USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 48
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 48
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When the War of 1812 came on, the Third regiment, Fourth division, Ohio militia, was called out, and we find him in command. The order calling out the regiment came late on Sunday night, and the colonel at once mounted his two sons, Seth and Alvin, as messengers, to notify the captains to report on Monday for orders. All preparations were completed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning the regiment marched for the frontier. When we consider that the regiment had to muster from a territory ten by thirty miles in extent, and that stores and trans- portation had to be provided, the military reader will see that the achievement was a remarkable one. The late Joshua R. Giddings, who was a private in the regiment, once gave the writer a graphic sketch of the colonel as a commanding officer, which we regret that we cannot repro- duce, but he described him as a man who could be in more places and think of more things at once, than any man he had ever met. mix98Jmiv98]
After the war he held the position of county commissioner and associate judge of court of common pleas, and although not a lawyer, it is said that his decisions were marked by great good sense and fairness. He often used to ride to Warren over a winter road, remain all day in court, and ride home at night, making thirty-six miles in the saddle besides his day's work in court. This life of a pioneer had told upon him, and he died in 1837 at the age of sixty-five years. He left three sons-Seth, Alvin, and Richard, of whom only the last named is living. All of them were active business men and in- herited the old colonel's sturdy uprightness of character. Seth Hayes was a member of the
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Ohio Legislature in 1836. He was for many years engaged as a merchant, and was noted for his public and private generosity, and had an en- viable reputation as an honorable business man, and as a worthy Christian gentleman. He died March 9, 1865.
Alvin and Richard Hayes were never in pub- lic life. The former died in 1880, nearly eighty- five years of age, leaving a reputation for integ- rity and uprightness which any of his descendants may be proud to emulate.
There is a soldier streak in the family. Titus Hayes, the father of Colonel Richard Hayes, wintered with Washington at Valley Forge, and at least three of his sons, Richard, Titus, and Lester, were in the War of 1812, and when the war of 1861 came on, it " cropped out " in the fourth generation. Among the number was Ed- ward, grandson of Richard, and son of Alvin Hayes. When the war broke out he felt it his duty to keep out of it, if possible, as he had a young family, and being an only son his aged father and mother looked to him for care, but after the first battle of Bull Run he saw that it would be impossible for him to do so, and rais- ing part of a company he went into the Twenty- ninth Ohio infantry under Colonel Lewis Buckley. He was unfortunate in the outset of his military career, being taken down with fever while at Camp Chase, and to add to his ill fortune, his regiment was ordered into West Virginia upon the very day he was taken ill. As a natural con- sequence, when he rejoined his command some six week later, he found it in a quasi mutiny, the members of his company having been led to be- lieve that he was not actually sick, but that he had shirked duty. His emaciated and generally used-up condition went far to convince the men of their mistake, and he informed them that he did not intend to resign until the company had been in at least one fight.
They got this fight at Kernstown near Win- chester, Virginia, March 22, 1862, and Hayes decided to stay with the company and let the other fellows do the resigning, which proved satisfactory to all concerned. It may be re- marked of the Kernstown fight, that it was the only time during the whole war that Stonewall Jackson got a good square thrashing.
Hayes was next engaged at Port Republic, June 9, 1862. There he with a part of his com-
pany had the misfortune to be taken prisoner. The company had gone for a stand of rebel colors and got them, but they had gone in too deeply and could not get out. He summered in the Confederate military prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, and on his exchange in the fall of 1862 rejoined his command at Frederick City, Maryland, finding it much cut up from the dis- astrous fight at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862. He was at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1, 2, and 3, 1863, where he commanded the left wing of the regiment as acting major, and two months later was at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he commanded the regiment, there being no field officer present for duty, and Captain Stephens, the ranking officer, being disabled very early in the action. He was commissioned major the week following Gettysburg, and lieutenant-colonel in October following. He went to Chattanooga with Hooker's Twentieth army corps, and was in a part of the Wauhatchie affair, and in the battle of Lookout Mountain; was within reach at the battle of Missionary Ridge, but did not partici- pate, being on other duty at the time. He was active in inducing his regiment to re-enlist, and after it did so came home with it on veteran fur- lough in January, 1864. Returning to the field with it he wintered at Bridgeport, Alabama, and started with the army on the Atlanta campaign, but on the 8th of May, 1864, at the battle of Mill Spring, Georgia, he received a very severe wound through the right shoulder. Major Fifield, regimental surgeon of the Twenty-ninth Ohio, performed for him the difficult, and at that time new, operation of "exsection," removing the whole of the shoulder joint, and other por- tions of the shattered bone, and a good deal to his own surprise he got well; but as he was unfit for service he was discharged in November, 1864, on account of wounds received in action.
In 1865 he was elected county treasurer, and held that position from September, 1866, to Sep- tember, 1870, with a good degree of ability. He is now employed in the Post-office department at Washington, District of Columbia, and is satis- factorily filling a responsible position.
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BUSHNELL FAMILY.
Among the early pioneer families of Trumbull county the Bushnells are probably the most numerous. Captain Alexander Bushnell, the immediate ancestor of the family, emigrated with his descendants. He was born in Lyme, Con- necticut, December 2, 1739, and was a descend- ant of Francis Bushnell, one of the first settlers of Guilford, Connecticut, who landed in Boston about 1630.
He married Chloe Waite, of the same place, February 12, 1761. She was a descendant of Thomas Waite, member of Parliament, one of the judges who signed the death warrant of King Charles I, the Waite family coming to America soon after the restoration in 1660. Theit de- scendants are numerous, and very many of them reside in Trumbull county. They had ten chil- dren, all of whom were married in Connecticut, and these families all emigrated about the same period to Ohio.
He was a captain in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war, receiving his com- mission while serving under Washington. After the close of the Revolution the tide of emigration first set toward northern Connecticut, and he with many others moved to Hartland, Hartford county, in that State, about 1784.
In 1800 the tide of emigration started towards "New Connecticut" in Northern Ohio, and this now greatly increased family were swept by the torrent to the Western Reserve, the first one coming in 1801 and the remainder following soon after. He died March 8, 1818, in Hart- ford, Ohio. Captain Bushnell's children were Thomas, Daniel, and William, who with their families settled in Hartford; Chloe, the wife of Obediah Gilder, one of the pioneers of Gustavus, where their descendants still reside; Alexander, Jr., who with his family settled in Pittsburg; Sterling G., who with his family first settled in Vernon and in 1820 removed to Richland county, Ohio; Mary, the wife of Hon. Calvin Cone, who was one of the pioneers of Gustavus in 1804, but in 1817 removed to Hartford, where some of their descendants still reside. He served as member of the Legislature from Barkhamsted, Connecticut, previous to his emi- gration, and was State Senator in Ohio from 1806 to 1809. Hannah was the wife of Davis Fuller, who was a pioneer of Hartford; Lucy
was the wife of Aaron Brockway, who was one of the first settlers of Vernon. They soon removed to Hartford, and about 1835 again removed to Forest county, Pennsylvania. Phebe was the wife of Asahel Borden. They settled on lot thirty in Hartford in 1804, where they both lived to a good old age, she dying at the age of ninety-one, and was the last of this family of pioneers to pass away.
Thomas Bushnell, eldest son of Captain Alexander and Chloe (Waite) Bushnell, was born in Lyme, Connecticut, January 11, 1762. He served during the last years of the Revolu- tion in his father's company. He married Re- becca Andrews, of Hartland, Connecticut, and emigrated with a family of ten children to Ohio in 1804. He located first on lot twenty-four, and in a few years re-located on lot seventeen. He only lived to endure the hardships and priva- tions of pioneer life, not long enough to enjoy its pleasures which follow. He died of fever April 10, 1817. His was the first death in his father's family. He was greatly respected in the community and much beloved by his numer- ous relatives, and his death was a severe shock and a great loss to his own family.
His children were General Andrews Bushnell; Rebecca, wife of Colonel Horace Flower, who settled first in Hartford, and afterward in Bloom- field ; Jerusha, wife of Linus Hayes ; Hannah, wife of Colonel Asa Hutchins and mother of Hon. Wells Hutchins, of Portsmouth, Ohio ; Matilda, wife of Lester Hayes ; Lorena, wife of Dr. Cullin Wilcox; Thomas, Jr., who lived for many years in Bloomfield; Amanda, wife of Samuel Corning; and Eli, who lived and died in Hartford.
General Andrews Bushnell, eldest son of Thomas, was born in Hartland, Connecticut, August 14, 1782, married Sarah Lane, of the same place, and immediately started for New Connecticut as it was then called. He settled on lot twenty-four, in Hartford, where he died June 17, 1851. He was an extensive farmer and one of the pioneer breeders of blooded cattle in northern Ohio. He was also in early life an efficient and accurate surveyor ; was for four years sheriff of Trumbull county, and held various other positions of trust and honor. He held a lieutenant's commission in the War of 1812 ; commanded a company at the Thames
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where Tecumseh was killed, and did brave and honorable service in the defence of Fort Erie, where he was wounded by a musket ball through the left lung, for which he received a pension the remainder of his life. He was an able and well drilled officer, and after the close of the war was made brigadier-general of militia, which position he held with honor many years. He was a member of the Congregational church, and a Whig in politics until the formation of the Liberty party, which he supported until his death. His children were Jerusha, who died at the age of nineteen years, a young lady highly esteemed and sincerely regretted by the community; Da- vid E., who is supposed to have died in Pales- tine in January, 1840. He was intelligent young farmer of great originality and very studious habits, fond of historical reading and investiga- tion. Restive of farm life he laid extensive plans for foreign travel and research, for which work he had remarkable qualities. He accord- ingly left home in December, 1838. He landed at Liverpool, traveled through England, France, Switzerland, and Italy, spent some time in Egypt, traveled up the Nile to Abyssinia, visited the missionaries at Beyroot, and left that place January 8, 1840, with a guide, intending to visit Jerusalem and other points in Palestine. The guide soon returned and reported that Bushnell was short of money and had gone on alone, since which time no tidings were ever received, and it is supposed he was killed by his guide for his money. General Bushnell's next child was Mary, wife of Simon R. Estabrook, of Warren; and the youngest, Seth A., for many years a resident of Hartford, now of Oberlin, Ohio.
Eli W. Bushnell, youngest son of Thomas and Rebecca Bushnell, married Electa, daughter of Elam Jones, one of the pioneers of Hartford. He was a resident of the township of Hartford the greater part of his life. He was well known in the county as one of the best mechanics in the State. For many years he was proprietor of an axe-factory, and manufactured edge tools of all kinds. At one time every tool in his estab- lishment-was made by his own hands, including anvils, vise, screw-plates, trip-hammers, etc. It was a matter of pride with him to be able to make or repair any tool which was constructed of steel or iron, no difference how large or small. His factory was destroyed by fire in 1859, after
which he was not again engaged in active busi- ness.
He was an honest, conscientious man who al- ways remembered to practice the Golden Rule. His heart was ever open for deeds of charity, and the poor and oppressed always found in him sympathy and help. He was one of the ad- vance guards of the old Liberty party, being one of the twelve first voters of that party in his township.
He was long a member of the Congregational church, of which he was one of the deacons. He died September 8, 1862. His children are Thomas A., who resides at the old home of the family ; Cordelia A., wife of F. B. Plimpton, political editor of the Cincinnati Commercial ; and Sarah Pauline, residing with her brother.
Daniel Bushnell, the second son of Captain Alexander and Chloc Bushnell, was born in Lyme, Connecticut. December 18, 1763, and married first Rebecca Banning, and second Eunice Brockway.
He also served in the army for a short time near the close of the war for independence in his father's company. He emigrated from Hartland, Connecticut, in 1803, and settled on lot thirty, where he resided till he died, August 12, 1842. He was in early life a carpenter, hav- ing been the builder of the Congregational church in Hartland, Connecticut, in 1801. He also took an active part in building the Congre- gational church in Hartford in 1819. He was a devoted and active church member, and in early times, when ministers were not always to be had, he conducted religious meetings and gave cate- chetical and Bible instructions to the children of the vicinity. He was an enthusiastic and in- dustrious man, and possessed the requisite ele- ments of a first-class pioneer. He was a life- long and faithful member of the Masonic tra- ternity. He raised a family of seventeen chil- dren, most of whom lived to maturity; some be- coming residents of this county and others going west. Their names were Lewis, Lydia, Ziba, Amoret, Daniel Milton, Clarissa, George Willis, Hiram, Rhoda, Elijah Newton, Alexander, Joseph, Joseph second, Rebecca, Philena, and Benjamin. Of this large family but one, George W., is at present a resident of Hartford, though many of the descendants reside in Trumbull county.
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Dr. George W. Bushnell, third son of Daniel and Rebecca Bushnell, was born in Hartland, Connecticut, August 11, 1800, consequently was three years of age at the time the family emi- grated, and has the most of his life been a resi- dent of Hartford. He married Miss Sally Bates, September 8, 1824.
He endured as a child the privations and hardships of pioneer life, and early learned that patience and industry were indispensable to suc- cess. Striving to keep pace with all the necessities of a new country, he learned anything necessary to be learned. First, farming ; second, carpenter work being in demand he learned to be a car- penter ; shoes being one of the great necessities, he learned shoe-making. Early becoming dis- satisfied with the allopathic treatment of dis- eases, he studied the botanic practice for the purpose of treating his own family. His success at home was such he was soon called upon to treat his neighbors' families. By faithful study and strict attention to his patients, he soon ac- quired a reputation as a successful physician,
and has since devoted his entire time to the practice of medicine. He has made for himself an honorable reputation for skill and integrity worthy of emulation. In view of his worthy labors the Physio-medical Institute of Cincinnati conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of medicine.
He has been in the field of medical reform for over fifty years ; for forty years has not used tea or coffee, believing them to Be useless, if not hurtful. He has never used tobacco in any form, considering it a vile poison. Intoxicating .drinks he never employed. He has sought to obey the laws of life in all things ; "to be tem- perate in all things," and to practice what he preaches, "the proper use of things proper for use, and the total abstinence from things naturally hurtful."
Dr. Bushnell was an active agent in the first organization of the church of the Disciples of Christ in Hartford, May 1, 1830, and was at that time chosen overseer of the church, which place he filled with credit to himself and advantage to the church. September 3, 1843, the church gave him a certificate of recommendation to go forth as an evangelist teacher, in which capacity he faithfully labored for some years in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
On June 21, 1846, he resigned his office as overseer of the church on account of the opposi- tion to his anti-slavery sentiments, and finally withdrew July 2, 1847, and united with the Con- gregational church, where he remained till the Disciple church passed the following resolutions January 15, 1853:
Resolved, That we as a church of the Disciples of Christ in Hartford, Ohio, do consider slave-holding to be man- stealing.
Resolved, That we will have no Christian or church fellow- ship with slave-holders, or those who hold their fellow-men as chattel property, nor with those who justify and willingly uphold, aid, or abet them in so doing.
Upon the passage of the above resolutions he again united with the Disciples, and was again chosen overseer, which office he continued to fill until May 31, 1881, when he tendered his resig- nation of office with good will to all, being eighty- one years of age. His remarkable executive powers, his untiring zeal, his undying devotion to his belief of the truth, has made him the most active worker in the church. His services were never for filthy lucre's sake, his labors always hav- ing been gratuitous. He has done more work, contributed more money, and done more preach- ing during the fifty years since the organization of this church, than any other person in it, and is yet a live member of the church, ready to do his part of whatever may be needed, although eighty-two years of age. The children of Dr. George and Sally Bushnell that have arrived at maturity are Curtis W., born October 14, 1825, .and died at the age of twenty-nine years; Sarah B., born September 8, 1827, married first Ste- phen Watkins, and second Charles Davis; Ed- ward, born Febuary 22, 1831, died at the age of nineteen years; Allen R., born July 18, 1833; Amoret, born June 20, 1835, married Addison Ruey; John L., born December 13, 1837; Annie, born December 7, 1841, married Dr. James Ir- win; Milo F., born July 18, 1844, enlisted into the United States service June 11, 1862, and died in the United States hospital at Gallipolis, Ohio, April 17, 1863. His father being notified of his danger reached Gallipolis the evening of the 14th, but on the morning of the 17th he died. He caused his body to be embalmed and encased in a metallic coffin, and returned with him to his native place, where he was interred some days later with military honor, the funeral being one of the largest ever attended in the township. All
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the sons of the family living in 1861 were Union soldiers in the war of the Rebellion.
Allen R. Bushnell, son of Dr. George W. Bushnell, is a resident of Lancaster, Wisconsin. Receiving his education in his native State, he went to Wisconsin in 1854, where he studied law with Judge Stephen R. Payne, at Platteville; was admitted to the bar at Lancaster in 1857, commencing practice in Platteville. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in company C, Seventh Wisconsin volunteer infantry. He was made a first lieutenant and afterward captain, and served with his regiment in the Iron brigade until 1863, when he was discharged for disability, and re- sumed practice at Platteville. He removed to Lancaster in 1864. He is very little of a poli- tician, but has been district attorney and mem- ber of the Legislature.
Colonel William Bushnell, third son of Cap- tain Alexander and Chloe Bushnell, was born in Lyme, Connecticut, May 18, 1766, and married, first, Mary Borden, of Hartland, Connecticut, and second, Mrs. Candace Adams, of Bristol township. He was the first of the Bushnell family to emigrate and was the first settler in the south part of the township of Hartford, his deed being dated December 31, 1800. He came with his family, then consisting of eight children, in June, 1801, and located on what is now known as Thompson hill, on the diagonal road. A portion of his first purchase is still in the possession of his grandson, Austin Bushnell. He was elected captain of the first military com- pany organized in the township, in 1804, and afterwards served as colonel of the regiment. He was among the early commissioners of the county and filled other county and township of- fices during the early part of the century.
He was a man of great firmness and decision of character, ardent in all his feelings and honor- able in all his dealings, and in his day a man much respected.
His children were : Wilson, Daniel Cone, Lester, Fanny, Alexander, Polly, Lovissa, Sophia, William, and Austa, the last two only natives of the township. These all lived to maturity, married, and all settled in the township. In the summer of 1828, when the typhoid fever pre- vailed, his wife, five children, two grandchildren, and a daughter-in-law all fell victims to the dis- ease. Daniel Cone and Alexander lived for
many years and died in the township, respected and worthy farmers, the latter having been trustee of the township twenty-one years. Lovisa was the wife of Ambrose Hart, for many years merchant at Brookfield. Sophia married Amos Hart and settled first in Hartford, and about 1840 emigrated to Brighton, Iowa. William was the first white male child born in the township; born June 11, 1802. Many of the descendants of Colonel William Bushnell reside in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.
Daniel Cone, born August 20, 1788, married Polly Hutchins and their children were : Upson, who resides in Gustavus; William, of Epworth, Iowa; Dr. J. Hutchins Bushnell, of Washington, District of Columbia; Nelson Bushnell, Esq., of Franklin, Pennsylvania; and Austin, a resident of Hartford.
Alexander, son of Colonel William Bushnell, was born in Hartland, Connecticut, April 14, 1794, and married, first, Nancy Hummason, and second, Martha Bailey. Their children are : Luman, Lester, Candace, Joel, William, Huldah, and Ellen.
Joel married Mrs. Mary G. Bussey, and resides on the farm where his father first settled in 1816, and on land first purchased by his great-grand- father, Captain Alexander Bushnell, from the original proprietors of the township. He is at present justice of the peace and trustee of the township.
THE BORDEN FAMILY.
Among the pioneers who came into Hartford during 1804 were Asahel Borden and his sons Asahel, Jr., and Sylvester. They left Hartland, Connecticut, May 29th, and arrived at their desti- nation July 20th, having been fifty-three days on the journey, traveling with an ox team. A few years later Russel Borden, a brother of Asahel Borden, Sr., and their mother, Widow Mary Bor- den, also came. She was born in 1731, and was probably, at the time of her death, the oldest pioneer. She died in 1818, at the age of eighty- seven. Asahel Borden and his son Asahel, Jr., settled on lot twenty-four on the diagonal road. He died July 26, 1826, and his wife Jemima (Jones) Borden, dicd December 22, 1818. Asa- hel Borden, Jr., and his wife Phebe (Bushnell) Borden, continued to reside at their first location
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nearly seventy years, and will long be remem- bered as social and hospitable pioneers. "The latch-string of their log cabin was always out," and in later years their residence was as freely opened to their numerous friends. They out- lived all their pioneer associates, he dying in 1869, at the age of eighty-seven, and she in 1875, at the age of ninety-one, being the last one of the early settlers.
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