The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 95

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

USA > Ohio > Miami County > The History of Miami County, Ohio > Part 95

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time he came to Troy, where he has since discharged the duties of a large practice, which he still gives his attention. He has been thrice married ; first, with Ellen Williamson, who bore him two children, one living. His second marriage was with Louisa Louthan, by whom he had three children, two living. His third and last marriage was celebrated with Kate Wells, who bore him two children, deceased. The Doctor has a beautiful home, in which he is enjoying the declining years of a well-spent life.

MARTIN S. BROOKS, farmer ; P. O. Troy. Martin S. Brooks is one of the prosperous farmers ofMiami Co., and, during his lifetime of more than half a cen- tury, he has accomplished his share of developing the county which is now an honor to the State ; the whole county was, during his boyhood, one vast forest, through which the wild deer and the Indian roamed at will. Generations have passed and gone, and still some of the early settlers are left to tell the story of their hardships. Such are now seen in the persons of Martin and Elvira, his wife. He was born in Miami Co. in 1818, and his wife in 1820. Their marriage occurred March 22, 1842 ; Elmira was a daughter of Samuel and Milly Pierce, and a sister of John Pierce, whose biography appears in another place. Educational facilities were limited in their early days ; a log cabin, with a hole left in the side, covered with greased paper to afford sufficient light, was the kind of schoolhouse in which their education was received ; Martin's father emigrated to Ohio in 1805, and en- dured all the privations of a frontier life. Martin was born to be lucky, for with an inheritance of nothing but a good physical constitution, he has now a splendid farm, well improved, and an income that keeps himself and wife comfortable with- out hard work ; during his younger days, he cleared the heavy timber from his present farm, and cut the second ditch that now drains so nicely the land in his neighborhood. Their family consisted of eight children, of whom three are now living-Thomas L., the eldest, born July 27, 1843; Mary J., born April 2, 1845, and Rhoda T., born June 25, 1849. Thomas was married to Miss Mary A. Rich- ardson, and lives in Iowa ; Mary J. is the wife of Benjamin Allred, and resides in Indiana ; Rhoda T. was wedded to Frank M. Perry, and they live with her parents on the home farm. Martin and his wife both belong to the Society of Friends ; they have ever been noted for their uprightness and exemplary conduct ; Mrs. Brooks loves her Bible, and devotes much of her time to the perusal of its sacred pages ; we leave them enjoying the comforts of home and friends, and happy in their consciousness of being good and true Christians.

GEORGE C. CLYDE, Clerk of the Probate Court, Troy. The subject of this sketch was born Dec. 13, 1819, in Delaware Co., Penn .; his father's name was Peter Clyde, and his mother's maiden name was Helen Breese; they emigrated from Glasgow, on the River Clyde, in Scotland, in 1818, and moved to Ohio, then the "Far West," in 1821; the journey across the mountains was made in a one- horse wagon to Wheeling, Va., and from there on the Ohio, in a flat-boat, to Cin- cinnati ; they landed in Troy in September, 1821, lived here one year, and then moved to Lost Creek Township, remaining there until the spring of 1825; Mr. Clyde's occupation was that of a weaver during his stay ; in the spring of 1825, he moved to Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, where he remained until 1833, when he returned to Lost Creek Township and purchased 50 acres of heavy timber, 3 acres cleared, and a cabin built of round logs, the spaces between the logs filled with mud; in this cabin he lived with his family until a commodious house was com- pleted; his death occurred in June, 1852, at the ripe old age of 83. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools in Xenia from the age of 6 until 11, and, for two years preceding their removal, attended a private academy, taught by Rev. Hugh McMillan, the common schools not affording such instruction, at that time, as he required ; he then entered upon a course of toil incident to the clear- ing of a farm in the woods. His marriage was celebrated, at the age of 21, with Miss Priscilla Knight, April 2, 1841 ; they lived happily together for nearly thirty years, rearing a family of seven children-three sons and four daughters- six of whom are still living, one daughter dying at the age of womanhood; the

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wife and mother died Nov. 6, 1870. At the very beginning of his political life, impressed with the dignity of labor and entertaining strong convictions in favor of human freedom, he entered earnestly into the great Anti-slavery struggle, both in church and state, drawing upon himself all the obloquy and odium that then attached to the term " Abolitionist," zealously advocating, in many small discus- sions and on all occasions, the cause of the downtrodden and oppressed, voting steadily for fifteen years with a small minority in opposition to slave rule in this country ; he severed his connection with the church on account of its refusal to bear testimony against human slavery ; he entered enthusiastically into the cam- paign of 1856, on the platform of opposition to the further extension of slavery, and in favor of consecrating all our soil to free labor ; during the great Kansas struggle and the exciting contest of 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Presidency, he was an effectual stump-speaker, and did much to secure the tri- umph so justly due his party ; although from manhood to the age of 40 years, he confined himself closely to work on the farm and labored hard, yet he filled many other responsible and important positions, as executor, administrator and guardian ; during this time, he also taught school for five terms, of three months each, during the winter season, receiving $15 per month ; in connection with this, he also taught the art of penmanship, at night, in the neighborhood ; he was a member of the County Board of School Examiners for six years, under the appointment of Joseph Pearson, Probate Judge, and was elected Treasurer of Lost Creek Township for nineteen consecutive years, declining that position for a longer term to take charge of the County Treasurer's office, to which position he was elected in 1859; he re- moved, with his family and his mother (who was then living), to Troy, where he continues to reside ; his mother died in 1862; he served four years as County Treasurer, and, in 1866, was elected County Auditor, which position he filled for two terms and eight months ; Jan. 2, 1872, he took his seat as a member of the Sixtieth General Assembly of Ohio, having been elected as a Representative to that body from Miami Co. ; was a candidate for renomination, but was defeated through certain influences that were arrayed against him, and was therefore not a candidate at the next succeeding election ; at the Sixty-first session of the General Assembly, Miami Co. was represented by a Democrat, the first Representative that party has had for forty years. He entered into the marriage relation the second time by being joined in wedlock to Mrs. Nellie M. Patterson, who resided in Cincinnati, on the 24th of June, 1874; through the failure of several business enterprises, in, which he was induced to venture by others, he has suffered some financial reversest and the hard earnings of a lifetime have been almost swept away ; but, animated with the firm hope and trust that he has a treasure laid up where "moth and rust do not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal," he continues life's active duties as best he can, awaiting the end in hope.

H. R. COATE, of the firm of Coate & Caw, merchants, Troy; the senior member of this firm was born in Union Township, this county, in 1850, and is a son of John H. Coate, whose sketch appears in this work. J. M. Caw, the junior member, was born in the same township in the same year ; his father, George Caw, was born in Virginia and when a boy came to this county, in which he yet lives ; the members of this firm received collegiate educations, after which Mr. Coate spent two years in Cincinnati and one in Philadelphia, in mercantile pursuits ; Mr. Caw received a like experience in Toledo ; in 1878, the above gentlemen took the reins of this establishment in their own hands and are driving to success ; their ability, fair dealing and popular business habits are fully recognized by the buy- ing public, who give them high rank among the oldest business houses in Troy. Mr. Coate was married to Miss M. C. Williams in 1870, by whom he has had one child, viz., Orlestus Durant (deceased).

ASA COLEMAN (deceased), physician and surgeon ; was born in Glaston- bury, Conn., July 2, 1788, and died in Troy, Ohio, Feb. 25, 1870; he was a de- scendant of Thomas Coleman, an English emigrant to the pilgrim colony in 1630, and was one to whom land was set off by original survey in 1639 and 1640 ; for six

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generations the name of Coleman has been identified with local and general posi- tions in the various relations of church, state, masonry, medicine and surgery ; the same patriotic spirit which led their ancestors to enroll themselves under the Con- tinental fiag moved the descendants in later wars to lead the charging column, or alleviate distress in the field or the crowded hospital ; the line of descent of our subject from this American ancestor, is Noah Coleman first, second and third. Noah Coleman third was born in Hatfield, Mass., in 1704,.married Mary Wright, of Colchester, and had a family of seven children, viz., Mary, Sibyl, Noah, Ozias, Daniel, Asaph and Zenas. Asaph, the fourth son, was born in Massachusetts in 1747; married Eunice Hollister, of Glastonbury, Conn., by whom he had six chil- dren-Julius, Eunice, Asa, Pamelia, Clarissa and Maria ; he was a prominent physician and surgeon in the Continental army. Asa Coleman, after receiving an academic education in his native town, turned his attention to medicine and sur- gery, pursuing his studies mainly under the instruction of his father ; May 23, 1810, he received a diploma from the Connecticut State Medical Society; having made a prospecting tour to the new State of Ohio, in the fall of 1807, he resolved to make that his future home, and, in May, 1811, left his native State and located in Troy ; in November of same year, he received a diploma from the Ohio Board of Medical Examiners, and established himself in the town just named, in the practice of medicine and surgery, which he followed for more than half a century, with con- stant success till the close of his career ; an enterprising pioneer, he took an active and leading part in all the early improvements of this now beautiful county seat. On Sept. 24, 1808, he had been commissioned Surgeon of the 6th Connecticut Militia, and, on the same date of 1811, was made Surgeon of the Ohio Militia ; was constantly on the round of duty, visiting the sick and wounded at the block- houses and posts along the northern boundary of Miami Co., then the frontier settlement ; other commissions followed-as Surgeon, as Major, May 20, 1816, and Lieutenant Colonel July 27, 1818, from Gov. Worthington ; in October, 1816, was elected Representative to the State Legislature, and served in the first session ever held in Columbus, December, 1816 ; he was re-elected in the following year, and served a second term, declining a third, though strongly urged to become a candi- date; elected Associate Judge, he was commissioned Feb. 4, 1827, by Gov. Trimble for a period of seven years ; chosen as a Director of the Miami Co. Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, a't its organization in 1846, he served as an officer till its close in 1866; he was instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank of Troy ; was elected its first President, served nearly two years and resigned through failing health ; he was made a Freemason in 1809 ; was a charter member of Franklin Lodge, Troy, in June, 1812, and was first Master of the same; at the time of his death, in his 82d year, he was the last surviving charter member ; he was also a charter member of Franklin R. A. Chapter, Franklin Council R. & S. M., and Coleman Commandery, K. T .; the last mentioned bearing his name in honor of his Masonic worth; for six years he served as Director and Physician of the County Infirmary, and submitted the plan for the present building ; he was prominent in establishing the Protestant Episcopal Church in Troy, was elected first Senior Warden of Trinity Church in 1830, and annually re-elected up to the time of his death-a continued period of forty years ; fond of agricultural pursuits, he gave much of his time to operations on his farm, and retired thither during the last few years of his life ; he was above medium height, straight and well proportioned, and as erect in his advanced years as in his youthful manhood ; his bearing was digni- fied, his step firm, and his hair silver white as the snow ; he lived a long, active, useful and blameless life, and died as one, who, wearied with his labors, "wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams." He was thrice married; his third wife was Mary Keifer, whom he married Oct. 24, 1822 ; she was born in Sharpsburg, Md., and came with her parents to Clark Co., Ohio, in 1812 ; she survived her husband but a few months, dying Dec. 5, 1870; by the last marriage they reared six children-Horace, Pamelia Hale, Augustus Henry,

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Asa, George Edwin and Julius Adams ; all the above-named sons served in the Union ranks in the war of the rebellion.

AUGUSTUS H. COLEMAN (deceased), a son of Dr. Asa Coleman, whose biog- raphy appears in this work, was born in Troy Oct. 29, 1829. He received his elemen- tary education in the schools of Troy; was remarkably quiet and orderly in his deport- ment, always perfect in his recitations and accomplished thoroughly whatever he undertook ; he exhibited, even in his youthful days, that spirit of manliness and energy of character which so distinguished his life in after years. In June, 1847, he entered the Military Academy at West Point, where he pursued his studies for four years. At the close of his course, he returned home and engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. On the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion, he enlisted as a private soldier, and recruited a company of over 100 men, in forty-eight hours, with whom he proceeded to Columbus April 26, 1861; he was chosen Captain of the company, and upon the organization of the 11th O. V. I., was elected Major of the same, and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel Jan. 9, 1862. The fine discipline and great proficiency in drill of this regiment was obtained through him as Drill- Master. It has been said that he could manuver a regiment in less space than most officers required for company drill ; he was always vigilant and watchful against danger, but brave to a fault. Being in Washington on business for the regiment, he knew nothing of the movement of the brigade to Bull Run, Aug. 27, 1862, till his return to camp. With all possible haste, he joined his regiment, finding the men in considerable confusion. His arrival was hailed with a hearty cheer from his men, who were more rejoiced at his presence than if re-enforced by a thousand strangers. At South Mountain, he displayed the ability and bravery of a successful commander, and his prospects for advancement to a high position brightened every day. But his career was destined to an early close. At the battle of Antietam, on the ever-memorable 17th of September, 1862, at the superior command, " Forward ! Assault the bridge and carry it at all hazards," forward they moved, with Col. Coleman in advance of his men, cheering them on, and, closing up their broken ranks, he fell with his face to the foe, mortally wounded, And now

" He sleeps his last sleep : he has fought his last battle, He ne'er shall awaken to glory again."

Peace be to his memory ! He fills the honored grave of a patriot soldier, and his noblest monument is the affectionate remembrance of brave men. He was married to Miss Clara, daughter of Eckert Shafer ; two children were the result of this union-Rachel Augusta and George Edwin.

HORACE COLEMAN, physician and surgeon, Troy ; eldest son of Asa Cole- man, whose biography appears in this work, was born in Troy Dec. 27, 1824 ; was educated at Gambier, Ohio ; studied medicine under his father, and graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, in 1849. After a few months' practice in Troy, he located in Logansport, Ind., in the spring of 1850, where he remained thirteen years, actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, three of which he was a partner of Dr. G. N. Fitch. In October, 1861, he entered the army as surgeon of the 46th Ind. V. I., and served nearly three years, either as medical director or surgeon-in-chief of his division. In May, 1864, he became surgeon of the 147th O. V. I. His services in the army were distinguished throughout for efficiency, fidelity and signal devotion to the needs of the sick and wounded. At the close of the war, he returned to Troy and engaged in practice; he was subsequently appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District of Ohio, and filled the office during its continuance. In 1868, he was a Republican delegate to the Chicago Presidential Convention that nominated Grant and Colfax. Among the local positions which he has filled, are those of Director in the First National Bank ; a member of the City Council and President of the Board of Education. For a third of a century, he has been connected with the Masonic fraternity, and has occupied high positions of honor and trust therein; he is a gentleman of reserved, vet affable manners, fine social qualities, and is highly esteemed by the community

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for his sterling personal worth. On Nov. 9, 1847, he married Mary L., daughter of C. Aldrich, an early settler of Troy, Ohio ; but a native of Rhode Island ; seven children resulted from this union ; five are living-Horace, Jessie L., Edward, Mary Rebecca and Warren. On the 8th of January, 1880, he moved to the old Coleman homestead, Prospect Hill, Staunton Township, with a view of making this his future and permanent home.

S. A. COLLINS, clothier, Troy. Maj. Collins, as he is familiarly and properly termed by his hosts of friends both far and near, is a native of the Hoosier State, and was born in Pulaski Co., Ind., on the 11th of September, 1840, but, at the early age of two years, was transplanted to Buckeye soil, where he was brought up on the farm until 17 years of age ; he then began the business of a contractor and builder, which he pursued quite successfully until the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion ; in September, 1862, he enlisted in the famous 11th O. V. I., and, taking naturally to the business of a soldier, he steadily and rapidly advanced in promotion ; after the second battle of Bull Run, in which engagement he par- ticipated, he was promoted on the field, by Col. Coleman, to the office of 2d Lieu- tenant, as a reward for gallant services ; following the varied fortunes of this gallant regiment, he participated in the actions of Frederick City and Antietam, after which the regiment was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland ; here he was placed on detailed duty at Gallatin, Tenn., until he resigned his commission in September, 1863 ; in May, 1864, by the advice and direction of the State Mili- tary Examining Board, he accepted a Lieutenant's commission in the 147th O. N. G., and served about four months with this regiment at Washington, D. C., and was mustered out with the regiment; since the war, Mr. Collins has been engaged mostly in the lumber trade, exporting lumber to foreign markets, and as a dealer in building lumber ; in 1875, he took a prominent part in the organization of the Pearson Guards, Company C, of the 3d O. N. G., and was elected First Captain of the company, which position he held, making it one of the best military companies Miami Co. boasted ; subsequently, in December, 1876, he was elected and com- missioned Major of the Third Regiment, and ably assisted in suppressing the rail- road riots in this State in 1877 ; Maj. Collins is now the proprietor of the Eagle Clothing House, in Troy, and does an extensive and increasing business in that line. He was married to Hannah Earnheart May 7, 1864; she was a native of Miami Co., Ohio, and born in Brown Township in 1840'; they have a family of three children-Effe, Arthur and Alva. The Major is ranked among Troy's best and most enterprising young business men, and will yet win a position and competence, if personal popularity, joined to honest and earnest effort is any assurance.

JOHN H. CONKLIN, City and Township Clerk, Troy ; was born in this township April 17, 1815; his parents, David and Mary J. (House) Conklin, were natives of Ohio, and in about 1814 settled in Piqua, where they made a per- manent home ; his father met his death in Illinois by the hand of a murderous assassin, in the summer of 1837, aged 45 years ; his mother died in Missouri in 1861, aged 63 years ; they were parents of ten children, four of whom are living. Mr. C.'s boyhood was passed in Piqua, where he received the rudiments of an edu- cation, which was more fully developed by attending a school in Spring Creek Township ; in 1835, he came to Troy and was employed as salesman by Harker, Finner & Singer, with whom he remained four years ; since then he has been em- ployed by many of the business houses here ; he served as Deputy Sheriff with Stephen Johnston one term. His marriage was celebrated with Mary J. Parsell, who has borne him ten children, eight of whom are living-Alfred L., Geraldine, Emma, Henry, Benjamin L., Bargoon, Lauren F. and John H .; the deceased are David P. and Edmund ; Mrs. C. is a daughter of Bargoon and Susanna Parsell, who were residents of Clinton Co., Ohio. He has filled the office of Township Clerk twenty-one years in succession, been Deputy Treasurer for two years, and filled other positions of honor and trust-in all, discharging every duty, and by so doing won the confidence of his townsmen. He and his estimable wife have been mem- bers of the M. E. Church since 1850.

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JOSEPH S. CRAY, farmer ; P. O. Troy. We herewith present to the read- ers of the Miami Co. History, a sketch of the life of Joseph S. Cray, eldest son of Richard and Mary A. Cray ; he was born in Hunterdon Co., N. J., Nov. 25, 1827; his parents emigrated to Butler Co., Ohio, in 1838, and removed to Miami Co. in 1851. J. S. Cray was married to Miss Elizabeth Stine Aug. 30, 1854, and they com- menced their married life on the Richard Morrow farm, in Washington Township; their marriage was a happy one, but they toiled early and late, and were content with their lot as they saw their wealth gradually increasing ; their children-three boys and one girl-grew up around them, thus giving them greater stimulus for exertion ; J. Albert was born Nov. 20, 1855; Mary A. L., July 20, 1857 ; she is now the wife of Daniel Favorite ; Charles R. was born June 30, 1860; and Will- iam A., May 7, 1863; the daughter married into an old and wealthy family of this township ; she was married to Mr. Favorite, in Troy, by Rev. J. P. Watson, and an elegant reception was given them by the parents of the bride ; their first child was born March 24, 1878, and was named Joseph W. Mr. Cray is the owner of a fine farm of 102 acres ; his barns and outbuildings are first-class, and his orchard is a large one ; the farm is in a high state of cultivation, showing the prosperity of the owner. Typhoid fever made its appearance for the first time in the history of the county during his younger days, and two sisters and one brother fell vic- tims to the disease ; he persistently refused to take the doctor's drugs, and was the only one who was attacked that recovered. He has held the office of School Director twelve years, and was elected Township Trustee, but resigned, as the office was forced upon him against his will ; he is well posted upon the current topics of the day, and votes his sentiments irrespective of party lines ; his home is one of comfort, and he is a kind and obliging neighbor, an excellent husband, and an indulgent father.

CHARLES H. CULBERTSON, attorney at law, Troy. Our subject was born in Troy Nov. 7, 1831, and is a son of Samuel and Mary (Hedges) Culbertson ; the ancestors of this family originally came from Scotland and settled in Cumberland Co., Penn., early in the eighteenth century, where they established and built up what has since been known as Culbertson's Row ; five brothers, viz., Joseph, Robert H., Henry W., Samuel and John, immigrated to this county in 1807, and located in Troy ; they were a family of merchants, and did the chief part of the business in Troy during a period of several years ; they were all prominent business men, and put up most of the early buildings of Troy, prominent among which are Culbertson's Mills, and Cairn's warehouse ; they were extensive boat-owners, and were buyers of pork, grain etc., furnishing a market for the produce of the country, and doing much to build up the commercial wealth of the county ; two of the brothers were soldiers in the war of 1812. Samuel and Mary (Hedges) Culbertson, were the parents of ten children, five boys and five girls, eight of whom grew to manhood and womanhood ; the eldest daughter, Catherine E. Moore, was one of the twenty-seven organizers of the Christian Church in Troy ; she was an exemplary Christian woman of extraordi- nary ability and much force of character, having the mind to plan and the decision to execute. John W., the eldest son, is an oculist and aurist of considerable cel- ebrity ; he is at the head of the eye and ear infirmary of Culbertson & Eaton, located at Indianapolis. . Charles H. is a prominent lawyer and a self-made man ; as a jurist, he stands high in the profession, and has a most extensive practice, which his urbanity of manners and strict attention to business have justly merited ; he has made himself one of the solid men of the county, being a large real-estate owner. On the 1st of February, 1855, he was married to Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of Andrew Stewart, a wealthy farmer ; the nuptials were performed at the house on the northwest corner of Market and Water streets, on the morning the brick building on the opposite corner was destroyed by fire ; Mr. C. soon after came in possession of the same property, where he has since erected one of the finest dwell- ings in Troy, in which Mr. and Mrs. C. have resided ever since, enioying the blessings of good health and congenial society ; their minds being of a similar cast, they have partaken of the same joys and pleasures ; he is a member of the Masonic

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 95

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