USA > Ohio > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory, Volume 2 > Part 57
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JAMES H. NORDYKE, proprietor West House Livery, Wilmington, was born in this county March 7, 1839 (in Greene Township). His father was Hezekiah Nordyke, a native of Tennessee, who .came to Ohio when quite young. He died in the county in 1871. Mr. Nordyke's mother was Naney A. Harris, a native of Kentucky. She de- parted this life in 1870. Mr. Nordyke resided on a farm till attaining his majority. He was educated in the public schools of the county, and subsequently at the National Normal School, of Lebanon, Ohio. When twenty one years of age, he went to Kansas, where he remained only a few months. He then returned to Clinton County, and in the fall of 1869 engaged in the livery business at New Vienna. When the war con- menced, he sold out his stable and went on a farm, where he resided till 1870. In the latter year, he went to New Vienna again, and engaged in the grocery business. Four years later, on account of ill health, he sold out, and engaged in buying and shipping horses-a business which required very little physical labor, and which he followed for two years. He then purchased a farm of eighty acres near Snow Hill, in Greene Town- ship, where he "farmed it" two years. He next sold the farm and removed to Wil- mington. On September 15, 1879, he engaged in his present business, in which he has met with excellent success. He runs a feed and sale stable in connection with the livery. Mr. Nordyke is a member of New Vienna Lodge, No. 92, I. O. O. F., and also of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Wilmington. He is a strong Republican. He was married, in the fall of 1861, to Samantha J. Dixon, a native of Greene Township, this county. Of the three children given them, two are living-Lucy and Fred. Allie is deceased .*
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NELSON OGLESBEE, farmer, P. O. Wilmington, was born in Greene County, Ohio, December 10, 1832. He is a son of Isaiah and Rachel (Devoe ) Oglesbec, natives of Virginia, the father born May 14, 1795, and the mother December 18, 1797. They werethe parents of seven children, three of whom are now living, and all residing in Van Wert County, Ohio, with the exception of our subject. Mr. Oglesbee's father was a farmer. and he has always followed that occupation. He is a Supervisor and School Director, and a member of the Democratic party. Mr. Oglesbee was married, December 2, 1858, to Maria Powers, born in Greene County, Ohio, November 22, 1810, and a daughter of Edward Powers. They have three children-Albert, Ella R. and Edward Elmer.
C. R. OGLESBEE, farmer, P. O. Wilmington, was born in Liberty, Clinton Co., Ohio, June 18, 1843. His father was Daniel Oglesbee, a native of Virginia, who lo- cated in Clinton County in 1817. Mr. Oglesbee's grandparents were John and Sarah (Tump) Oglesbee. also natives of Virginia. His mother was Delilah Huffman, a na- tive of the " Old Dominion," and of German parentage. Mr. Oglesbee grew to man- hood in this county, where he has resided all his life. He is Democratic in politics, and the owner of 100 acres of good land. He was married, in 1875, to Rebecca A., daugh- ter of Joshua and Jane M. ( Myars ) Haines, carly settlers of this county. They have three children-Eric J., Oscar L. and Edward D. Mrs. Oglesbee is a member of the Society of Friends.
WILLIAM E. O'NEAL (deceased ) was born near Newberry Court House, S. C., December 29, 1804. His parents were William and Mary ( Elmore) O'Neal, natives of South Carolina, he of Irish and she of Welsh descent. Our subject at the age of cight years came to Ohio with his parents who settled at Waynesville, arriving on the second Saturday of November, 1812; the father died in 1819. Mr. O'Neal received such training in the common branches as the schools of his day and neighborhood afforded, and learned the trade of a shoemaker, which occupation in connection with his farming he followed the greater part of his life. In 1828, he was united in marriage with Anna Swain, who died within two years from that time, and on the 7th of May, 1835, he was married to Mary Ann, daughter of Robert and Mary (Jackson) Miskeley, the lat- ter a near relative of the late Gen. Stonewall Jackson. The wife of our subject was born in Gloucester County, N. J., not far from Philadelphia, August 13, 1810, and in 1819, with her parents emigrated to Ohio, stopping at Cincinnati, and in the spring of 1820 removed.to Waynesville. Her parents died, the father. October 3, 1833, in the forty-fourth year of his age, and the mother, February 24, 1877, in her ninety-first year. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal resided in Montgomery County, Ohio, for one year, then removed to Indiana and remained six years, when they returned to Ohio. and four years lived near Dayton, then came to Clinton County, where the former died, November 9, 1877. They were the parents of the following-named children : James B., George M., Isaac C., Sarah A., Nat. S. and Mary J. The four sons all served in the war of the late rebellion, and three of them laid down their young lives in the cause of the Union, and the remains of one to-day rest beneath a Southern sun in an unknown grave. James B. was a member of Company B, Fortieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died at Ashland, Ky., March 15, 1862. George M. was in the same company and regiment, and died at Camp Dennison, Ohio, December 5, 1863 ; Isaac C. was in the Second Regiment, Ohio Heavy Artillery, and was drowned in the Holston River, near Knoxville, Tenn., June 6, 1865; and Nat S. was a member of Captain J. Q. Smith's company of Squirrel Hunters.
CHARLES OSBORN (deceased). The subject of this notice was a resi- dent of this county for some years, and as such deserves especial mention in this work .. He was the publisher of the first newspaper in the United States to advocate. in a radical manner, the emancipation of the slaves. It also expressed in strong lan- guage its opposition to intemperance and war. In the language of William Lloyd Gar- rison, " Charles Osborn is the father of all of us Abolitionists." He edited and published the Philanthropist at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, in 1817-18, it taking fifteen months to issue fifty-two numbers (the paper was a weekly). He was a Quaker preacher, and commenced his ministry in the Friends' Church about 1807 or 1808. He traveled
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and preached wherever there were Quakers, and for thirty years sat at the head of the church, even Joseph John Gurney refusing to take a seat above him. During these thirty years, he was engaged in two controversies with the main body of Friends. He was, probably, the strongest opponent of Elias Hicks and his doctrine in the Friends Society. He also opposed the colonization scheme very bitterly from its inception.
We insert the following article, as showing the position and esteem in which he was held by the Society of Friends :
Testimony of the Clear Lake Monthly Meeting of Anti-Slavery Friends, concerning CHARLES OSBORN, deceased :
We feel that in commemorating the life, the pious and godly example, the arduous and zen !. ous labors of this faithful minister of the Gospel, we are but rendering that tribute which is due to his memory. And this we feel constrained to do, by the fresh and endeared recollection we have of him, and of his earnest labors in the cause of truth ; hoping that this brief memento my prove a blessing to survivors, an incitement of similar dedication of heart to the service of the Lord, and to follow him as he followed Christ.
It appears that he was born in the State of North Carolina on the 21st of the eighth month, 1775.
In the nineteenth year of his age, he removed with his parents, Daniel and Margaret Osborn, to the State of Tennessee. Here he resided many years, and here was the scene of his early labors in the Gospel. His first appearance in the ministry seems to have been in the year 1806 or 1807.
Destitute of worldly patrimony, he made but a poor appearance to those who judged after the sight of the eye, and by this class was treated somewhat coolly in his first public labors ; but his eye being kept single to the great Minister of ministers, none of these things moved him. Through the baptizing power, and the authority of truth attendant upon his ministry, all oppo- sition was soon silenced, and he went forth an approved minister of the society about the year 1808. . Toward the close of 1808, he engaged in his first religious visit.
Ile traveled much in the service of truth in his own yearly meeting of North Carolina, and several times visited Friends of other yearly meetings while a resident of Tennessee.
In.addition to these labors in the ministry of the Word, having at an early period of his life, through the manifestations of truth in his own breast, seen the injustice and cruelty of slavery, he engaged in the formations of associations for the relief of its victims, under the denomination of Manumission societies. In this enterprise, which commenced in 1814 or 1815, and of which he was the principal originator, he endeavored to enlist the feelings and co-opera- tion, not merely of members of his own society, but that also of all others, and in endeavoring to lay the foundation-principle of these societies, he, at that early day, advocated and maintained the only true and Christian ground-immediate and unconditional emancipation.
In 1816, the Colonization Society took its rise in the city of Washington, under the auspices of leading men of the nation. Notwithstanding the reputed high character of the projectors of this scheme, he promptly and energetically opposed it. The same year he removed to Mt. Pleas- ant, Ohio, and there conducted a paper under the title of the Philanthropist, in which he took occasion to expose the then secret, but now well-known, design and tendency of this cruel and oppressive scheme.
This paper was the first ever published, that we have any knowledge of, which advocated the doctrine of unconditional emancipation. This was the germ from which sprang the far- famed Genius of Universal Emancipation, of Tennessee, the editor of that paper, Benjamin Lundy, having previously served in the printing office under the preceptive influence of our friend.
The Philanthropist was also the first paper.ever published, at least in the United States, that advocated the doctrine of the impropriety of using the products of slavery.
While a resident of Ohio, he performed sundry religious visits to Friends in various places. He came to the State of Indiana, and settled in Wayne County in the year 1810.
He left home in the spring of 1832, and performed a religious visit to Great Britain and : part of the Eastern Continent, being absent about eighteen months. While there, he encountered & spirit of innovation of a different character among Friends, a disposition to run into formal- ities, out of which the Society originally came, and to adopt doctrines at variance with the views of our worthy predecessors, in regard to the purely spiritual nature of the Gospel. This was to him, as we learned from his own account, a source of renewel trial. and deep exercise of mind. He, however, was enabled to meet it with promptness and decision, though it made its appear- ance in high places. Thus, as one of the Lord's valiants, equipped in the panoply of his Divine Master, he was enabled to withstand the enemy on the right hand and on the left.
But it seems his severest trials were reserved for his declining years. After having spent his life, from youth to advanced age. in the advocacy of the truth, as professed by the Society of Friends, and traveled extensively in the ministry of the Gospel, as one almost, if not altogether, universally beloved and approved, he was deserted, while occupying the same ground, and main- taining the same testimony he had long been laboring to do, by many, very many, of his familiar
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friends and acquaintances-by that very society itself, as then organized, which he had so zeal- ously labored to build up; and that, too, which was a far more painful consideration, because of hus faithful and unflinching steadfastness in maintaining some of those testimonies. We allude to the course of treatment he received, previous to the separation, on the Anti-Slavery question.
Having acted from the convictions of truth upon his own mind, in his efforts in behalf of the slave, he dared not call them in question. or change his course to suit the unsoundness of others. A few Friends who felt and sympathized with him, and who were alike bound to the law and to the testimony. in the winter of 1842-43, re-organized the society, in order to carry out the principles and testimonies thereof, the doing of which had therein been prohibited by the Yearly Meeting, since which time, as ability was afforded, he endeavored to encourage Friends to faith- fulness in the support of our meetings for worship and discipline. and in the maintenance of the various testimonies of the society, ever manifesting to the last an unwavering confidence and belief in the rectitude of his course in regard to the re-organization of the society.
In his ministry, it was his peculiar lot to wade in the deep in unfolding the glorious plan of redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ, being eminently qualified, as a doctrinal teacher, to lay open the mysteries of redeeming love " to poor, lost and fallen man," ever guarding with a jealous and watchful eye the honor and glory of his Divine Master. Although he was some- what slow in utterance and delivery, yet his language was very comprehensive, perspicuous and full of meaning.
His abhorrence for strife and war was fitly portrayed in the following page of liis journal, penned while passing through Germany in 1832:
" Passing along, here presents to view an extensive, well-cultivated landscape, indicating plenty ; there is a shepherd, leading and tending his flock, inspiring ideas peaceful and sub- lime. We move along our steady pace ; soon we enter the gates of a fortified town, where the soldier, equipped with his frightful plumage and glittering instruments of death, appears in sight, Ideas of battles fought; of conquests made ; of burning cities ; of streaming blood ; of dead and dying men ; of widows' cries, and orphans' tears, the pride of princes whose glory is their shame, rush into the mind, and demand the Christian tribute of sorrow-abhorrence of war, and prayer for its poor, fallen, ambitious votaries. ' All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword.' "
In the social circle he was deeply interesting, his observations being both instructive and edifying to those of his friends who had the privilege of enjoying his company.
In 1842, he removed to the North, and settled in the State of Michigan, and from thence. in 1848, he removed here, near Clear Lake, Porter Co., Ind., and became a member of our Monthly Meeting.
On the first day of the week previous to his being taken ill, he appeared in public testimony in his own particular meeting, and spoke with that clearness. life and power, which had so con- spicuously marked his ministerial labors in the Gospel through life. The tenor of his remarks on this . occasion, were such as to leave the impression on the minds of Friends, that he was apprehensive his race was almost run.
The next morning, while apparently in usual health. he penned the following lines in his journal, descriptive of the feelings and aspirations of his soul :
" Though I am not without trials and poverty of spirit, yet as I am favored to keep in the patience, and not to feel condemnation, I have cause for rejoicing, for the cup of unmixed felic- ity is not a draught for mortals. If it were, where would be the reserve for futurity ? . Al though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vine, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the foll, and there shall be no herd in the stall, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation " O, Lord ! enable me to pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; to rejoice ever- more, and praise Thee while I have my breath, and forever, after death."
For several years previous to his dissolution, he was subject to occasional attacks of lung fever, which sometimes were quite severe. On the evening of the same day. the 24th of the twelfth month, 1850, he showed symptoms of a recurrence of the same disease, but was not con- fined to bed. On the following morning, he expressed a desire to write a little more in his diary, which he accordingly attended to, and wrote as follows :
" Third Day, 24th .- I am somewhat unwell to-day, but being favored to have my mind stayed upon God, I have peace.
"My life-if Thou preserv'st my life, Thy sacrifice shall be, And death-if death must be my doom, Shall join my soul to Thee !
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee !
"O, ye philosophers, of the present day ! ye Fowlerites ! ye exalters of nature and science ! have ye, with all your philosophy and mesmeric dreams, discovered a more excellent way ?"'
At a certain time in the course of his sickness, a friend having stepped into the room, he remarked : "How much better off I am than the poor slave. I have my friends around me,
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doing all they can for me, while many of them have not so much as a child to hand them a cup of water."
As already intimated, he was deeply impressed with the necessity of bearing a testimony against the productions of slavery, and, accordingly, looked forward to the closing scene of all terrestrial things with him ; while in health, he had his burying-clothes, free from the stain of slavery, procured and held in readiness.
A day or two after he was taken unwell, as there was a business of a temporal nature de- manding his attention, he manifested some anxiety about it, saying: " It is altogether likely to me that. I shall go very suddenly ; I wish that business attended to. It was never my intention to have anything of a worldly nature resting upon me at such a time as this."
The instrument of writing which it was necessary he should execute being prepared and produced, he observed that he felt unwell-too much fever in his head for it to be proper to undertake it then-that to-morrow he might be better. Accordingly the next day he was con- siderably better, and the business was then attended to, and all settled to satisfaction. He then observed: " I am now satisfied ; I have nothing to do but to die."
After this he said but little, lying mostly in silence, bearing his afflictions with great patience, evidently having finished his work, and was quietly waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus. This was sensibly felt to be the case by those present. It was a time of perfect and solemn calm, when he quietly passed away the 29th of the twelfth month, 1850, aged seventy-five years four months and eight days.
Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.
The above memorial was read in this meeting, and directed to be forwarded to the Quar- terly Meeting. Taken from the minutes of Clear Lake Monthly Meeting of Anti-Slavery Friends, held third month, 6th, 1852.
BENJAMIN MAULSEY , } Clerks. JANE WILLIAMS,
The foregoing memorial was subsequently read and approved in both the Quar- terly and Yearly Meetings. Two sons of Charles Osborn now reside in this county, at Wilmington-Charles N. and Parker B .- sketches of whom appear in this work.
CHARLES N. OSBORN, Justice of the Peace of Union Township, was born in Wayne County, Ind., September 20, 1819. His father, Charles Osborn, was a minis- ter in the Society of Friends, and the publisher of the Philanthropist, issued in 1817, from Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, being the first newspaper in the United States to advocate the immediate emancipation of the slaves ; in fact, the first "Abolition paper " published in America. A condensed but comprehensive history of Charles Osborn will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. Osborn's mother was Hannah Swain, a native of Tennes- sec. She departed this life in February, 1878, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years one month and twelve days. Our subject remained in Indiana, Wayne County, till seven or eight years of age, and then accompanied his parents to.this county, locat- ing on Todd's Fork, near Sligo, in the forepart of 1827. Two years later, the family removed to the Little Miami River, below Waynesville, in Warren County, Ohio, but returned to Wayne County, Ind., in the fall of 1831. Mr. Osborn remained with his parents until June, 1838, when he struck out for Wilmington, on foot and alone, with his little knapsack on his back. He walked the entire distance, arriving at his desti- nation on the 20th day of the same month. He obtained employment as a clerk with Barclay & Hoge, owners of a general store and manufactury of hats. Mr. Osborn was a hatter by trade, and came to Wilmington with the intention of working at his trade. He remained with the above firm till 1840. On September 16, of that year, 'he married Caroline, daughter of Daniel Hinman, a native of Dutchess County, N. Y. Soon after this union, Mr. Osborn went into business on Main street, in connection with David Strattan and Joseph W. Hackney, the firm name being Strattan, Hackney & Co. Mr. Osborn remained with the firm only a few months, and then, in connection with his brother-in-law, Stiles Hinman, bought out the firm, changing the firm name to Hinman & Osborn. In March, 1842, the firm sold their stock and trade, and Mr. Osborn went to Martinsville and purchased the hat store and tools of T. L. Caruthers, also, in company with a brother-in-law, John C. Hadley, opening out a general store. In October, 1847, the firm dissolved partnership, and Mr. Osborn returned to Wilming- ton. His next venture was with D. C. Hinman in a general store, the firm of Hinman & Osborn doing business till January 1, 1851. In the fall of that year, Mr. Osborn was elected Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Clinton County, being re-elected in
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1854, and serving two terms. In 1857, he embarked, with Webb Broomhall, in a merchant tailoring and clothing establishment. In 1858, he was elected Justice of the Peace of Wilmington, serving one term. In April, 1861, Mr. Osborn engaged in the drug business with Cyrus M. Walker. In 1865, he disposed of his interest to his part- ner, and purchased the stock of groceries owned by Samuel Woodruff. E. L. Way was a partner in the business. Four months later, Mr. Woodruff bought back the stock. Mr. Osborn started in the same business again, but two years later Mr. Woodruff bought him out. He then went into partnership with Judge A. W. Doan, the firm of Osborn & Doan continuing two years. Mr. Osborn remained in the business till March 1, 1877, and since then has been acting as administrator of estates, executor, trustee, etc. Mr. Osborn was made a Mason in 1850, and a member of the Chapter in 1854. For sev- cral years he officiated as Secretary and Treasurer of both Lodge and Chapter. He was formerly a Whig, and was a delegate to the Whig convention, in February, 1846, that nominated Tom Corwin for Governor of Ohio. Since 1854, he has been a stanch Republican. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Osborn, two sons and two daughters living-Mary E., wife of E. L. Way, once publisher of the Clinton County Republican, now residing in Orange County, Fla .; Edward F., of Babb & Osborn ; Hannah, wife of Frank Babb, of Babb & Lewis; and Daniel C., proprietor and pub- lisher of the South Florida Journal, at Sanford, Orange Co., Fla. Mr. Osborn, wife and family are Friends.
PARKER B. OSBORN, is one Wilmington's oldest and most enterprising har. ness manufacturers. He was born in Wayne County, Ind., October 14, 1821. He is the son of that noble Quaker minister, Charles Osborn, who was, in the language of William Lloyd Garrison, "the father of all of us Abolitionists." In 1817, he issued, at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, the first number of the Philanthropist, the first newspaper pub- lished in America advocating the doctrine of immediate emancipation of the slaves. He was a pioneer minister of the Society of Friends, and for thirty or forty years " sar. head of the church over the world." A brief but reliable sketch of this slave emanci- pator will be found in this work. Parker B. Osborn resided in Wayne County, Ind., till he had attained his fifteenth year. He then commenced learning his present trade, and subsequently taught music seven or eight years (from 1827 to 1835). In 1828- 29, he resided with his parents on Todd's Fork, in Adams Township ; thence to Warren County, Ohio, and two years later back to Wayne County, Ind. His next place of business was at Niles and Cassopolis, in Michigan, where he remained six or seven years. In 1850, he came to Wilmington once more, and commenced teaching music again, hav- ing classes throughout this State, Indiana and Michigan. In 1855, he located at Mun- cie, Ind., where he worked at his trade, and from which point he taught his different
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