and Ann. Mrs. Line, the mother of the above family, after raising them and devoting her life for their comfort, and finally seeing them, all but two, taken from her-she and her youngest daughter were living by themselves-on the 18th day of June, 1880, in her sixty-ninth year, she went to pay a neighbor a visit. After being in the neighbor's house a short time-she was seated on a chair-when David Shank, a blacksmith of Pt. Jefferson, entered the house. There was no one about the house except Mrs. Inskip, the lady of the house, and her daughter and a child. When the assassin entered the house and saw the old lady sitting there, he said, " What are you doing here?" and ordered her out of the house, and immediately took hold of the chair and upset her on the floor. Mrs. Inskip picked up a stick to drive him away : he grabbed the stick, took it from her; she then ran out of the house, he after her; the old lady then followed out of the door. The villain seeing her, picked up a wash-tub and knocked her down with it; then picked up a piece of fence rail and beat out her brains, mashing her face and killing her instantly. He then ran after Mrs. Inskip, who was running for help. Mr. Lippin- cott and his son, who happened to be working close by, heard the screamns and came just in time to save her. The murderer then ran away, was followed by parties who overtook him at the river, was taken to prison, tried, and found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.

THOMAS J. JOHNSTON,

son of James F., was born in 1849. In 1869 he married Miss Maggie Young. They have three children, viz., Frederick T., Rosanna, and Harly. They reside on the homestead with their father.

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JAMES F. JOHNSTON.

Alexander Johnston, the father of the above, was born in Kentucky. Came with his father to Ohio at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and located in Montgomery County. Shortly afterwards they moved to Clarke County, Ohio. It was here that James F. was born in the year 1819, and rocked in a sugar trough in a rude cabin near Springfield, Ohio. Educated in the cabin school-house, his first book was the alphabet, printed on a board, and suspended by a string around his neck. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed for three years to learn the black- smith trade, for which he received one hundred dollars. In 1840 he married Miss Rosanna Shattler, and the next year (1841) moved to Shelby County, and located at Pt. Jefferson, where he built a small log shop, and commenced work.

When Mr. J. and his wife moved to the county they brought the whole of their effects, together with his blacksmith tools, in a two-horse wagon. His cash capital was three dollars and a half to commence business on. At that time there was very little money in circulation. He received in exchange for his labor, corn, venison, saw-logs, etc. The corn and pro- duce he shipped by canal to Cincinnati to get the cash with which to buy iron. He ironed the first broad wheeled wagon ever ironed in the county.

In short, to show what industry and economy will do, he commenced with three dollars and a half, worked at smithing about ten years, and quit with between five and six thousand dollars, all made at the anvil, and by buying and selling land. In 1854 he moved to Pemberton, and worked a short time at his trade, then, the same year, he bought his present home in section 9, where he has resided since that time. Mrs. Johnston died in 1876. They have had two children, Lewis M. and Thomas J.

Mr. Johnston has filled the offices of township trustee, township clerk, and director of county infirmary. His father and grandfather were both in the war of 1812, his father having been wounded in battle. The Merandas, the ancestors of Mr. Johnston's mother, were of Irish and Scotch descent. We first find them after coming to this country located in Kentucky, where Mr. Johnston's mother was born. They lived in Kentucky during the Indian troubles along the Ohio River. Grand- father Meranda had a sister who was scalped by the Indians, and lived for several days afterwards. The settlers at that time never thought of leaving their houses without their rifle, not knowing what minute they would be attacked by some lurking Indian.

One time Mr. Meranda saw two Indians making for his house. He ran to the house ahead of them, and shot one of then; the other fled. Another time, while passing through the woods, he heard a noise; upon investigation he discovered an Indian in a tree top pulling bark. It took him but a moment to bring his rifle to bear upon him and fire. The Indian fell, when Mr. M. discovered that another Indian was at the foot of the tree; but he hastily fled. Prior to Ohio becoming a State the Merandas settled in Clarke County near Springfield, Ohio.

G. W. LIPPINCOTT

was born in New Jersey in 1826, came to Shelby County in 1847, and married Sarah J. Line in 1856. Mrs. Lippincott is a daughter of John Line and the old lady who was so foully murdered by David Shank. They have raised a family of five children, as follows: James, born 1861; John, born 1864; Edward, born 1866; William, born 1868; and Frank- lin, born 1874.

GEORGE STURM.

The first we can learn of the Sturms is that in 1757 Henry Sturm was born in Virginia, and came to Ohio, and located in Clarke County; but the time is not known, but was prior to the war of 1812, for he had three sons in the army who went from Clarke County. He was married to Elizabeth Weaver, and had a family of fourteen children. George and John, twin brothers, were the youngest of the family, and were born in Clarke County, January 31, 1813.

In August or September, 1814, Henry Sturm and his family moved to what is now Shelby County, and located in Green Township. The nearest white settler to them at that time was David Henry, nearly six miles distant, and A. Wilkinson in Champaign County, six miles distant. Here in the woods George Sturm was raised without the privilege of schools, the Indians being far more numerous in those days than the whites. George and John at the death of their father in 1832 bought the old homestead. This they owned together for a number of years, when George sold his interest to his brother, and removed to Illinois, but remained there only a few months, when he returned and bought the homestead of his wife's father-Isaac Stout-in Perry Township, section 9, where he now resides. He was married to Mary A. Stout in 1833. They have raised a family of five children, Matilda, Rebecca, Martha, Hannah E., and Rachel A. Isaac Stout located in Perry in 1831. Mr. Sturm has retired from labor, being afflicted with a nervous- ness that prevents him from labor. His wife also has been a sufferer for years, and is compelled to walk with crutches. Mr. Sturm has been living in the county sixty-eight years.

BENJAMIN MANNING

was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in a block-house near the mouth of the Little Miami River, in the year 1793 Here his father-John Manning -built a mill on the Little Miami at Round Bottom. In the year 1799 they removed to Miami County, and built the first mill in the town of Piqua, or where Piqua now stands, for Mr. Manning was one of the pro- prietors of that town. He ground the flour for Gen. Harrison's army for their march to Northwest Ohio. Here, in 1815 or 1816, John Man- ning died.

Benjamin Manning came to what is now Shelby County as early as 1817 or 1818, and settled in the south part of the county, in Orange Township, for a year or two, then removed to Perry Township be- tween Christmas and New Year's in 1819. He settled on fractional sec- tion 36, which he had entered some time prior. In the year 1831 he built a saw-mill on the Miami River, in which he built a corn cracker. He lived in Perry until the year 1861, when he moved to the town of Sidney, where he died in 1868.

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History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 68

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

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