The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 90

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

USA > Ohio > Miami County > The History of Miami County, Ohio > Part 90

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MONROE TOWNSHIP.

implements, making self-binders a specialty. He is a careful and reliable business man, and interested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community. He is a Republican in politics, a member of the Town Council, and is Assistant Chief of the Fire Department, with which he has been connected since its organization. He married, in 1869, Maria O'Connell, of this county, and, in 1875, Millie Gates, of this place. He had one daughter by the first, and one son by the second marriage.

DAVID FETTERS, carpenter, Tippecanoe City ; born in 1848, in Union Township, this county ; is the son of David and Elizabeth (Hill) Fetters, the former of Pennsylvania, born in 1804, and the latter of Virginian descent. David, Sr., a wagon-maker by occupation, immigrated to Ohio when about 21 years old, and located in Darke Co .; from there he came to this county, and then returned to. Darke Co., where he now resides. He had six sons and three daughters, two sons and one daughter of whom are dead ; one son, Josiah, was killed in the late war at the Atlanta campaign. Our subject is the fifth child of the family ; his early life was that of a farmer boy, and, at the age of 18, he learned the carpenter trade, which he has since followed. He has resided in Tippecanoe City since March, 1868. He enjoys the reputation of a first-class workman, and many of the fine residences of Tippecanoe and vicinity stand as monuments of his workmanship. He exercises his right of franchise with the Republican party, but is no politician. He is a member of I. O. O. F. of Tippecanoe. He married Mary E., daughter of Peter Fair, originally of Maryland. They have a family of five children.

A. J. FULLER, hardware merchant, Tippecanoe City ; born in Clark Co., Ohio, in 1844 ; comes of English ancestry. His father, James, was born in Mont- gomery Co., Va., and emigrated to Clark Co. in 1813 or 1814, where he purchased a farm and passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1872, at the advanced age of 82. He was married twice, first to Didama Thompson, by whom he had five children, and secondly, in 1844, to Sarah Sheets, of Bedford Co., Penn. She was born in 1801, and is the daughter of Andrew Sheets, a gunsmith by trade. His grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1776, and he, Andrew, was old enough to perform guard duty in the same war. He moved with his family in 1806, to. Wilson Co., Tenn., where he remained six years a neighbor to Andrew Jackson. In September, 1812, he pioneered his way to Miami Valley, and located in Eliza- beth Township, this county, where he passed the remainder of his active life, dying in 1843, in Clark Co. Our subject was the only child by the second marriage; he made farming and stock-raising his occupation till about five years ago, when he- located in New Carlisle, and engaged in general merchandising for two years ; he then located in Tippecanoe, and embarked in the hardware business ; he is located on South Main, between First and Second streets, where he keeps on hand a full stock of hardware, pumps, paints, etc., which he sells at lowest prices. He casts his vote with the Democratic party, but is no politician. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment. He married Mary E. Stafford, of Clark Co., in 1868. Five children have been the issue of this union.

S. & H. A. GALLOWAY, druggists, Tippecanoe [City ; one of the well- established firms of Tippecanoe. All the advantages of a thorough acquaintance with drugs and medicines are possessed by these gentlemen. Samuel Galloway, the senior member of the firm, was born in Greene Co., Oct. 18, 1833, and is the son of Andrew and Mary (Collins) Galloway ; Andrew was born in Bourbon Co., Ky., Nov. 7, 1796, and was the son of James G., a noted pioneer of Kentucky and Ohio. The ancestral line extends back to Scotland, whence seven brothers came, previous to the war of 1776, and located in Pennsylvania ; here James was born, and from there moved to Bourbon Co., Ky., in an early time, and in March, 1798, pioneered his way to Greene Co., Ohio, locating on the west bank of the Little Miami, five miles above the present site of Xenia ; he was in the struggle for American Independence, and participated in many of the frontier wars with the Indians ; he was wounded several times, carrying bullets in his body to his grave ; he was an intimate friend of Kenten and Boone, and Tecumseh was a frequent visitor at his house in Greene Co. ; he became the first Treasurer of Greene Co., and

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his son, James, was the first Surveyor. A brother of our subject has held the surveyorship of the county for twenty-four years. The family has been extensively identified with the public offices and interests of Greene Co. since its organization ; Andrew was a farmer by occupation, and one of the prominent citizens of Greene; his death occurred March 26, 1864 ; his wife, Mary, was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., July 3, 1798, and settled in Greene Co. in the spring of 1816; her death occurred Feb. 25, 1872. Our subject continued on the farm till 22 years old, receiving his primary education in the common school, and a more advanced course in the National Normal, of Lebanon, Ohio ; at the age of 22, he entered the pro- fession of teaching, and continued it till Oct. 9, 1861, when he enlisted in the United States service, in which he remained over five years. We give below a recommend- ation by William B. Gaw, Col. 16th U. S. C. I., which gives his military career : April 15, 1866 .- " The bearer here, Capt. Samuel Galloway, 16th U. S. C. I., I take great pleasure in commending to the favorable notice of his friends. Capt. Galloway entered service the 9th of October, 1861, as a private in the 74th O. V. I., and was promoted successively to Corporal, Sergeant, and on the 14th of March, 1864, was examined for a position in the colored troops and passed a first-class Captain, when he was immediately assigned to the command of a company in 16th U. S. C. I. This officer has conducted himself, during his military career, in such a manner as to win the esteem and confidence, as well as the approbation, of his brother officers ; he has exhibited rare qualifications for commanding troops, and his integrity, valor, sobriety, urbane manner and ability in all the ordinary forms of business, have never been questioned; he was examined for position of Major a short time before muster-out of regiment, and came fully up to the standard required .- William B. Gaw, Col. 16th U. S. C. I." Mr. G. engaged in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, etc., besides numerous skirmishes ; was taken prisoner at the battle of Stone River, and during the thirty days in which he was held prisoner passed one week in Libby ; his regiment of colored troops were mustered out April, 1866, and he was detained on court-martial duty till his " muster-out," which occurred Nov. 6, 1866; he then went to Chicago, and engaged in the drug business, on W. Lake street, under the firm of Sherwood & Co., till June, 1867, when he purchased an interest in his present store, then con- ducted under the firm style of S. & W. C. Galloway ; Feb. 1, 1876, the present firm name was adopted. Mr. G. was in the the Government employ from 1869 to 1874, as United States Storekeeper of the Distilleries of Tippecanoe City. He is & Republican in politics, and has held his share of town and township offices ; he now holds the office of Township and City Clerk, and is a member of the Royal Arcanum of Tippecanoe. He married, May 24, 1866, Mary A. Morris, of Shabbona Grove, Ill. ; of the six children born of this union, two have died. H. A. Galloway, junior member of the firm, was born in 1842, in Greene Co., and is a brother of S. Gallo- way. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. D, 74th O. V. I., and in the following January was discharged, on account of physical disability ; has since been engaged in farming and in the drug business. The above firm is reliable, and thoroughly educated in the knowledge of drugs, and their careful attention to their business has won for them the esteem and confidence of the community.

I. KIRK GILBERT, physician, Tippecanoe City, was born in Newberry Dis- trict, in the town of Newberry, S. C., in 1819 ; he is the son of Dempsey and Milla (Lestar) Gilbert ; his early ancestors were found in the colonists of Virginia ; they found their way to South Carolina previous to the war of 1776, and many of them participated in that struggle. Dempsey G. immigrated to this State with his fam- ily in 1834 ; he was engaged in the cotton culture in his native State, and being overtaken by pecuniary reverses, he was induced to emigrate ; he located perma- nently in this, Monroe Township, where his death occurred in 1859. Of a fam- ily of three sons, our subject is the oldest; his boyhood was passed on & plantation in South Carolina ; he was 14 years old when he came to this State. His early education was limited, as being the oldest of the family the management of the farm early devolved upon him : he began reading medicine early in life, and

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in 1843, placed himself under the tutorship of Dr. Keifer, of Troy ; he attended lectures in the Ohio Medical College during the sessions of 1846-47, 1850-51, 1851 -52, graduating in the latter year. Since 1847, he has practiced in this locality, except three years, which he spent in Germantown, Dayton, etc. ; in 1872, he took Cincinnati Hospital Clinics. Dr. G. is a thoroughly read and careful physician. He was married in the spring of 1852 to Mary McPherson, of New York State, a sister of Dr. McPherson, one of the first physicians of this locality.

S. D. HARTMAN, physician, Tippecanoe City ; born in Tippecanoe, Aug. 14, 1846 ; is the son of Dr. A. B. Hartman, of Lancaster Co., Penn., who was married twice and had two children by the first, and six by the second marriage, which was with Delilah Campbell, of this county. Our subject is the oldest child of the second marriage ; he was reared and schooled in his native place, and at the age of 16, learned milling, subsequently becoming a telegraph operator, being an assistant in this place, where he acquired the art, and then operated in the Troy office for twenty months ; he left the office in September, 1869, entered the medical college of Ann Arbor, Mich., and took a course of lectures ; in the spring he returned to his native place, read and practiced with his father till September, 1871, when he returned to Ann Arbor, and graduated in the following spring. He has since been practicing in Tippecanoe City, where his energy and careful attention to his pro- fession have won him the confidence and esteem of the public, building up a large and lucrative practice. He was in the United States service in the late civil war, from March to September, 1865, as a member of 196th O. V. I. In politics he is a Repubican. He is a member of the following societies : Miami County Medical Association, Western Ohio Medical Association, Ohio Medical Association, A., F. & A. M., I. O. O. F. and Royal Arcanum, and also a member of the Method- ist Episcopal Church. He was married in June, 1875, to Miss Laura Byrkett, of this county, and they have two daughters.

H. E. HAWVER, grocer, Tippecanoe City ; one of the well-established grocers of Tippecanoe ; was born in Frederick Co., Md., in 1838 ; his parents were of Amer- ican birth and German descent ; his father, Jacob, being a farmer by occupation ; be had six sons and two daughters, all of whom still survive; Jacob died in 1863, the first and only member of the family who has died, his wife still surviving at the advanced age of 80 years. Our subject is the youngest of the family ; he lived at home until he reached majority, assisting in the duties of the farm, and attend- ing school, his scholarship ending at 15 ; in the fall of 1860 he came to Tippecanoe, where he has since resided; he was first occupied as a laborer at various pursuits, till 1869, when he engaged in the machine shop and at coopering with his brother till 1871, when he embarked in the grocery business ; he is located on Main, between First and Second streets, where he keeps on hand a full line of groceries of the best qualities ; he is a careful and reliable business man, and commands the esteem, and confidence of the public. His political views are expressed in the Republican party, of which he has always been an ardent supporter. He married Mary C. Young, of Miami Co., Bethel Township, in the fall of 1861; two sons and one daughter have been the issue of this union.

GEORGE W. HAWVER, cooper, Tippecanoe City ; was born in Frederick Co., Md., in 1821 ; is the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Hawver (see H. E. Hawver's sketch) ; he is the oldest of the family ; was brought up on the farm and early inured to farm labor ; his early education was obtained under the imperfect sub- scription system ; he remained with his father till 1849, when he emigrated to Ohio, locating in Bethel Township, this county ; was engaged as a laborer at vari- ous pursuits till 1854, when he engaged in the stock business for the subsequent six years, under the firm style of John Broan & Co .; he then engaged in the coop- ering business. which he has since followed. He has the confidence of the public, and is one of the enterprising citizens of Tippecanoe. A self-made man, beginning with nothing but a will and mind determined to succeed, he has established a permanent home, and acquired a competency ; he is one of the stock-holders in the

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" wheel works " of Tippecanoe. He is a Republican in politics, and finds his relig- ious creed in the M. E. Church. He was married in 1859, to Angeline Mann, of Miami Co., and a descendent of early pioneers.

JOHN K. HERR, miller and grain-dealer, Tippecanoe City ; was born in Washington Co., Md., in 1824, and is the son of Rudolph and Mollie Herr ; Rudolph was a farmer by occupation ; his death occurred in 1860. He had a family of twelve children, of whom our subject is the eleventh ; he was raised and schooled in his native State, and emigrated to Ohio in 1841, making the trip here in a two-horse wagon ; worked one year near Xenia, and then went to Warren Co., where he remained about five years ; subsequently milled in Dayton, Ohio, and Knightstown, Ind., and in 1852 came to Tippecanoe and engaged in the milling business with his brother, first renting and afterward purchasing his present mill property, which he has since operated with eminent success ; he also deals largely in grain ; is a care- ful and reliable business man, and a much-respected citizen, taking an active part in matters pertaining to the welfare of the community.

ELI W. HONEYMAN, farmer ; P. O. Troy ; is a prominent farmer ; his parents, John and Mary Honeyman, of Virginia, were pioneers, who emigrated to Miami County early in its settlement. John was a soldier in the war of 1812; we regret that so little can be learned of them. Eli was born in Miami Co., May 14, 1834 ; Sept. 29, 1859, he was united in marriage to Miss Annie, daughter of John and Mary Miller. They were also pioneers, and should have a place in this history ; their children were ten in number, four only survive-Albert, whose sketch appears in connection with other noted men of Monroe Township, Thomas J., Rhoda Z. and Annie, the wife of Eli Honeyman. They have been the parents of seven children, of whom Oliver M., Willis R., Mattie and Ory, survive; Oliver was born March 7, 1863; Willis, Dec. 11, 1865; Mattie, May 27, 1872 ; Ory, Jan. 4, 1874. They are all attending school and learning rapidly. Mr. Honeyman has always been prosperous in business, and owns a nice farm of 119 acres ; he has been connected with the public schools in capacity of Director. He is a conservative Republican and a good neighbor.

J. H. HORTON, editor ; P. O. Tippecanoe City ; was born in Westchester Co., N. Y., Sept. 5, 1834, and comes of English ancestors ; he came to this county with his father, Joseph C., in 1839, and located in Piqua; his father was a smith by trade, and still lives in Piqua, retired from active work. Col. Joshua H. is the oldest of a family of five children ; he was reared and schooled in Piqua, and early learned the printer's art, which he has followed principally through life ; after serving an apprenticeship he worked at journey-work till 1860, when he started the Piqua Democrat, which he conducted till the outbreak of the war, when he responded to the first call for troops and enlisted in the 11th O. V. I. as 2d Lieutenant of Co. F. At the expiration of three-months term of service, he re-enlisted as private, and was soon promoted to the same rank which he held before. In this regiment he served two years, and was promoted from 2d to 1st Lieutenant, and to Adjutant of the regiment, which office he filled one year ; he then went into the 84th O. V. I., which he assisted in organizing, and was appointed Adjutant, and was discharged at the end of one year on account of physical disability ; while with the 11th O. V. I. he was in West Virginia, and engaged in numerous severe skirmishes, the most important of which were Tyler Shoals, Mill Creek (2 days), Hawk's Nest (2 days), Sewell Mt., Gauley Mt., Cotton Hill (6 days), and over twenty road and brush fights with rebel forces from 200 to 4,000 ; with the 84th O. V. I., he engaged in fight at Tate's Ford, retreated with the army to Louisville, Ky., and after fight at Perryville was taken prisoner by Morgan's forces, but was soon paroled ; after his discharge he returned home and remained an invalid for the following year ; went to Dayton, Ohio, and superintended the U. B. printing establishment for four years, when he came to Tippecanoe in 1869 and founded the Tippecanoe City Herald, which he continued to operate successfully till quite recently, when poor health required him to abandon the office ; has the appointment for census taker for Monroe Township, and is Lieutenant Col. of 3d O. N. G. During the railroad riots of July, 1873, his

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regiment was called into service to suppress the mob in various places in Ohio. Col. H. was highly complimented for services during this time. He finds expres- sion for his political views in the Republican party ; is a member of the A., F. & A. M., I. O. O. F. and Encampment, and is a representative, from this district, of the Grand Lodge Encampment. He was married in December, 1855, to Miss Rebecca M. Hannan, of Piqua. Six children have been the issue of this union.

FRED HUBER, butcher, Tippecanoe City; one of the oldest business men in Tippecanoe ; was born in Switzerland in 1830, and is the son of John and Anna (Suter) Huber, the former a miller by trade, which he learned from his father ; he died when our subject was quite young. The subject of this memoir is the only child of the family, and emigrated to America in 1853, landing, after a voyage of sixty-eight days, at Quebec, Canada, thence to Cleveland, and thence to Dayton, Ohio, where he worked two years ; he finally came to Tippecanoe, where he has since been engaged in the butchering business; his shop is the oldest established in the place, and wholly reliable; his long experience in and careful attention to his business commands the patronage of the public (see his card in . directory). He married Elizabeth Rupp, of Switzerland, in 1857; they have two daughters.

DAVIS T. JESTER, farmer ; P. O. Ginghamsburg ; is one of the sons of William S. and Ann Jester, who take front rank among the pioneers, William being born in 1801 ; his wife, Ann Pearson, was Benjamin Pearson's daughter, and was born in 1800; they came from South Carolina, and their family history may be traced to the coming of William Penn; their marriage was in 1824, as nearly as can be ascertained, and they were the parents of ten children-Davis, Mary, Harry, Mag- dalena, Lavina A. and Lucinda are living, and all married except Mary ; Davis was married to Miss Keren H. Evans in 1868; she was the daughter of Robert and May Evans, who were married in 1835, and had six children-Mary L., Aaron, Jesse J., Keren H., Robert M. and Elizabeth ; all are living except the two eldest. Davis and his wife are the parents of two children-Davis L. and Ira ; Mr. Jester was previously married to Miss Jane Coate, in 1862 ; they had two children-Della S. and Charles W .; their mother died in 1864; they live on a nice farm of 85 acres ; his father lives with Henry Harshman, the husband of Lucinda. William Jester is next to the oldest man now living in this township.

MRS. SALLY KERR is the mother of numerous sons and daughters, whose biographies appear in this work, and we venture the assertion that no sketch of any person will be of more interest than even this condensed report of only a few incidents in her life ; she was born in Pennsylvania in 1800; is a daughter of Jonathan and Olive Thompson. Her parents had ten children, and, as they grew rapidly, Mr. Thompson wishing to purchase land enough for them when he had the means, sold his farm in Pennsylvania, himself and eldest son went to Canada and purchased 1,000 acres. They removed thither in 1810, and were getting com- fortably settled when the Indian war of 1812 broke out in all its fury. Mr. Thompson refused to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown, and.was therefore forced to flee for his life. He came to Cleveland, and from there sent a letter to his wife bidding her come at once and bring with her such things as she could carry. The Indians were by this time very troublesome, and numerous out- rages had been committed, and the news that they were to leave the settlement was hailed with joy. They started in midwinter when the snow lay deep upon the ground. Their route was through an almost trackless forest, but they started, nevertheless, with one ox and one two-horse team, hitched to sleds loaded with all they could conveniently carry. Sally was then 11 years old, and went in front, driving the team of horses while her mother drove the oxen. Owing to the stumpy character of the road, the oxen broke the tongue out of the sled to which they were hitched, the first night, and they were forced to stop in the dense woods and stay during the night, with no light, no fire, and the wolves howling on every side. During the long hours of the night, the mother and little Sally had to pace back and forth through the snow to hold the wolves at bay and keep themselves

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from freezing. The other children were as well protected from the cold as was possible with blankets, etc., but Mrs. Thompson's feet were so badly frozen that she was unable to walk for weeks afterward. At daybreak, they left the oxen and the disabled sled and started with the other team. After traveling four or five miles they came to a cabin, where they hired a man to go back, repair damages, and bring the team to his house. The next day's journey brought them to the home of a brother of Mr. Thompson, where they had to stop, as the suffering endured by Mrs. Thompson with her frozen feet, forbade them continuing the jour- ney. They stayed there three weeks, perhaps, when three men with whom her husband was acquainted stopped at the house, and told Mrs. Thompson if she would put herself and little ones under their protection they would see her safely to Cleveland. Mr. Thompson, Sally's uncle prevailed upon her to stay a short time with him, as he also intended leaving the country. She consented, and the mother and children took an affectionate leave of Sally, expecting soon to meet her again. But that parting was destined to be forever, and the daughter, who is now an aged woman, has seen nothing of either parents, brothers or sisters, from that time to this day, neither has any tidings been heard from any of them, and if any of the family are to-day living, they mourn Aunt Sally, the subject of this sketch, as dead. The parting was one never to be forgotten, and, though parents and children may never meet again on earth, we trust that in Heaven above, where no sorrow nor parting is known, their union may be complete. Sally's uncle was also obliged to make his escape, as he was drafted into the British Army, and she was again left with her aunt as an only friend. Shortly after, she was placed in charge of a man and his wife who said they were also going to Cleveland, and again she started to join her parents. The people with whom she found herself afterward proved to be ballet dancers, and, after wandering about the country awhile, came to Ft. Meigs. Disregarding their promise, they left her here among a lot of French and Indians, while she was the only American in the place. Their food was hominy and fish without salt, and she frequently prayed for death instead of this semi-captivity and disgusting food. But as there is always a silver lining to the darkest cloud, so were God's mercies to be extended to our little Sally. Some time during August, a band of 400 savage warriors, painted for battle, and commanded by Col. Cromer, stopped at the fort. The Colonel, noticing her, asked her why she was there, and after hearing the story, told her if she could ride a horse to Fort Piqua, he would carry her that far. She joyfully consented, as the hope of again seeing her friends was still paramount in her bosom. Accordingly, she was mounted on a man's saddle, and the journey of 200 miles commenced. Their route was through an unbroken wilderness, with only a bridle path marking the way, and they rode single file, she being next her protector, the Colonel. She recognized many articles that the Indians had with them as trophies, as belonging to people whom she had known in Canada; but she was not molested in the least by them, the Colonel always having a tent stretched for her accommodation, and placing guards about it. Upon their arrival at Wapakoneta, Ohio, the savages were halted, as they were here allowed their ration of rum. Sally was placed in charge of an Indian squaw, who could talk some English. She, fearing that danger might happen (as the Indians when drunk were always dangerous), told her, as she had a pony of her own, she would take her to Fort Laramie, distant twenty miles. They started to a neighboring cabin to borrow a sidesaddle, when they met two drunken Indians. One of them spoke to Sally (remarking about her beauty), when the squaw told her to run and hide; this she did and reached the hut she had just quitted, the Indian giving chase ; she climbed into the loft and covered herself with & lot of skins that had been placed there. The Indian climbed up, but seeing no one, departed with a malicious grunt of dissatisfaction. The squaw soon returned, leading her pony, bridled and saddled, and assisted her to mount. By this time it was dark ; they started and arrived at Fort Laramie before daylight, the squaw walking all the way. After taking leave of Sally in an affectionate way, she at once started back to her cabin, not waiting for daylight. Upon her arrival at

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 90

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