The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 107

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254

USA > Ohio > Union County > The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record; > Part 107

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JOHN M. EIRICH, farmer, P. O. Marysville, was born in Darby Township, Union County, in 1837, and is the oldest son of his parents born in this county. His father's name was George, and his mother's maiden name was Barbara Rupprecht, and both were natives of Germany. He was born in Bavaria, where he was married, and with his wife and five children embarked to the United States in 1837, and made a temporary location in this township, where he resided through the winter, and in the spring of 1838 purchased the farm now occupied by his son, the subject of our sketch, then consisting of eighty acres. During the latter year he erected a log house, and occupied the premises in the spring of 1839. He resided upon the farm during his life, and raised on the homestead farm two children, our subject and a younger brother, Gott- lieo, who resides in Van Wert County, Ohio His father died in 1847. He was a consistent church member all his life, and a worthy and esteemed citizen. The wife and widow who sur- vives him is residing with her children in the eighty-sixth year of her age. Subsequent addi- tions to the homestead farm has increased it 150 acres. The subject of this sketch was brought up on the homestead farm, and was married in 1866 to Miss Carohne Burger, a native of Marion County, Ohio. To this union three children have been bern, all of whom are living, viz .: John V., Mary B. and Emanuel P. Mr. E. has filled the office of Assessor two years, and Township Trustee two years, and prior to his marriage engaged in teaching district school for four consec- utive winters, from which time he has been an invalid, after a severe attack of typhus fever. This has prohibited him from labor, and confined him to his home. He has always been con- nected with the Lutheran Church, and an officer of the church here for some time.

L. M. FAIRBANKS, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, came to this State in 1837. IIe was born in Windsor County, Vt., in 1824, and is a son of Luther and Lucy (Lewis) Fairbanks, both natives of that State. They came to Ohio at the date above written, and settled on the Darby, in Union Township. Luther was a farmer, and worked at farming some years, after which he re- turned to Massachusetts and remained six or eight years, but subsequently returned to Ohio, and died at the residence of his son, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife preceded him to the grave. The subject of this sketch was raised on the homestead farm in Union Township, and afterward returned to the Eastern States and remained three or four years. He then settled on his present farm of 220 acres of valuable and productive land. He followed his trade of wagon-maker from 1844 to 1850, in Union Township. He is largely engaged in stock and grain dealing at the present time; has been Trustce of the township, and a member of the Agrienlt- ural Board eight years. Hle is one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of the county, and in politics a Republican. In 1846, he married Miss Mary A. Smith, a native of New York State, a history of whose ancestry is hereto appended. This union was blest with ten children, of whom seven survive, viz. : Charles W., Luther M., William D., Newton II., Jennie, Nellie and Harry.

WILLIAM DE FOREST SMITH and family settled on the Darby Plains, four miles south of Milford, in 1835. Ile and a brother-in-law, Dr. Benjamin Davenport-a famous physician, still held in grateful remembrance by old residents of Union and Champaign Counties-started from Columbia County, State of New York, early in 1834, for the West. Not having determined on the location, the families of the two young men were left in charge of Mr. Smith at Wilkesbarre, in the picturesque valley of Lehigh, while Dr. Davenport surveyed the promised land. Ile selected the Darby Plains, where cousins of his, James Miller and the Culvers, were already residing on ex- tensive farms. The next year the families followed, crossing the mountains in wagons, the only mode of conveyance in those times. llere Mr. Smith opened a carriage shop, and in later years added to the diversity of his employment by farming. Besides the land on the plains, he pur- chased jointly with his son-in-law, L. M. Fairbanks, a farm ent out of the Virginia military tract on the Big Darby, near the Madison County line.

William De Forest Smith was born in Litchfield County, Conn., April 3, 1805. IIe was a de- scendent of the Rev. Henry Smith, a Congregational clergyman, active in affairs in the early times of that colony. His grandfather, Bethel Smith, a farmer, who resided at Kent, on the Housatonic River, was born in 1728, and lived to be about a century old. His tather, Lyman Smith, also a farmer, married Elizabeth De Forest. Soon after his birth his mother died, and Lyman went to the Green River Valley, Columbia County, N. Y., where he had a farm, to reside. He survived his wife only about five years, dying at the early age of thirty. The orphan child William was sent to live with an uncle near Great Barrington, Mass., where he was educated and instructed as a mechanic.

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DARBY TOWNSHIP.

William De Forest Smith married a daughter of Deacon Story Gott, of Green River-Almira Gott, who was born May 21, 1809. The Gott family is also one of the oldest of the Connecticut families. Story Gott was a direct descendant of the Daniel Gott who was among the emigrants who arrived in New England prior to 1690, and settled in the valley of the Connecticut. The family was Dutch, and had been driven out of the Netherlands by Spanish Catholic persecutions; and again left England to seek perfect religious freedom in America. Story Gott, the father of Almira Gott. served as a Lieutenant throughout the Revolutionary war, thus testifying the will- ingness of the blood to fight for civil as well as religious liberty. After the close of the war, he built a residence on a farm he owned in the Green River Valley, midway between Green River and Spencertown, where he raised a large family, and was known to be as zealous a Presbyterian and Freemason as he had been a soldier. The family were Federalist, then Whig, and then Re- publican in polities, and very active. Story Gott's brother Daniel was a Member of Congress, and for many years a Judge of the Court of Appeals. Both of the brothers were personal friends as well as political associates of Horace Greeley. William De Forest Smith died in October, 1849. Almira, his wife, survived him about twelve years. They were buried in the cemetery at Milford.

The children of William De Forest and Almira Gott Smith who survive, are Aun Elizabeth, born 1828; Mary Adelaide, born 1829 ; Charles Warren, born 1831; William Henry, born 1833 ; and Celia J., born 1841. All are married and have families of their own. The eldest daughter married W. W. Norton ; the second, L. M. Fairbanks, and the third, Clark Ritchie.

The elder son, C. W. Smith adopted and has followed the railroad business, and is to-day one of the most prominent and successful railroad officers in the United States. Ile is the Gen- eral Manager of the Chesapeake and Ohio system which extends from Newport News at the confluence of the James River and Chesapeake Bay to Memphis, Tenn., and which is soon to be united with the Southern Pacific at Shreveport, La. His headquarters are at Richmond, Va.

The second son, William Henry Smith, graduated at a Quaker College near Richmond, Ind., and adopted the profession of a journalist. When twenty-one years of age, he edited at Cin- cinnati a literary monthly called the Casket and Review, and a weekly called The Type of the Times. Subsequently he became connected with the daily press of Cincinnati, and when the war broke out was on the editorial staff of the Gazette. In 1863, he was invited by John Brough, Ohio's great war Governor, became his private secretary, and while holding that posi- tion was nominated and elected Secretary of State on the Union ticket in 1864, and was re- elected in 1866. He resigned this office in January, 1868, to return to journalism. He estab- lished the Cincinnati Chronicle, and on that being merged into the Times, accepted the appoint- ment of General Manager of the Western Associated Press, the largest news organization in the world, with headquarters at Chicago. This was in January, 1870. When Rutherford B. Hayes was elected President, he appointed Mr. Smith Collector of Customs for the port of Chicago, which office he held until after the death of President Garfield, when his commission having expired, he declined to permit his name to be used longer in connection with the office. Mr. Smith has written a great deal, his largest literary work being " The St. Clair Papers," two vol- umes, octavo, which covers the years of the Revolutionary war, Government under the Confeder- ation, and the Government of the North western Territory before Ohio was admitted as a State.

GEORGE FENNER, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, eldest son of Hezekiah and Lucinda (Kimball) Fenner, was born in Union County, in October, 1846; his grandfather, Benjamin Fenner, came to near Liverpool, Madison County, at an early day, and purchased a farm of sixty acres. The subject of this sketch was reared in Union County, and educated in the com- mon schools of his native place. In 1871, he was married to Celia Morse, daughter of Jason Morse. Mrs. Fenner died in 1874, and left one son-Alfred E. Mr. F. married for his second wife Alvira Bidwell, a native of this county, and a daughter of Addison Bidwell, an early set- tler of the county. Two children were born to this union-Howard N. and Oscar A. Mr. Fen ner settled on his present farm in 1871, and is engaged in agriculture and stock-raising. His farm contains 121 acres of land, valued at $75 per acre.

A. J. FERGUSON, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., June 17, 1827, and is a son of William and Anna (Robbins) Ferguson. He was born in Scot- land and she in New Jersey ; he died in Pennsylvania in 1844. The widow with her eldest son, Wesley, came to this county in 1855 ; she died May 18, 1862. Our subject purchased his pres- ent estate in 1858. January 1, 1854, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of John and Marga- ret Jolly, who has borne him eight children, six of whom are living-Elton W., Andrew, Mc- Clellan, Mertie, Hattie M. and Nettie. April 25, 1861, Mr. Ferguson enlisted in Company F, Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry-three months' service ; he re-enlisted November 21, 1861, in Company K, Fitty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three years and one month. He passed through many of the hard-fought battles of the war, twenty-three in number ; he was promoted February 16, 1862, to Second Lieutenant, and again to the First Lieutenancy after the battle of Shiloh, and was made Captain of Company C after the battle of Jonesboro. He has served in the capacity of Township Clerk for nearly twenty years, and assessed the township in 1880, and the same year took the census of Darby Township. In 1870, he was a land appraiser ; he is also a member of the order of Free and Accepted Masons, and also of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which latter he is a Vice Commandant.

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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

JOHN GUY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, is a son of James and Mary (Carey) Guy, and a grandson of Jacob and Hannah (Bean) Guy, who was born in Caledonia County, Vt. He re- moved to Canada in which he lived till the war of 1812, when he returned to the States and set- tled in Franklin County, Ohio, and some years later he returned to Canada, where his wife died ; he afterward returned and died in Madison County, Ohio. James Guy was born in Vermont, and his wife in Madison County, Ohio. He settled in this county in 1845, and afterward dealt largely in stock. Nine children were born to them, eight of whom are living-Ann, Rhoda, Harriet, Mary, John, James II., Marshall P. and Lucy ; Eliza M., the oldest, deceased. Our subject enlisted in 1863, in Company K, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment, one hundred day service. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

MARSHALL P. GUY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in 1845, on the old homestead farm in Darby Township, upon which he has always resided. The original purchase of 146 acres has received subsequent additions, and now consists of 552 acres, of which he owns one- half. He was raised as a farmer, and in 1872 married Miss Rosa Bidwell, a daughter of Addison and Mary A. Bidwell, early pioneers of this township, where she was born and raised. This union has been blest with four children, three surviving, viz .: Alice, Rodney and Effie. During the rebellion Mr. Guy served as a private in 1864, in the one hundred days' service, with Company K, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio National Guards. He is a believer in the doctrine of universal salvation and a member of the Universalist Church at Plain City. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity and one of the substantial freeholders of this township.

WARREN HARRIS, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, is the youngest son of Ganet and Sarah (Orr) Harris, and was born in Darby Township, Union County, in 1836. He was raised on the homestead farm in this township, and resided at home until after his marriage, which occurred in March, 1855, to Miss Eliza A. McNier, a native of this county and a daughter of John and Lydia McNier, early pioneers of this county. To this union four children have been born, all of whom are living-Mary S., wife of Charles H. Adams, resides in this township; Sarah J., wife of Albert Adams, resides in the county ; Isaac W. and John E., both residing at home. Mr. Harris settled on his present farm, consisting of seventy-five and one-third acres, in February, 1879. He has always made Union County his home, and is connected with the Christian Church, and is one of the relics of the old and early pioneers of the county.

S. B. HOLYCROSS is a son of David and Phoebe Fenner Holycross, natives Virginia aud Rhode Island, respectively, who settled in this county when they were married. Nine children were born to them, seven of whom are living. One son, Perry, enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga and subsequently died in a hospital. The subject of this sketch is the oldest son, and was born in Madison County, Ohio, in 1838. He served in the one hundred days' service in the One Hun- dred and Thirty-sixth Regiment Ohio National Guards.

HIRAM KENT, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, is the fourth child of Silas and Olive (West) Kent, natives of New Jersey and Connecticut, respectively, who came to Ohio in 1807 and located in Franklin County, where they were among the early pioneers. Our subject was born in Franklin County, in 1807, about three months after his family arrived at their Western home. The family subsequently removed to Greene County, and from there to Montgomery County, where they remained until Hiram attained the age of thirteen years, when they moved to Madison County and settled on Darby Plains. They subsequently moved to Union County and settled on the farmn now owned by George Caldwell, which they afterward sold, and purchased in the same township another farm, upon which the father passed the rest of his life, dying in the fifty-sixth year of his age. His wife afterward moved to Appanoose County, Iowa, where she died. They raised a family of thirteen children, seven of whom are living. He was a man of quiet, unostentatious habits, who had no aspirations for political honors and gave his entire time to the pursuits of private life. The subject of this sketch remained at home until April 16, 1829, when he was married, on the home place, by Rev. Samuel Bradford, to Miss Miranda Harrington, who was born at East Montpelier, Vt., November 8, 1807. To them were born seven children, of whom two survive, viz .: Cicero and Lucinda. The former married Margaret J. Moffard and has five children, three sons and two daughters. The latter is the wife of E. W. Barlow. Mr. Kent settled on the farm now occupied by him in 1838. It consists of 162 acres of valuable land. His advantages for education in early life were limited, and the substance of which he is now possessed has been acquired by his own energy, economy and perseverance. Ile is a thorough Republican in politics, and for thirty years has been a member of the Masonic order. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN F. KILBURY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Canaan Township, Madison County, Ohio, in 1834, and is a son of Thomas and Martha (Finch ) Kilbury, both natives of Ver- mont, who joined the pioneer settlements of Madison County at an early time. His wife died after bearing him eight children, seven of whom survive. He was again united to Mrs. Polly Somers, widow of James Somers, by whom he had five children. Three by this uuion are living, and the respected and aged pioneer is at this time, 1882, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The subject of this sketch was reared on the homestead, and when nearly of age moved to Frank-

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DARBY TOWNSHIP.

lin County, Ohio, where he was married December, 1856, to Miss Lydia A., daughter of Jona- than Norton, a native of Franklin County. Three years afterward, he returned to Madison County, and in 1866 purchased the land of his present farm, seventy acres, upon which he set- tled, and has since made it his home. Ile is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Plain City, and has a family of seven children, all of whom are living, viz .: George E., Della J., Laura, Annette, John S., James S. and Charles F.

ASA KILBURY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, is a son of Richard and Obediana (Baldwin) Kil- bury, natives of Vermont, who came to this county in 1814. He (Richard) was a son of John Kilbury, a native of England, who served seven years in the British Navy. He was set at lib- erty on the American shore, and settled in the above State, where he died. Richard settled in Darby Township, Madison County, Ohio, where he lived many years. He died at the age of ninety years (nearly). He was a smith by trade. Our subject was born June 24, 1806. He was married March 18, 1832, to Ruth Clark, who bore him nine children, of whom five are liv- ing, viz .: James, Robert, Mortimer, Dunbar and Solomon H. Mr. K. settled on his present es- tate, which consists of 192 acres, in 1863. He is one of the intelligent and enterprising citizens of the county, and in every respect a progressive man. He is an exemplary member of the Christian Church and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN KNOCK, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, was born in England in 1819, and in 1840 emigrated to this country with a brother Joseph, whose whereabouts is unknown. He located first in Summit County, Ohio, and afterward removed to this county in which he lived fourteen months ; he then resided in various places until 1852, when he located in Union County. He now owns 156 acres of good land. He was married in 1846, to Grace Morrison, who has borne him five children, four of whom are living, viz .: Herman J., Adelia J., deceased, Mary L., Ma- rilla G. and Charles M. He has served in the capacity of Trustee and Justice of the Peace. On his land is a magnetic spring which flows continually.

J. P. MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Milford Center, was born in Darby Township October 2, 1836. His parents, James and Edith (Penrose) Martin, were natives of Lancaster County, Penn. They came to Union County in a wagon, arriving in Darby Township, in September, 1835. Mr. Martin erected a log house on the site of our subject's present residence, and is still living, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He reared a family of six children, of whom four are now living. Our subject is the only son. He was reared on the homestead and educated in the schools of his native place, and Otterbein University. In September, 1869, he removed to his present location. In the second year of the rebellion, Mr. Martin enlisted in Company D, For- tieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served three months, and was discharged by an act of the War Department. He re-enlisted in November, 1862, in Ohio Cavalry, and served till the close of the war. He was subsequently employed in the mustering service at Louisville, Ky. At the termination of this military service, he returned home, and November, 1867, was married to Miss Harriet, daughter of Frederick Sager. Two children were the fruits of this union-James H. and Jasper M. Mrs. Martin was reared to womanhood in Darby Township, and educated in the Female Department of the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which institution she graduated in June, 1867. Mr. Martin finished his course in the Otterbein Uni- versity, in June, 1861, and ever since has. displayed an active interest in educational affairs.

JAMES MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Unionville Center, an old and respected pioneer of Union County, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1805. Ilis parents, Jonathan and Keziah (Irwin) Martin, were natives of Lancaster County, and of Irish ancestry. Mr. Martin passed his youth and early manhood on his father's farm, and has always followed that avocation. In 1833, he came on horseback to Union County, occupying eleven days in the trip. He purchased. the homestead, and returned to Pennsylvania, and the following year moved with his family to this county, making the journey in a wagon in seventeen days. Mr. Martin bought 150 acres of woodland, for which he paid $10 an acre, the highest rate at which land was selling. MIr. Martin cleared and well improved his farm, and has been engaged in the pursuits of agriculture and stock-raising. In 1832, he was married to Miss Edith Penrose, by whom he has had six children : of these four are living, viz., Joseph ; Belle, wife of Joseph Woods ; Maria, wife of James Anderson ; and Mr. Martin has always resided on the homestead farm, which he has increased to 230 acres. He is connected with the Presbyterian Church of Milford Center, and is a highly esteemed citizen.

JAMES McCLOUD, farmer, P. O. Milford Center, is a grandson of Thomas McCloud, a native of Vermont, who with two brothers, Charles and David, came to the West and settled on Darby Plains, this county and township, in 1810, and were among its earliest pioneers. The subject of this sketch was born in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1833. His parents, John and Laura (Tinkham) McCloud, were natives of Delaware County and Vermont, respectively. They settled in Madison County in 1853. Two years later they moved to Whitley County, Ind., thence to Miami County, and to Union County, Ohio, in 1850, and settled on a farm in Union Township. His death occurred at Unionville Center, January 19, 1872. His wife, who sur- vives, is in the seventy-first year of her age. James McCloud was married in 1854 to Miss Malinda, daughter of Jeremiah Converse. a pioneer family of Madison County, where she was born. This union has produced six children, three of whom are living, viz., Jeremiah B., Nina

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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

R. and Mamie M. Mr. McCloud served the three months' call for troops during the rebellion, in the ranks of Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio National Guard, and suffered by sickness nearly the whole time of service. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church or Louis Chapel of Chuckery.

DAVID McCLOUD, farmer. P. O. Milford Center, was born in Adams County, Ohio, in April, 1838, and is a son of John McCloud, a native of Ohio, and Laura Tinkham, his wife. The latter was born at Barre, Vt., and when six years of age came to the West with her parents, Isaac and Cynthia (Snow) Tinkham, who settled north of Worthington, Franklin County. Mrs. Tinkham died near Columbus, and he afterward married again and moved to Indiana, where he died. John and Laura McCloud had ten children that reached their majority, of whom seven are now living, our subject being the fourth son. His maternal grandfather was a native of Vermont, and a soldier in the war of Independence. The McCloud family moved to Delaware County, Ohio, thence to Madison County, thence to Indiana, thence, in 1859, to this county, and our subject located on his present farm in 1872. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, being at that time a Corporal. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg and at. Atlanta, in the latter engagement receiving a flesh wound in the arm, on account of which he received a thirty-days' furlough. Returning to his regiment, he served under Sherman in his march to the sea. About the time of Hood's raid, he was retiring to the right and joined his command at Marietta, Ga. He took part in the Grand Review at Washington, and was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1865. On November 16, 1870, he married Miss Clara J. Morse, a daughter of Ray G. Morse, an l by her has had four children, two living, viz .. Mertie A. and Laura B. Mr. McCloud is a Republicau in politics, and the owner of eighty-eight acres of valuable and productive land.

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The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 107

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1254

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254