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 49
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Joshua Gatch Redkey, one of the most prominent and progressive farmers of Paint township and influentially identified with the edu- cational and agricultural interests of Highland county, comes of a widely distributed and strongly connected family. As far back as 1808 Adam and Mary (Davis) Redkey came to Ohio with their seven children and settled on the west bank of Rattlesnake creek, in Paint township. The father bought land and made one payment, but on his way to Pennsylvania in 1810 to secure money to complete the purchase he was stricken with fever and died. His five sons, whose names were Joshua, John, Jacob, Adam and George, all
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became land owners and citizens of influence, whose descendants are intermarried with the strongest families of Paint township. They had been reared as Methodists and eventually became identified with the Abolitionists, Adam being in later years one of the conductors of the underground railroad. Joshua Redkey left a son named Daniel, who was born in Paint township September 19, 1819, and married Mary, daughter of John Glaze, who settled in Brush Creek township about the year 1811. Daniel Redkey lived in Marshall township from 1844 until 1874, and became the owner there of about 230 acres of land. Later he purchased from James Carothers a farm in Paint township of 195 acres, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was prominent in connection with township affairs, active in Methodist church circles and a stockholder in the female college at Hillsboro. He died January 17, 1878, as the result of an injury received from a falling scaffold while engaged in building a barn. The two children resulting from his union with Mary Glaze are Martha, now the widow of Joel Brown of Paint township, and Joshua Gatch Redkey. The latter was born in Marshall township, Highland county, Ohio, February 3rd, 1856, grew up on the farm and received his education in the district schools. He was nineteen years old when the change of residence was made to Paint township and he carried on the business of the farm in conjunction with his father until the latter's death. Since that event he has had super- vision of the 425 acres of land left by his father, which he has man- aged with great skill and energy and much improved in every way. He ranks as one of the most enterprising of Paint township's suc- cessful farmers, paying especial attention to the breeding of Poland- China swine, the polled Durham cattle and other fine stock. In former years Mr. Redkey wrote a good deal for the agricultural papers, and he has always been an advocate of higher education, especially among the agricultural classes. He was one of the organ- izers of Paint Township Farmers' institute, of which he was presi- dent three years and is now vice-president. He has also long been conspicuous in connection with the Knights of Pythias, being the author of the first by-laws written for the lodge at Rainsboro, is a charter member of lodge No. 453 at Rainsboro and has instituted or assisted in instituting nine different lodges of the Knights of Pythias. From 1894 until 1898 he was representative to the grand lodge of this fraternity, has served as district and county deputy and for seven years was keeper of records and seals. He was also president of the township school board for a number of years. February 11, 1881, Mr. Redkey was married to Amanda, daughter of Davis H. Lucas, a member of one of the oldest and most substantial of Marshall town- ship families. She died April 5, 1902. The household now con- sists of his aged mother, who has been an invalid for six years, and
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two children, Clarence E. and Stanley R. Mr. Redkey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been recording steward for fourteen consecutive years.
William J. Redkey, for over thirty years a merchant at Rains- boro, is not only of pioneer descent himself, but is connected by blood or marriage with nearly all the old families who settled and made Paint township. His great grandfather, Adam Redkey, moved in from Pennsylvania as early as 1806, bringing with him his wife and their children, Joshua, John, George, Adam, Nancy, Sarah, and Jacob. The father bought land near where Centerfield now is, and after making one payment on the purchase price, he set out to go to Pennsylvania and obtain money for the second. On his way he was attacked by fever and died, leaving his widow with this large family of almost helpless children to provide for. She gave up the farm upon which her husband had settled, but later purchased the place upon which James W. Roads subsequently lived. Jacob Redkey, who was about eight years old when the family came to Paint town- ship, married Mary, daughter of Basil Lucas, from which union sprang a numerous progeny which has strictly obeyed the Biblical injunction to "multiply and replenish the earth." The family long since recovered its hold upon the soil lost by the sudden death of Adam Redkey and through its connections with the Spargurs, Lucases, Roads and others, permeates the whole industrial and social life of Paint township and exercises a strong influence upon its affairs. Jacob Redkey bought a farm near Rainsboro, where he lived the remainder of his days, and during his prime was one of the leading men of the county, being major of the Home Guards and at one time a candidate for state representative. His three children, now all dead, were Mary A., Basil and John L. Redkey, the latter inheriting the home farm and living thereon from childhood until the termination of his career. He married Rebecca Pedrick, a native of New Jersey and daughter of William Pedrick, by whom he had three children : William J., Alonzo of Missouri and Louisa, wife of Walker Baker, of Rainsboro. Mrs. Redkey died October 18, 1859, aged forty-three, and a few years later her husband married Nancy Sinclair, a native of Highland county, and daughter of Demp- sey Sinclair. The children by this marriage were Dempsey, Ada, wife of Henry Mason of Rainsboro, and Effie, deceased. John L. Redkey was a good citizen, held several township offices, served against raider Morgan and died in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His widow still lives on the old homestead near the village of Rains- boro. William J. Redkey, oldest of his father's children by the first marriage, was born on the home place in Paint township, Highland county, Ohio, June 11, 1845. He worked on the farm until full
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grown and attended the district school, where he had for a school- mate a bright lad named Joseph Benson Foraker, since known to fame as governor and senator of Ohio. The latter's first Sunday school teacher was the father of William J. Redkey, and the two boys often listened together to the scriptural instruction in the neigh- borhood church. Mr. Redkey married Nancy C., daughter of Chris- tian and Ester Cameron, of Pike county, and located in the village of Rainsboro where he has since resided. In March, 1871, he estab- lished a general merchandise store, and in 1878 erected the conven- ient and handsome building which has since constituted his business quarters. In addition to his mercantile transactions, Mr. Redkey controls 215 acres of land near Rainsboro and looks closely after the details connected with the cultivation and management. Of his six children, John N., Joseph A. and Emma are dead; the living being C. L. Redkey, a farmer by occupation ; F. D. Redkey, of Rainsboro ; and Ester, at home. Mr. Redkey is a member of the United Brethren church and has served two terms as treasurer of the township.
Carey W. Rhoten, one of the leading citizens of White Oak town- ship, and cashier of the newly established White Oak Valley bank, is a grandson of Josiah Rhoten, one of the pioneers of Brown county. Josiah Rhoten was born about 1790, in Mason county, Ky., married Mary Prine, of the same county, in early manhood, and moved with his wife to a home in the forests of Brown county, settling near the site of Carlisle, Jackson township. There he bought a farm of two hundred acres, which he redeemed from nature, and reared a family of nine children: Thomas, Hannah, Jane, Prine, deceased ; Chris- topher and William (residing in Brown county), Huston and Cath- erine, deceased; and Kenneth, living in Illinois. Josiah Rhoten was a man held in high esteem, was a faithful worker in the Meth- odist church, and lived to the age of seventy-five years. > His son, William, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Jackson township, Brown county, June 19, 1819. He occupied himself as a cooper in early manhood, but after his marriage to Thyrza Pindell he went to farming on the place where he yet lives, in Brown county. First buying 150 acres he has increased his holdings to over 600 acres, and has been a very successful stock breeder, as well as farmer. For many years he has been a member of the Christian Union church, and he was one of the principal promoters of the Ash Ridge church, in which he has occupied the position of deacon for a long time. His wife died in 1901, at the age of seventy-six years. Nine children were born to them : Jane, deceased ; Rachel, living in West Virginia ; Carey W., the subject of this sketch; Michael, and Ethan J., of Brown county ; Nancy, of Clermont county ; Chilton A. and Mary, of Brown county, and Melinda, of Adams county. Carey W. Rhoten
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was born December 1, 1849, on the home farm near Fincastle, in Eagle township, Brown county, and was reared there and educated in the district school and the Georgetown high school. After com- pleting his education he taught school with much success for twenty years. In early manhood he was married to America Roberts, a native of Whiteoak township, and daughter of William and Amelia Roberts. They began housekeeping on the farm now owned by A. Roberts, in White Oak township, and two years later bought the farm of 142 acres where they now live. Two children have been born to them: William G., a physician at Mowrystown, and Ira Q., of the Farmers and Traders bank, of Hillsboro. Mr. Rhoten has well earned a high standing among the prosperous and reliable people of Highland county. Steadily winning success through industry and business tact, he has increased his land holdings to three hundred and seventy-five acres. In addition to the ordinary work of the farm, he has been quite fortunate in rearing Aberdeen Angus cattle and other valuable stock, and he has been an extensive dealer in live stock. He is one of those principally to be credited with the estab- lishment of the new White Oak Valley bank. In politics he is a Democrat, and he has served one term as the township assessor. His religious affiliation is with the Christian church.
William G. Rhoten, M. D., of Mowrystown, notable among the young professional men of the county, was born in White Oak town- ship, on the farm now owned by A. E. Roberts, September 30, 1874. Dr. Rhoten is a son of Carey W. Rhoten and his wife, America B. Roberts, and has already been mentioned in the preceding sketch of his father. He was reared at the farm home, attending the district school, and continued his literary studies at the Northwestern Ohio university at Ada, and at the Hillsboro college, after which he was engaged in teaching school for two terms. It was not his purpose, however, to adopt the profession of a teacher, and he soon gave his attention to the study of medicine, reading for about four years in the office of Drs. Glenn & Nelson of Hillsboro. This work he fol- lowed up with four courses of lectures at the University of Cincin- nati, and when he had been granted his degree and diploma he opened his office at Mowrystown and began his practice, which has since continued with flattering success. At present he is township physician. The ability he has shown thus early in his career gives promise of an honorable and distinguished life work in his profes- son that shall be creditable to the pioneer family which he represents, and the county in which he lives. He is a member of the Christian church, and held in high esteem for sterling traits of character. The wife of Dr. Rhoten is Maud C., daughter of William and Sarah
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Edwards, of Highland county, and they have one child, Walter Glenn Rhoten.
Daniel Roades, a highly successful farmer of Clay township, well known through the county, is a grandson of George Roades, born in Virginia in 1791, who married in his native state and came to Ohio in the early days, not long after the close of the second war with England. He settled first in Paint township, but in a year or two removed to Liberty township, and bought a hundred acres of the Byrd survey. His industry and good management were rewarded with success, and he became one of the well-to-do men of his time. He lived to the age of ninety years and his wife to past eighty. Ten children were born to them, of whom Ephraim is yet living at the old ' homestead, Eli in Clay township and George in Liberty. Henry V., one of the sons deceased, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia in 1816, was reared and educated in Highland county, and in early manhood was quite successful as a teacher of mathematics in the county schools. He married Sarah Moberly, daughter of the prominent pioneer settler, Rezin Moberly, and made his home on the old Evans place on Clear Creek, and not long after- ward in Clay township, where he first bought a hundred acres. He also prospered in business, being a man of great resource and adapta- bility, and was noted as one of the most successful farmers of the county. He was a life-long member of the Methodist church and a valued member of society. Fourteen children were born to Henry and Sarah Roades, of whom Anna J. is living in Liberty township, William, Daniel, Minerva, and Sarah E. in Clay township, George W., the eldest is deceased, also John, Mary S., Alcinda and Albert, and the others died young. Daniel Roades was born at the home in Clay township, October 16, 1850, was educated in the dis- trict school, and on reaching manhood married Mary E., daughter of Isaac and Mary A. Reedy. They began their married life on the farm where they now live, and there have reared five children: Mel- vina, wife of James E. Masten; Cora M .; Esta, wife of Walter Mock, all of Clay township; Henry V., of Brush Creek township, and Lizzie M., at home. Mr. Roades has prospered as a farmer, formerly owning over five hundred acres, part of which he has now put in the hands of children. In addition to agriculture he has carried on a business in fertilizers, and dealt quite extensively in stock and grain. His farm is well supplied with all varieties of live stock, and he is in every way a progressive farmer and capable busi- ness man. In relation to the public he has rendered valuable serv- ices as township trustee and school director; he is deacon and treasurer of the Church of Christ, and a member of the Odd Fel-
H-29
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lows lodge at Buford and the Republican party. These are indica- tion of the successful life he has lived since he began clearing away the forest from his land, and laying the foundations of one of the best equipped farms in the county.
William Roads, now living a retired life on his country estate near Highland, Ohio, comes of a family long represented and favorably known in Highland county. The original settlers were from Vir- ginia, came during the early years of the nineteenth century and selected for their locations that part of the county now included in Brush and Paint townships. From this beginning the descendants multiplied until now they are found well represented in various por- tions of Highland and other counties. The parents of the subject of this sketch were Daniel S. and Malestha W. (Spargur) Roads, and the latter's ancestry deserves more than a passing word. Her father, Henry W. Spargur, was one of three brothers who came to Ohio from North Carolina at different periods from 1804 to 1833. Between them they contributed forty children to the population, most of whom grew to maturity and reared families, which became in time not only one of the most numerous but one of the most influen- tial connections in Highland county. And the family has no worthier representative than William Roads, who was born in 1837 in Highland county, and has spent his entire adult life in close touch with its agricultural development. Born on a farm, reared on a farm, trained until manhood to farm work, he has made that his life's occupation and rose to be recognized as one of the best representatives of the agricultural classes afforded by his township. The fine farm near New Lexington on which he is now spending the evening of his days in comparative repose, has been the scene of all his activities and he cultivates it according to modern and strictly up-to-date meth- ods. Mr. Roads is a man of means, with large interests both landed and otherwise, and finds his time fully occupied in looking after his extensive holdings. He first married Mahala E., daughter of Philip Anderson, by whom he had three children, James E., Oliver M. and Daniel W. Their mother died in 1893 and Mr. Roads took for his second wife Alice Mclaughlin, who at present presides over the hos- pitable, household near the town of Highland.
James P. Roberts, for many years past one of the most prominent farmers of White Oak township, was born September 30, 1831, on the farm now owned by his brother, Alfred. He is a grandson of Isaiah Roberts, a native of Pennsylvania, who married Elizabeth Lewis in that state, and a few years later removed to Ross county, Ohio, settling at Chillicothe in 1810. Isaiah Roberts was a brick mason, and after he came to Highland county about 1813 he built the first brick house in the county. On coming to this region he-
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bought three hundred acres of land, including the site of Taylorsville, which was platted by his son, Isaiah, in November, 1846. By his first wife he had five children who grew up-James, Mary, Abram, Nancy and Isaiah, all now deceased. After the death of their mother he married a widow, Mrs. Bottleman, who brought to his home the four children of her first husband. Isaiah Roberts, the pioneer, was an industrious man, intelligent and active, and became the owner of a considerable estate. He lived to the age of eighty- four years, and was sincerely mourned by many friends. His son, James Roberts, born in Pennsylvania, in 1794, was active and well known among the younger men of the pioneer settlement, and mani- fested his enterprise in youth by running a distillery, then a very common industry, and constructing the first tannery in Highland county. He married Mary E. Bottleman, daughter of his father's . second wife, and they had fourteen children-Isaiah and Judah, deceased ; Elizabeth, widow of Samuel Mitchell; Thomas, William, Christopher and Abram, deceased; John, of White Oak; Mary A., wife of John Crampton; James P., whose name heads this sketch; Alfred, Margaret, deceased; Clinton and Nelson. Their mother died in 1854, and about four years later he married Mrs. Eliza McNally Miller. James Roberts continued in the management of his tannery for a quarter of a century, and realized handsome profits. from this pioneer industry. He became the owner of over one thous- and acres of land, and was considered one of the most prosperous men of his day in his township. He was loyal to his country, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Finally, after a busy and useful life of seventy years, he passed away. His son, James P., was reared at his father's home, attending the district school, and helping in the work of the tannery. In 1859 he was married to Maria Kib- ler, a native of White Oak township, and they began housekeeping on the farm of 135 acres where he now lives. Their home has been blessed with eleven children: Charley F., of Concord township; Ollie E., wife of D. C. Winkle, of Hamer township; Ida J., wife of Amelius Sauner, of White Oak; Cornelia E., wife of James Fen- wick, of White Oak; Herbert K. and Arthur W., of White Oak; William P., of Hamer; Viola C., wife of L. Hensley, of Mowrys- town; Guessie L. and Amelia M., at home, and Isaac N., deceased. James P. Roberts has been very successful as a farmer and stock breeder, and as a stock dealer when he was in that buiness; has owned more than a thousand acres before he divided it among his children, leaving him now a farm of 330 acres under cultivation, and he has long enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his neighbors. He has been selected as the administrator of a good many of the estates of his friends who have passed away, and in all relations of life he has shown himself honorable and trustworthy. His wife has
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been a member of the Presbyterian church since her fifteenth year, and he has been a member for forty years and an elder for thirty-five.
Ira Q. Roberts, a well-known farmer and business man of Mowrys- town, is a great-grandson of Isaiah Roberts, a prominent pioneer of White Oak township, and former owner of the site of the town of Taylorsville. A notice of his career and family history is given in the preceding sketch. His eldest son, James P. Roberts, was the father of William Roberts, born on the White Oak township farm in 1800, and William was the father of the subject of this sketch. Will- iam Roberts, after he had grown to manhood, married Amelia Gibler, a native of the same township, and bought a farm of two hundred acres where he prospered by reason of industry and good business judgment, enlarging his land possessions to something like nine hundred acres. He died at the age of sixty-three years, leaving his wife and five children: James P., of Concord ; Aaron E., of the same township; America V., wife of C. W. Rhoten; and Ira Q. Ira Q. was born October 22, 1859, at the house where he now lives, was educated in the district school, and in early manhood was mar- ried to Josie Riley, a native of Brown county and daughter of Joseph and Leah Riley. Two children have been born to them: Cleo E., wife of Wilber Fender, of Concord township, and Overton G. Ira Q. Roberts is one of the enterprising and successful younger men of the township; is the owner of a well-improved farm of two hundred acres, and gives a great part of his time to the management of a livery barn at Mowrystown, and the buying and selling of livestock. He is also one of the promoters and stockholders in the White Oak Val- ley bank, established at Mowrystown. He has served with ability two terms as township trustee, he and wife are valued members of the Christian church and the order of Odd Fellows, and in politics is a Republican.
Adolphus T. Rogers, a well known farmer and breeder of Jersey cattle, is descended from one of the men who fought Indians with Nathaniel Massie in the territory now occupied by Ross and High- land counties. Col. Thomas Rogers, who passed away in 1873 in his ninety-first year, may properly be described as the last of the pioneers of the Scioto valley. With him departed the only man who was able to talk as an eye-witness of events in and around Chillicothe during the last decade of the eighteenth century. He was born in Virginia, October 19, 1782, and three years later came with his father, William Rogers, down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers on flatboats to what was then called Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky. The family settled on Hinkston creek, not far from Lexington, in the same neigh- borhood where the celebrated Daniel Boone made his home. The elder Rogers became quite intimate with this forest hero and accom-
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panied him on some of his perilous expeditions against the Indians. In 1795 he came with Nathaniel Massie on his expedition to Ohio, which resulted in the fight with the Indians at the falls or rapids of Paint Creek, a short distance above Bainbridge in Ross county. The next year he sent his sons, John and Thomas, to clear a place and the two boys built a cabin on the present site of Chillicothe in the summer of 1797, and several years later located where the Slate mill now stands. The second of these boys became in after years well known as Col. Thomas Rogers, above alluded to. He served as a major in the war of 1812 and was present at the surrender of Hull. For many years he was colonel of the Highland county militia and was an imposing figure as he marshalled his troops on "general mus- ter day" on the streets of Hillsboro. Colonel Rogers was a store- house of information concerning events during the period of settle- ment and often fascinated his listeners with stories of "the old time entombed." He was especially fond of recalling that on a trip back to Kentucky with his father, about 1797, they fell in with Daniel Boone, and the boy was delighted with the old veteran's tales of Indian fighting and forest adventures. The colonel's son, Thomas D. Rogers, was born on his father's farm near Greenfield, Ohio, March 26, 1819. After he grew up he was for a year a clerk in H. Smart's store, but upon his marriage to Jane E. Beatty, of Fayette county, he located for life on part of the old home farm, which he had purchased. Here he cultivated his land, raised stock and carried on the usual agricultural pursuits of that neighborhood until his death. Of his nine children, Alexander B., Cedora F., Alonzo A. and Mary have passed away, the first mentioned dying in the army. Those living are the subject of this sketch; Mrs. William Pinkerton, Thomas A., of South Salem ; Charles F., of Leesburg, and William, who is an eye and ear specialist in Honolulu. A. T. Rogers, second in age of the children, was born on his father's farm in Madison township, Highland county, February 23, 1846. As he grew up he attended the common schools and South Salem academy, spent four- teen months in Missouri, and after returning was married to Marietta Black, of Liberty township. By this union Mr. Rogers allied him- self with another notable family of Highland county. Mrs. Rogers is the daughter of John B. Black, who traces his ancestry back to Henry Black, a Scotch-Irishman, born in the north of Ireland Janu- ary 16, 1727, who came to America, shared the pioneer work of his race on the frontier, and died in Rockingham county, Va., October 2, 1819. His wife was Susannah McClain, born January 14, 1726, died December 8, 1812. Their son, John Black, born July 27, 1766, in Rockingham county, Va, maried Alice Boyd, born August 4, 1767, in the same county, and they passed their lives there, the hus- band dying June 10, 1839, and the wife August 21, 1811. Their son, John B. Black, born in Rockingham county, Va., January 29,
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