The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 88

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

USA > Ohio > Miami County > The History of Miami County, Ohio > Part 88

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SAMUEL HAWVER, farmer; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; is a son of Jacob Hawver, who was born in Frederick Co., Md., Sept. 27, 1825 ; his occupation there was work- ing in timber ; in 1856, he emigrated to Ohio and rented a house in Bethel Town- ship, and worked at day labor for about eighteen months, and then bought a farm of 80 acres in Sec. 16, in the above named township ; he has since erected new buildings on his farm, and, in addition, has bought 80 acres adjoining, on the north, but has given it to his only child. His marriage with Catharine Bakley was cel- ebrated Nov. 10, 1848; she is also a native of Frederick Co., Md., born April 23, 1828. Samuel Hawver was born in Maryland Aug. 25, 1849 ; he has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is an enterprising farmer; since he owned the farm, he has erected an excellent barn and made considerable improvements in other ways, so that he now has a very desirable home. On May 11, 1871, he married Lizzie Uptegraft, who was born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., Dec. 1, 1851, a daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth Uptegraft ; the fruits of this mar- riage are two children-Daisy E., born May 17, 1874, and Millie C., Sept. 13, 1876 ; Daisy E. died Nov. 21, 1877. Mr. Hawver and his parents are members of the German Baptist Church.

EDWARD HEFFNER, retired farmer ; P. O. Brandt ; was born in Maryland April 4, 1820, and came to Bethel Township, Miami Co., in 1827, with his parents Michael and Elizabeth Heffner. They purchased 20 acres of woodland adjoining Brandt, and erected thereon a hewed-log house, but moved into it without a floor ; he cleared up his land, and for a number of years worked at the carpenter trade ; being broken down by hard work, he engaged in the mercantile business about 1836 ; he was the first merchant of the place and also kept a kind of inn ; in 1842, he sold his land and bought a small tract south of town ; having purchased a lot in Brandt, and erected a brick house, he moved his store and consolidated it with that of Andrew Gump, which he bought, and continued in the business to the time of his death. He departed this life Nov. 22, 1868, in his 70th year. His widow is still living and is quite active for a lady of 69 years. They were the

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parents of seventeen children ; of these sixteen grew to the age of maturity. The subject of this sketch, the oldest of the children, has been a farmer for the greater part of his life, and now owns 1262 acres in Sec. 15, in Bethel Township, Miami Co., Ohio, besides his property in Brandt, where he resides. He has held the office of Township Trustee and Assessor. In September of 1846, he married Lydia Keifer, by whom he had three children-John F. (who accidentally shot himself Oct. 8, 1872), William M. and George K. Mrs. Heffner died May 18, 1853, at the age of 25 years, leaving her husband with the care of three small children. On the 20th of March, 1867, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Catharine Helmer. One child, Jacob E., is the fruit of this marriage.

L. W. JACOBS, farmer ; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; is a son of Cyrus and Mary Jacobs, and a grandson of Mark Jacobs, who was one of the very early settlers of Miami Co., and entered 160 acres of land in Bethel Township. This farm has ever been owned by the Jacobs family, and is now left by will to Mary Jacobs, the widow of Cyrus Jacobs. He was a native of this State, born Sept. 11, 1804, and departed this life April 3, 1877. She is a native of Virginia, born in June of 1809, but the exact day is not known. The subject of this sketch was born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., July 12, 1838, and brought up on the farm. He served four years in the war of the rebellion, first enlisted for two years, and then for three years. He now resides on one of his mother's farms and carries on farming, although he is not able to do much of the work himself, as his health was impaired in the army. In 1870, Dec. 22, he married Clarissa E. Uptegraft, a native of this township, born May 10, 1847. She is a daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth (Black) Uptegraft. He was born in Greene Co. April 28, 1819, and she in Bethel Township, Miami Co. Her death occurred March 12, 1880. L. W. and Clarissa E. Jacobs are the parents of two children-Charlie R., born Nov. 6, 1872, and Will- iam Augustus, Oct. 20, 1874.

CYRUS JACOBS, farmer ; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; was born June 8, 1852, in Bethel Township, Miami Co., on the old farm where he resides; he is a son of Cyrus and Mary Jacobs, spoken of in the biography of L. W. Jacobs ; his occupa- tion has always been in tilling the soil, and he is an enterprising young farmer. On the 3d of June, 1879, he married Elizabeth Wigand, who was born in Elizabeth Township, Miami Co., May 27, 1853 ; she is the daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth Wigand, who came from Germany in 1835, and located in Dayton ; they moved to Elizabeth Township in about 1842, where he died in 1876, at the age of 72 years ; his widow is still living and resides on the old farm.

J. C. McCONNAUGHEY, farmer ; P. O. Brandt; is a son of David and Anna (Grimes) McConnaughey; she is a native of Virginia, born Jan. 1, 1787, and he of Pennsylvania, born Nov. 13, 1779 ; in 1803 or 1804, he came to Dayton, Ohio, and engaged to work in a distillery for Col. Newcome, who entered 160 acres of land in Bethel Township, Miami Co., for him, he paying for it by his work ; in the spring of 1812, he settled on his land and began converting the dense forest into a home ; this was no small task, for the country was heavily timbered ; before he could raise anything on his own land, the first summer, he farmed a small piece of corn on his mother-in-law's place, about four miles distant ; to his further embarrassment, in the following year he was drafted, but was in the service only a short time till he got his brother as a substitute, while he returned to battle with the oaks and elms; besides clearing up his farm, he purchased another quarter-section, and did con- siderable toward its improvement ; they were the parents of twelve children, of whom eleven grew to the age of maturity. David McConnaughey departed this life Feb. 14, 1847, and his wife April 11, 1863, on the old farm, where their son, J. C., now resides ; this is also the farm on which he was born, July 3, 1823; his occupation has always been tilling the soil ;' he is an enterprising farmer and one of the prominent men of the township ; has been a member of the Board of Educa- tion for nearly twenty years, Township Trustee several terms, and is Land Ap- praiser at the present time. His marriage with Elizabeth Keplinger was solem- nized April 1, 1852 ; she was a resident of Montgomery Co., born Sept. 11, 1833;

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by this union they have had thirteen children, eleven of whom are living-Harriet Roselia, Mary Alice, Phila Irene, John Walter, David Franklin, Berton K., Chris- tian K., Lillia E., Anna B., Edward L. and Viola M.

DAVID McCONNAUGHEY, farmer and manufacturer; P. O. Tippecanoe ; born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., April 23, 1827; is a son of David and Anna McCon- naughey, of whom mention is made in the biography of J. C. McConnaughey. He left home at the age of 17, to learn the tanner and currier trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years ; for seven years he followed tanning and dealing in leather; in 1855, he located on a farm in this township, and followed farming till 1865, when he went to Xenia, and again engaged in the leather trade till 1876, when he moved back to this county, and has since been engaged in farming ; in August of 1878, he again began the leather trade, and manufactured collars and fly-nets in Dayton, Ohio, but resides on the farm and oversees it. In 1852, October 13, he married Rachel TenEick, a native of this county, born May 30, 1831 ; she is a daughter of Henry TenEick, one of the early settlers of Miami Co. David and Rachel McConnaughey are the parents of four children-Ella T., William A., Anna and Lida.

J. C. MITCHELL, farmer; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; born in Elizabeth Township, Miami Co., Aug. 19, 1826 ; is a son of George and Catharine (Gearhart) Mitchell; he was born in Virginia, in 1798, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1811. They settled in the above-named township, which was his place of residence to within a few years of his death, when he moved to Bethel Township; he departed this life in November of 1874, having been the father of seven children ; three of these pre- ceded him to their eternal home, and one has followed since; J. C. (the oldest of the living ones), Linny A., now Mrs. Gesseman, living in Kansas, and James, liv- ing in Cincinnati, are the survivors. The subject of this sketch was bred a farmer, and still follows that business; he has 50 acres of land in this township, besides some land in the West; he has served as Justice of the Peace six years, and Rev- enne Inspector seven years ; was Captain of Co. B, 147th O. V. I., for about three years. On Sept. 18, 1851, he married Margaret Stafford, a native of this township, born March 15, 1827 ; she is a daughter of James S. Stafford, who was also a native of this place. J. C. and Margaret Mitchell are the parents of nine children- Marvin M. (deceased), Stanley O. (a dry goods merchant of Lima, Ohio), Roger J., Homer W. B., Reuben W., Elmer E., Mary C., Horace C., Bellama S. and Linny Blanche.

W. T. MORRIS, farmer ; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., July 19, 1827 ; is the oldest child of Ezra and Elizabeth (Mckinney) Morris ; she was born Jan. 5, 1805, and was the oldest child of Samuel and Sarah Mckinney, who were old settlers of Clark Co .; he was widely known as a teacher of vocal music, and is still remembered as such ; he would frequently take his daugh- ter Elizabeth with him on horseback through the wilderness, as far as twenty miles, to give instruction in music. Ezra Morris was also the oldest child of his father's family, born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., Aug. 29, 1804 ; a son of David H. Morris, a native of New Jersey and pioneer of the Western country ; he was one of the very first white men that traversed the Miami Valley, which he did as a soldier under Gen. Harmar, and as a hunter ; in his youth, he was a soldier of the Revo- lution ; previous to 1800 he settled amid the forests of this vicinity and assisted in establishing the sections of this, and probably other townships ; by this means he was enabled to see the country, and made choice of half of Sec. 23, which he entered and improved ; in 1825, he donated to the Methodist Episcopal Church 1 acre of land on the southeast corner of said half-section, and did the principal part toward building the first house of worship; it was a log house and known as Pisgah Chapel ; ever after his house was the home of the itinerant clergy, among whom were William Raper, Daniel D. Davison and James B. Finley. He married Eve Ann Sailor, with whom he lived happily for more than forty years. On the 3d of April, 1843, he departed this life, in the 74th year of his age, in full assurance of & blissful immortality, leaving a large family to inherit his name and remember his many virtues. Ezra Morris was the father of eight children, of whom only two

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are now living. His death occurred June 12, 1856. Our subject, in his youth, received very little education, but he is a lover of books, and by his own efforts has obtained a good knowledge of business. He has been Assessor two years, Township Clerk eight or ten years, and has positively refused other offices since. In 1858, he married Elizabeth Wiggin ; she died Jan. 2, 1859, aged 21 years 4 months and 11 days. His marriage with Maria E. Garst was celebrated May 7, 1867 ; she was born in Clark Co. May 25, 1840. The fruits of this union are four children-Mary M., Charles E., Nellie F. and Frank, deceased.

JOHN ROSS, farmer ; P. O. West Charleston. He was born in Bethel Town- ship July 22, 1814, and is a son of John and Sarah Ross ; they were natives of Pennsylvania, but removed to Kentucky, and from there came to Ohio and settled in Warren Co., where the town of Franklin now stands ; his father, Robert Ross, laid out the town ; in 1811, John Ross came to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and purchased 320 acres in two separate tracts, and located on the one where his son now resides; although they were not the earliest settlers, they were the first to make any improvements worthy of mention ; he was one of the parties called out to pursue the Indians, at the time of the Dilbone and Gerard massacre ; their cabin served as a retreat for the women and children of the neighborhood, while the men were gone ; this farm continued to be their home to the end of their lives ; he died in 1849, at the age of 72, and she in 1872, at the age of 90 ; it is also the birth- place of our subject ; this was one of the most heavily timbered countries to be found anywhere, and also thickly set with underbrush, which made it all the more difficult to clear ; however, by the hard knocks and unceasing energy of the pio- neers, it has been stripped of its forests and made a desirable locality ; of this work, Mr. Ross has done a good share ; he owns 140 acres of the quarter-section inhab- ited by his father, which he has under good cultivation, and also well improved ; besides this, he has 160 acres in another section of this township, and is doing a thriving business as a farmer ; he has a harvest of about 100 acres of wheat, also some rye and barley, besides the spring crop. In the early part of March, 1845, he married Eliza DeLong, also a native of this township, and the daughter of George and Elizabeth DeLong, who came here in an early day from Virginia; the fruits of this marriage are twelve children, viz., Ann M., Harrison C., Robert, John L., Benjamin Franklin, Sarah E., Mary Alethia, George W., Eliza, Thomas Jefferson, Fannie and Charles ; Harrison C. entered the service of his country Aug. 10, 1863, and died in July, 1864 ; he was a member of Co. K, 1st O. V. H. A.

CHARLES SENSEMAN, retired farmer ; P. O. West Charleston ; is a son of William and Catharine (Eschleman) Senseman, natives of Lancaster Co., Penn .; he was born in 1790, and she in 1788; they resided in different counties of that State until 1838, when they moved to Ohio, and rented a log cabin, in which they lived the first summer ; he had also rented a farm in Greene Co., which his son and son-in-law farmed ; in the fall, he moved to Greene Co., also, and bought the farm he had rented, but remained only a few months, when he returned to Miami Co., and bought the farm of 234 acres, on which he had first settled. Of their family of eight or nine children, four are still living-Henrietta, now Mrs. Michael Bashore, near Covington, Miami Co .; Charles ; Catharine, now Mrs. William Sny- der, near Logansport, Ind .; and William, in West Charleston. Catharine Sense- man departed this life April 22, 1864, and her husband May 12, in the short space of twenty days. The subject of this sketch was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., July 16, 1817; he commenced life for himself in about a year after his father came to this State ; he moved into the old cabin on his father's farm, and, as he says, com- menced at the bottom ; he rented the farm for eighteen or nineteen years, and then bought of his father 1624 acres ; on this he has made great improvement, and, at different times, made purchases, till he has in one tract 180 acres, besides three other farms in this county, making in all 573 acres. In 1839, Dec. 30, he married Eve Wolf, who was born in Greene Co., Ohio, Nov. 28, 1821. The fruits of this marriage were eleven children, of whom nine are living-John, Mary Ann, William, Cornelius, Milton, Catharine, Charles H., Justina and Joseph.

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HENRY SHROYER, deceased; was born in Bethel Township, Miami Co., Ohio, Aug. 18, 1840 ; his occupation was farming, and he was one of the enter- prising farmers of this community, owning 225 acres of land. In 1861, he was united in marriage with Ann Eliza Kable, who was born in Osborn, Greene Co., Sept. 28, 1842. The fruits of this union are eight children-Anna Mary, born March 24, 1862 ; James K., born Oct. 10, 1863 ; Edgar C., born Nov. 6, 1866 ; Susan A., born Aug. 27, 1868 ; Sidney J., born May 26, 1870 ; Stanley W., born May 17, 1873 ; Gracie L., born May 21, 1875 ; and Carrie M., born June 26, 1877. Henry Shroyer departed this life March 18, 1878; his widow has since had the entire care of her children and the farm, which, by the aid of her eldest son, is managed very successfully.

JACOB SHROYER, retired farmer ; P. O. Brandt ; was born in Frederick, Co., Md., Nov. 10, 1807 ; he emigrated to Ohio, with his parents, in the fall of 1819, and stopped at Dayton, where they passed the winter ; in the following spring, they moved to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and purchased 160 acres of land in Sec. 10, where he spent the remainder of his life, owning at the time of his death 457 acres of land. The subject of this sketch and one sister are the survivors of the fam- ily of five children ; he has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits, and, in connection, has also dealt considerably in stock ; he owns about 641 acres of land in this and Clark Cos., and has held office for about forty years ; has been Town- ship Treasurer for twenty-one years ; in the spring of 1880, was elected to serve his tenth successive term as Township Trustee. Six children were the fruits of his first marriage Thomas, Matilda, Catharine E., Henry (deceased), Anna Maria (deceased) and Harriet ; Maria Shroyer, his wife, departed this life Sept. 23, 1842. He afterward married Susan Stockstill, with whom he had six children-John W., Oscar, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel C. and Jacob (the last two deceased). Mrs. Susan Shroyer died Feb. 22, 1860, at the age of 46 years and 2 months. On Jan. 24, 1861, he married Mrs. Priscilla Mendenhall, formerly Miss Mann, with whom he is living a very quiet and happy life.

JOHN SNELL, farmer; P. O. Brandt ; is a son of Jacob and Barbara Snell, who came to Ohio by means of wagons, in a company of thirty persons in 1830 ; they stopped in Montgomery Co. for about two years, and then came to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and bought 120 acres of land, on which they made some additional improvements in the way of clearing, repairing the house and erecting a new barn ; here they spent the remainder of their lives ; he died in 1855 at the age of 59 years, and she in 1860 aged 60 years. The subject of this sketch was born in Rockingham Co., Va., July 19, 1827 ; his cradle, while on the way to this country, was the feed-box fastened to the hind part of the wagon ; in this he slept while crossing the Ohio at Wheeling. Being the oldest son, he had the principal part of the work to do on the farm, as his father worked at the carpenter's trade; in 1853, he settled on 82 acres of land in the above-named township, lying in Secs. 3 and 9 ; here he has since resided, and, having erected new, substantial farm buildings, he has a very desirable farm, in a high state of cultivation. His mar- riage with Maria L. Rupp was celebrated Nov. 7, 1850 ; she was born in Lancaster, Penn., Feb. 15, 1830, and is a daughter of Samuel Rupp, who came to this State in 1837, and is still living in Clark Co. Mr. and Mrs. Snell are the parents of three children-Minerva R., Jacob F. and Mary E. . Mr. Snell and family, except one daughter, are members of the German Baptist Church.

S. L. STOCKSTILL, farmer ; P. O. New Carlisle, Clark Co. ; born in Bethel Town- ship, Miami Co., Ohio, Aug. 27, 1817 ; is the son of Thomas and Catharine Stock- still. He was one of the very early settlers of this county ; his native State was Maryland, but when quite young he removed to Tennessee with his father, who was a speculator in slaves. Thomas, being conscientiously opposed to the slave traffic, left Tennessee at the age of 16, and came to Ohio. At this time, there were only five or six huts in Cincinnati, and a very few between that and Dayton, which then consisted of one cabin, in which a man by the name of Acres kept a store, and carried on quite a traffic with the Indians. Northeast of Dayton for a distance of

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twelve miles, there was not a house, and no road but an Indian trail. He stopped with old man Hain, an acquaintance of his from North Carolina, located in what is now Bethel Township, Clark Co .; his wealth then consisted in a horse, saddle, saddle-bags, a few chisels, two gimlets and a broad-ax ; he never served an appren- ticeship at any trade, but was handy with tools and did a considerable amount of work in wood, and at shoemaking ; he made the first coffins used in this part of the country .. In those days, it would have been thought sinful to make any charge for services of that kind, so that he has made many coffins without charge; his chief business was farming, and after his arrival in this State he took a lease for twelve years of Leonard Hain, whose daughter Catharine he married about 1801; in 1806, he left his lease and bought 80 acres in Bethel Township, Miami Co., and once more commenced in the woods. In addition to clearing up his farm, he bought 120 acres more. He was a strict Methodist, and aided almost any church of that faith within his reach. Eight of his children grew to maturity-Elias, Rachel, Sarah, Susan, John N., Stephen L., Irvin J. and Catharine. Our subject has always followed farming ; in connection with his farm work, he has made sev- eral useful inventions, as he felt a need for the several articles invented. His first was a grain drill, the distributing principle of which is now used in the Superior Drill, built at Springfield, and others. His other patents were for a clover harvester, for heading clover in the field ; a riding attachment for breaking-plows, and a meat cutter. His livelihood has been gained principally by the sale of these patents. On the 18th of February, 1847, he married Mary J. Lucas, a native of Clark Co., born June 4, 1826 ; by this union they have had nine children-James A., Catharine O., Chalmers T., Nannie C., Insco H. (deceased), Maggie M., Summer- field S., Minnie J. and Etta B.

SAMUEL SULLIVAN, farmer ; P. O. Tadmor, Montgomery Co., Ohio; born in Clark Co., Ohio, Feb. 11, 1814; was a son of James and Jane (McAlister) Sul- livan. He was one of the lineal descendants of the Sullivans who settled Sullivan's Island, N. C., whence it derives its name. It was on account of his antipathy to slavery that he left the land of his nativity and emigrated to Clark Co., Ohio. Their mode of traveling was quite in contrast with that of the present day. They came through on pack horses, the mother taking two children with her on one horse, and the father one child and their provisions on another, for a distance of 600 miles. He took a lease in the above-named county, and settled on the banks of Mud Creek ; at the expiration of his lease, he bought 160 acres, which he improved, but by some mishap lost all. Being, perhaps, past the prime of life, he never made an effort to retrieve his situation, and left his children to accumulate what they could for themselves. He was a minister of the Christian Church for a number of years. Our subject was accustomed to the hardships of frontier life, but received an ordinary education, such as he could obtain in those days by attending school a few months in the winter season ; when, in his 17th year, he left home to fight his way through life, working for the first summer at $6.50 per month, and then took a job of clearing, by which he saved 27 cents per day ; he soon found that he had not sufficient muscular power to make a living by hard labor, and therefore decided to educate himself; having gone as far as the single rule of three in arithmetic, and modes and tenses of verbs in grammar, the requisite of a teacher in those days, he engaged to teach a term of three months ; he entered into an article of agreement to commence at 8 o'clock in the morning, teach every alter- nate Saturday and received $21 for the term and boarded himself ; he followed teach- ing for six years, gradually increasing his wages until he received $20 per month. Mr Sullivan has held an office of some kind for a number of years ; was Justice of the Peace for twelve years, and is Representative of Miami Co. at the present time ; he is not an office seeker, but being a man of real worth, his office is a gift from the people. In 1832, Nov. 4, he married Maria Crook, a sister of Gen. George Crook, the great Indian fighter. The fruits of this union are eleven children- Thomas, James, Theodore, Martha, John, Oliver, George, Florence (deceased), Alice and Lizzie. The eldest son is a graduate of West Point. Although com-

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 88

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051