The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 105

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Ohio > Madison County > The history of Madison County, Ohio > Part 105

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Through the kind offices of his much-esteemed preceptor and friend, Dr. Hen- derson, he was introduced to Hon. Dr. John N. Beach, then in Pleasant Val- ley, now Plain City, this county, a partnership for business purposes agreed upon, and, on the 9th of April. 1856, the subject of our sketch became the ob- ject of curious eyes among the inhabitants of Pleasant Valley and vicinity, trying to weigh the acumen and mental force of the "new doctor." First impressions of Pleasant Valley were not favorable. It was at a time of the year when mud reigned supreme over foot paths and highways. Teams were bemired in the main streets, and had to be pried out with poles. Sidewalks were few and far between. The town had a railroad and depot, but to reach the same you had to travel-man, woman, child, horse, hog and cow -- from McCloud's corner over the entire length of Railroad street, through a sea of mud and water, the exact depth of which no man, perhaps, ever exactly fathomed. The late sleeper was aroused from his dreams, of mornings, by the sonorous notes of "P-o-o-i-g, p-o-o-i-g, piggy, piggy!" coupled with the pleasing strain, " S-o-o-k, boss! s-o-o-k, boss! " and, upon gaining the front door, the foot-paths and streets were found to be the com - mon feeding-yards; and for the balance of the day Mr. Porker plied his snout diligently to plowing the streets and grass plats. The moral and so- cial status was not wholly out of keeping with the physical comforts and con- veniences of the place. Although there were a number of intelligent, gen- erous-hearted and Christian people there, yet there were a great many who had their "peculiar views" and their peculiar ways. Bad whisky then, as now, was not unknown; and for many, Saturday was the day of days for settling old scores. This element mostly came from the country. They would commence coming in about 9 or 10 o'clock A. M., and by 2 o'clock P. M. their ranks would be full, and the early comers well fired up. Accounts were called, and the swearing would begin. After exchanging a great many oaths and vulgar epithets, and passing the bottle around several times, the preliminaries of battle would be arranged; but not many hard battles were ever fought. Pleasant Valley at the time was a dead town so far as busi- ness and building enterprises were concerned. From 1856 to 1866, one had to count in all the barns built to make an average of one building per year; and the business of the place was limited to three small dry goods stores, one grocery, one drug store and one restaurant. To return to our subject. The " new doctor " was kindly received by his new acquaintances, and, in course of time, was intrusted with a fair share of the afflicted por- tion of humanity to care for. He found many warm hearts, and true and genial friends. On the 18th of February, 1857, he was united in marriage with Miss Matilda Taylor, the oldest daughter of John and Eliza Mark Taylor, who were both born and raised in Madison County, and still reside two miles south of Plain City. They have had five children, viz .: Charles, who died in infancy; John T .; Oliver, who died aged fourteen months; James Llew and Eve. Mr. Ballinger is a member of the Methodist Church and of the Masonic Order, and in politics is a Republican. The Doctor pursued his professional duties assiduously until the spring of 1873, when he, in company with Mr. Richard Woodruff, a merchant of Plain City, con- ceived the project of building a flouring-mill in Plain City. Neither party knew anything about mills or milling, but the scheme was put into execu- tion, and the mill, a substantial brick structure, with two run of buhrs for wheat, and one for corn, was put in operation about Christmas of the same year, costing about $13,000. Mr. Woodruff dying in 1875 left the entire care of the mill in the Doctor's hands. This so interfered with his profes-

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sional duties that he has given but little attention to them since. The Plain City Mills have had a fine reputation for the quality of their flour for several years, and any one visiting the Doctor's sanctum will find his table covered with both medical and milling literature, and will find him as ready to discuss the best methods of milling as he is to discuss the best methods of preventing and treating diseases. He is now decidedly in favor of bread pills.

E. W. BARLOW, undertaker, furniture-dealer and manufacturer, Plain City, was born in Darby Township March 6, 1835. He is a son of E. W. and Polly C. (Lawrence) Barlow, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York, and both of English descent. They emigrated to Clark County, Ohio. and in 1820 moved to Madison County, coming to Plain City in 1852. His father was a carpenter until he came to Ohio, when he followed farming until his death, in 1865. Our subject has worked in the shop where he is now employed since he was seventeen years of age. He was married, November 4, 1857, to Electa I. Bigelow, a daughter of Dr. D. K. Bigelow, and by her has one child, Cora I .. the wife of John R. Hill. Mrs. Barlow died March 9, 1858, and in 1859 he married Lucinda A. Kent, by whom he has four children-Linden C., Elva R., Earl W. and Eddie B. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in" which the father has been a Class-Leader fifteen years. He was a Repub- lican, but is now a Prohibitionist. His father was a Major in the war of 1812.

I. W. BEACH, undertaker, and manufacturer and dealer in furniture, Plain City, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, July 21, 1850. He is a son of Uri and Elenore (Downing) Beach, the former a native of this county and the latter of Pennsylvania, and both of English descent. Our subject re- ceived his education in the common schools, at Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and at a commercial college in Pittsburgh, Penn. He worked at farming until thirty-one years of age when he came to Plain City and embarked in his present enterprise, with Mr. Barlow, under the firm name of Barlow & Beach. He was married, in 1874, to Ruth Alma Slyh, a daughter of Matthias Slyh. They have one child, Lulu Ann, born Jan- nary 6, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Beach are Baptists, and he is a Republican. He served one term as Township Assessor.

EPHRAIM W. BIDWELL, deceased, was born October 28, 1817, and was the fourth son of Elisha Bidwell, one of the earliest settlers of Mad- ison County, having settled here as early as 1814. His mother's maiden name was Dorothy Willy, and they came to Ohio from the State of Ver- mont, and were Yankees, or New Englanders. Ephraim was one of seven- teen children-fifteen sons and two daughters-fifteen of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. His parents passed through many hardships and privations, known only to the early settlers of Madison County. Eph- raim was a farmer, as also were his father and most of his brothers. He received only the limited education to be obtained in the district schools of those days, and was a self-made man, being well informed on all sub- jects. both political and religious. He held many offices of trust, both township and county offices, and was a member of the State Legislature during the years of 1864 and 1865, and was also a teacher in the district schools both before and after his marriage. He was united in marriage to Miss Laura Lombard, November 4, 1841. Ephraim and wife were the par- ents of six children-three daughters and three sons-all of whom are liv- ing. The eldest daughter, Olive, is now the wife of David D. Brooks, and

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resides in Nuckolls County, Neb. The second daughter, Dorotha Ellen, is now the wife of J. H. Mckinnon, and resides in Cass County, Neb. The third daughter, Virginia Ann, now the wife of John D. Crego, resides near Sedalia, Mo. Their husbands are all farmers. The eldest son, Monroe Bidwell, married Miss Martha C. Kreamer and resides on the old home farm, in the family homestead, where he was born and raised, and where his parents lived for thirty-three years. Monroe is a farmer and stock- raiser. The second son, Webster Bidwell, who married Miss Sarah Bus- well, also resides on a part of the home farm, and is a farmer. The third and youngest son Hamilton Bidwell, married Miss Nettie Spink, of Woos- ter, Ohio, and now resides in Lincoln, Neb. He is by profession a lawyer. Ephraim Bidwell and wife commenced life without means, but, by their united industry and economy, they, succeeded in securing an ample fortune, consisting of a fine farm of 500 acres, situated between the Big and Little Darby. Ephraim also owned a fine town property and residence near Plain City. where he resided at the time of his death, and where his widow now resides. He and wife were firm believers in universal salvation, and mem- bers of the Universalist Church. He was very public-spirited, and well-in- formed on all political and religious topics of his day, and ever ready to uphold the right and denounce the wrong. In politics, he was an ardent worker and a thorough Republican. He died July 10, 1881, in the sixty- fourth year of his age, and lies in the family burial-grounds at Foster Chapel, Madison County. Ohio. We will now give a short genealogy of Jesse Lombard and wife, parents of Laura E., wife of Ephraim Bid- well: Jesse was one of the earliest settlers of Madison County, having come here in an early day, from the State of Vermont, and settled on what is known as the Darby Plains, where his children still reside. He was a New Englander. His wife, Olive Carlton, was of German parentage, her mother being a German. Jesse and wife were the parents of six children -three sons and three daughters -- five of whom are living. Jesse was a farmer, a firm believer in universal salvation, and a Whig politically. He died in 1874, in the eighty-second year of his age. His wife, Olive, died in 1858, in the sixty-fifth year of her age.

ISRAEL ELIPHAZ BIGELOW, retired, Plain City, was born at Adamsburg, Westmoreland Co., Penn., June 7, 1825. He was a son of Dr. Daniel K. and Lydia (Custer) Bigelow, the former a native of Saratoga County, N. Y., and the latter of Fayette County, Penn They were mar ried in Fayette County, and, coming West in 1831, settled on a farm adjoin- ing Plain City, where both died-he November 10, 1850, and she November 14, 1854. Their family consisted of six boys and five girls, of whom four boys and two girls are living. The father was one of five sons of Dr. Is- rael Bigelow, who came to Ohio in 1828. These sons were all physicians, and all, with one exception, life practitioners. The town of Plain City was for a time called Bigelow Town, in honor of the senior Dr. Bigelow. The subject of this sketch was the second of his parents' children. He came

West with his parents, and remained at home until twenty-two years of age. when he engaged in farming on land adjoining Plain City. He had pro- viously read medicine with a view of adopting the profession, but for rea- sons satisfactory to himself, decided not to continue his studies in that di- rection. On June 27, 1847, he married Betsey M. Smith, who was born in Vermont October 31, 1828, and was a daughter of Capt. E. C. and Irena (Doty) Smith, natives of Vermont. The father was Captain of a company of militia, and for a short time served in the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs.

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Bigelow have had seven children, viz .: Lydia Irena, born July 31, 1848, and died at the age of twenty-two years: Clarence E .. a grocer of Plain City, born November 20, 1851, and, on March 19, 1871, married Mary, daughter of Luther Lane, who died November 26, 1874, and on December 22, 1877, he married Catharine J., daughter of Charles and Mary Ann (Beard) Shipman: an infant son died aged four months; Eliphaz McClel- lan, born April 16, 1862, and married Elizabeth, daughter of William and Jane (Phillips) Manning; Daniel Crocker, a farmer, at home, born Sep- tember 1, 1864; Emmett Custer, born March 19, 1867, and now engaged in a jewelry store in Plain City; and Charles Smith, who died March 13, 1870, aged one year. Mr. Bigelow followed farming for ten years after marriage. In 1857, he was appointed Postmaster at Plain City, and to this occupation added merchandising. After six years' service, he resigned the office of Postmaster, and became engaged in the warehouse at Plain City, and as agent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, in which he continued two years and four months, when he again entered the ranks as a merchant, and so continued until 1879, when he retired from active business life. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity of the Royal Arch degree, and of the Universalist Church. In politics, he is a Democrat. He recently vis- ited the Bigelow family in the East, and paid his respects to 100 living de- scendants of two of his father's brothers, Drs. Lebbens L. and Eliphaz Bigelow. He also visited over forty descendants of his Grandfather Custer, who was a full cousin to Gen. George Washington. A gold-headed cane and a gold watch, originally owned by his great-great-grandfather, Isaac Bigelow, have been handed down from generation to generation through the name of Isaac, and are now in possession of the ex-Mayor of Newark. Ohio, who represents the fifth generation, and at his death they pass to the next oldest Isaac then living. The subject of this sketch has filled most of the minor offices of the township, including Justice of the Peace from 1870 to 1873. He was also elected Mayor of Plain City at the same time, and served one year, but then resigned the office. He was re-elected in 1881. and served one year more. He was appointed and commissioned Seventieth Census Enumerator of the Fifth Ohio District, and discharged the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of his superiors. Mr. Bigelow has two grandchildren, viz., Bertha J., born June 30, 1879; and Charles Eber, born March 30, 1882, children of his oldest son.

FILMORE C. BIGELOW, P O. Danville, Ill., born Jan. 23, 1848. at Plain City, Madison County, Ohio. His parents were Dr. Daniel K. and Lydia (Custer) Bigelow. He was engaged in farming and clerking in a grocery store up to 1566; then attended College at Columbus, Ohio, and began telegraphing in 1867. He was married, April 14, 1875, to Miss Annie M. Ball, at Clarksville, Tenn., after which he settled in Danville. Ill. Has two children, Edith I., born November 13, 1878. and Pearl K., born November 11, 18SO In 1880. he quit telegraphing and commenced as billing clerk for the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad Company. which position he still holds. Mrs. Bigelow's parents were Ephraim and Sarah (Peek) Ball. Her grandparents were John and Mary (Grimes) Ball. Mrs. Bigelew was born May 10, 1857, at North Manchester, Wabash County, Ind. MRS. EMELINE BOND, whose maiden name was Emeline Phillips. was born in the State of New York in 1818. She was a daughter of Aaron and Catharine (Lawson) Phillips, the former a native of Long Island, of English descent, and the latter a native of New York State. of German de- scent. They came to Ohio in 1819. They had seven children, all of whom

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are deceased but our subject. She was married, in 1839, to S. O. Worth- ington, of Franklin County, and in 1841 they moved into Plain City and built the hotel in which she now resides. Mr. Worthington died in 1853, leaving one child, Wilson S., who was born January 29, 1843, and died January 7, 1876. In 1876, Mrs. Worthington married Hiram Bond, a na- tive of Ontario County, N. Y., where he was born in 1818. He is a miller by trade, but since 1876 has been conducting the business of the hotel.

DANIEL BOYD, stock-dealer, Plain City, was born in Washington County, Penn., May 1, 1828. He is the son of James and Martha (Milli- kin) Boyd, natives of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to Ohio in 1831 and settled in Canaan Township. Our subject was reared and educated in Canaan Township, and has made stock-dealing a life occupation. He has also given some attention to the wool trade during the past thirty years. He was married, February 14, 1850, to Mary A. Smith, a daughter of Sam- uel Smith. By this union four children were born, viz .: John S., a farm- er of this township; Ella W., who died aged four years; Dwight S., a farmer of this township; and Charles, at home. Mr. Boyd is a Republican, and he has held the offices of Township Trustee, Treasurer and Assessor, and for three years was County Commissioner. He owns 125 acres of land, in addition to other property. His wool and stock operations are very exten- sive, but operated with care and sound judgment, and the profits from them have enabled Mr. Boyd to amass a comfortable competency for his de- clining years.

JAMES BOYD, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Washington County, Penn., June 5, 1826, and moved with his parents to Madison County in 1831, locating in this township in 1852. He was a son of James and Martha (Millikin) Boyd, natives of Pennsylvania. Our subject's edu- cation was limited to the common schools of this county. He early began the work of a farmer, and has since spent his life in that useful occupation. He owns a farm of 3563 acres of land, near Plain City, where he resides. He was married, November 20. 1864, to Ann E. Williams, a native of Frank- lin County, Ohio, and a daughter of Ebenezer Williams. They have three children -Emma, James Grant and Robert Colfax. Mr. Boyd was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, since which he has been a Republican. His grandfather, Col. Millikin, an officer in the war of 1812, was a surveyor by profession, and at one time owned 2,200 acres of land here.

J. P. BOWERS, SR .. farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Canaan Township August 12, 1820. He is a son of Daniel and D. (Phiney) Bow- ers, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Vermont, where she was born in 1798, being now eighty-four years of age. Daniel Bowers was one of the carly settlers of this county, where he located some time about the year 1800. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject's grandfathers on both sides were soldiers of the Revolution. Mr. Bowers in early life learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for three years, at the expiration of which time he bought a farm, and since then has engaged in farming, now owning about one hundred acres. In 1841. he married Ruhama Guy, who was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1819. She was a daughter of Jacob Guy. By this union eight children were born, of whom four survive, viz., Betsey L., Daniel E., John P. and Adda M. Mrs. Bow- ers died in 1871. She was a good wife, an affectionate parent, and a con- sistent member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1872, Mr. Bowers married Alvina Newton, a native of Darby Township. This union has been without

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issue. Mr. Bowers is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraterni- ties.

M. D. BRADLEY, farmer, P. O. Plain City. The subject of this sketch was born in Canaan Township, Madison Co., Ohio, September 25, 1854. He is a son of James L. and Elizabeth Mark Bradley. His father was a native of Virginia, and his mother of this county. Our subject is a farmer by occupation, and owns 202 acres of land in Darby Township and 278 in Canaan Township. In politics, he is a Republican. He was mar- ried, November 21, 1877, to Ada A. Burnham, who was born in Pike Town- ship, Madison County. She is the daughter of John H. and Salina (Ful- lington) Burnham. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley are members of the Universalist Church.

ABRAM CAREY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Canaan Town- ship June 28, 1817. His father, Abijah Carey, was born in Pennsylvania in 1780, and married Catharine Johnson, a native of Virginia. In 1800, he came to Madison County, where he died in 1854, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a farmer, and, at the time of his death, owned 400 acres of land in Darby Township. He raised a family of nine children-three boys and six girls-all of whom reached their majority. The girls married prominent farmers, viz., May married James Guy; Sarah married Jacob Millikin; Rhoda married William Guy; Rachel married James Millikin; Eliza married George Rickard; and Lucinda married Nathaniel Harrington. All but one live in this vicinity. Solomon died in July, 1882, and left his property to two sons, who were wealthy before his death. He had retired from business, and was in independent circumstances. Our subject has been a life-long farmer. He owns a large and well-improved farm in this town- ship, on which he resides. He was married, in 1853, to Jane Hogle, a na- tive of Upper Canada, and a daughter of Peter Hogle. This union was blessed with two children, Alice and Ella, who have attended to the house- hold duties of the farm since July, 1877, when their mother died. Mr. Carey was a Democrat until the breaking-out of the late civil war, since which he has been a stanch Republican.

DR. J. H. CARPENTER, physician and merchant, Plain City, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, November 27, 1831. In addition to the common schools of his native county, he attended Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, after which he took a course in Starling Medical College of Colum- bus, Ohio. He then attended the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. from which he graduated in 1865. He commenced practicing in his native coun- ty, where he remained three years, then spent two years in Marion County, and, in 1869, came to Plain City, where he has since remained. In 1854, he married Catharine Andrews, by whom he had two children-Charles H. and Lellio K. She died in 1863, and in 1870 he married L. Jennie, daugh- ter of Asa Converse. Dr. Carpenter is a Republican in politics, and has served his village as member of School Board. His grandfather was the first white settler in Delaware County, locating in 1801, on 300 acres of land, which is still in the possession of the family, being now occupied by a grandson of the old settler. In coming to Ohio, they descended the Ohio River to Portsmouth, and then embarked in canoes, and, by means of poles, pushed their way up to Delaware County, a distance of 120 miles. The grandfather was killed by being thrown from his horse down a steep em- bankment. He was a Captain in the Revolutionary war, and one of the pistols used by him in that struggle is now in possession of our subject. It

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is an old-fashioned horse pistol, with a flint lock, and. though now much the worse for wear, seems to have been a handsome weapon.

ANDREW CARY, farmer. P. O. Plain City, was born in Canaan Township January 22, 1833. He is a son of Solomon and Anna (Millikin) Cary. the latter a daughter of Col. Millikin, and of Irish descent. Solomon was a son of Abijah and Catherine (Johnston) Cary. Abijah was born in Pennsylvania in 1780, of English parentage, and in 1800 came to Madison County. Solomon was born in Madison County in 1809, and died in July, 1882. His wife was born in Washington County, Penn., in 1814. They had three children, two now living. Our subject, the oldest child, is a farmer by occupation, and he also deals largely in cattle, usually having about one hundred head on hand all the time. He breeds the Short-Horn Durham cattle and Southdown sheep. He owns 5703 acres of well-improved land, and is one of the leading farmers of the county. He is a Republican in politics; takes an active interest in the cause of education, and has served as School Director for twelve years. He was married, in 185S, to Flora E. Burnham, a daughter of Darius and Lucretia (Hunt) Burnham. and a native of this county. They have six children, viz., Anna L., wife of J. B. Smith, of Canaan Township; Henry, Nettie, Rodney, Burnham and Frank Pearl.

DR. JEREMIAH CONVERSE, Plain City. Dr. Jeremiah Con- verse, grandson of Rev. Jeremiah Converse, a Revolutionary soldier, and son of Jeremiah Converse, Jr., was born in Darby Township, Madison County, Ohio, June 11. 1822, in that season of epidemic death which is well remembered by the old inhabitants as making sad inroads upon the thinly settled community of Darby Plains, and thickly populating the primitive grounds on Big Darby set aside and sanctified with tears as the burying- ground of the dead. Malinda Converse, the Doctor's mother, was a Derby. descended from the old English titled family of that name, and was a wo- man of remarkable and healthy characteristics of mind. Her keenly active perceptive faculties, aided by an untiring devotion to her family, under less narrowing circumstances than those which surrounded the pioneers of the plains, would naturally have led to a careful. discriminating education of her children; but the schoolhouses and text-books of to-day were beyond the dreams of that time, and it was by studious application of all his ener- gies and the precious little spare time he could get from labor that young Converse obtained a very common education. The thud of the grubbing- hoe, the crash of falling trees and the wielding of the ox-gad in preparing land for cultivation, were interjections in his educational process until about the year 1844, when he turned his mind to a study of the science of medicine, and graduated four years later at the Columbus, Ohio, Starling Medical College. At or near the time of his commencement of the study of medicine, he married Miss Hortence Hemenway, a young lady of excel- lent family and fino qualities of mind and heart, by whom he had six chil- dren, the oldest, a daughter, dying in childhood. Following his gradua- tion commenced a professional career of twenty-five years, and with it be- gan an observance and study of the physical condition of the country and its sanitary requirements, together with the advancement of social, agricult- ural and general ideas which have kept him prominently before the public. He never entirely gave up his farming interests, and these, in connection with his extensive professional practice, required the major part of his at- tention, yet in all these the Doctor was careful to give his children excellent educational advantages, and the most of them are now engaged in teaching.

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The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 105

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180