Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio, Part 2

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 570

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 2
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 2
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 2

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"Jesus, lover of my soul."

As his rich voice poured forth the exalted melody, his auditors burst into tears. He was never looking for special blessings, but constantly prayed for general ones. He was without envy or jealousy, and rejoiced in the prosperity of every man he knew. He was an affectionate son, a devoted hus- band, a kind, indulgent father, a tender, sympathizing brother, a good citizen, a dis- tinct man, and an humble, patient, Chris- tian gentleman. John W. Donavin lived a life of usefulness and died lamented by a community.

O AVID W. HENDERSON .- The record of a busy life, a successful life, must ever prove fecund in in- terest and profit as scanned by the student who would learn of the intrinsic essence of individuality; who will attempt an analysis of character and trace back to the fountain head the widely diverging chan- nels which mark the onward flow, the con- stantly augmentive progress, if we may be permitted to use the phrase, of such individ- uality. All human advancement, all human

weal or woe; in short, all things within the inental ken, are but mirrored back from the composite individuality of those who have lived. "The proper study of mankind is man," says Pope, and aside from this, in its broader sense, what base of study and infor- mation have we ?

Genealogical research, then, has its value, be it the tracing of an obscure and broken line, or the following back the course of a noble and illustrious lineage, whose men have been valorous, whose women of gentle refinement. We of this end-of-the- century, democratic type cannot afford to scoff at or to hold in light esteem the bear- ing up of a 'scutcheon upon whose fair face appears no sign of blot, and he should be thus the more honored who honors a noble name and the memory of noble deeds.

The lineage of the subject of this review is one of distinguished and most inter- esting order, and no apology need be made in reverting to this in connection with the record of the individual accomplishment of the subject himself. Dr. David W. Hen- derson, who stands forth as one of the most able and honored physicians and surgeons of Union county, Ohio, has been a resident of said county from his boyhood days, though he is a native of Indiana county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the paternal farmstead, October 4, 1823, the son of John and Anna (Jack) Henderson.

The Henderson family is of Scotch origin. The great-grandfather of our sub- ject was one Hugh Henderson, a prominent resident of the town of Fordell, county of Fife, Scotland. Three sons of this ancestor, Alexander, William and John, came to the American colony of Virginia about the mid- dle of the seventeenth century. After their arrival the three brothers became separated,

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

locating in different colonies and thus being lost sight of by the original family in Scot- land. They were disinherited by their family in Scotland by reason of their sup- porting the Colonial cause, each of them having participated in the war of the Revo- lution. One is supposed to have settled in Kentucky; another to have remained in Virginia, though his family in time scattered through northeast Georgia and Texas; while the third, the grandfather of our subject, took up his abode in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, near Chambersburg. The male line of the original house, as represented by Robert Bruce Henderson, has become ex- tinct in Scotland, but the name is being perpetuated by George William Mercer, son of Douglas Mercer, the former of whom married one of the women of the Henderson family and who assumed the name of Henderson by royal license. George W. (Mercer) Henderson is Lieutenant General and Colonel of the Sixty-eighth British Foot. The Henderson family is of ancient Scotch origin, and has been from time immemorial siezed of estates in Cathness and Fife. One of the first baronetcies was held by a mem- ber of the family. Sir Robert Bruce Hen- derson, of Fordell, was the last Baronet, having been successively Member of Parlia- ment for the counties of Fife and Sterling. The family was allied with the famous houses of Stuart, Calderwood, Clerk, Hamil- ton, Chalmers, St. Clair (or Sinclair), Laing and others. The family has always been prominent in a military line, having furnished to the British army, navy and honorable East India service more gallant soldiers than probably any other one Scot- tish family, being distinctively a race of patriots. Upon the crest of the coat-of- arms of the family appears the motto:

"Tola Virtus Nobilitat," (Our valor alone ennobles us).

On the maternal side the ancestry of our subject traces back to the north of Ireland. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Henderson was James Jack, who came from Ireland to America when a lad of fourteen years, locating in New Jersey, and subsequently removing to Indiana county, Pennsylvania. He served in the war of the Revolution.

John Henderson, father of our subject, was born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1780, and passed his boyhood days with an uncle, who was a Presbyterian clergyman. He remained with this uncle until he had attained his majority, and in the succeed- ing year he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Jack, soon thereafter settling on a farm of 222 acres, owned by his wife and located in Indiana county, Pennsylvania. Their nearest neighbors were eight miles distant, though there were many Indians in the immediate vicin- ity. They remained there until 1837, when they came to Ohio, locating one mile south of Watkins, Union county, where Mr. Henderson purchased 160 acres of land, and where he remained until his death, which occurred September 15, 1847, at which time he had attained the age of sixty-seven years and eight months. His widow died in 1869, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. They were old Scotch Presbyterians in their religious faith; in his political views the father was a stanch Democrat of the Jeffersonian type, and was often importuned to accept public prefer- ments but as often declined. Of the family of children we offer the following epitomized record: Margaret H., wife of Thomas Mc- Kee, of Brookville, Pennsylvania, is de-

and me when su ao com/ at Mange ile. This, que, 30, 1895 Mary udelarde Faulantes

MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF 11/16/52

ceased; James died at the age of twenty-one years; John, who was engaged in farming in Indiana, is deceased; Sarah A., wife of David Gill, is deceased; Joseph, a resident of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, has been prominently identified with the political affairs of said county, having held many im- portant offices; Jane, widow of William Lig- gett, is now a resident of Denver, Colorado; Levinah is the wife of S. B. Woodburn, of Marysville, Ohio; David W. is the subject of this review; William C. resides on the old home farm in Union county; Mary E. is the wife of Charles McCampbell, of Indiana.

David W. Henderson was a lad of thirteen years when his parents removed to this county, and upon the parental farm he remained, assisting in the duties of the same. He attended the public school in Marysville for two years and then secured a two years' course of instruction in the Marysville Academy, an institution of considerable note in an early day. He then attended school at Delaware, Ohio, one year, and on the 12th of May, 1847, he enlisted for service in the Mexican war, becoming a member of company E, Fourth Regiment, under com- mand of Colonel Brough, serving until July, 1848. Within this time he encountered some hard service and made an honorable record as a valiant soldier. On his return home he, in company with his brother Wil- liam, bought out the interest of the other heirs to the old home place, the father hav- ing died within his absence. A few weeks subsequent to this he sold his interest in the estate to his brother William, after which he went to Delaware, Ohio, where he enter- ed the office of Dr. Ralph Hills, with whom he read medicine for three years, after which he became a student in the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, and graduated

in the class of 1852, the first class graduated at the present college building.

- After his graduation he located in Marys- ville, where he has ever since. remained in the active practice of his profession. It is particularly interesting to note that Dr. Hen- derson now occupies the position as the pioneer physician of the little city, claiming professional seniority over all other practi- tioners. His life has been an active one and one which has gained to him a high place in the esteem and affection of the peo- ple of the community, who value his worth of character not less than his professional ability.

At the outbreak of the late civil war he was made Surgeon of the Ninety-sixth regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, receiving his commission in September, 1862, and serving until April 8, of the following year, when his resignation, on account of disabil- ity, took effect, though he had served be- yond its date of acceptance, which was in April, 1863. Since that time his practice, which has been one of representative order, has been uninterrupted.

The marriage of our subject occurred December 29, 1857, when he espoused Miss Anna Hathaway, daughter of Ebenezer P. Hathaway, and a native of Union county, where she was born October 21, 1836. They have two children living: Lutrelle, who is a graduate of Starling Medical Col- lege, class of 1886, and who is associated with his father in practice; and Graily, who graduated at Starling Medical College in 1893, and who has now entered into active practice with his father and elder brother. William died at the age of three years, and the fourth child, a daughter, died in infancy. Dr. Lutrelle Henderson was united in mar- riage, October 26, 1887, to Miss Lottie D.

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

Dolbear, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Dolbear, of Marysville; Dr. Graily Hender- son married Miss Ida Turner, daughter of Velorus and Louisa Richey Turner, of this city, the date of the ceremonial having been June 20, 1894. Both of the sons of our subject are thoroughly informed in the line of their profession, and in the character and extent of their practice are taking rank with those who have been in the field for years. In August, 1893, Dr. Lutrelle Henderson was appointed a member of the Board of Pension Examiners for Union county, and received incidental preferment as Secretary of the Board. Fraternally he is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college order and politically he is a Democrat. In addition to other technical preparation for his profes- sional work, he completed a special course in chemistry at the State University.

In his fraternal relations our subject is identified with the Masonic Order, being a member of Palestine Lodge, No. 158; Marysville Chapter, No. 99; and Raper Commandery, No. 19, of Urbana, Ohio. He is also a prominent member of Ransom Reed Post, No. 113, G. A. R.

Our subject is an honored member of the State Medical Society and he is the only physician referred to in Union county in the Record of the Prominent Surgeons of the United States.

ENERAL J. S. JONES .- Back to that cradle of our national history, the "Old Dominion," must we turn in tracing the lineage of the honored resident of Delaware, Ohio, whose name initiates this review. We find that William H. Jones, a native of Virginia, and doubly orphaned while still a child, left

Westmoreland county, that State, when a youth of fourteen years (in the year 1818) and came to Ohio for the purpose of making for himself a home and a place in the great economy of human activities. Though a mere boy he entered claim to eighty acres of land in Johnston township, Champaign county, Ohio, and with an undaunted courage prepared to bring the same to a point of yielding returns for labor expanded. To the securing of this unimproved claim he applied the first $100 which he had been enabled to earn. Time and consecutive toil brought about the desired end .- he cleared up the farm and eventually brought the same to a high state of cultivation, there passing his declining years in peace and comfort. Having established a primi- tive abode upon his farm the young man next sought a companion to share his lot. Accordingly, at the age of nineteen years, he was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Sills, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and about the same age as himself. The young couple, scarcely more than children, estab- lished themselves upon their place and calmly prepared to "face a frowning world." There they lived, prospered in a material way, reared a family of four sons and four daughters and there fell into that rest which is eternal, -their life work ended, their course well run.

Such in brief is a record of the parentage of General J. S. Jones, to whose individual biography we now direct attention. He was born in Champaign county, Ohio, February 12, 1836, passing his boyhood years upon the parental farm and in attend- ing the district schools. March 3, 1853, at the age of seventeen years, he entered the preparatory department of the Ohio Wes- leyan University, at Delaware, and by ap-

MMEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

plying himself to such manual labor as he could secure in and about the town, he succeeded in defraying the expenses of his college course, -showing great self denial, living with extreme fru- gality and bending every effort to the ac- complishment of the desired end, a good education. He graduated, in the scientific course, June 13, 1855, and then turned his attention with equal vigor to preparing him- self for his chosen profession, that of law. He prosecuted his studies in the office of Powell & Vandeman, at Delaware, and was admitted to the bar in 1857.

Recognition of his ability and of his eligibility for a position of public trust came in 1860, when he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Delaware county. The dark cloud of the civil war soon cast its gruesome pall over the national horizon and, in 1861, Mr. Jones resigned his official position to go forth in the defense of his country, enlist- ing, on April 16, of that year, in Company C, Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. He was soon elected First Lieuten- ant of his company, his commission dating from the day of his enlistment. That he saw much of active service and that he never flinched from duty, is shown in his war record. He participated in the battles of Rich Mountain, July 10 and 11, 1861; Romney, October 26; and Blue Gap, Jan- uary 7, 1862. March 11, 1862, he was assigned to duty on the staff of General James Shields, after which he was in the following memorable engagements : Win- chester, March 22 and 23, 1862; Mount Jackson, April 17; Port Royal, May 25; Port Republic, June 9; Fredericksburg, December 18; Chancellorsville, May 2 and 3, 1863; Gettysburg, July 2 and 3; Mine Run, April 27 and 30; Poe River, May 14, 1864;

North Anna River, May 22, 23, 24; Cold Harbor, June 3.

Lieutenant Jones was promoted to a Captaincy September 25, 1862, and as such was mustered out with his regiment June 21, 1864. Within the same year he was nominated by acclamation as the Republi- can candidate for Representative of Dela- ware county in the State Legislature. This position he resigned on September 21st of that year to accept the appointment of Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy- fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infan- try. He participated with his regiment in the following engagements: Decatur, Ala- bama, October 28, 29, 30, 1864; Over-alls Creek (near Murfreesboro, Tennessee), De- cember 4; Shelbyville Pike (in the vicinity of the same city), December 7; Kingston, North Carolina, March 10, 1865.

On the 27th of June, 1865, he was bre- vetted Brigadier General for "gallant and meritorious service during the war." The great conflict having been brought to a close and the supremacy of the Union forces de- termined, General Jones was mustered out July 27, 1865.

Crowned with laurels won by patriotic services upon the field of battle, our subject directed his attention once more to the accomplishment of the no less renowned victories of peace. He returned to his home at Delaware, and on the 2d of April, 1866, he was honored by his townsmen by elec- tion to the office of Mayor. In October of the same year he was once more elected Prosecuting Attorney of Delaware county, to which position he was twice re-chosen as his own successor, finally refusing the third renomination in 1872.

He was appointed, in 1872, trustee of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home,

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

one of the most noble institutions of the State, with which he has been officially con- nected from the time of its inception to the present, being now president of the board of trustees, and ever maintaining a lively in- terest in the success of the home. In 1873 there was conferred upon the General by his alma mater the honorary degree of Master of Arts. He was Presidential Elec- tor on the Grant and Wilson ticket in 1872, representing the Ninth Congressional Dis- trict of Ohio. In the Centennial year he was elected a member of the Forty-fifth Congress, as Representative from the same district, proving himself a discriminating and conservative legislator. At the close of his first term in Congress he was the victim of à "gerrymander," by which his county was placed in a district overwhelmingly Demo- cratic. He was a member of the Sixty- fourth and Sixty-fifth General Assemblies of the State, serving during four years as chair- man of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives.

August 8, 1865, General Jones was united in marriage, at Delaware, Ohio, to Miss Louise S. Campbell, a native of Knox county. They are the parents of three children, of whom we offer brief record as follows: Clara L., who graduated at Vassar College in 1887, is at present preceptress of the East Green- wich Academy, Rhode Island; William Ber- nard graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity in 1889, and is a member of the law firm of Jones, Lytle & Jones, having been admitted to the bar in March, 1892; Carroll H., also a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University, is reading law in the office of the firm of which his father and brother are members.

General Jones has gained a marked pre- cedence in his profession, and his labors have -

been brought to successful issue, -standing in evidence of his ability and of the confi- dence begotten of careful methods. His life has been a superlatively active one and an equally useful one, and there is not need that more be written than is shadowed forth in the epitome of his life here offered. In his fraternal relations the General is identi- fied with the F. & A. M., the G. A. R. and the Loyal Legion.

HILIP SNIDER .- At this point we are permitted to touch upon the life history of one who, if for no other reason, merits recognition in the connection by reason of nearly a life- long residence in Union county, of which he may well be termed a pioneer. But super- induced to this circumstance are others which render the appearance of his biogra- phy within these pages all the more consist- ent. Suffice it to say, in general terms, that Mr. Snider stands forth distinctively as one of the representative men of the county, as will be shown by even the epitome which follows.

The parents of our subject were Peter and Catherine (Goodhart) Snider, the for- mer of whom was a native of Bavaria, Ger- many, where he was born in October, 1791. When but eight years of age he came with his father and his elder brother, John P., to America. It is supposed that they locat- ed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, soon after their arrival, and there Peter Snider grew to manhood. Attaining mature years he was united in marriage to Catherine Good- hart, a native of the Keystone State. After this important event in the lives of the young couple the husband assumed the con- jugal responsibilities, engaging in huxtering,

MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

which occupation he followed for a number of years, after which he assumed the keep- ing of a tavern, known as the Gap Hill Tavern, and located fifteen miles below Lan- caster. Later he was keeper of a tavern near New Holland, ten miles east of Lan- caster. In 1833 he resigned the manage- ment of this hostelry and came to Union county, Ohio, locating 150 acres of land three miles south of Marysville. He first purchased 100 acres, paying for the same at the rate of three dollars per acre; shortly afterward he secured an additional fifty acres continguous to the original purchase, paying six dollars per acre for the same. The 100-acre tract was partially cleared and had an orchard of young trees, but no im- provements in the way of buildings. He promptly began the erection of a house of hewed logs, and in this primitive domicile the family took up their residence. They arrived in May and the following September the purchase of the additional fifty acres was made, the same having a comfortable log house, an orchard and other improvements.

Peter Snider remained upon this farm until 1841 or '42, when the family removed to Hannibal, Missouri, leaving our subject on the old home farm, over which he re- mained in charge until 1846, when he re- moved to Marysville, as will be noted later on. In the following year he effected a sale of the farm, acting as agent for his father.

The mother of our subject died, in Union county, the fall after her arrival here, and the father, after his removal to Missouri, remained there until 1849, -the year which marked the great gold excitement in Cali- fornia, -when he became affected with the "fever" and joined the great throng moving over the weary stretch of plains and strug-

gling through the perilous mountain passes en route to the new Eldorado. He finally reached the Golden State and at once made his way to the diggings, there to commence his search for the precious metal. A man of fifty-eight years at the time, he endured the manifold vicissitudes so familiar to the old "Forty-niners," meeting with consider- able success in his quest for gold, and accu- mulating quite a snug sum. But fortune smiled for a moment only to frown for an hour, for he was attacked with the scurvy, and in his efforts to free himself from this loathsome disease he succeeded in expend- ing all his hard-earned money, finding him- self, in the year 1855, literally penniless in a strange land. Desirous of returning to his home in Missouri, he was not able to raise even sufficient funds to defray the expense of the long trip, but was finally favored in securing a loan from an old friend whom he chanced to meet on the streets of San Fran- cisco. The funds thus secured proved suf- ficient to transport him as far as Nicaragua, where, in order to secure means to enable him to complete his eventful journey, he entered the employ of the Government, as- sisting in putting down the insurrection of the natives. In due time he arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, and there passed the re- mainder of his days at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Philip Thomas, his demise occuring in June, 1863.

Peter and Catherine Snider were the parents of seven children, of whom we make brief record as follows: Philip is the subject of this review: Henry, a farmer, died in Missouri; Mary Ann, wife of Philip Thomas, died in St. Louis, Missouri; Louisa C. died at Modesto, California; David died in Missouri; Epha, widow of Frederick Storch, is a resident of LaCrosse, Wisconsin;

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

Susan, a resident of Modesto, California, is the widow of Ruhl C. Gridley, who attained a wide reputation from his connection with the sanitary commission at St. Louis, Mis- souri, being particularly referred to by Mark Twain in his "Roughing it at Silver City." Mr. Gridley was the man who was defeated for Mayor at the first municipal election of Silver City, and as the unsuccessful candi- date he carried out his part in the way of a previous wager on results, carrying a sack of flour from a certain point to another at some considerable distance. This flour was sold and resold by Mr. Gridley until a phenomenal sum was raised, and this fund he turned over to the sanitary commission, the incident being familiar to all who have read the book mentioned.

Philip Snider, the direct subject of this sketch, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1817, being reared principally on a farm. His parents being in modest circumstances he was lim- ited in the educational advantages afforded, attending the subscription schools as much as means would permit. After coming to Union county he secured about thirty days' schooling and this practically completed his theoretical educational training. However a retentive memory and a keen power of observation proved adequate to enable him to secure by absorption, as it were, a thor- ough business education, which, supple- mented by subsequent reading and interest in affairs, has made him a man of broad general information. He remained on the paternal farm and assisted his father in making a home; after he had attained his majority he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Burns, daughter of John and Mary Magdalena Burns, the nuptial ceremony being celebrated on Christmas day, 1838.

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Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio, Part 2

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 570

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 570