Portrait and biographical album of Greene and Clark counties, Ohio, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county; together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, Part 97

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 918

USA > Ohio > Clark County > Portrait and biographical album of Greene and Clark counties, Ohio, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county; together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States > Part 97
USA > Ohio > Greene County > Portrait and biographical album of Greene and Clark counties, Ohio, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county; together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States > Part 97

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Nathan Linton was one of the first settlers of Clinton County, migrating thither about 1800. Ile was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and for many years was prominent in local affairs, offi- ciating as County Surveyor and Land Agent for a long period. He was likewise interested in agri- eultural pursuits, and was the first man to introduce fine wool sheep into Ohio. He likewise established the first nursery in Clinton County, and from it many of the first orchards of that region for miles around, were set out. He put up the first briek house in Clinton County, and this still stands firmly on its foundation as a fitting monument to its builder. Ile departed this life in 1860, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was for many years an Elder in the Quaker Church, and one of the chief pillars in the church. Many and great have been

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the changes which he was permitted to witness dur- ing the transformation of a wilderness into the honies of a civilized and intelligent people.

Nathan Linton was married in Clark County, this State, to Miss Rachel Smith, a daughter of one of its earliest families. She died at the old home in Union Township about eighteen months after the deeease of her husband, and was eighty odd years old. The male members of the Linton family have been members of the Republican party since its organization. Nathan Linton, the father of our subject, was an active politician as were they all, and he with his brothers beeame well-to-do. Both men and women put their shoulders to the wheel in building up their homes, and maintained an envia- ble position in their community. They were the warm friends of education and progress, and Seth Linton, like his kinsmen, contributed substantial aid to the establishment and maintenance of Wil- mington College.

The subject of this sketch, after the death of his mother, was taken into the home of his grandfather, Seth Linton, with whom he remained nntil old enough, and far enough advanced in his studies to enter Wilmington College. On account of failing health, however, he was obliged to abandon his studies before being graduated. He then resumed the farming pursuits to which he had been reared, and on the 31st of December, 1885, took unto him- self a wife and helpmate, being married at Wil- mington, Clinton County, to Miss Cora L. Vanni- man. Mrs. Cora Linton was born in Jefferson Township, Greene County, April 14, 1867, and is the daughter of William H. Vanniman. The lat- ter, also a native of Jefferson Township, was born in February, 1840. Ilis fatlicr was Benjamin Van- niman, one of the first settlers of Jefferson Town- ship, a man who became well-to-do, and who was prominent among his fellow-citizens. He there lived and died, passing away when quite aged.

William HI. Vanniman spent his boyhood and youth in his native county, and when reaching man's estate, was married to Miss Mary J. Chaney. This lady spent her childhood and youtli at her birthplace in Greene County, and after marriage the young people settled in Jefferson Township. After a few years they removed to Bowersville,

where Mr. Vanniman dicd June 26, 1880. Ilis wife, Mary J., who was born October 26, 1845, de- parted this life at their home in Bowersville, No- vember 24, 1881 ; both were active members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Of this church Mr. Vanniman was an officer for many years. Polit- ically, he was a sound Republican.

Mrs. Linton received careful home training, and a good education, completing her studies in Wil- mington College. She lived with her parents un- til their death, and is now the mother of two chil- dren, Nathan E .. and William Noal. Mr. Linton in religious matters adheres to the Quaker faith of his forcfathers. Mrs. Linton is a Methodist.

W ILLIAM W. LEWIS, who bas been for many years closely identified with the in- dustrial interests of Springfield, where he has established a eozy, well-appointed home, hav- ing in the pursuits of his ealling won an indepen- dent competence, is a native of Clark County, and the son of one of its earliest pioneers, who bore an honorable part in developing its agriculture, and so aided in laying the basis of its material wealth.

Our subject was born in Moorefield Township, January 3, 1823, a son of Briton Lewis, a native of Shenandoah, Va. His father, James Lewis, who is supposed to have been a native of that State, removed from there to Kentucky, and there passed the remainder of his life. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Scott, and she was also a Virginian by birth. She spent her last years in Indianapolis, rounding out a life of ninety-five years.

The father of our subject was a boy of six years when his father died, and he then went to live with his maternal grandparents. At the age of fourteen the plucky, resolute little lad struck out into the world for himself, and came to Ohio in 1802, the year that the enabling act was passed, by which Ohio took its place in the Union as a State early in 1803. He was a boy and alone in the world, but was not long in finding employ- ment and friends among the pioneer farmers of the

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sparsely settled territory, where the greater part of the land was owned by the Government, and for sale at $1.25 per acre. He labored assiduously, and when not at work he studiously spent his evenings and spare time with his books, as his school advantages were limited and he was ambi- tious to improve his education. In 1814, he had laid by money enough to become independent, and he wisely invested some of it in a tract of timber land in Moorefield Township, of which he thus became an early settler. Ile built a log cabin, cleared twenty aeres of land, and then sold it at an advance, and bought another tract of timber land on section 10, of the same township, and four miles north of the Court-house. He located there at the time of his marriage, and there his wedded life was passed in the busy labors of the pioneer, in hewing out and eultivating a farm, which under his good management was finely improved, at the time of his death, in 1840. He was an intelligent, wide-awake man, of practical ability, and was of much assistance in developing the township, with whose interests le so early identified himself, and his death, when but little past the meridian of life, was a blow to its interests. The maiden name of the mother of our subjeet was Sally D. Ward, and she was born in Greenbrier County, Va., a daughter of Col. William and Elizabeth (Anderson) Ward. She resided on the farm some years after her hus- band's death, and then came to Springfield, and was a beloved inmate of the home of a daughter till she died at the age of seventy-five years. She was the mother of six children-James, Rebecca, Mary, Cyrus, William W. and Eliza, of whom William and Cyrus are the only survivors.

William M. Lewis passed the early years of his life on the homestead where he was born in the this, his native county, and amid the influenees of pioneer life grew to a stalwart, noble manhood. The present generation can have but little reali- zation of what its aneestry suffered in preparing tlie way for the coming civilization that was to make this one of the leading commonwealths among thie Central Western States, but our sub- ject ean attest to the truthfulness of the vivid pictures of those times drawn by Rufus King, in his "History of Ohio," published in the Common-

weatlh series. In writing of the face of the coun- try, he speaks of the "happy intervening of rivers, valleys and uplands, with a soil nowhere sterile, but generally rich or fertile, covered with forests or open woodlands, spreading out in many parts into savannas or natural meadows, formerly known as prairies." He alludes to the life of sacrifice, toil, and often hardship, which the pioneers were obliged to lead here in the upbuilding of their homes in the primeval wilds; and tells of the rude log cabins that sheltered them, with clapboard roof, with or without a door, as it happened, with a patch of greased newspaper pasted over the hole made by the removal of a part of a log to serve as a window, and often with no floor but the ground, the whole structure, perhaps, erected in a day, on the spot where the tall forest trees, from which the material was taken, stood in the morn- ing.

He says of the new-comers into the State, "Their first necessity was to girdle the trees and grub a few acres for a corn crop and truek patch, sutti- cient for a season." After telling of the variety of game that furnished forth the pioneer's table, he speaks of the value of Indian eorn as a food, and speaks of the delicious hoe-cake, aslı-cake, johnny-cake, ete., which the thrifty housewives made of it, and further says, "This crop, converta- ble also into bacon, pork and whiskey, soon be- came the staple of the country." He says that there was no bread nor salt in those days, except- ing that a small and precions supply of the latter was furnished by the seanty salt springs. But the pioneer life had its compensations, it was not all one dismal round of toil. The early settlers had their pastimes and festivities, sueli as the militia musters, the sugar camp, the bear hunts, shooting matches, the quarter race, house raisings, quilt- ing bees, etc. And their life had its amenities, in that by common experience of hardship and toil they were bound more closely together than other- wise would have happened, and by their struggles with the forees of nature they were taught self- reliance, and were better fitted for the responsibili- ties of after life.

To return to our subjeet; he received his eduea- tion in the primitive log schoolhouse of the

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times, with its rude furniture, and as soon as large enough assisted his father on the farm, and re- mained an inmate of the parental houschold till his twenty-fifth year. He then came to Springfield, and the ensuing two years carried on the grocery business, and then worked at house-painting, and later engaged in painting machinery for the Buck- eye shops, and was employed there twenty-five years, having the work under contract, he being a a superior artisan in his line. In time, by judi- cious management of his money, he placed him- self among the substantial citizens of Springfield. In 1866 he bought a lot, finely located on Chest- nut Avenue, and in 1873 built his present commo- dious and well-furnished residence.

June 27, 1844, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Sarah J. White, a native of South Wales, and a daughter of John and Annie (Jones) White, na- tives respectively of England and Wales. Ten children were born to our subject of this marriage, of whom the following eight are living : Gertrude, wife of Hiram L. Hull ; Mary, Florence, Elizabeth, William, Leon, Charles B. and Earl M. Albert and Sarah J. are deceased.

August 26, 1888, deatlı crossed the threshold of the home of our subject, and when he went forth again the faithful wife and kind mother ac- companied him into the great unknown, leaving a desolate family to mourn her loss.

"Her work is compassed and done,

All things are seemly and ready,

And her summer is just begun.

But we cannot think of her idle; She must be a home-maker still, And somewhere, yet, in the hilltops Of the country that hath no pain She will watch in her beautiful doorway. To greet her loved ones again."

A. D. T. WHITNEY .

OSHUA T. RIDGELY. The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, and whose portrait is presented on the opposite page, is well-known in Springfield, where he has lived for more than thirty-five years, and where he has been engaged in business for almost

that length of that time. His trade is that of a house painter, and his reputation in this line of business is second to none in the city. He exhibits taste in the selection and combination of colors and tints, and the building decorated by him is a thing of beauty, and an ornament to the locality in which it stands. The personal character of Mr. Ridgely is an honorable one, and few professional men- who are generally considered more intellectual than those who follow trades-are better read than he. IIe is an ardent lover of good literature, and many fine volumes may be found in his cozy home. In fact, his library is both large and well selected, one of its most remarkable features being the numbers of Harper's Weekly for thirty-five years, all well bound. From thesc alonc a store of information could be gleaned sufficient to give a man a liberal edneation in the progress of humanity.

Near Traptown, Md., on the Harper's Ferry Road, Joshua Ridgely, the father of our subject, opened his eyes to the light. He adopted the pro- fession of school teaching, which he followed for a number of years. During the War of 1812 he served his country, for which action his widow drew a pension during the last years of her life. He died at Middletown in 1864. His wife bore the maiden name of Margaret Holter. She also was born in Maryland, and was the daughter of a Rev- olutionary soldier. Her death took place Mareh 4, 1877, at the old home where her husband breathed his last some years before.

The subject of this sketch was born January 3, 1831, near Middletown, Frederick County, Md., where his boyhood and youth were spent in the usual manner of boys in those days. At the age of nineteen years he went to live with his brother- in-law, and learned his trade, at which he served three years. In 1853 he came to Springfield, where for two years he did journey work with his brother- in-law. He then engaged in business for himself, and both as workman and contractor gained stead- ily in reputation.

The marriage of Mr. Ridgely and Miss Elizabeth Geisinger was celebrated at the bride's home, Jan- uary 3, 1854, she being a native of the same town as her husband, and their acquaintance having be- gun in childhood. They have four children, named

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respectively: Clara B., Charles T., Iliram G. and Byron. The daughter became the wife of William H. Holmes. In 1856 Mr. Ridgely joined the Springfield Light Artillery, and was appointed Ser- geant of the company. He is a Demoerat, strong in the faith, and ever ready to deposit his ballot on election day. He has served as a member of the Board of Education ten years, and his efficieney is recognized by all. His eozy home is under the oversight of a lady who combines skill as a house- keeper with pleasing social qualities, and the vir- tues which make it the dearest spot on earth for her loved ones, as well as an attractive place to many friends.

ENRY H. HALE. Not only is this gentle- man a son of a couple who were the most prominent dwellers in the locality of Bell- brook, Greene County, but he has for quite a number of years taken the leading place in mat- ters of law and polities in that thriving village, wielding a powerful influence throughout the com- munity, and also doing mueh for the good of the people in the line of religious and moral work. He possesses the genial nature that wins friends everywhere, and is very popular wherever he is known. His paternal family are among those whose names and deeds are a matter of historical moment in this locality, in which they began their residence in 1802, and wherein they have borne an important part in developing the natural resources of the country, and in advaneing the civilization and elevation of the inhabitants.

The great-grandfather of our subjeet was James Hale, who was born in England, A. D., 1737. He was a follower of George Fox, and when he came to America, tradition says, that he supposed that he was living on William Penn's land, but when the Mason and Dixon line was established in 1763 to 1767, he found that he was on that belonging to Lord Baltimore, in what is now Baltimore County, Md. He therefore erossed the line, tak- ing up his abode near Tushey's Mountain, on the Juniata River, in what is now Blair County, Pa.

How long he lived in that State is not known, but he removed from it to Mason County, Ky., where he died in 1801 or 1802. His Kentucky home was on Clark's Run, near Bryant Station, nine miles from Maysville. His wife was Catherine Baird, who was born in 1741, and was of Welsh deseent. Of this marriage there were born eight children- Rebecca, Joseph, Lydia, John, Hannah, James, Thomas and Silas. In 1802 the widow with her children eame to Ohio, and settled in Sugar Creek Township, this eounty.

The fourth ehild in the family above named was born in Maryland, November 25, 1775. He mar- ried Sarah Bowen, a native of Chester County, Pa., with whom he lived happily until about the year 1814, when she breathed her last in the thirty- sixth year of her age. She was the mother of six children, all of whom are now deecased. In 1802, the family took up their residence in this county, wherein John Hale had previously purchased eighty aeres of land from the United States Gov- ernment. HIe cleared up the land and started a tannery, the first in the township, living there un- til 1838, when he removed to Indiana. IIe sold his estate to William Husten, who disposed of it to David John, from whom the father of our sut jeet, and son of the original proprietor, afterward bought it. The second marriage of John Hale took place in this county, June 29, 1815, his bride being Sarah Lewis, and the ceremony being per- formed by John Clark, Justice of the Peace. The union resulted in the birth of ten children: Har- mon, now deceased; Rhoda; Nancy, Lewis, and Rachael, all of whom are deceased; John, Riley. Sarah, David, deceased; and Martha. The deathı of the father took place in Kosciusko County, Ind., September 25, 1845, at the age of sixty-nine years and ten months.

While living in this county, John Hale was a member of Capt. Ammi Maltbie's Company of Ohio Militia. He was first called into service upon receipt of the news that Gen. Hull had sur- rendered Detroit, in August, 1812, when the com- pany was ordered to report at Xenia with a gun, tomahawk and knapsack. After being out three months Mr. Ilale returned to his home, and ere long was again called out, but on this occasion

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hired as a substitute Jacob Martin, paying him a rifle, tomahawk, a pair of shoes, knife, a knapsack and $1.50 in money. The substitute was out but three days. On the third call of the militia, Mr. Hale hired as a substitute Jacob Fallis, and whether he took part in any battles is not known.

When John Hale came to this county he was accompanied by his wife and two sons, James and Bowen. The following year, on August 26, 1803, his third son, Silas, was born on the farm which comprised the west half of the southeast quarter of section 3, township 2, range 6. Ile learned cabinet making and undertaking, at Wilmington, beginning his apprenticeship in 1820 and serving three years. He then came to Bellbrook, and be- gan business for himself, eontinning it until 1833, when with his father he opened a dry- goods and grocery store in a building that is still standing, and in which the business was carried on for fifty- six years. In 1839 he was elected Township Treasurer, a position which he resigned after forty- three years service that was continuous except one year. In 1855 he was appointed Postmsater, a position which he held for thirty-one years and two months. In 1854 he was elected Justice of Peace, serving in that capacity two terms. He was a member of the Masonic Order and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious belief coineided with that expressed by the Prot- estant Methodist Church, with which he united in 1840, and in which he had held the official posi- tions of Steward and Trustee. After a long life of usefulness and well doing, he breathed his last June 20, 1889, his mortal remains being deposited in the Bellbrook cemetery.

* The wife of Silas Hale, with whom he was united in marriage July 20, 1830, and with whom he lived fifty-nine years, bore the maiden name of Miriam Opdyke. She is the sixth of the ten children born to Henry and Catherine (Cummings) Opdyke, who were natives of New Jersey. The other members of the family circle were christened Electa, Mary Ann, Peninah, Clarissa, Martha, George, Louisa, Emily Jane and Oliver Perry. The Opdykes came to America from Holland, making their settlement in New Jersey, where the father of Mrs. Hale was born, November 16, 1774. He died in Sugar

Creek Township, this eounty, January 23, 1825, his death resulting from an accident. He was digging a well on his farm, had just completed it and was in the bottom, when he sent up in the bucket a mattock, which canght in the side of the well, and falling, struck and killed him. The brick house now owned by Fred Multhup, just north west of the village of Bellbrook, was built by him. His wife breathed her last November 1, 1854. Mrs. Silas Hale opened her eyes to the light February 5, 1814, and is now living in Bell- brook. Although she has reached the ripe age of seventy-seven years, she enjoys excellent health, and is still very active. She belongs to the Prot- cstant Methodist Church.

The fraternal band in which Squire Hale, of this sketch, is the fourth member, included ten broth- ers and sisters, of whom we note the following: Dorinda, the widow of Dr. J. R. Brelsford, and the mother of three children, lives in Florida; John C. is living in Adams County, Ind., and he has one child; Francis G., whose home is in Dayton, this State, has one child; Mary Jane is the wife of James Hartsook. and the mother of four children, her home being in Cæsar Creek Township, this county; Bowen enlisted in Company D, Seventy- fourth Ohio Infantry, and died from typhoid fever, at Camp Chase, April 22, 1862, and was unmarried; Angeline died, in 1848, at the age of three years; James R, the editor of the Spring Valley Blade, is married and has one ehild; Mc- lancthon died unmarried at the age of twenty-two years, the date of his decease being October 12, 1872 ; Silas Opdyke, whose home is in Bellbrook, is married and has one child.

In a log house, in the village of Bellbrook, at 3:30 A. M., on November 13, 1836, the eyes of Squire Hale opened to the light. Hle received a common-school education, and spent his youth in the village performing serviees in his father's store and the post-office. In April, 1861, he took up arms in defense of the Union, being enrolled in Company H. Second Kentucky Infantry, under Capt. James E. Staey, this enlistment being under the call for three months' men. He was at Camp Clay, near Cineinnati, for three weeks and then discharged. On August 12, 1862, he again en-

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listed, becoming a member of Company F, Thirty- fourth Ohio Infantry, under Capt. S. R. S. West. The command to which he belonged spent the most of their time in the service in the Big Kana- wha Valley, W. Va. and Mr. Hale took part in a raid on Wythville, during which he rode three hundred miles in five days. On April 12, 1864, he received a slight wound on the side of his neck, his only injury during his army life. Sickness compelled his removal to the hospital at Galli- polis, where he spent some fifteen months. He was discharged June 12, 1865, and returning to his home spent a month amid the scenes of his earlier life.

The family in which Squire Hale had found the lady whom he desired to make his wife, having removed to Missouri from this section, in 1864, he made a journey to that State, where he was mar- ried, for some time afterward making his home at Savannah. Ile occupied himself in clerking, in pedagogical labors and in farm work until illness determined him to return to Bellbrook, which he did in April, 1867. The following March he be- came a partner with his father, with whom lie con- tinued in mercantile business until June, 1889, the connection being dissolved by the death of the father.

The marriage rites between Squire Hale and Sarah Conner were celebrated July 25, 1865. The bride was born in Bellbrook, July 8, 1840, and re- ceived a common-school education in this place, and the best of home training from her estimable parents. IIer father, John Conner, was born in Delaware, October 6, 1809, and died at Rochester, Mo., October 16, 1879. The family to which he belonged is numbered among the early settlers in the Buckeye State, as is that of the Austins, into which he married. Susan Austin, who became his wife, was born May 20, 1818, her people being members of the Society of Friends, and formerly residents in New Jersey. Her deathi took place in Missouri, May 13, 1879. She was the mother of four children: Thomas, who died in 1862; Vin- eent, who is living in Dayton, is married and has two children; Mrs. Hale; and John, who lives in Missouri.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hale six children have been

born: Jesse G. opened his eyes to the light in Andrew County, Mo., May 18, 1866; James C. was born May 4, 1869, at Bellbrook; John S., who was born September 12, 1871, is now living at Lebanon; Susan Miriam, born July 7, 1874, died August 20, 1875; Katie Clyde was born Novem- ber 16, 1876; Edith was born August 30, 1883, and died September 24, following.

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Portrait and biographical album of Greene and Clark counties, Ohio, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county; together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, Part 97

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros. Number of Pages: 918

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 918