USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > Pioneer period and pioneer people of Fairfield County, Ohio > Part 16
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Isaac Ijams was the father of Isaac, John and Wil- liam. William Ijams was the father of Richard and Howard. Thomas Ijams was the father of John, Joseph and Frederick. Eight men who were for many years prominent in business, in and about West Rush- ville. Joseph was especially distinguished as a mer- chant and dealer in tobacco. His splendid six-horse
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teams used in his business are still the talk of the old people. He failed in business in 1841, and moved to Iowa. One of his sons became a prominent man in the West.
The first Methodist church built in Fairfield County was Richland chapel. It was a hewed log structure as plain as plain could be. It stood near the old grave- yard, and in sight of the home of Daniel Stevenson, not far from Wilson's. Those in the neighborhood who were Methodists or patronized that church prior to 1805, were Daniel Stevenson and wife, Isaac and Thomas Ijams, John J. Jackson, John Sunderland, Edward Teal, Samuel Hammil, David Swayze, Wil- liam Wilson, Jacob and Philip Sain, William Turner, John Murphey, William Harper, John Manly, Thomas and John Bond and Isaac Wiles and their families.
Thomas and David Wilson were staunch Metho- dists. Jesse Stoneman, James Quinn and Asa Shinn were the first men to preach to these people. Bishop Asbury preached to them in 1803, and again at a great camp-meeting in 1807, when over 1000 people were in attendance. Bishop McKendry preached there, James Axly and Peter Cartright, James B. Findlay and Bishop Roberts.
The writer gleaned most of the facts in this sketch from a manuscript left by the late Thomas Wilson. an authority that will not for a moment be questioned by those who knew him.
THE MURPHEY FAMILY
The Murphey family was quite a large and promi- nent one in pioneer times in this county. Edward Murphey examined the country in 1798 and '99 and returned to the East. In the year 1800 his father,
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
William Murphey, and three sons, William, Benjamin and Edward, settled near where Millersport now stands. Rev. John Murphey, a local Methodist preacher, and a brother of William, came in the same year and purchased a section of land about one and one-half miles west of Rushcreek. He built a cabin near the spot where a large brick home was after- wards built by his son-in-law, Edward Murphey, which brick house is still standing. It was in this cabin where Bishop Asbury spent his first night in Fairfield County and where he preached in 1803. Benjamin Murphey died early and we have no record of him, except that he paid tax in 1806 and moved to Licking County.
William Murphey, son of the pioneer, became a very prominent and well known man in Walnut town- . ship. In his early years he was a hunter and Indian trader and carried his fur on pack horses to Winches- ter, Va., and with the proceeds purchased a section of land, on which he in a few years built a brick house. He was born in Virginia in 1774 and died in the year 1854. He was a famous fox hunter and up to within a few years of his death kept a large pack of hounds. He could ride a horse to perfection and clear the best fences.
His first wife was Hester Whittaker, either a sister or a daughter of Eli Whittaker, one of the early pio- neers of Walnut. Whittaker's wife was a sister of Thomas Cherry. The mother of the late Gen. Jas. M. Comly, editor of the Ohio State Journal, was a Whittaker. They lived near New Lexington. Thomas, John and Dakin Whittaker were sons of Eli. Mrs. Elijah Kemper, Mrs. John S. Manley, Mrs. Geo. B. Wiseman, Mrs. Geo. Haver and Mrs. Asa
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Murphey were his daughters., all well known people of the past. Murphey's second wife was a daughter of Joseph Holmes, a grand old pioneer of Walnut township.
The family of William Murphey consisted of one son and five daughters. James Wilson Pearse, who when a boy, was a clerk along with John D. Martin in N. R. Usher's store at Monticello, in 1833 married Eliza Murphey. They lived upon a farm near Mil- lersport. Their children were William, living in Newark, and Mrs. Matlack, of Lancaster. James Ball, for many years a popular justice of the peace, married Belinda. Ball was a fine looking gentleman and much esteemed. Their son, James Ball, lives in Fostoria, Ohio, Mrs. R. Morrison in Bowling Green, Ohio, and two daughters, nice maiden ladies, in New- ark, Ohio. Hester married a Mr. White, of Penn- sylvania. She is a well preserved and handsome elderly lady, and lives with her children in Wester- ville, Ohio. Dr. Van Metre, of Circlevile, married Nancy, the youngest daughter. Rachel Murphey married John Pugh. They were the parents of the late Byron M. Pugh.
William, the son, was born in 1818 and received a good education, besides inheriting 350 acres of land. December 25, 1849, he was married to Mary Jane Cherry, daughter of Thomas Cherry, of Walnut. She was born August 22, 1830. They were the parents of eight children, one of whom died young.
Edward Murphey, brother of William (the old hunter ) married his cousin, Sarah, daughter of John Murphey, and a sister of Elizabeth Rowles. They were married in 1801 by William Trimble, a justice of the peace. Edward built a cabin on his father-in-
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
law's farm and in late years a large brick house, which is still standing. In his log house he kept a frontier tavern for a number of years. Mrs. Murphey was a famous woman in her time. She is credited with rearing 32 orphan children, in addition to her own family of five. Color made no difference to her. She raised Joseph Blanchard, well known in Lancaster, and Isabelle, the wife of old Perry Cooper. Edward Murphey died in the fifties. His wife outlived him several years and became the second wife of Asa Mur- phey, who at the time lived near Carroll.
Theodore, the son of Edward and Sarah Murphey, married Arabella Rowles in 1840, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Rowles. They spent their lives upon the old Murphey farm in the peaceful pursuit of agri- culture and the rearing of a family. Arabella Mur- phey died in 1848 and Theodore married a second wife.
The sons of Theodore Murphey were Edward N. Murphey, now a guard in the Ohio Penitentiary, Henry, the present postmaster of West Rushville, Pierson E. Murphey', a grain and produce dealer of West Rushville, F. A. Murphey, also a resident of West Rushville. The Murphey family has always been a highly respectable one and allied by marriage to many of the best families of the county.
CHILDREN OF JOHN MURPHEY.
Elizabeth Murphey, wife of Jesse Rowles and mother of Mrs. Theodore Murphey was born June 2, 1777. She was married March 27, 1798. She died in Bremen, Ohio, November 11, 1843.
Another daughter of Rev. John and Esther Mur- phey married Edward Teal, Jr., and they moved to Ox-
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ford, Butler County, Ohio. He was a son of a grand old pioneer and the father of a large family. Althea Murphey married a Mr. Roland and moved to Ash- land County, Ohio. Achsa Murphey married a Mr. Bailey and moved to eastern Ohio.
Nelly Murphey married Henry Huddle and they moved to Augusta County, Virginia. John and his wife, Edward and his wife, Theodore and his wife are buried in or near West Rushville. When on their way to their new home in the wilderness, Mrs. Mur- phey learned of the death of her mother, Mrs. Peddi- cord, in Pennsylvania. This news almost broke her heart, already full of sorrow. She could not leave her family and return, and like other brave pioneers, under circumstances of distress and sorrow, she turned her face to the west and bid home and mother adieu forever.
They followed Zane's trace through an unbroken forest to Rushcreek. Here in a lonely cabin with her husband and children she spent what was left of life. The frequent visits of Bishop Asbury and other pio- neer Methodist preachers, who preached in their cabin and enjoyed their hospitality, was about all there was to cheer them in their isolated home - no roads then, no churches, no schools, no newspapers, and but few books. All they learned of what was going on in the world was from an occasional letter from the East, on which the postage was twenty-five cents, or from pass- ing travelers or itinerant preachers.
We omitted in its proper place the name of Basil Murphey, son of William. His family moved to Del- aware, Ohio. One of his daughters, Miss Linda, an elderly maiden lady, resides there.
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
MURPHEY FAMILY SUPPLEMENT.
The second wife of Theodore Murphey was Mar- garet Alford. Their daughter married Alexander Huston and they live on a farm near the old home- stead. As long as sixty years ago, three sisters lived here with their mother, named Murphey. They lived for a while in the old Peck dwelling, opposite Hotel Martin. We can not learn the name of the father but he was a relative of John and Edward Murphey.
In 1842 Lydia married Joel Radebaugh, then in the clerk's office, but later Probate Judge of Fairfield County. The judge died a year or two since in Ta- coma, Washington, leaving a widow and one son, Randolph Foster Radebaugh, named for Bishop Foster.
Rachel married William Winthrop Sifford, whom John Sherman, in his autobiography, named as one of his school-mates. They moved to Indianapolis and Sifford died there.
Elizabeth was a milliner and at one time had a fine store in the Collins' block. She married a Mr. Key, a gentleman from Wheeling, Va., about 1859. They in a year or two moved to Wheeling. Key was one of the famous family of that name, immortalized by the " Star Spangled Banner." He is said to have inherited a fortune after going to Wheeling. Their son went to Texas and became a cowboy. He mar- ried the handsome daughter of an Indian chief. His wife died young and left three children. These he took to Wheeling and placed them under the care of his mother. The writer met him on his way return- ing to Texas, and had this story from his own lips.
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THE HOLMES FAMILY
William M. Holmes, the ancestor of the Holmes family, came from England to Baltimore, Maryland, in or about the year 1700. His wife, Honore Wells, was born December 10, 1724. They were married when she was in her 16th year. Their children were, Lenorah, born 1742; William, born 1746; James, the subject of this sketch, was born February 13, 1748; Sarah, 1750. She married Colonel Alex. McLain, of Uniontown, Penn .; Elizabeth was born February 12, 1753. She married George Wells, and they settled in Union township, Licking County, Ohio. Thomas, born 1755, settled in Licking County .; Alexander, born 1757, was killed in the revolutionary war.
William M. Holmes died March 10, 1758. His widow married Richard Brown, November 17, 1759. Brown was colonel under General Washington. He lived in Pennsylvania at that time. They moved as early as 1796 to Holliday's Cove, on the Ohio river, near the present town of Wellsburg, Va. Colonel Brown died February 8, 1811, aged 71 years. His wife died March 28, 1816, aged 90 years. Their daughter Rachel married General James Wells who settled on the Hooker farm in 1801, and whom we will sketch in another paper. General Wells was a brother of the George Wells mentioned - the hus- band of Elizabeth Holmes.
The Holmes family was prominent in the history of this county. The family of the founder. James Holmes, Sr., consisted of thirteen sons and one daugh- ter. They were all married and all reared families with one exeception.
Thirteen sons, remarkable for longevity, good character and business ability. The oldest sons were
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
very well educated and filled important positions in life. James Holmes, Sr., was a soldier of the Revo- lution, and after the war ended he settled in Wash- ington County, Pa., where he married Ann Whittaker, a sister of Eli Whittaker. He had quite a family of boys before emigrating to the west and they received a good education for the time in which they lived. He belonged to the hardy people known as the Scotch Irish. He came with his family to Fairfield County in 1802. He purchased the land which lay between the William Murphey farm and what is now Millersport. On this farm he built the first brick house in that part of the county. But on this farm in an ordinary log house he reared his large family. They began to leave soon and settled upon tracts of their own. The Murpheys, Whittakers, Crawfords, Havers and Cherrys formed a fine pioneer neighborhood. They intermarried and raised large families, and for one hundred years their influence has been one for good. James Holmes lived to be 79 years of age and his wife 69 years. They were buried near the home of Alex- ander and James, Jr., at the Wells graveyard or George's Chapel, one-half mile north of Luray, in Licking County. James Holmes was slightly lame, caused by a wound received in the Revolutionary war. He was a man of sterling qualities, and very prominent in his neighborhood. He built the first brick house in Walnut township. Thomas Holmes, a brother of James, settled in Union township, Licking County, Ohio. He died, aged 78 years, and was buried at George's Chapel, near Luray, Ohio.
Alexander Holmes was the eldest son of James. He was well educated in Pennsylvania. He married a daughter of the first William Murphey and a sister
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of Mrs. John Van Buskirk, of Licking County. He settled upon the farm where he lived and died, in Union township, in 1802. He was a fine surveyor and was for some time employed as a land surveyor for the government. Subsequently he was elected county surveyor of Licking County, He surprised and disgusted his father by early predicting that the Ohio Canal would some day be built and would pass through his farm. A prediction that came true. He reared a family and lived to an advanced age. His body is said to have been buried on his farm.
Alexander Holmes was much more than an ordi- nary man. About the year 1808 he was appointed an Associate Judge of Licking County and served one term.
In 1825 Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, commenced the Ohio Canal by throwing a shovel full of earth at the Licking Summit.
Licking and Fairfield Counties united in celebrating this event. Governor Clinton was received by a com- mittee from each county. Judge Holmes and Judge Wilson for Licking and Judge Scofield and Colonel John Noble for Fairfield. Thomas Ewing delivered the oration and Gottlieb Steinman furnished the din- ner. Judge Holmes at this time was one of the most distinguished men of Licking County. In his early life, in the woods, his father and mother and son Eli paid him. a visit. On the way, in the forest, they noticed a smoke and soon saw the fire. Mrs. Holmes filled her pipe and gave it to Eli to light for her. Going to the fire he found a family living and keeping house in a hollow sycamore tree - where they had lived for one year.
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
Thomas Holmes, son of James, was born in Penn- sylvania, and came with his father to Ohio. He mar- ried Rachel Wells, his cousin. She was a daughter of George Wells, who married Elizabeth Holmes, a sister of James Holmes. George Wells lived in Union township, Licking County, and both he and his wife were buried at George's Chapel. Thomas Holmes pur- chased a section of land north of what is now Carroll. He was there as early as 1806, and a tax payer. He lived an honorable and useful life and left a good name as the heritage of his children. He died Octo- ber 14, 1847, aged 68 years. Rachel, his wife, died January 8, 1845, aged 59. They were both buried at the Carroll cemetery. They were the parents of five sons, Thomas, James, George, Alexander and Richard. All dead but the last one named.
Wesley Holmes, a Carroll merchant, is the only son of George Holmes. He married Catharine Aldred, a sister of Dr. A. T. Aldred, late of Carroll.
Elizabeth, daughter of George, is the wife of Cap- tain O. B. Brandt, a farmer near Carroll. They live on the old home place. Mary, daughter of George, married Dr. Hummel, of Baltimore. James Brandt, an energetic young man, is a grandson.
James, son of James, and grandson of Thomas, is a farmer on the old Whittaker place, and also runs the creamery. He was brought up by James Picker- ing and wife. Henry Holmes, brother of James, is the present mayor of Carroll. The daughters of James, son of Thomas, are Mrs. G. W. Luckey, Mrs. George Groves, of Dayton, Miss Florence of Indiana, Ella, wife of Postmaster Kraner, of Pickerington ; Maria, wife of Samuel Ludwig Reeves, superintendent of workhouse, at Columbus, Ohio. Richard, son of
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Pioneer Period and Pioneer People
Thomas, married Miss Miller. They were not blessed with children. Richard is the only grandson of the pioneer, James Holmes, living so far as we can learn. The daughters of Thomas Holmes, son of James, the pioneer, were Mrs. Nancy Bayless, of Fort Wayne, Ind .; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Taylor. She died a short time ago. They had lived a married life of sixty-five years. Henry Taylor is a grand old man. Rachel married for her first husband Dakin Whit- taker. Her second husband was James Pickering, grandfather of the Lancaster postmaster. Harriet married George Tong, a grandson of W. H. Tong, the man who entertained Bishop Asbury the first time that he preached in Lancaster, in 1807.
If correctly informed, this brother of George went to California. Alexander, a brother, became blind and spent his last years with Mrs. Taylor.
TONG
George Tong married second time to Nancy Har- rison, widow, March 17, 1818. George Tong died October 10, 1825. Nancy ( wife), April 10, 1826.
THEIR CHILDREN.
George Tong, born August 14, 1819, married Har- riet Holmes, September 7, 1843. Margaret Tong, born September 17, 1821, married Amos Drimell, 1838; Elisha Smith, 1844. Nancy Tong, born August 30, 1823, died in infancy.
The Tongs were prominent in Carroll for many years. They were good citizens and fine looking men. Thomas Holmes, Sr., owned a fine section of land just north of Carroll, running to Walnut creek.
Sarah married John W. Smith. They have both been dead some years. Henry T. Smith, of Lancaster,
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
is their son, and Thomas, another son, lives in Indiana. Marietta, the daughter, is the wife of Dr. Stewart of Pickerington. One of the chief characteristics of the Holmes family is good looks, and Mrs. Stewart is not deficient in this respect.
William Holmes, son of James, was born in Penn- sylvania and received some schooling there. He lived as early as 1803 on a fine farm in Licking County and late in life moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he died. He was an associate judge of Licking County from 1820 to 1830.
Richard Holmes, son of James, married a Cherry and moved to Schoolcraft, Michigan, where they lived and died upon their farmn.
James Holmes, Jr., was born in May, 1785, in Washington county, Pa. He came with his father to Fairfield County in 1802. His wife was Elizabeth Wells, and they were married in 1806, and settled upon a farm in Union township, Licking County, Ohio. His wife was a sister of Mrs. Thomas Holmes, and had several other relatives in this township. George, Rich- ard, Joseph, William and Bezeleel Wells.
A Methodist church was built in that neighborhood in 1812 and called "Wells' Meeting House." In late years a brick church was built and called "George's Chapel.
Here also is the Wells, Hand, Ford and Holmes graveyard.
Rev. George Callahan, a farmer and Methodist preacher lived in this neighborhood many years. His wife was a Wells.
Callahan was born in 1766, in Pennsylvania, and died in Jersey township, Licking County, in 1839, aged 73 years.
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Pioneer Period and Pioneer People
He was a circuit rider in western Pennsylvania and in the year 1787 crossed the Ohio and preached at Carpenter's fort, while a company of soldiers stood guard to protect .the white people from the Indians. Philip Ford, the grandfather of James and Charles Pickering, married a daughter of this Rev. George Callahan. He was the first M. E. preacher in Ohio. James Holmes, Jr., owned and improved four or five different farms in his life time, selling the last one in 1833, and moving to Fairfield County. In 1835 he moved to Hebron and became a merchant, in which he failed. He was wealthy and did not lose all.
When he died his body was embalmed and placed in a vault at George's Chapel. His wife gave direc- tion to bury her body in the grave, which was done.
This old settlement and the graveyard is an inter- esting spot. James Holmes was county surveyor for several years.
Samuel Holmes moved at an early day to Marion, Ohio, where he reared and educated a small family. He was for several years the county surveyor, an important office in a newly settled county. He has been dead at least sixty years. Several of his chil- dren died young in years. His son Samuel was deputy postmaster of Marion from 1849 to 1853 under Samuel A. Griswold, now a resident of this city. He moved from Marion to Sycamore, in Wyandot County, where he died.
A daughter of Samuel Holmes married James S. Reed, an old merchant of Marion and at the time of his death the leading banker and one of the wealthy men of Marion. He was an accomplished business man, well informed, and had few, if any, equals in the
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
city of Marion. His wife outlived him but is now dead. Samuel's sons, Richard and Charles, are both dead. George, a son of James Holmes, Jr., married Sarah Gill, a sister of John Gill.
A daughter married James Harvey, who began his business career selling tobacco and whiskey to the laborers on the national road. When Holmes failed as a merchant, Harvey bought the stock. His wife died early, and he married Miss Hand, a wealthy woman. He then moved to Newark and was rated the richest man in Licking County.
Reason Holmes, son of James, moved to the state of Michigan and spent his life upon a farm. Roland Holmes, son of James, went to Missouri at an early day, married there, and died childless Basil Holmes was a physician and married a Miss Cochran. He died near Kirkersville, Ohio, at Eli's house. Lemuel Holmes, son of James, moved to Wisconsin. was a farmer and reared a family. Eli Holmes settled upon a farm first in Walnut township and in the early days ran a distillery on section four. In late years he purchased a farm near Kirkersville and spent his old age there. He was a fine looking and much respected gentleman, and an enthusiastic member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
Eli Holmes married a daughter (Sallie) of Rich- ard Brown. She was a granddaughter of Edward Brown, brother of Colonel Richard Brown, father of Rachel Wells or Mrs. General James Wells. Mrs. Brown was a Whittaker, a sister of old Dakin and Eli Whittaker. When quite old Holmes moved to Putnam, Ohio (Zanesville), where he died.
Archibald Houston married his daughter, Amanda. His son, James H. Holmes, is a pension clerk in
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Washington, D. C. His daughter, Catharine, married Josiah Whittaker. His son, Eli, lives in Milford, Illinois. Basil, in Terra Haute, Indiana. His daugh- ter, Nancy, married Enos Wilkins, of Granville, Ohio.
Joshua Holmes, son of James, moved to Indiana and died there. He was the father of the late Mrs. James Ewing, of Pleasant township. Mrs. Ewing's daughters were handsome, like their mother, and were well educated. The eldest married a schoolmate named Zollars, of Licking County, Ohio. He was a lawyer and they moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. He was for one term a Judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana. Mrs. Bennett, the other daughter, lives in Chicago, Ill. Mrs. and Judge Zollars are prominent people of Fort Wayne, and delightful people to meet.
Joseph Holmes, son of James, lived and died in Walnut township, near Buckeye Lake; the farm is now owned by John Zollinger. He married a sister of Peter, George and Jerriah Haver and of Mrs. D. Pope, Mrs. Thomas Cherry, Mrs. John Meason and Mrs. John Brandon. A bevy of sisters noted for good taste and fine manners. They were prominent in a fine circle of nice people. Of the Methodist Church he was an honored and consistent member. He lived to a good old age, respected and honored by all who knew him. He was a fine talker and it was a great pleasure to hear him at his best. He was a good look- ing man and his daughters, Mrs. Aldred and Mrs. Whittaker, were handsome women.
Peter Holmes was the oldest son of Joseph. When about thirty years of age he started from Cin- cinnati to New Orleans and was never heard of after- wards.
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
William Holmes, son of Joseph, moved to near Fort Wayne, Ind. He became a stock dealer and soon moved to Pittsburg and engaged in the stock commis- sion business at East Liberty. He died a few years since. Joshua, George and Reason were (farmers. George lived a short time in Lancaster. George mar- ried a Reese, and Reason married a Thompson, and they spent their lives upon the old home farm. Upon the death of Reason, in due time, his widow married Peter Cool. Rebecca was the second wife of William Murphey, Sr. Hester died young. Elizabeth mar- ried David Cherry. He died in a few years and his widow married John Aldred, who recently died at Pataskala, Ohio. Nancy married John Whittaker and they moved to New Lexington, Ohio, where they were prominent and highly esteemed.
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