The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 90

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076

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JUSTUS C. STEVENS, banker, Kenton, was born in Licking County, Ohio, February 1, 1824, and is the third son of Justus Stevens. His father was a native of New York State, from which point he moved to Licking County, Ohio, where he was a distinguished pioneer. In 1804, he married Miss Jane, daughter of Samuel Carpenter, an old pioneer and local minis- ter, to which union ten children were born, seven living. In 1850, the family moved to Hardin County, Ohio, settling in the corporate limits of Kenton, where the parents lived to the close of their lives. Mr. Stevens, Sr., was a local minister of the Methodist Church, but followed farming in the latter years of his life. The subject of this memoir acquired a primary education in the schools of Licking County, and was fitted for the profes- sion of law in the Cincinnati Law College, under the preceptorship of R. A. Harrison, then of London, Ohio, now of Columbus. He graduated in 1849, and in the same year was admitted to the bar at Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio, and at once began the practice of his profes-

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sion in Kenton. Ten years later, he abandoned the practice of law and set- tled on a farm in Dudley Township, living there a peaceful life for ten years, during which he served continuously as Justice of the Peace. In 1870, he purchased 700 acres of land adjoining Kenton, where he has since made his home. He has been largely engaged in stock-raising, and was the first to introduce the short-horn stock in Hardin County. This, with sheep-growing, has formed his speciality, and at this time (1883) he has the most extensive herd of short-horn cattle and sheep in the county. In 1875, Mr. Stevens founded the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Kenton, of which he is the President, and which has proved a succeessful institu- tion since its organization. He was a member of the Ohio State Wool- Growers' Association from the time of its organization, occupying the Pres- ident's chair for eleven years, and at this writing fills the office of Vice President. He was also, during that time, Vice President of the National Wool-Growers' Association. He was appointed by the Governor as one to organize the American Agricultural Society in New York City, of which, after perfecting the same, he was elected Vice President and one of the Directors, which office he is still holding. He was also appointed delegate to attend the great tariff convention in New York in December of 1882, and in connection with the Hon. Columbus Delano, was selected as a com- mittee to report its proceedings to the Committee of Ways and Means, of Congress, which resulted in the appointment of a tariff commission by Congress. Previous to the rebellion, Mr. Stevens affiliated with the Dem ocratic party, during which time he was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee and edited the Hardin County Democrat. During the war, he united with the Republican party, which he has since supported, though not a partisan. His marriage to Miss Anna, daughter of Darius Burnham, took place October 20, 1850. She was a native of Madison County, Ohio. To this union five children have been born, four living, viz., Achsa, wife of R. L. Miller, of Kenton; Ida, wife of Joseph Weaver, of Mechanicsburg; Luella, wife of James Gilmore, of Kenton; and Clauda who is associated with his father in the bank. The family are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Stevens has for years written articles for different agricultural journals of the county, and as a successful stock-breeder, his opinions are always regarded and respected. For six- teen years, he served as an officer of the Hardin County Agricultural As- sociation, and a portion of the time as its President, and for several years was a member of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture.

DAVID P. STEVENSON, farmer, P. O. Kenton, was born in Taylor Creek Township, Hardin County, Ohio, July 7, 1823. His father, Charles W. Stevenson, was born in Kentucky November 20, 1796, and was married in January, 1819, to Miss Cynthia Scott, a native of Kentucky, born Au- gust 19, 1795. They had ten children, three living, viz., Margaret J., born in Greene County, Ohio, October 13, 1819, married to Lewis A. Miller in January, 1840; David P., our subject, and Charles W., born March 23, 1835, married to Miss Elizabeth King and residing in Howard County, Neb. Of the parentage of Charles Stevenson, Sr., there is no record. When four years of age, he moved to Greene County, Ohio; thence went to Hardin County in the spring of 1827, accompanied by his brother Samuel. Charles W. Stevenson and his brother Samuel came to what is now Taylor Creek Township in the spring of 1827 and built a log cabin, in which they stayed until the fall, when the former went back to Greene County for his family, Samuel staying alone in the cabin while he was gone. Samuel was

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a young man and not married at that time. Charles W. Stevenson returned with the family the same fall, and they lived there together until the spring of 1833, when he (C. W. S.) moved to Kenton. He and his brother Sam- uel were known as the best hunters of those times, and both were on friendly terms with the Shawnee Indians. Charles Stevenson was elected Auditor, holding that position for eleven years. A few years prior to his death, he moved south of the river and erected a saw mill in Buck Town- ship, which he operated to the close of his life. He died in Buck Town- ship May 7, 1854. Cynthia, his widow, died October 29, 1876, at the residence of her son, David P., in Kenton. David, our subject, was reared in Kenton and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until elected to the office of County Treasurer, in the fall of 1877, entering on his duties in September, 1878. He served four years and then retired to his residence on Main street, where he is now living. He is the oldest born settler of the county, and is a man highly esteemed. He was married August 5, 1852, to Miss Rachel, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Monroe, and a native of Ross County, Ohio. Her mother was a native of Pennsyl- vania and died in Hardin County after their settlement in 1840. Mr. Mon- roe subsequently removed to Nebraska, where he died over a year ago. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have had a family of seven children, four living, viz .. Charles E., married April 5, 1877, to Miss Sarah Kettle, by whom there is one child living, Ethel R .; Robert P. and David M., residing at home, and Jesse A.

LUTHER M. STRONG was born near Tiffin, Seneca Co., Ohio, June 23, 1838, and is a son of Jesse and Sarah (Myers) Strong, both natives of Frederick County, Md. His father was born February 13, 1801, and was a son of Louis and Mary (Hill) Strong. Jesse Strong came to Ohio first in 1814, but returned shortly after to Maryland, where, in 1827, he was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Myers. In 1830, he returned with his family to Ohio and settled in Seneca County, where he remained until his death, which occurred March 19, 1876. He was one of the pioneer farmers of that coun- ty. His wife, Sarah Strong, died at Kenton, Ohio, November 24, 1868, while on a visit to her son. She was the mother of fourteen children, nine of whom are still living. The subject of this sketch spent his youth upon his father's farm, having access to the country school (during the winter months chiefly) until he was nineteen years old, from which time he became a teacher during the winter months. and during the spring and fall terms attended the academy at Republic, Ohio. On the breaking-out of the re- bellion, he left his studies at the academy and raised Company G, Forty- ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteers, of which company he became Captain, and early in September, 1861, proceeded to Louisville, and thence to Eliz- abethtown, Ky. This regiment (Forty-ninth Ohio), with about 1,500 other troops, then became the nucleus of what afterward became the Army of the Cumberland. Capt. Strong remained constantly at the front with his command during all the trying scenes of that army, participating in the battles of Shiloh, Lawrenceburg, Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, Chatta- nooga and Mission Ridge. At the battle of Chickamauga, the regiment was on the left with Gen. Thomas, and during part of this battle the com- mand of the regiment devolved upon Capt. Strong, and he received special mention by his brigade and division commanders for coolness and gallantry. After the battle of Mission Ridge, Capt. Strong was promoted to the rank of Major, and in that capacity took part in all the various battles and al- most daily skirmishes of the Atlanta campaign, among which were the

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battles of Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Dallas, or Picket's Mills, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta and Jonesboro. Soon after the battle of Jonesboro and the fall of Atlanta, Maj. Strong became the senior officer and commander of his regiment, and was afterward commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. He commanded the regiment during the Hood campaign for Nashville, and participated in the battles of Columbia, Franklin and Nashville. He was wounded in the right shoulder in the bloody charge at Picket's Mills, Ga., May 27, 1864, but remained with his command. This charge was, in fact, one of the bloodiest battles of the war; one-half of the men of the Forty- ninth Ohio were here killed or wounded, and the division, of which this regiment was part, lost in killed and wounded about 1,500 men. Yet it is mentioned in the official reports as an " affair," and only the survivors of that division know the gallantry and persistence with which that attack was made and the terrible carnage at the "affair" at Picket's Mills. Again, while leading his regiment in the charge on the second day of the battle of Nashville, December 17, 1864, Lieut. Col. Strong was severely wounded in the left arm by a minie ball, which cut off the bones of the forearm. This was the last charge the regiment ever made, and practically the final en- gagement of the Army of the Cumberland. At the close of the war, Mr. Strong commenced the study of law in the office of Lee & Brewer, at Tiffin, Ohio, and on January 3, 1867, was, by the Supreme Court of Ohio, ad- mitted to the bar. He at once located at Kenton, Ohio, where he has since remained in the practice of his profession. On February 14, 1865, he was married to Miss Mary Milliman, a native of Tompkins County, N. Y., and daughter of Hiram and Sally Milliman, and to this union three children have been born-Milton M., Sallie M. and John H. In 1879, Mr. Strong was elected State Senator from the Thirteenth Senatorial District of Ohio, and re-elected to the same office in 1881. On April 19, 1883, he was appointed by Gov. Charles Foster Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in which capacity he was serving at the time this sketch was written. He

is six feet two inches in height, and weighs 170 pounds.

WESLEY A. STRONG, attorney, Kenton, was born in Seneca County, Ohio, July 12, 1846. He is the seventh son of Jesse and Sarah (Myers) Strong. (See sketch of Col. L. M. Strong.) He was reared on a farm and secured his primary education in the district schools of his native county. On March 16, 1864, when seventeen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Forty ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the war, in 1865. He participated in the battles of Resaca, Buz- zard's Roost and Pickett's Mills, at the latter of which he was wounded in the right shoulder, May 27, 1864. He was confined to the Cumberland Hospital in Nashville, and then sent home on furlough, remaining until September 1, 1864. He rejoined his regiment at Pulaski, Tenn., and was soon after detailed as Clerk in the field hospital, Third Division, Fourth Corps. He was at the battle of Columbia, Tenn., in the engagement with Hood, and thence was sent with a train of sick and wounded back to Nash- ville, where he assisted in caring for the wounded after the battle and joined in the pursuit of Hood. In July of 1865, he went with the Fourth Corps to San Antonio, Tex., where the corps remained at different points and were mustered out at Victoria. They embarked for home in Decem- ber, 1865, and were discharged at Columbus, Ohio, December 31, 1865. In the spring of 1866, Mr. Strong entered Heidelberg College at Tiffin, Ohio, to complete his collegiate studies. He graduated with the class of 1869, and in the fall of that year came to Hardin County and studied law

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with his brother, Col. L. M. Strong. He had acquired a knowledge of mathematics, and in the fall of 1871 was elected County Surveyor, serving three years. He was subsequently appointed Turnpike Engineer, and served until 1875, building many of the turnpikes with which Hardin County is provided. He abandoned surveying in 1875, and in March of the same year was admitted to the bar and opened his practice in Kenton. In the early part of 1876, he removed to Paulding County, Ohio, remaining until September, 1878. On his return to Kenton, he formed a copartnership with Col. L. M. Strong, with whom he has since been actively and successfully . engaged. Mr. Strong was married in January, 1873, to Miss Kate, daugh- ter of Anthony Banning, a pioneer of Hardin County, where she was born. To this union there have been born four children, all living, viz., Paul K., Roger W., Nelly B. and Gertrude. Mr. Strong is an ardent su pporter of the Republican party.

GEN. DAVID THOMSON, Kenton, Ohio, was born in Marion County, Ohio, three and a half miles west of the town of Marion, April 27, 1823. He received his schooling in Marion, and after completing his studies taught school and studied law there, under the direction of Judge Ozias Bowen for a year. After a course of lectures in Cincinnati, he married a Miss Margaret Espy, of Marion, Ohio, and moved to Kenton in 1849 to begin the practice of law. In 1853, he associated himself with others in organizing a bank, under the firm name of Cary, Thomson & Kinnear, and took an active part in the management of the same until October 4, 1861, when his army record began with the formation of Company A, of the Eighty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which company he took the Captaincy. Soon after the command reached the scene of hostili- ties, he was appointed Major of the regiment. Shortly after the battle of Bull Run, he received the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel, and, March 13, 1865, was brevetted Brigadier General " for gallant and meritorious services during the war." General Thomson fought in sixteen battles; at Peach Tree Creek his life was saved at the expense of his pocket knife, which the bullet crushed into a handful of bits, still preserved at his home as a relic of "the late unpleasantness;" at Gettysburg, his horse was shot from under him, and for his gallant conduct during the battle the Eighty- second Regiment presented him with a magnificent Damascus sword, sheathed in silver and bearing the inscription " Presented to Lieut. Col. D. Thomson by the non commissioned officers and privates of the Eighty- second Regiment, as a token of their appreciation of his noble conduct at Gettysburg, July 1, 2 and 3, 1863." At the battle of Averysboro, March 16, 1865, Gen. Thomson received a severe wound, from the effects of which he has never entirely recovered. At the close of the war, he again engaged in banking, but becoming involved in the panic of 1873, his concern was compelled to withdraw from business. From 1874 to 1882, he resumed the practice of law, and, in 1882, accepted a position in the Pension De- partment at Washington, D. C., which he is now filling.

METELLUS THOMSON (son of Gen. D. Thomson), dealer in dry goods, Kenton, Ohio; after having served a clerkship of four years, at- tained his majority and entered into business on his own account in the year 1871. He was the first man in the history of the county to begin a business on a strictly cash basis and maintain the same rule without varia- tion; everything is one price and his customers all pay cash. In 1871, two assistants were all the help needed to transact his business; at the present time, 1883, ten salesmen and sales ladies, together with himself and a cash-

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ier, are kept busy attending to the wants of his customers, who are con- stantly increasing in number.

JOSEPH TIMMONS, Clerk of Courts, Kenton, was born near Cham- bersburg, Penn., in 1845, and is a son of William and Anna (Reifsneider) Timmons, both natives of the same county in Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather, Adam Reifsneider, was a pioneer of Springfield, Ohio; he was an Elder of the Lutheran Church and one of the first Trustees of Wit- tenburg College. Two of his daughters are residents of Springfield, Ohio. William W., the father of our subject, is a resident of Chambersburg, Penn., and has attained his eighty-fourth year. His wife died in the fall of 1882, in the seventy-eighth year of her age. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are living, viz .: Daniel, Emily, Susan, Matilda, Elizabeth, Anna, Henry, David and the subject of this sketch The latter enlisted from his native place in the fall of 1861, in Company I, Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry. He served in the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the battles of Tompkinsville, Ky., Richmond, Ky., Perryville, Chickamauga, Stone River, the siege of Knoxville, and Straw- berry Plains, with Kilpatrick's cavalry. After the battle of Strawberry Plains, the forces followed Sherman to the sea, having a battle at Jones- boro and Macon, in Georgia. He was also at the siege of Atlanta and the taking of Fort McAllister, and was mustered out at Kings Bridge, Ga., December 25, 1864. Returning to Washington, he joined the ranks of Hancock's veteran army corps, remaining one year, during which time he received a promotion to the office of Orderly Sergeant, and subsequently to the Second Lieutenancy. The regiment was stationed at Camp Stone- man and was ordered into active service at Harper's "Ferry, proceeding thence to the Shenandoah Valley and serving until March 6, 1866. In that year, Mr. Timmons came to Hardin County and entered in mercantile business in Patterson, following it for ten years. He was also engaged in the lumber and stave business in Patterson. In the fall of 1878, he was elected to his present office and re-elected in 1881. He was married in Patterson, Hardin County, in 1870, to Miss Emma, daughter of John Mc- Vitty, a pioneer of Hardin County. Mrs. Timmons died in 1872, and in September, 1879, he was married to Miss Hattie, daughter of W. H. Sey- mour, a prominent merchant of Kenton. Mrs. Timmons is a native of Hardin County, and has blessed her husband with two children, both liv- ing. Fred S. and an infant not yet christened. All the family are members of the Presbyterian Church. For ten years Mr. Timmons has been exten- sively engaged in the shipment of staves (for making casks) to the various countries of Europe. In the spring of 1883, he purchased the manufac- tory and machine company of Kenton, which he has entitled the "Kenton Planing and Scroll Mill," manufacturing building and house furnishing material. The concern employs twenty-five men, and is securing an exten- sive trade.

A. TRAEGER, farmer, P. O. Kenton, was born in Halle Ad-Saale, Prussia, in 1824, and is the only one now living of the five children of Henry John A. and Mary (Weidenhammer) Traeger, natives of the same place, who emigrated in 1839, locating in Jamaica, L. I., whence they re- moved in 1843, coming to Hardin County and settling one mile from Ken- ton, in Pleasant Township. They moved to Sauk County, Wis., in 1849, but returning in 1859, they settled one mile north of the present place, where they both died, and are interred in the old Cessna Cemetery. The other four children of John A. and Mary Traeger were William, born in

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1820, died in California; Henry H., born in 1822, died in Lima, Ohio; Frederick, born in 1826 (enlisted in the First Ohio Volunteer Regiment, went through all the Mexican war and was killed at New Orleans on his return home), and Wilhelmina, wife of Jacob Rice, born in 1828, died at Delton, Wis. The subject of this sketch was brought up on the homestead and was employed as salesman by W. Cary, Willis and L. Merriman, of Kenton. He was in the mercantile trade at Ridgeway, Hale Township, in 1859. Soon after his return to Kenton, he was appointed Postmaster of this town under President Lincoln in 1861, re-appointed in April of 1865. under President Johnson, and again appointed in April of 1866, serving- nine years. During this administration he purchased his present farm, consisting of 210 acres, and upon which he settled, making it his perma- nent home. He was appointed cashier of the Citizens (now the Kenton Savings) Bank in 1874, retaining that position until 1876, when he retired to his farm, where he has since been continuously and successfully engaged. He was married on April 15, 1852, to Miss Margaret, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Seitz) Shoupf, and a native of Bavaria, Germany. This union has resulted in seven children, all living, viz., Mena, wife of Fred Machetanze, of Kenton; Clara, wife of Gustav Upmeyer, Hardin County; Henry G., Margaret A., Charles A., Ellen F. and Ann E. Mr. Traeger has been a member of long standing of the Masonic fraternity.

L. B. TYSON, druggist, Kenton, was born in Scioto County, Ohio, in 1844. He is a son of Jacob and Mary (Bennett) Tyson, the former a na- tive of Baltimore, Md., the latter of Scioto, Ohio. His mother was a cousin of Hon. E. B. Washburn, of Illinois, and died in Greenville Ohio, in 1869. His father was born in 1812, and was a son of Jacob Tyson, a Quaker, and Miss O'Donnell, a Catholic. Jacob Tyson, Sr., our subject's father, died when he was one year old, and when he was in his sixth year he was abducted from Baltimore and brought to Ohio. He was reared in Ross County, Ohio, by a family named Greeves, with whom he lived until he was twenty-one years old, and was then a miller in Bainbridge, Ohio, for several years. He was married in Scioto County and reared a family of eight children, three now living-Viola, wife of William E. Panott, of Greenfield, Ohio; Mollie, at home, and our subject. Mr. Jacob Tyson built a large mill at Ironton, Ohio, and another at Webster, where he was

engaged for some years. He is now a resident of Greenfield, Ohio, baving retired from business, and has been an invalid for twelve years. The sub- ject of this sketch was reared in Ross County, Ohio, where he lived until 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, under Col. Gilmore. He served three months, and then enlisted in the service of the navy, as Hospital Steward, serving for two years. In May, 1864, he raised Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he remained until the close of the war. On his return home, he began the practice of medicine at Greenfield, Ohio, re maining there two years. In January, 1869, he started on a journey to California, taking there a vessel and sailing to various points of South America; thence he took the windward passage, doubling the Island of Cuba, and landing at Savannah, Ga., in 1870. He then entered the dry goods business, and, in August of 1872, came to Kenton, and opened here a dry goods store. He sold out eight years after, to its present proprietor, and pursued the same business in Cincinnati, remaining there three years, during which he introduced a patent medicine, prepared by himself, and with which he had great success. He returned to Kenton in November of

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1882, and opened on Detroit street, the drug store which he is now con- ducting. He was married, January 1, 1879, to Miss Hattie, daughter of Gen. N. B. Walker, of Kenton. To this union one child-Bruce-has been born. Mr. Tyson was appointed Aid-de-camp on the staff of W. Keifer, 00 the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic in Southern Ohio, but he is not now a member of that association.

SAMUEL UTZ, farmer, P. O. Kenton, was born in York County, Penn. in 1819, and is a son of Andrew and Hester (Knap) Utz, both natives of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Andrew Utz, was of German birth, and, on emigrating, settled in Pennsylvania in the year 1752. The father of our subject was a pioneer of Stark County, Ohio, to which place he had moved in 1825, and where he lived and died, and had a family of seven children, three of whom are living, viz., Lydia, wife of J. R. Myers (deceased), resid- ing in Elkhart County, Ind .; Andrew, residing in Bexar County, Tex., and Samuel, the youngest. Our subject came to Hardin County on February 21, 1848, locating in Kenton, where he was occupied for several years in the manufacture of ropes, removing thence to his present farm of 165 acres, four miles from Kenton. He was married in Stark County, May 21, 1846, to Miss Maggie A., daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Miller, both of Penn- sylvania. To this union five children have been born, two living-Ellen M. and Franklin W. Ellen is the wife of W. W. Dugan. They reside in Clyde, Ohio, and have three children -- Zella M., Samuel A. and Manela B. Franklin married Jennie Teets, who died April 10, 1881, leaving one child -Samuel W.

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The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 90

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1076

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076