USA > Ohio > Highland County > The County of Highland : a history of Highland County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapters on the bench and bar, medical profession educational development, industry and agriculture and biographical sketches > Part 45
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
Christopher C. Moberly, of Clay township, a well-known farmer and veteran of the civil war, is a great-grandson of Rezin Moberly, a worthy pioneer of Highland county whose life is described in the foregoing sketch. His father was Frederick, eldest son of John Moberly (of whom mention has also been made), and he was the eld- est son of Rezin Moberly. Frederick Moberly was born in Liberty township in 1812, was educated in the subscription schools of his day, and in 1834 was married to Lydia Husey, also a native of Lib- erty township, and daughter of Christopher Husey. Following this event he built a hewed log house on 120 acres of forest land in Clay township, and there he and his wife began their toilsome work of redeeming the land from the wildness of nature, and rearing for lives of usefulness the eight children that were given them in the course of their early married life. The father lived to the age of sixty-three years, the mother to fifty-seven. Three of their children, Mary, Jane and Emma, the youngest, are dead, but besides the sub- ject of this sketch, John F. resides in the state of Washington ; James in Clay township; Charles A. in Buford, and Cyrus F. on the old homestead. Christopher C. Moberly was born on the homestead. November 17, 1836, and received his education in the common schools. When the war with the South broke out he promptly offered his services in behalf of his country, and was mustered in at Hillsboro, in October, 1861, as a private soldier in Company B of the Sixtieth regiment Ohio infantry. After sometime in camp at Camp Mitchell and on guard duty at Gallipolis, Mr. Moberly and his comrades moved into West Virginia, and engaged in the cam- paign in the Kanawha and Shenandoah valleys, participating in the active campaign of the spring of 1862 against the famous Stonewall Jackson. Among the engagements in which he took part were those at Cotton Town, Mt. Jackson and Cross Keys. Later in the year, during the Maryland campaign, he and his regiment were stationed at Harper's Ferry, and were there surrendered to General Jackson, September 15th. Being at once paroled they went to Annapolis, Md., and from there sent to Chicago, where they were finally mus- tered out. This closed his experience in war, and he returned to his home and resumed farming. On January 12, 1864, he was married to Louisa J. Wood, a native of Danville, Highland county, and they began housekeeping in Brown county. Two years later they bought the fifty acres in Clay township where Mr. Moberly now lives, to which he has since added enough to make 105 acres. In 1892 they moved to Hillsboro, and two years later to Buford, where Mrs. Moberly died November 3, 1893. Since then he has occupied his farm home, continuing to give his attention to general agricul- ture and the raising of Shorthorn cattle and other fancy stock. He has been honored with several township offices, is a member of the Buford camp of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Metli-
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odist church, and in politics is a Republican. Three children are living: Oliver N., of Cincinnati; Herbert L., at home, and Clyde, residing at New Orleans, La.
John D. Moberly, a well known farmer and stock man of Clay township, is a great-grandson of Rezin Moberly, a native of Virginia who was conspicuous among the pioneer settlers of Highland county. The facts of the career of this ancestor and of his son, John Moberly, through whom J. D. Moberly is descended, is given in a sketch fore- going. They were pioneers worthy of remembrance, and their de- scendants are among the best people of this region. The second son of John Moberly, as has been noted, was William, born October 24, 1815, at the farm home in Liberty township. William Moberly removed to Clay township in early manhood, and married Nancy Tygart, also a native of Highland county, of an old family. Making his home in a log cabin on 121 acres of wild land that he bought, he began the work of clearing away the forest, as a forerunner of the present magnificent agricultural development of the county. His first wife died after giving birth to one child, Louisa J., who is now the wife of H. G. Fite, of Brown county, and subsequently Mr. Moberly was married to Harriet Foreman, daughter of John and Nellie Foreman. She was also a native of the county. William Moberly continued his work as a farmer, living upon the same place, but enlarged his holdings until he was the owner of over four hun- dred acres, and as time passed replaced his early home with modern buildings. He was a very prosperous man, was active in politics as a Democrat, contributed generously to religious enterprises, and was known all over the county as a man deserving of esteem and confi- dence. He passed away at eighty-one years of age, but his widow is yet living at Mount Orab. They had four children, J. D., W. H., Sarah E., wife of N. Irons, of Brown county, and Luella, wife of T. J. Sprinkle, of Brown county. J. D. Moberly was born on the farm adjoining his present home in Clay township, January 9, 1845, was reared at home and educated in the district school until eighteen years of age, and then, it being the period of the civil war, he went to Cincinnati and obtained employment in the government service as a teamster. He was regularly enlisted, and after two months at Cincinnati, went to the front with the company of Captain Douglas, and took part in the battle of Lavergne, Tenn. Then, his time of enlistment having expired, he was honorably discharged and came home, but soon afterward re-enlisted in Company G of the Hundred and Ninety-second Ohio volunteer infantry, which was mustered in at Columbus. With this regiment he went to Virginia, and was on duty during the closing months of the war, finally being mustered out with his comrades at Winchester, Va., September 1, 1865. He returned at once to his farm home upon the conclusion of this honor-
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
able service for the country, and resumed his former occupation, and presently was happily married to Rachel E. Brown, a native of Clin- ton county, Ohio. Ever since they have made their home at the present residence, prospering in their undertakings and adding improvements and comforts as the years rolled by. Their home has been blessed with three children, two of whom-Elva and Frank- have died. Anna, the third, is the wife of T. S. Evans, of Dayton, Ohio. They have also reared their granddaughter, Goldie M. Puckett. Mr. Moberly has given much attention to the breeding of Oxforddown sheep, and Duroc and Jersey swine, in addition to farming, and has been an extensive dealer in live stock He is a member of the camp of the Grand Army of the Republic at Buford, and of the Christian church, and is a Republican in politics.
William S. Moore, proprietor of the Hotel Kramer, at Hillsboro, is one of the popular landlords of Highland county and during an experience of some years has shown that he is master of the problem of public entertainment. He is a native of the good old county of Pike, and a son of Sailesbury and Mary S. (Eager) Moore, well known citizens of that part of Ohio. In 1894, Mr. Moore engaged in the business of drilling water-wells and followed that occupation about six years. Having an inclination for catering to the "inner wants" of man, he determined to turn this talent to good account by entering into the hotel business regularly. With this end in view he secured control of the Central House at Leesburg and in 1900 took charge as proprietor of that hostelry. About two years later, desiring a larger field, Mr. Moore came to Hillsboro and in February, 1902, opened the Hotel Kramer. Under his good management this house came to the front at once as a place where good entertainment could be obtained at reasonable rates, and has steadily gained in its hold on the traveling public. Owing to its favorable location on West Main street, near the business center of Hillsboro, the Hotel Kramer seems destined to become one of the most popular of the city's resorts.
The Morrow Family :- John Morrow was an old revolutionary soldier, who took part in the battle of Trenton, a few years later sought a home in the wilderness of Kentucky and afterward moved to the White Water valley of Indiana, where he died in 1826. His son Alexander, who was born May 2, 1783, subsequently made his way to Ohio and in 1812 found a location near Greenfield in the county of Highland. The war fever was strong at that time in cen- tral Ohio and soon after his arrival Alexander Morrow went to the front to do his part toward fighting the British. In December, 1815, after his return from the army, he was married to Polly Coffey, a typical pioneer woman and daughter of one of the notable characters
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of that day. Her father, John Coffey, who came from Pennsylvania in 1800, was the keeper of the first tavern opened at Greenfield, then a very small settlemnt of crude log cabins. This primitive but gen- uine "Coffey House" was built of hewed logs, was two stories in height, and twenty-two by thirty feet on the ground. Though not as showy as the modern French "coffee-house" of our large capitals, the tavern at Greenfield was a veritable oasis in the desert at the time of its inception and furnished appetizing means for many a hungry traveler before advancing civilization brought better accommoda- tions. Besides filling the important role of "mine host," John Coffey was also the first justice of the peace elected in Madison township, and between feeding the public and enforcing the law was a man of weight in the infant community. Polly Coffey, his daughter, was born February 1, 1796, lived over sixty-one years after her wedding, and passed away from the scenes of earth April 3, 1877. By her marriage with Alexander Morrow there were five children who reached maturity: Ruth E., wife of Hugh Beatty; Margaret, wife of Robert McCalpin; John and James P., the latter still residing in Greenfield, and William Alexander. The latter was born May 13, 1826, and after residing four years in Chillicothe, came to Hillsboro in 1860, embarked in the business of photography and followed that occupation for many years. January 8, 1852, he was married to Harriet L., daughter of Abner Taylor, member of one of the well known pioneer families. William Alexander and Harriet (Taylor) Morrow became the parents of the following named children : Otway C., of Hillsboro; John Franklin, who died in Texas at the age of thirty ; Minnie R., wife of D. T. Larrimore, a druggist of New York city; William A., queensware merchant of Hillsboro; Jennie T., wife of William S. Conrad, with the McKeehan & Hiestand com- pany ; Lizzie B., a dressmaker in Covington, Ky .; George D., doing contract work for a New York firm ; Bertie, died in infancy ; Lucie, a milliner in Cincinnati ; and Sadie, wife of Fred McClure, billing clerk for C. S. Bell & Co. Otway C. Morrowv, eldest born of the above, after finishing his education in the city schools, was engaged for several years as a clerk in the mercantile business at Hillsboro. In 1880 he became manager for a queensware house in Cincinnati, but returned to Hillsboro in 1887 to accept a partnership with the McKeehan & Hiestand company, of which he is at present secretary and treasurer. June 19, 1884, he was united in wedlock with Anna J. Leyden, a lady of the best social connections in Cincinnati. Her parents were members of prominent families in Ireland and emi- grated to America in the early part of the nineteenth century. Mr. and Mrs. Morrow's only child, Curry Leyden, was born November 21, 1897.
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
Thomas Mullenix, notable among the settlers soon after the war of 1812 in the vicinity of Hillsboro, was born in Jefferson county, Va., in 1791, one of six children of William Mullenix, a native of Eng- land, who married there and came to America with his wife soon after the war of the Revolution. The six children were Nathan, Thomas, Harry, Jack, and two daughters. The mother died in Vir- ginia, and the father in later years joined his son Thomas in High- land county and died here. Thomas was married in Virginia to Ellen Pulse, a native of the same state, and they began their married life in Virginia, but in 1817 came west and established a pioneer home on one hundred acres of wild land that he bought in Liberty township, about two miles from Hillsboro. There, Thomas Mullenix reared a family of eleven children, and lived to the age of seventy- five years, his wife surviving to past ninety. Their children were David, deceased ; Mary, widow of D. Dunn, of Taylorsville; Lewis, deceased ; William H., of Washington township; Thomas, of Belfast, Ohio; John, of Iowa; Rebecca, wife of Hugh Shepard, of Hillsboro; Henry, of Liberty township; Martha, widow of George Spicard, of Illinois; Sarah E. and Jacob, deceased. William HI., for many years a worthy citizen of Highland county, was born in Liberty town- ship, April 24, 1818, and in early manhood married Ellen Higgins, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Higgins. They made their home on the original Mullenix farm for twenty years, then spent a year in Iowa, and after that in Liberty township until 1846, when the wife died, after which he made his home in Washington township. For sixty-four years he has been a member of the Methodist church. The children born to these parents were Margaret and Samantha, deceased ; H. E., of Washington township; Clara, living in Kansas ; Paulina, deceased; Jacob, of Clinton county; and Mary E. and Thomas, deceased. H. E. Mullenix was born in Liberty township, November 13, 1847, received his education in the district school and married Sina Carlisle, a native of Washington township, daughter of John and Mima Carlisle. They began their married life in Clin- ton county, Ohio, afterward lived for twelve years in Missouri, and then returned to Washington township, where he bought a farm and now owns 122 acres. He is a man of influence in the community, has served as a member of the school board, and is the present trustee of the township: is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist church. His children living are, Harley, Harry, Alpha, and Jesse. One, Marie, is deceased.
Wilson H. Mullenix, an enterprising and popular citizen of Wash- ington township, was born January 1, 1861, son of Thomas A. Mul- lenix. W. H. Mullenix was reared at home and educated in the dis- trict school and Hillsboro high school, and when eighteen years of age he engaged in teaching in the public schools. Later he was mar-
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ried to Sarah E. Woods, a native of Washington township, and daughter of John and Mary E. Woods, and they began housekeeping in Washington township, on the farm now owned by Dennis Collins. Five years later they removed to Folsom, where Mr. Mullenix em- barked in business as a general merchant. He still conducts this store, which is one of the most popular in the region, is postmaster, and continues to teach school, an occupation which he has followed with much success for seventeen years. He is also the owner of a farm of thirty acres, and devotes considerable attention to the raising of live stock of all kinds. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Belfast. His family includes three children : Sigel W., Everett P., and James H.
Charles C. Muhlbach, the popular market gardener of New Mar- ket and one of the most energetic and enterprising of its citizens, though a native of another state, has long been identified with the interests of Highland county. His father, Christian Muhlbach, a native of Wertemberg, Germany, came to America in company with four brothers, and shortly after his arrival married Caroline Hau- tica, a lady of French descent- then living in Brown county, Ohio, and went with his bride to Iowa. He was a harness-maker and fol- lowed that trade until the civil war broke out, when he enlisted as a soldier in the Union army. After the war he died at the Soldiers' Home in Dayton, Ohio. His only son, Charles C. Muhlbach, was born in Louisa county, Iowa, June 8, 1858, and by the death of his mother in 1859 was left an orphan when only eight months old. He was adopted by a family named Shearing, living near Cincinnati, and while with them lost all the toes on both feet as the result of freezing. Subsequently he was taken care of by a family of Shakers at Whitewater, where he remained six or eight years and later worked some time for A. B. Hay at Mount Airy. March 11, 1880, Mr. Muhlbach came to Highland county and bought fifteen acres of land near New Market, where he has since resided. He is a gardener and grower of small fruits, his business in that line being the most extensive in the county ; has prospered and become one of the most useful and enterprising citizens of his locality. His activi ties extend to connection with the political, business, social and relig- ious life of the community, being always at the front in movements to advance growth and development. He early saw the benefits to be derived from rural mail delivery and was a prime mover in get- ting the first route established in Highland county. He has held +1e following positions: township trustee, chairman of the executive committee of the Highland county Sunday school association, local director of schools, secretary Farmers' institute for two terms, char- ter member of Hillsboro Mutual fire insurance company, and direc- tor and member of the executive board of the same, and jury
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
commissioner of the county. On the religious side, Mr. Muhlbach, is a deacon in the Presbyterian church, has been Sunday school teacher for twenty-one years and two years president of the local Christian Endeavor society, and is now president of the county Christian Endeavor Union. He is a member of all branches of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has served five years as district deputy grandmaster ; holds membership in the Sons of Vet- erans, Ancient Order United Workmen at Hillsboro, and Golden Ridge grange at New Market. His first wife was Sarah E. Murry, by whom he had two children : Carrie, wife of E. Austin, and Mat- tie, at school in Westerville, Ohio. Their mother died in 1886, and Mr. Muhlbach was married later to Rebecca, daughter of James and Catherine Diven, of Highland county. The four children of this union are Bessie, Elsie, George and Lucile.
The Murphy family, so long and favorably known in Highland county by the prominent connection of its members with public and business affairs, is of Irish origin and honorable lineage. Hugh Murphy was born in County Down, Ireland, March 5, 1756, and when about twenty-six years old, at the port of Newry went on board a vessel called "The Three Brothers," bound for America. After the usual long and tedious voyage of sailing ships in those days, ho landed at Philadelphia in January, 1783, and a few days later had the privilege of witnessing a great historic event-General Wash- ington reviewing his troops fresh from the achievement of American independence. The young Irishman made his way to Virginia, where in 1790 he married Mary Beatty. Ten years later he removed to Favette county, Penn. From that region he migrated in the late fall of 1816 to Ohio, where he went into business, reared his children and passed away June 5, 1842. Hugh Murphy had a son named John, who was born in Loudoun county, Va., November 17, 1793, and was consequently about twenty-three years old when his parents came to the western country. About 1820, John Murphy settled a short distance east of Russell Station in Highland county, on the farm subsequently owned by the Rev. Mr. Armstead. He married Nancy, daughter of John White, who was born in 1806 at the resi- dence of her parents near New Petersburg, and lived until the com- pletion of her eighty-seventh year, long surviving her husband, who passed away January 10, 1845. The list of their children, taken from the family records, is here given: Susannah, born December 14, 1828, married George W. Pitzer in May, 1847, and died in 1862; Hugh, born March 7, 1830, died April 15, 1901; Andrew Beatty, born October 14, 1831, died April 2, 1900; Daniel, born January 1, 1833; Martha J., born June 22, 1834, was married in 1856 to George C. Pitzer, dean of the St. Louis Medical college, and died in 1891; Francis Marion, born February 24, 1836; Samuel
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Lewis, born March 22, 1840, died in infancy; Mary J., born Octo- ber 5, 1841, was married June 11, 1868, to John G. Bayless, present postmaster of Lynchburg; John W., born July 7, 1844, is a practic- ing physician at Cuba, Clinton county, Ohio. Daniel Murphy is one of the most prominent and popular of the citizens of Lynchburg. He began surveying in early manhood and has followed that useful calling for more than forty years. He was elected auditor of High- land county in 1868 and filled that office two terms of two years each, ending in 1873. He has enjoyed practically all the honors that his town had to confer, being elected to the offices of clerk, councilman and mayor, and also clerk of the township. All his elections, too, were obtained in a town and township where the natural political majority was averse to the party to which Mr. Murphy belonged. He served as a soldier during the civil war with the Eighty-eighth Ohio regiment, and later was given a commission as lieutenant in the Twenty-seventh U. S. C. T. regiment. He has long been con- spicuous in Masonic circles, having passed through the various degrees of that ancient and popular order up to that of Knight Tem- plar. December 29, 1859, he was married to Mary Isabelle, daugh- ter of Daniel and granddaughter of John Cashatt, an early settler of Union township from North Carolina. Hugh, second child of John and Nancy (White) Murphy, was married December 23, 1858, to Mary Glenn Gibson. Her father was John, son of Joshua and Lydia Gibson, and born in 1777, near Connellsville, Pennsylvania,, whence he migrated to Cincinnati in 1809, and died there in 1849. John Gibson's first wife was Elizabeth Sayre, who bore him six sons and two daughters, and after her death he married Catherine Sutton, of Pennsylvania, the eldest of whose two daughters is the widow of Hugh Murphy. The children of Hugh and Mary (Gibson) Mur- phy are Horace G., born January 4, 1861; Harry, born February 28, 1868; Daniel Elias, born November 29, 1869; Raymond Pierce, born January 13, 1871; and Jessie May, born April 13, 1873, and now the wife of Albert Feike, who is a partner in the mill with the Murphy Brothers. Horace G. Murphy, eldest of the above enumer- ated children, was married February 15, 1890, to Maggie M. Dumenil, who died August 25, 1891, and on March 10, 1895, he married Mary M. Roser. Raymond Pierce Murphy was married to Nellie Britton December 24, 1896. Hugh Murphy, during his life, was a very enterprising and industrious citizen and his activities found vent in various kinds of occupations. He taught school sev- eral years, assisted his brother, Daniel, in the auditor's office during the latter's two terms, and in 1892 purchased the mill now conducted by his three sons. He was the leading spirit in organizing the Farmers' Exchange bank, and at the time of his death was president of that institution, as well as deputy collector of internal revenue.
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
In short, he was one of the progressive men of Lynchburg and left to his family the heritage of an honored name.
James M. Murray, of Greenfield, is carrying on a bsuiness which was established by his father more than fifty years ago. James M. Murray, Sr., though a native of Ross county, left there in early man- hood and spent the remainder of his life in Highland county. He became one of the leading citizens of Greenfield, where he was a member of the city council for many years and actively identified with the industrial life of the city. He opened an undertaking estab- lishment of which he had charge for fifty-two years, and which is at present the oldest supply house of the kind in the three counties of Ross, Highland and Fayette. He died at his home in Greenfield in March, 1901. His wife, Economy Himiler, was a native of Ross county, her family being residents of the Bainbridge neighborhood. The two living children of this union consist of a son and a daughter, the latter being the wife of A. S. Boden, proprietor of the Boden mills. James M. Murray, the only son, was born and reared in Greenfield, and trained from early childhood to work in his father's establishment. When only eleven years old he was taken into the shop and as he grew older was inducted into all the details of the business, with a view to qualifying him for its management. After his father's death he succeeded to the business and has since carried it on along the lines followed by the former during his more than a half century's control. Being the oldest supply house of the kind in that part of the State, Mr. Murray's business is not confined to Greenfield but extends into the three adjoining counties. In 1893 he was married to Gussie, daughter of W. W. Ballard, of Highland county. His fraternal connections are with the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order.
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