USA > Ohio > Logan County > The historical review of Logan County, Ohio > Part 36
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ROBERT P. KENNEDY.
Robert P. Kennedy was born at Belle- fontaine, Ohio, January 23, 1840, and was educated in the public schools and in the east. At the beginning of the war of iso1. he was attending school in New England. and hastened home to join one of the first companies enlisted for the service. The first company from Logan county was en- listed and started for camp at Columbus, on the Tuesday succeeding the firing upon of Fort Sumpter, and went into the three months' service in the Thirteenth Ohio In- fantry, under Captain W. W. Ashmead, an old Mexican veteran. On the following day Captain Israel Canby, First Lieutenant Cy- rus W. Fisher and Second Lieutenant Rob- ert P. Kennedy, began the organization of a second company. It was also organized as a three months' company, but before it went into camp, the call for three years' troops had been issued by President Lincoln and it was immediately turned into a three years' company and joined the Twenty-third Ohio, at Camp Chase-the first three years' regiment from Ohio -- and became Company F of that regiment. This company never went into the field as a three months' com- pany. but was paid from the 17th day of April, 1861, as an independent company. un- til its muster into the Twenty-third Ohio. The first commander of the Twenty-third Ohio was Colonel William S. Rosencrans, who was soon afterward made a major-gen- eral of volunteers, and later becanie one of the distinguished army commanders. The regiment was afterward commanded by Col- onel E. P. Scammon, Rutherford B. Hayes and James M. Cornly, all of whom . became general officers. Colonel Hayes, who served with this regiment, and William Mckinley,
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one of its junior officers, afterwards became E. P. Scammon, Ninth Corps of Army of presidents of the United States, and Lieu- tenant Colonel Stanley Matthews, its lieuten- ant-colonel, became one of the judges of the United States supreme court. This reg- iment furnished a great number of distin- guished soldiers to the army in the war of 1861-1865.
The war record of the subject of this sketch as furnished by the war department is as follows: Entered in the service as second lieutenant of Company F, Twenty- third Ohio Infantry, June 1, 1861 ; promoted to second lieutenant of Company A. April 13, 1862; left Camp Chase for Benwood, West Virginia, July 25, 1861: thence to Weston, West Virginia. July 28, 1861 : re- mained on duty at Weston. Sutton, Sum- merville and Glennville, West Virginia, un- til September, 1861 : appointed assistant ad- jutant-general of the First Brigade of the Kanawha Division, serving as such from August, 1861. to September, 1862; battle of Carnifax Ferry, September 10, 1861: to Little Sewell Mountain. September 15. 1861 and to New River, October. 1861 ; action at Cotton Mountain, November 12 and 13: at Fayette Courthouse until De- cember 1; at Raleigh Courthouse, Decem- ber 31, 1861. to April 1, 1862; action at Bliveston, February 8, 1862; expedition to Blue Stone River, February 10 and 12: ad- vance on Princeton. April 22 to May 1; action at Clark's Hollow, May 1, 1862 : ac- tion at Princeton, May 8, 1862; Giles Courthouse, May 10, 1862; Flat Top Mountain, July 5. 1862: Pock's Ferry. Au- gust 6. 1862: movement to Washington, D. C., August 15 and 24: battle of Bull Run Bridge, August 27, 1862: assigned to duty as assistant adjutant-general of the Second Kanawha Division on the staff of Colonel
the Potomac, October. 1862 ; engagement at Monocacy Bridge. Maryland. September 12, 1862: engagement at Frederick, Maryland, September 12. 1862 ; engagement at Middle- town. Maryland, September 13, 1862; bat- tle of South Mountain, Maryland. Septem- ber 14, 1862: battle of Antietam, Maryland, September 16-17. 1862; commissioned cap- tain and assistant adjutant-general of volun- teers and assigned to duty with Brigadier- General George Crook, commanding Second Kanawha Division Ninth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac; movement to West Virginia, October 23 to November 14. 1862; operations in West Virginia. November, 1862, to January, 1863: transferred with General George Crook, to the Army of the Cumberland, Nashville Tennessee, January, 1863; on duty as adjutant-general Third Brigade Fourth Division, Fourteenth Corps on staff of General George Crook until June, 1863; assigned to duty as adjutant-general of the Second Division of Cavalry, Army of the Cumberland. on staff of General George Crook and General Kenner Garrord from June, 1863, to September. 1864. par- ticipating in scouting to Rome, Georgia, March 24 to 25. 1863; reconnoissance to McMinnville, April 13-14. 1863; Middle Tennessee and Tallahoma campaigns, June, 23 to July 7, 1863; Hoover's Gap, June 25 to 28, 1863; Shelbyville, June 27; battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, Sep- tember 18 to 21, 1863; pursuit of Gen- eral Joseph Wheeler's Cavalry, October I to 10, 1863; Thompson's Gap, Cum- berland Mountains. October 3, 1863; McMinnville, October 4, 1863 ; Farmington, October 7, 1863: operations against guer- rillas from Shelbyville. Tennessee, to Rome, Georgia. October to December; raid on
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Bragg's fortifications, November 22 to 28, Hancock ; appointed colonel of the One Hun- 1863; reconnoissance to Dalton, Georgia. dred and Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteers, April 13, 1865; on duty with regiment at Winchester, Virginia, until July, and gar- rison duty at Baltimore and Forts Henry and Delaware until September, 1865: bre- veted brigadier-general of United States Volunteers "for gallant and meritorious ser- vices"; mustered out of service and hon- orably discharged September 22, 1865. During his service as adjutant-general and chief of staff, Army of West Virginia, he liad as one of his assistants William Mc- Kinley. Before leaving the Army of the Cumberland, in 1864, he was invited by Ma- jor-General George H. Thomas, command- ing that army, to become a member of his staff as chief of cavalry of the Army of the Cumberland. The assignment of a general officer of the regular army by the war de- partment, to this position interfered with this proffered honor by General Thomas, and almost immediately thereafter he was, by special order of General Grant, upon the request of Major General Crook, trans- ferred to the Army of West Virginia, as the chief of staff of that army. In 1862. at the battle of Antietam, by the fortunes. of war, he was in temporary command of a portion of the left wing of the army, and upon the review of that army by President Lincoln, on the battlefield at Antietam he was called to the front and presented to February 23-28, 1864; promoted to major and assistant adjutant-general of United States volunteers, April 13, 1864; Atlanta campaign, May to September, 1864; opera- tions against Dalton, Georgia, May 5 to 13: battle of Resaca, May 13, 15; near Rome, Georgia, May 15, 1864; Arundel Creek and Floyd Springs, May 16, 1864: engagement at Kingston, Georgia, May 18; battles about Dallas, New Hope church, Pumpkin Vine creek and Altoona Hills, May 25 to June 4; Big Shanty, June 9; operations against Pine and Kenesaw mountains, June I to July 3; McAfees Cross Roads. June II ; Noonday Creek, June 15 to 19; Lattimer's Mills and Powder Springs, June 20: near Marietta, Georgia, June 23 to July 3 ; opera- tions on line of Chattahoochie river, July 5 to 17; raid to Covington, Georgia, July 22 to 24; raid to South River. July 27 to 31 ; Lattimers, July 27; engagement at Flat Rock, Georgia, July 28; siege of Atlanta, Georgia, August I to 15: engagement at Decatur, August 5: raid around Atlanta, August 18 to 20: Jonesboro, August 19 and 20; Lovejoy Station. August 20; battle of Jonesboro, August 31 to September 1; re- tired from duty as adjutant-general with Second Cavalry, Division of the Army of the Cumberland and ordered to report to Major-General George Crook in the Shen- andoah Valley as adjutant-general and chief . President Lincoln as "the youngest com- of staff of the Army of West Virginia; bat- mander of the Army of the Potomac." tle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864: bre- After the war he studied law with Judge William H. West, and the Honorable James Walker, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1866. He immediately formed a law partnership with West and Walker, under the name of West, Walker & Ken- nedy, and continued in the practice of law veted lieutenant-colonel United States Vol- unteers, November 17, 1864; on duty in the Shenandoah Valley until February, 1865, when he was assigned to duty as adjutant- general of the Middle Military Division on the staff of Major General Winfield Scott
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with them until 1878, when President E., the eldest. is the widow of James Dick Hayes appointed him collector of internal revenue. In 1885 he was elected lieuten- ant-governor of Ohio, taking his seat as such in January, 1866, and served as such until March 3. 1867, when he resigned the lieutenant-governorship to take his seat in congress, to which he had been elected in the fall of 1866. and served in the fiftieth and fifty-first congress: In 1899 President McKinley appointed him president of the insular commission to investigate and re- port upon the conditions existing in Porto Rico and Cuba, and to formulate a code of laws for Porto Rico. .
He has been heard from the stump as a Republican in every campaign since 1867, and has been in nearly every state from Maine to Kansas. He now resides in his native city of Bellefontaine.
In 1862 he married Maria Lewis Gard- ner, the third daughter of General Isaac S. Gardner, who died in January. 1893, and in September, 1894, he married Mrs. Emma C. Mendenhall, the daughter of Hon. Cal- vin Cowgill, of Wabash, Indiana.
MATTHEW J. TIMBERMAN.
Matthew J. Timberman. who now owns and operates a good farm in Harri- son township. on the McColley Bridge pike, five miles northwest of Bellefontaine. was Born on a farmi near Hamilton, But- ler county, Ohio. September 27, 1848. and is a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Flick- inger) Timberman. He is the third in or- der of birth in a family of ten children, all of whom are still living. the youngest be- ing now thirty-seven years of age. Hannah
and resides in Butler county. Susan E. is the wife of Rev. G. C. Meckling and lives in Hamilton. Butler county. John also makes his home in that county. Samuel lives on the old home place. Jane is the wife of Samuel Mcclellan and lives in Middletown. Butler county. Catherine is the wife of Rev. John Randolph, whose home is in Scranton, Pa. Mary is a resi- dent of Butler county. Andrew J., a phy- sician and optician, married Lelia Stans- berry and resides in Columbus, Ohio. Jesse K. is a clerk in a wholesale grocery house in Peoria, Illinois. The father of this family was a self-made man, and through his energetic and well directed efforts acquired a handsome competence, at one time owning seven hundred and ten acres all in one body near Hamilton, Ohio. In politics he was a Democrat, but was never an office-seeker, preferring to devote his undivided attention to his business inter- ests. After a useful and well-spent life, he died in 1888 at the age of eighty-two years. His wife is still living on the old home place and is now seventy-six years of age.
Matthew J. Timberman grew to man- hood in Butler county, attending the pub- lic schools near his home for some years and assisting in the labors of the farm un- til about thirty years of age. For a few months in 18So he was employed as an ac- countant in the office of the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad at St. Louis, but not liking that occupation. he soon re- turned home. 'On the 25th of February, 1890, he married Miss Sarah Jones, who was also born and reared in Butler county.
After his marriage Mr. Timberman en- gaged in farming in his native county until
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1895, when he removed to Anderson. Indi- 1812. He was of that hardy metal which ana, and established a cab line, which he ran for eighteen months. On the expiration of that period he came to Logan county, Ohio, and accepted the position of man- ager of the Flickinger farm, acting in that . capacity for four years, during which time he made considerable money. In April, 1901, he purchased his present farm in Harrison township, consisting of eighty- three acres. . and to its development, im- provement and cultivation he has since de- voted his attention with marked success. Politically he follows in the footsteps of his father. supporting the Democratic ticket. but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, though he
waded into the primeval forests to hew out a home and build schools, churches, coun- ties and states and was unbending and un- yielding to storms. disasters or any char- acter of discouragements. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and knew the leading characters of the Revo- lution. Starting out in the prime of his young manhood, he invaded the forests, crossing the Alleghanies and floating down the Ohio river in a flatboat to Cin- cinnati with his small possessions and from there going to North Bend, the home of General Harrison for a brief time. From there he turned his face to the north. fol- lowing the trail of civilization to Urbana, served as township trustee in Butler . but soon tiring of that locality, he disposed county. He is a man of recognized ability and well deserves the success that has crowned his efforts.
PETER STILLEY POWELL.
The name of Powell figures conspicu- ously upon the pages of Bellefontaine's history and he whose name introduces this review. was one of the leading and respect- ed residents of this place. From pioneer times down to the time of his death he . ing room except when pronitious weather
was a witness of the growth and improve- ment of this city and took a great interest in what was accomplished here, bearing his full share in the work of development.
Mr. Powell was born in North Bend. Ohio, March 13. 1800, a son of William Powell, who had formerly owned a farm in Champaign county, having an entire section near Urbana. William Powell brought his family to Logan county in
of his property and again headed for the north, bringing up in the heavy forests of Bellefontaine and sheltering his little family and household possessions in an improved canvas tent. He had purchased a large tract of land and at once set about erecting a house. This was a primitive log cabin of round poles situated on San- dusky street and consisted of one room about twenty-five feet square. with a puncheon floor. chinked sides and stick chimney, this being the kitchen, sitting room, parlor, and served as well for the din- would permit them to spread their family meal under the umbrageous foliage of the magnificent forest trees. This house was the nucleus of what now constitutes the beautiful little city of Bellefontaine and was the scene of many happy gatherings and friendly consultations of well disposed Indians. The cabin was supplanted in after years by a brick dwelling built in front of it but both succumbed to a whirl-
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P. S. POWELL.
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wind (before cyclones were invented). The up flaring red cotton handkerchiefs as a lock of this cabin was a four by four stick, hewed and fastened by staple at top and bottom of the door, thus making a safe and secure protection against any ordinary assault. There was at each side of the door a port hole through which to use the "trusty rifle" in case of necessity. Wil- liam Powell's land furnished the north half of the town and John Tillis' land the south half. Here Bellefontaine was laid out in 1818 and ever since that event the Powell family has owned and controlled large landed interests in and about the city. William Powell dedicated to the town a piece of land lying in what was then the northwest corner of the corporation for use as a cemetery and which is now known as Powell park. The city limits at that time were bounded on the north by Brown avenue and all the land lying north of that thoroughfare was owned by Mr. Powell. On his death it passed into possession of his son. Peter S. Powell, whose portrait is here given.
When William Powell located here there was not a house between his home and the town of Perrysburg in Wood county. Hogs and cattle would have to be driven to Detroit over the Lewistown trail, that being the highway for the In- dian tribes to make their journeys. At that time there were no habitations ex- cept the block houses at Fort McArthur above Kenton and with the exception of the settlements around Perrysburg the road was almost a trackless forest. The swiftest runners from the Lewistown and Wapakoneta lodges were brought in to contest the "foot" with the pale-face swift runners, but never were the Powell boys second to the goal. They would often put
prize to encourage the redskin to his ut- most speed but never once did the prize go to the Indian wigwam. These sports. with the good corn bread. sweet milk and wild meats, invigorated all, and the glow of health mounted every cheek. There were no mills nearer than Spring Hills for a long time until the Enoch mill was built, when that became the place of milling. The tribes best known were the Wyandots. the Shawones and the Potawotomies. all settled in their villages near here, enjoying friendly relations, and this was a common ground for meeting. Their pow-wows and dances were occasions of great ex- citement and always occasioned agitation among the white settlers, although as a rule the Indian committed no depredations in the settlements nearest them. their craft and cunning teaching them that safety lay in attacks made further from home. The first school started in Belle- fontaine was instituted by William Powell and was built of poles on the lot at the corner of Park and Sandusky streets, op- posite Mrs. Wallace's home. this spot be- ing chosen on account of a clear spring being located there. good spring water always being a consideration with the pioneers. The first schoolmaster was George Dunn. The first church built in the town was on the lot of Robert Lamb, now deceased. It was the universal log structure but did not endure long as the builders failed to tie the building, and the roof not being self-supporting spread the building and tumbled it down, a mass of ruins. The first merchants were Rhoades & Harner, who kept a frontier store and traded with the Indians as well as the white settlers, taking furs in payment for
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goods. Court was first held in the Tillus ber of years prior to that time. his death house. which stood southeast of the Big Four freight house. William Powell did everything in his power to foster the growth and improvement of the little mu- nicipality which he had established. and the work which he began was carried on by his son. the subject of this review.
Peter S. Powell was but twelve . years of age when brought by his parents to Logan county. Here his youth was passed amid the wild scenes of frontier life. Indians were very numerous in this locality at the time of his arrival and many a foot race did he run with the sons of the forest. He always maintained friendly re- lations with them. and throughout his life possessed a genial, jovial disposition which won him the high regard of all with whom he came in contact, whether repre- sentatives of the red race or the white race. In the year 1827 he was married to Miss Mary Smith, a native of Warren county, Ohio, born in Franklin. They be- gan their domestic life in a log cabin which stood on the site of the present resi- dence of E. J. Howenstein, now almost the center of the city. Mr. Powell owned all of the land between Main street and the Gardner farm, now all within the corpora- tion limits of the city, and the greater part of it well improved with fine buildings. Five divisions and one subdivision of the town have been made from his estate, and thus the city has grown and developed. Mr. Powell taking a deep interest in its progress.
having occurred on the 27th of August. 1878. At that time he was in very com- fortable financial circumstances and left con- siderable property, including both city and farm realty. Events in Bellefontaine and Logan county, which to many are matters of history, were to him matters of per- sonal experience or of memory. He watched much of the growth of the city and surrounding district and he belonged to that class of enterprising business men whose efforts not only contributed to their own prosperity. but also advanced the general welfare. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Henry Powell, the only son of our subject, became familiar with the work of field and meadow in early youth, and as soon as old enough he took charge of the farm, which he operated for many years. He also conducted a brick business for thirteen years and manufactured the brick used in the construction of many of the best buildings of Bellefontaine, including the opera house, the Children's Home, the Lutheran church, the Methodist Episcopal church and others. In 1892 he built the Powell block, and after that retired from active business, his investments returning to him sufficient income to supply him with all the comforts of life. He erected a number of dwelling houses on Main and Detroit streets and the rental from these brings him a goodly sum annually. In September. 1895. he suffered from a paralytic stroke, which renders him an in- valid. and his sister Mary has relieved him of business cares, assuming the manage- ment of the property. During the period
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Powell were born four children, of whom three are now liv- ing, Henry, Rachel and Mary. The mother, however, died in September, 1890, and Mr. Powell passed away a num- of the Civil war he was in the employ of
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the government. serving as yardmaster at positions of public trust, indicating as fully .Clarksburg, Virginia, and. being captured. his loyalty in citizenship, as did his valorous conduct upon the fields of battle during the Civil war. he was held a prisoner in Libby prison for several months.
Miss Mary Powell, who has been superintending important business inter- ests since 1895. has done much for the development of Bellefontaine through building interests, having erected four or five houses almost every year since that date. She has practically built up that part of the city north of High street and west of Main street as far as Henry street. She possesses excellent business qualifica- tions and executive force and justly may be said to be leading a strenuous life. Her ability is widely recognized and Bellefon- taine owes not a little to her because of the improvements which she has instituted here through the erection of good dwell- ings.
MAJOR JOSEPH SWISHER.
Logan county figures as one of the most attractive, progressive and prosperous divis- ions of the state of Ohio, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of en- terprise which is certain to conserve con- secutive development and marked advance- ment in the material upbuilding of the sec- tion. The county has been, and is, signally favored in the class of men who have con- trolled its affairs in official capacity, and in this connection the subject of this review deserves representation as one who has served the county faithfully and well in po- sitions of distinct trust and responsibility. He is now serving as recorder of Logan county and has filled a number of other
A native of Washington county, Penn- sylvania , Major Swisher was born on the Ist of December, 1831, and comes of Ger- man ancestry, the first representative of the name in America, crossing the Atlantic from the fatherland and taking up his abode in New Jersey during the seventeenth century. Joseph Swisher, the grandfather of the Ma- jor, was born in the city of Philadelphia, in 1775 and being an agriculturist he moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and devoted his attention to the tilling of the soil in that locality until 1833. when, at- tracted by the possibilities of the growing west, he came to Ohio, establishing his home in Champaign county, where he re- mained until his death, which occurred when sixty-five years of age. A pronounced Dem- ocrat in his political views he was unwaver- ing in his loyalty to the party and was a man who wielded a wide influence in the communities where at different times he made his home. As a soldier of the war of 1812, he valiantly defended American rights against the British and the cover of the knapsack which he carried during his military service is now in possession of his grandson, Major Swisher.
Abraham Swisher, the father of our sub- ject, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and followed the oc- cupation which was the common pursuit of his ancestors-that of farming. In the year 1833 he, too, became a resident of Champaign county, Ohio, where he pur- chased one hundred acres of land and fol- lowed farming until his life's labors were ended in death on the 12th of December.
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