USA > Ohio > Darke County > The history of Darke County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; > Part 81
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587
GERMAN TOWNSHIP.
GENERAL ORDERS.
"Col. Mills, with a portion of his command, having honorably served out the period for which they were called into the service of their country, are hereby dis- charged and permitted to return to their respective homes. Events not within the control of the present Commander-in-chief of this army, or of our Government, have rendered it necessary that the militia of Western States should compose a considerable portion of the Northwest army. Ohio stands conspicuous for the great zeal and promptness with which her citizens have yielded the comforts of private life for the toils and privations of the camp. In the return of this detachment of Ohio troops to their families and homes, it is due to Ohio and her sons to re- cord their honorable service.
" To Col. Mills and his staff, and his respective commissioned and non-com- missioned officers and privates, whose term of service has expired, and to whose promptness in the discharge of every duty he has been an eye-witness, the Com- manding General gives his sincere thanks.
"By command of
GEN. GREENE CLAY."
Col. J. Mills served in both branches of the Ohio Legislature; he died of cholera in 1833, at Ft. Jefferson, and is buried on the land he first settled ; his wife was a physician of much note in the early history of this county. Col. Mark T. Mills, son of the former, was one of the early Sheriff's of this county, and while serving his second term was elected a member of the Legislature ; he was contin- ued a member of this body for four or five years by the suffrage of the people. He was married to Miss Lydia Burdge, March 29, 1821, who still survives him, he having died in March, 1843; she is the wife of Henry Hutton, one of the early pioneers of Butler Township. Our subject continued business in New Madison till June, 1845, when he sold out his interest in the store to his brother, purchased a stock of goods and residence in Palestine, where he moved and commenced bus- iness next day ; here he engaged with success for three years in dry goods, grain and pork ; in 1848, he suffered a heavy financial loss in the pork business, this being a disastrous year to pork merchants ; he then exchanged his stock of goods for a farm in Preble Co., Ohio, and lived on it two years, when he disposed of it, discharged all his financial obligations, and returned to Palestine ; in the two suc- ceeding years, engaged in the insurance business, and then was proprietor of a hotel for one year ; after the act of Congress granting land-warrants to the soldiers of the war of 1812, he turned his attention to this business ; in the fall of 1855, he, with his wife, went to Iowa and remained there till the following spring ; in the mean time, he entered about 1,000 acres of land with the land-warrants which he had purchased, traveling over the State extensively ; he returned to Palestine in the spring and engaged in the grocery business, which he continued till the spring of 1861, when he closed out his stock ; in the mean time, he disposed of his Iowa lands and invested in real estate in this county. Soon after the com- mencement of the civil war, being an ardent supporter of Lincoln, he offered his services in defense of his country, and, on the 10th of October, 1861, was mustered into the United States Army ; he was commissioned as Second Lieuten- ant of the 69th O. V. I., with authority to recruit a company. On the last day of the month, he reported to Col. Campbell, at Hamilton, Ohio, with thirty-one men ; on the next day, he returned in company with Col. Campbell to this county, to recruit more men for the company ; on the 19th of December, having completed the enlistment of the company, he was elected to office of Captain ; they remained at Hamilton till the 19th of February, when the regiment was ordered to Camp Chase (the 1st of March, Gen. Buckner, with entire staff of officers, was brought to camp as prisoner, from Ft. Donelson) ; his regiment remained here on guard duty till the 19th of April, when they received orders to report at once to Nashville, Tenn. ; they arrived there on the 22d of April, and were shortly put in charge of the railroad from Nashville to Columbia, where they remained till
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June 8; they then accompanied an expedition under Gen. Dumont to Pike- ville, by way of Nashville, Murfreesboro, McMinnville, and over the Cumberland Mountains ; returning to Nashville, Col. Campbell was appointed Provost Marshal, and the regiment detained as Provost Guard of that city. About this time, the rebel General, Morgan, made a raid upon Gallatin, capturing Col. Boone with 4th Kentucky ; the 69th O. V. I., 11th Michigan and section of a battery, attacked Gen. Morgan and drove him out, the 69th losing one man killed- the first killed of the regiment. When Gen. Bragg made his flank move- ment on Louisville, the 69th was left to guard the city of Nashville, which, owing to the scarcity of troops, was regarded as rather perilous ; while here, our subject was detailed as member of general court-martial, and remained on this duty 100 days ; from this he was relieved on the 26th of December, and joined his regiment at Nolinsville, on its way to Murfreesboro ; the regiment participated in mostof the hard fighting which immediately followed at that place. On the morning of the 31st of December, Col. Cassilly, having succeeded Col. Campbell in command, was dismissed for unbecoming conduct, when the regiment was left for a time without a commander, in the midst of a hard fight, which soon reduced it to confusion and disorder. Our subject being ranking Captain of the regiment on the field, dis- tinguished himself by taking command of the regiment, and bringing it into line again, which position they held, till ordered to fall back by Gen. Negley-the regiment suffered severely in killed and wounded during the day ; on next day they were not engaged, but on the 2d of January they took part in the brilliant charge across Stone River, our subject commanding the left wing of the regiment ; this was a desperate charge, and, with some slight skirmishing, closed the battle. The 69th had the honor of capturing the famous Washington Battery of New Orleans, the finest in the army (Sergt. Wilson, of our subject's company, deserves meritorious notice for his bravery in this charge ; being disabled in the left arm, he was using a breech-loading carbine, and with it succeeded in capturing a regi- mental flag of the Nashville Regiment, while crossing the river.) From exposure previous to and during this battle, our subject, after wading the river waist-deep, which was floating with ice, fell prostrate to the ground, and was carried to a house near by ; he remained here till the 10th of January, having been prostrated on the 5th, and then was taken to Nashville, remained here till the 6th of February, and then went to Murfreesboro, where he remained till the 20th of June, with the exception of thirty days, which time he spent at home on furlough. On the 20th, the army was examined, and all who were unfit for active duty were placed in the invalid corps ; our subject, being examined, was reported unfit for active duty, and was offered the command of Ft. Thomas, but, his health being poor, he thought best to resign and return home ; his resignation was accepted on the 21st of June, 1863, and, after some delay, arrived home July 12. On the 24th of July, a com- pany of O. N. G. was organized in Palestine, and our subject elected Captain ; in the following August, the 28th O. N. G. was organized, and he was elected Colonel ; he took an active part in the Brough-Vallandigham campaign,
and also assisted Col. Browne in the recruiting service. May 2, 1864. the O. N. G. were called out, by order of the Governor, and, although his health was still much impaired, his unflagging interest for his county led him to take his place as Colonel of the 28th O. N. G. ; after arriving at Camp Dennison, their ten companies were consolidated into eight, and two were assigned them from Springfield ; they were then organized into the 152d O. N. G., and, on the 12th of May, they were sent to New Creek. W. Va., and from there, on the 30th, to Martinsburg ; they left there on the 4th of June, with a supply-train of 209 wagons, and orders to reach Gen. Hunter, who was then somewhere in the Shenandoah Valley, at all hazards ; they were joined by five companies of 161st O. N. G., 2d Md., and sixty men of 15th N. Y. Cavalry, all under the command of our subject ; they overtook the rear of Hunter's army on the 10th, at Staunton, and his army next day at Lexington ; here, under Hunter's command, the famous mills and military institutions of Lexington were
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GERMAN TOWNSHIP.
destroyed by fire ; at the latter institution was found a statue of George Washing- ton, life size, erected in 1788, which was turned over to our subject with special instructions to deliver it to the Governor of West Virginia, at Wheeling ; these instructions he carried out ; they continued with Hunter's army till the 17th. when Gen. Hunter turned his prisoners, sick and wounded, and 200 wagons, over to the Colonel and ordered him to " get out ; " they marched in advance of Hunter's retreating army, arriving at Beverly on the 27th, being under fire more or less every day ; arrived at Cumberland, Md., the 2d of July, and remained there till the 25th of August, participating in several skirmishes in the vicinity ; they were then ordered to Camp Dennison where they were mustered out of service on the 2d of Septem- ber, and on the 5th received their pay and final discharge. After returning home the regiment resumed its old name, of 28th O. N. G., and our subject continued its Colonel till the close of the war ; he received three honorable discharges from the United States service, one from the 69th O. V. I., 152d O. N. G., and 28th O. N. G. Immediately after the close of the war, he engaged in the study of law under the direction of A. R. Calderwood of Greenville, and was admitted to prac- tice at the May term of the District Court of Ohio. 1866 ; since then he has been engaged in the practice of law, giving his attention for several years particularly to the collection of soldiers' pensions. He was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace in 1870 and served a term of three years ; he is a member of the F. and A. M. Lodge of New Madison. Mr. and Mrs. Putman, have no children of their own, but have raised from infancy a cousin's child, by the name of M. P. Simison ; his paternal grandfather was the first white settler at Ft. Recovery, then a part of Darke Co., and one of his aunts was the first settler of Jay Co., Ind .; he is now engaged in the drug business at Palestine, and is one of the promising young business men of the place.
ELIAS ROSS, farmer; P. O. German. We herewith present the sketch of another of the early pioneers of this township in the name of Elias Ross; he was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Feb. 20, 1811 ; he is the son of Henry Ross, who was a native of Virginia ; early in his youth, he left his parental roof and embarked on the sea of life without guide or counselor ; he soon found his way to Pickaway Co., Ohio, where he entered into the occupation of farming; after dwelling here for a short time he moved to Big Darby Creek, Franklin Co .; from there he came direct to this township and located on land in northwest part of Sec. 24; this was in October, 1817, and his family constituted one of the first in the township; noth- ing but a vast wilderness greeted him on every hand, not even a log cabin could be found to honse his family in when he landed here ; in lien of this he was obliged to improvise a temporary shed, which served as a very imperfect shelter until he could erect a more substantial domicile; this he set about at once to do; gathering together what few settlers were to be found in the vicinity, they erected a " pio- neer's home," the log cabin, completing the structure ready for use in one day, the first house built in one day in the township; before they got their cabin built, the weather became very rigorous, snow falling to the depth of several inches, which produced no little suffering to the family in their temporary shed; the cabin erected and the family comfortably housed, the next thing to be done was to clear the land of its forests, preparatory to cultivation ; to have some land ready by spring, it was necessary to work through the winter, which was an unusually severe one; this Mr. Ross did faithfully the whole winter through, although with much exposure ; thus began the sturdy pioneer, and, although these and many other difficulties confronted him, his indefatigable will conquered them all. Mr. Ross. assisted in the erection of the first church built in the county. It was located in Washington Township on Sec. 36, and was built in 1819; it was a Methodist Church and is still (1880) standing, a relic of pioneer days, though not now used. Mr. Ross was the father of twelve children, one of whom met with a fatal accident at the age of 14, by a falling tree ; the rest grew up to mature years and ten are still living; he was a local minister of the M. E. Church and for almost a lifetime
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preached the Gospel and endeavored to turn the erring ones from their way; he lived to a ripe old age, his death occurring August, 1865 ; his wife had preceded him to her final rest. Our subject was only 6 years old when he came to this township with his parents ; pioneers as they were, he grew up inured to the priva- tions and hardships incident to such a life ; he knows what hard work is, and what living " under difficulties " means ; he remained at home contributing his labor to the subsistence of the family and clearing of the farm till he was of age; at this age,fhe entered the course of life on his own account; he first hired to David Puter- baugh for six months as a farm laborer ; for the subsequent two years he was employed by Hezekiah Veitz, of Neave Township; the first one and one-half months he received $8 per month ; for the next four and one-half months he got $6 per month ; for the next year he received $100; at the end of eighteen months, he found that he had lost only one day. For the next three months, he received $10 per month. At the end of this time, September 4, 1834, he celebrated his first marriage with Miss Lucy Chapman. He was only permitted to live with her sixteen years and two days, when death claimed her as his victim, September 6, 1850. After his marriage he moved on the place where he now lives, having previously purchased and erected a cabin on it. In this he set out on the course of life with his companion. His first household furniture he manufactured himself with an ax and auger. Wishing to go into the manufacture of maple sugar, he purchased an auger on credit, with which to tap the trees, and paid for it by an entire night's work over his kettles, making sugar. This illustrates the extreme poverty of the early pioneers. In front of Mr. Ross' house stands an apple orchard of twenty-two trees, thrifty and productive, which he planted with his own hands, forty-five years ago. He was united in marriage the second time, October 16, 1851, to Mrs. Rebecca Furrow. Seven children were the fruits of the first union, three of whom are deceased, and six of the second union, three of whom are also deceased. IIe has been a con- sistent member of the U. B. Church for more than half a century, and lives an exemplary life. His first wife was also a member, and died in the triumphs of her faith. His present wife is also a faithful member of the same church.
ISAAC M. ROSS, farmer ; P. O. German, Ohio. Mr. Ross is one of the promising young farmers of German Township ; he was born on the place where he now resides. in 1841 ; his early life was that of a farmer-boy, his summers being given to farm duties, and his winter months spent in the common school ; in the summer of 1861, he gave his services for the preservation of the Union, enlisting in the 44th O. V. I .; he remained in this service until the close of the war, and participated in the following hard-fought battles, besides numerous skir- mishes : Lewisburg, Va., under command of Gen. Crook ; Charlestown, W. Va .; surrender of Cumberland Gap, where 1,400 regulars, with about as many militia. accomplished the remarkable feat of capturing 2,600 rebels ; he next participated in the thirty days' siege of Knoxville, Tenn., and then at the battle of Rutledge ; at Strawberry Plains, Tenn., he re-enlisted, and was transferred to the Sth O. V. C., under Hunter's command ; he was then in Hunter's campaign in the Shenan- doah ; participated in the two days' fight at Lynchburg, the 17th and 18th of June, 1864. This regiment covered Hunter's retreat from Lynchburg to Liberty, at which place they were used as a " forlorn hope for Hunter's army." In this cam- paign his regiment suffered severely, leaving about one-fourth of their men on the field of battle, and the rest, with the exception of about fifty, being wounded more or less severely. He received two slight wounds, one in the face and one in the head ; retreated to Beverly, where they remained during the winter, partici- pating in a severe engagement on the 29th of November ; on the 11th of January, his brigade was captured, he being taken and retaken five times during the con- fliet, and finally escaping ; he scouted around in West Virginia until August, 1865, when he was honorably discharged with his regiment, having served over four years ; he returned to his present place, where he has since been successfully engaged in farming ; he has a fine farm, well improved, and everything indicates
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thrift and industry. He celebrated his marriage March, 1867, with Miss Ida Peden, of Hollandsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are the parents of two children, aged 8 and 10, respectively.
A. B. RUSH, physician ; P. O. German. Dr. Rush descended from a distin- guished family of early pioneers in this country ; was born in Harrison Township, on the 19th of January, 1842 ; his paternal ancestors were German, and his maternal, English. His father, John R., was born in Bath Co., Va., near Hot Springs, the 3d of June, 1798 ; his paternal grandfather, Dr. John Rush, was also a native of Virginia, and a near relative of the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush, under whom he received his first medical instructions, and to whose valuable library he had access. Dr. Rush emigrated to Ohio on or about the year 1800. and settled in Pickaway Co., on Big Darby Creek, where he followed successfully his profession ; in 1816, he came to this county and located in Harrison Township, just west of the present site of New Madison ; an injury received from a falling limb, soon after coming here, prevented the discharge of his professional duties ever after ; his first wife deceased in Pickaway Co .; he was married to his second wife after coming here. John R., father of our subject, was 18 years old when he came to this county, and knew what pioneer life was ; his early life was that of a prentice boy, passed upon the farm ; he was united in marriage, April 13, 1824, to Miss Elizabeth W. Hill ; she was born in York District, South Carolina, November, 1788 ; she emigrated to the county with her parents in 1817 ; Mr. Rush's life was spent upon a farm ; his death occurred the 28th of January, 1863 ; his devoted wife survived him till April 4, 1871 ; thus we chronicle the departure of two more of the advance couriers of civilization, who pioneered their way into the untrodden wilds of this country, near the beginning of the present century. Dr. Rush, our subject, passed his early life on a farm ; his early education was somewhat limited, but later he devoted himself assiduously to the acquisition of knowledge, giving his attention chiefly to the study of medicine ; he quite soon in life became pro- ficient in this department of knowledge and entered upon the duties of his profession ; in the year 1878 he graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati ; he located where he now resides in 1871, and by careful attention to business has a large and lucrative practice ; his marriage with Miss Smelker was celebrated Dec. 7, 1866 ; she is a daughter of Jacob H. and Christina Smelker, both natives of Germany ; Jacob H. Smelker was born in Eppingen, State of Baden, Germany, Aug, 9, 1800 ; he emigrated to America in 1819, leaving Germany the 13th of May, and landing in Baltimore, Md., the 1st day of the following August ; on arriving in Baltimore, he found himself in possession of 5 cents in Low Dutch money, and no demand for labor in his line of work ; his penury would not per- mit him to waste much time in search of employment, so he took at once to the country and engaged himself to George Fank, a farmer, as a farm laborer ; at the end of one year, he found his way to Fredericksburg, where he halted for a period of three years, engaging, in the meantime, with various parties as a farm laborer ; his marriage with Miss Christina Denner was celebrated at this latter place ; he soon took up his journey westward, landing in Cincinnati May 21, 1824, from where he plied his way direct to Germantown, Montgomery Co .; from there he moved on a farm just south of Louisburg, Preble Co .; after some years, he moved to this township and has resided here since ; Mrs. Smelker's decease occurred the 15th day of February, 1850 ; fourteen children, forty grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren have been born to them ; his children are as follows : Born in Preble Co., George, July 17, 1824 ; Jacob, July 20, 1825 ; Sophia, April 22, 1827 ; William, Sept. 14, 1828 ; Eli, Jan. 9, 1830 ; John, Jan. 15, 1831 ; Henry, Jan. 21, 1832 ; David, Nov. 21, 1834 ; born in Darke Co., Daniel, Sept. 11, 1836 ; Sarah, April 13, 1838 ; Elizabeth, Ang. 22, 1841 ; Catherine, May 10, 1844 ; Anna, Feb. 14, 1846 ; one deceased in Infancy ; Dr. and Mrs. Rush are the parents of three children.
C. C. SATER, physician ; P. O. German ; the subject of this memoir is a
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native of Indiana, and was born October, 1843, near Brookville ; he is a son of Ephraim S., who emigrated to Indiana in 1840 ; here he remained till his death, which occurred in 1854 ; his wife still survives him, and is in the enjoyment of good health. Our subject's early life was spent on a farm, his summer months devoted to the duties of farm life, and his winter months to the acquisition of knowledge in the common school ; he thus obtained a good common-school educa- tion ; in the spring of 1861, having accumulated, by his industry and economy, some money, he entered Liber College, Indiana, as a student ; after spending about three months at this place, he returned home, and volunteered his services for the defense of his country. On the 25th of July, he enlisted in the 19th I. V. I. at Richmond, Ind., Col. Solomon Meredith commandant, and on the 29th was mus- tered into service at Indianapolis ; the regiment was soon ordered to Washington, D. C., where it remained till the following spring, engaged in guard duty, constructing forts, etc. ; the spring and summer of 1862 were spent between Washington and Richmond, under command of Gen. McDowell ; in the fall, he participated in Pope's campaign, which terminated in the second Bull Run battle ; the regiment was now transferred to the command of Gen. McClellan, and engaged in the hard-fought battles of South Mountain and Antietam; the next battle he participated in was at Fredericksburg, Va., Gen. Burnside, commander ; at the beginning of this engage- ment, his regiment made a brilliant and successful charge in open position across the Rappahannock to dislodge the enemies on the opposite side ; dating from this he was promoted to Sergeant's rank ; he next participated in the hard-fought battle of Chancellorsville, under command of Gen. Joseph Hooker; on the 1st of July, 1863, he was engaged in the decisive battle of Gettysburg, Penn., and while at his post of duty was severely wounded in right arm and shoulder ; this disabled him from any more active service, and he was placed in the hospital at Ports- mouth Grove, R. I. ; here he remained till the expiration of his term of service, which occurred on the 29th of July, 1864, when he was honorably discharged from the service of the United States. He then came to Darke County, and was soon engaged as clerk in dry-goods store at Wiley's Station, he remained here two years, and then turned his attention to the art of telegraphing ; not liking this occupation, he next gave his time to the study of medicine, receiving his instruc- tions under the directions of the Drs. Matchett ; he attended lectures at the Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, graduating in the spring of 1872. He first located and engaged in the practice of his profession in Sandusky County ; he next formed a partnership with Dr. Ballard, of Arcanum, which lasted one year, when he formed a partnership with Dr. Matchett, of Greenville ; he was subsequently located for two years at New Paris, Preble County, from which place he came to Palestine Oct. 1, 1877, where he has been engaged in practice since, discharging his pro- fessional duties with commendable zeal and success. In 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Helen MeCaughy, then engaged in teaching in Greenville. Dr. Sater identified himself with the Presbyterian Church of Greenville in 1878, and is a member of the Greenville Lodge, F. & A. M. Mr. and Mrs. Sater are the parents of two children, one deceased.
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