The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 108

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 108

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HENRY C. RIDDLE. dealer in stoves, tin and hardware, Plain City, was born in Union County, Ohio, August 26, 1846, and, in 1866, set- tled in Plain City, where he embarked in the enterprise that now engages his attention, and in which he has met with good success. He was married, September 13, 1872, to Alice, daughter of H. D. and Samantha (McUmber) Lombard, by whom he has two children-Howard Sterling, born July 9, 1873, and Willard Henry, born October 2, 1876. Mr. Riddle is a mem- ber of the Plain City School Board, one of the Board of Village Council and a member of Urania Lodge, No. 311, F. & A. M., at Plain City. He is a stanch and reliable Republican in politics, and takes an active in- terest in all the work of his party. His parents, James and Mary (McCul- longh) Riddle, are residents of our subject's native county.

E. C. ROBINSON, dentist, Plain City, son of Samuel and Nancy (Curry) Robinson, was born October 27, 1850. He was reared on the farm,

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where he remained until seventeen years of age, when he learned the trade of a plasterer and brick-mason and prepared himself for a thorough me- chanic. After working at his trade and traveling for six years, he studied dentistry, applied himself assiduously, thoroughly mastered his profession, and has since practiced it in Plain City, where he has met with well-merited success. In 1879, he married Mary J. McCloud, a daughter of Dr. Charles McCloud, and by her has one child, a daughter-Tessa.

W. K. ROBY, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in the State of New York March 25, 1835, and was a son of William and Martha (Fuller) Roby, natives of New York, of English descent. His father died two months be- fore he was born, and he lived principally with strangers until his marriage. When old enough, he began farming by the month, after which he rented land for a year, and, in 1855, when in his twentieth year, he purchased twenty-six acres, which he has since increased to 150 acres. He was mar- ried, in 1857, to Nancy Finch, a native of Madison County, and a daughter of John Finch. This union was blessed with three children, viz., Adda, wife of A. Cary, Jr. : Ellsworth and Lawrence. Mr. Roby is a Republican in politics.

HENRY M. ROUSE, carpenter, Plain City, was born in Steuben County, N. Y., July 27, 1828. His father, Thomas Rouse, was born in Vermont in 1793, and died in Ohio in 1873; he married Sarah A. Platt, a native of Connecticut and a connection of ex-Senator Platt, of New York They came to Ohio in 1838, where he plied his trade of carpenter and joiner until his death. Our subject's grandfathers were both in the Revolutionary war. His maternal grandmother became a widow, and married a Mr. Wheaton, a soldier in the war of 1812; she lived to the remarkable old age of one hundred and two years, dying in Bloomington, Ill., in 1864. Our subject was educated in this county, and for one winter he taught a school in Union Township. In 1839, he moved to London, and worked at his trade, carpentering, until 1859. In 1851, he married Mary E. Dunn, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Roush) Dunn. By the union six children were born, viz .. Blanche, wife of Clark Gray; Link D .; Sarah, deceased wife of Charles Kent, deceased; Carl H., Thomas D. and Allen. In 1861, Mr. Rouse enlisted in Company B, Thirty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Col. Tom Ford, and was discharged in 1862, after participating in several battles. In 1866, he came to Plain City, where he has since worked at his trade, with the exception of one year spent in business in Chicago. He is a Democrat; was Clerk of the Board of City Council, of London, eight years, and Mayor in 1858, and has been Mayor five years in Plain City, and Justice of the Peace six years. He is also a member of the School Board and Secretary of the agricultural society.

JOHN SCOTT, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Logan County. Ohio, July 14, 1836. He is a son of William and Emily Scott; the former was born in Ohio in 1814. and is still living; the latter was born in Vir- ginia in 1816, and died in 1847. Samuel Scott, the grandfather of our subject, located in Ross County in 1800. Our subject received but an ordi- nary schooling, and has made farming the occupation of his life. He owns nearly ninety acres of land where he resides. which he has made by his per- sonal efforts. He is a warm advocate of prohibition, and an earnest sup- porter of every work of reform. In 1862, he enlisted in the Third Ohio Battery, participated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and soon after was discharged on account of disability. In 1863, he married Rachel J. Green, a native of Logan County, and a daughter of George R. and Ruth (Will-

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iams) Green, natives of the South. This union was blessed with three chil- dren-Emily, McKinzey and Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are members of the M. E. Church. in which he has been Steward, class leader and Trust- ee. He is also an active worker in the Sabbath schools.

A. H. SHERWOOD, retired farmer, P. O. Magnetic Springs, was born on the shores of Lake Champlain November 26, 1808; he is a son of Sam- uel and Orinda (Converse) Sherwood. He came to this county in 1822, and settled on " Darby Plains," where he has worked at farming most of his life. He at one time owned 570 acres of land, which he afterward gave to his children. In 1832, he married Irena Beach, by whom he had ten chil- dren, viz., Daniel B., whose sketch appears in this work; Samuel; Judith, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased: Mollie, wife of A. H. Andrews; Sarah, wife of Sanford Converse; Amos B., proprietor of Sherwood House, Plain City; Laura (Kilburn); and Charles L., whose sketch appears in this work. Mr. Sherwood gave to each of his children a liberal start in life, either in land or money. and has himself retired from active life to his home at Magnetic Springs, where he now resides.

W. R. SHERWOOD, retired merchant, Plain City, was born in this county December 16. 1832, and is a son of Samuel and Jane (Riddle) Sher- wood, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Kentucky, both of English parentage. Our subject received his education in his native county at the public schools. He was reared on a farm, where he continued until twenty-two years of age. In 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Robinson, and was discharged, in 1864, on account of a wound received in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. He was previously taken prisoner by Morgan's men, but obtained his release immediately. He was married, in 1855, to Olive B. Lyons, a native of Union County and a daughter of Levi Lyons. Mr. Sherwood is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow societies and of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a Republican in politics, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.

DANIEL B. SHERWOOD, farmer, P. O. Plain City. was born in Darby Township January 16, 1833. He is a son of Andrew H. and Irena (Beach) Sherwood, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ohio. His father has been a life-long farmer, and, prior to dividing his land among his children, he owned 570 acres. Our subject was the eldest of a family of ten children. He has adopted the occupation of a farmer, and now owns a well-regulated farm of 124 acres. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Chloe Douglass, a native of Franklin County, Ohio, by whom he had three children-Douglass L., John D. and Frank R. Mrs. Sher- wood died February 28. 1868, and Mr. Sherwood married Amanda Latham, a native of Delaware County, Ohio, and a daughter of John Latham. By this union three children were born-Charles A., Amos B. and Harry H. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood are members of the M. E. Church, in which he has been a class leader and Superintendent of Sunday schools. He is a Repub. lican in politics.

C. L. SHERWOOD, livery, Plain City, was born in this county January 1, 1852. He is a son of Andrew and Lucinda (Beach) Sherwood, descendants of the old Puritan stock. His father was a prominent farmer of this township. Our subject was raised on a farm, where he remained until 1872, when he moved to Plain City and engaged in the livery busi- ness, for which he is well fitted, being an excellent judge of horses and a jovial, good-hearted fellow. His stock is good in quality and condition,

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and his customers always leave him well satisfied. On October 8, 1872, he married Miss Mary L. Parker, a native of Putnam County, Ohio, by whom he has four children, viz., Delmore L., Clyde C., Lula I. and Grace. Mr. Sherwood is a Republican in politics. His wife is a member of the Pres. byterian Church.

ELI SHOVER, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Jerome Town- ship, Union County, Ohio, July 18, 1833. He is a son of F. V. and Eliza beth (Haughn) Shover, natives of Virginia, of German descent. Our sub- ject received a limited education in the schools of Union County, and worked at the carpenter trade three years. In 1866, he married Mary E. Taylor, a native of Madison County and a daughter of Samuel Taylor. They have four children, viz., Samuel F., George A., Rosa E. and May. Mr. and Mrs. Shover are members of the Methodist Church. He is a Re- publican in politics.

JAMES S. SMITH, farmer, P. O. Plain City. James Smith, father of our subject, was born in Vermont September 23, 1793; he was a son of Samuel and Sally (Bailey) Smith, natives of Massachusetts. His father was a Sergeant in the Revolutionary war, and came to Madison County in 1817, locating in Darby Township, where he reared a family of nine chil- dren. When twenty-seven years of age, James had $140, which he invested in a house; in 1820, he married Lucy K. Jones, a native of Vermont, by whom he had one child-James S., our subject, who was born August 9, 1823, in Darby Township, where he received a common-school education. He has been a life-long farmer, and now owns 1.100 acres of land in Jer- ome Township, Union County. On September 9, 1853. he married Amanda Perry, a native of Vermont and a daughter of James Perry. They have four children, viz .. A. E., Ada T., E. L., who died in 1874, and Merton A. These children all had the advantages of a collegiate education. Mrs. Smith is a lady of more than ordinary intelligence, and takes a great inter- est in the cause of education.

F. C. SWEETSER, carriage trimmer, Plain City, was born in Frank- lin County, Ohio, in 1857. He is the second son of Charles Earl and Sophia (Coffman) Sweetser. The former was born in Delaware County, Ohio, May 13, 1823, and was the only child of Eurl and Jerusha (Smith) Sweetser, na- tives of Connecticut, of English descent. He was reared in Delaware County and received a good education. He learned the saddler and har- ness-maker's trade, at which he still continues. He first began work in Franklin County, where he did a good and average business, after which he came to Plain City. He was married, in 1849, and' has had five children, four living, viz., Henry Earl, train dispatcher on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad; Frank C., our subjeet, and Albert. Mr. Sweetser was formerly a Republican, but is now a Prohibitionist. He is an enthusiastic apiarist, and usually keeps 150 colonies of fine bees.

JOHN TAYLOR, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born on the farm where he now resides May 27, 1806 His father, John Taylor. Sr., who was born in Berkeley County, Va., June 2. 1771, was one of the first settlers of Madison County, and the first settler of Darby Township, as it is now known. He married Elizabeth Mitchell, a native of Little York, Penn., of Scotch descent, by whom he had two children, twins, John and Margaret. The latter died August 27, 1811. Our subject was married, February 28, 1833. to Eliza Mitchell, by whom he has had seven children, viz., David M., Matilda, Elizabeth, James M .. Ferguson. Eva, deceased, and Sarah, deceased. The survivors are all married and doing well.

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Mr. Taylor only received a limited education, but he has spared neither trouble nor expense in giving his children every educational ad- vantage. He owns a fine farm of 435 acres, on which was built the first brick house in the county. He has raised several fine thoroughbred horses, among which were the celebrated Printer and Speculafor, both originators of a new breed, and at that time said to be the best general purpose horses in Ohio. He also introduced into this county a very superior species of weevil-proof wheat and the Rappahannock wheat, the latter having been sent to him from the Department of Agriculture at Washington. He also im- ported and bred the Leicestershire combing-wool sheep. From his land the stones were taken to make the buhrs for the first grist-mill on Big Darby, which was the first mill in the county. These stones resemble the French buhr stones, and seem to be of glacial deposit. Mr. Taylor has given his children 1,000 acres of land, 160 acres to each of the two daughters and the rest equally divided between three sons. He is a wide-awake, energetic farmer, always ready to help a worthy cause and a good citizen.

Z. E. TAYLOR, farmer and stock-raiser. P. O. Plain City, was born in Canaan Township December 6, 1851. He is a son of Jacob and Rebecca (Kilgore) Taylor, natives of Canaan Township, where his grandfather set- tled in 1803. Our subject has adopted the occupation of a farmer, and is now pleasantly situated on a good farm of 105 acres, which he cultivates in the most approved manner. In 1880, he married Eliza Daily, a daughter of William Daily, of Canaan Township. She owns 150 acres of land in her native township. She is a member of the Universalist Church. Mr. Tay- lor is a member of no religious organization; he is a Republican in politics, and is now serving as Township Trustee. He is a good, practical farmer, and is meeting with every success in his agricultural labors.

SAMUEL TAYLOR, JR., farmer, P. O. Plain City, son of Samuel Taylor, Sr., and Rosanna (Kent) Taylor, was born in this county October 3, 1857, and, in 1873, married Miss Cynthia Fox, a native of Union County, and a daughter of Henry Fox. This union has been blessed with two chil- dren -Sarah and Dora. Mr. Taylor is a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families in this vicinity. He is a young man in years, but full of energy, enterprise and thrift. He owns 2132 acres of land, which is ably cultivated under his management. He is a breeder of and dealer in draft horses, and has imported some stock horses to this country. He is a Republican in politics.

NELSON TWAY, farmer. P. O. Plain City, was born in Jefferson Township. Madison County, January 29, 1536. He is the son of Samnel and Nancy ( Hurst) Tway, natives of Ohio, of English descent. His grand parents were natives of New Jersey and Maryland. Our subject received his education in Indiana, where his father resided for a time. He chose farming for an occupation, and has devoted his life to it. In 1862, he en listed in the Seventh Ohio Volunteers, and served until the close of the war, participating in all the engagements his regiment was in. He was married, in 1861. to Miss Fulzell, a daughter of Reuben Fulzell, of Marysville, Ohio. They have four children, viz., Mary, Charles. Reuben and Harry. Mrs. Tway is a member of the M. E. Church. Mr. Tway is a Republican in polities, and has served his district in the capacity of School Director.

JACOB WEAVER, blacksmith. Plain City, was born in Adams County, Penn .. October 28, 1828. He is a son of John and Catharine (Fry) Weaver, natives of Pennsylvania, of German descent. He was raised on a farm and worked at farming until thirty-one years of age, when he learned the black-

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smith's trade, which he has since followed, a period of twenty four years, eighteen of which were spent in Plain City. In 1853, he married Catharine Kahlor, a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. They have one child. now the wife of Thomas McMain. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Weaver's parents came to this coun- ty in 1839. His grandparents on both sides were soldiers in the Revolu- tionary war.

CHARLES C. WILCOX. farmer, P. O. Plain City, a native of Lick- ing County, Ohio, was born February 19. 1840, and is the son of J. C. and Mary (Beecher) Wilcox. His mother's father, Zina Beecher, was a cousin to Henry Ward Beecher, and of Scotch descent. His father was a native of Ohio. Our subject owns 189 acres of well-improved land, four miles west of Plain City; he is a Republican in politics, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Wilcox served three years in the late war, as a member of the Ninety-fifth Regiment, Company F. He was wounded twice and also crippled in the foot. He was married, February 1, 1865, to Lucetta, daughter of Aaron and Isabel (Huddlestun) Hillbrant, and a native of Ohio, born in 1839. By their union four children were born, viz., Mary Belle, Minnie E., Edwin C. and Gertie Q.

JOHN H. WORTHINGTON, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Connecticut August 25, 1825; he is a son of Elias and Althea (Howe) Wor- thington. His education was obtained in the common schools and at Jeffer- son High School. In early life, he learned the cabinet-maker's trade; he was also a wagon-maker, which business he followed with more than average success. He was a mechanic from seventeen to twenty-eight years of age, when he was obliged by poor health to abandon his trade. In 1851, he married Candace Smith, a native of Darby Township, and a daughter of Richard and Betsey (McCloud) Smith. Her grandfather. Samuel Smith, or Elder Smith, as he was called, was a pioneer minister, who came to Madi- son County and raised a large family, of whom two sons. John and James, were among the most prominent farmers of the county. James, the only survivor of the two, was born in Vermont September 23, 1793, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and now resides with his only son, James S., in Union County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington have had seven children, viz., Ida, wife of Thomas K. Sherwood, of Franklin County, Ohio; Eva, wife of E. S. Converse; John Charles, Herbert. Althea, Myra L. and Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington are members of the Universalist Church. He is a Re- publican in politics. They own and reside on a good farm of 280 acres in the township.

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.

URI BEACH, son of Uri, the pioneer Beach to Madison County, and his wife, Hannah (Noble) Beach, was born in Canaan Township, where Amity now stands, January 13, 1826. He received such education as the common schools and his limited facilities afforded. He was the oldest of the three brothers, and was left an orphan by the death of his father when only six years of age, and his services were early demanded in helping his mother care for a large family of children. His father organized a Sunday school in Canaan Township in 1826, and he also organized a subscription

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school in that township, for the support of which he was the most liberal of his means of any man in the township, and he probably imbued his little child with something of his own spirit and enterprise. On the 6th day of March, 1845, he married Eleanor Downing, born in Canaan Township, Madison Connty, Ohio, November 22, 1825, daughter of Timothy and Elizabeth ( Hayden) Downing. He shortly thereafter purchased a farm, in Brown Township. Franklin County, Ohio, adjoining the Jonathan Alder farm, but on the opposite side of Big Darby, where he continues to reside. He is an extensive shipper of live stock to Eastern markets, having made this enter- prise a specialty for the past thirty years. He has been the Assessor of his township for twenty-five consecutive years. His children are Timothy Downing Beach, M. D., of Catawba, Clark County, Ohio; Isaac Beach, Plain City. Ohio: Eva Noble (Beach) Simms, A. B., wife of Rev. Joseph Simins, A. M., of the Northwest Ohio Conference, M. E. Church; Elizabeth Hayden (Beach) Converse, wife of Henry B. Converse, of Canaan Town- ship: John, died in infancy; Mary Ettie, now in her junior year at Wes- leyan Female College, Delaware, Ohio, and Uri.

JOHN NOBLE BEACH, son of Uri and Hannah (Noble) Beach, was born in Amity, Madison County, Ohio, January 29, 1829. His youth was passed in Amity and on a farm, one mile west of where John Taylor now lives. At the age of thirteen, he went into the store of Charles McCloud, of Amity, then the principal store in the northern part of the county. He remained with him two years, attending school during the winters. At the age of fifteen, he taught his first school, the old log schoolhouse standing about one hundred yards south of where Solomon Cary's elegant residence now is. For this service he received the munificent salary of $8 per month and board, though the la ter item was not of interest to the community or teacher, as he boarded with his mother. For the next three years he taught school winters, spending the summer of 1846 in school at the University, Delaware, Ohio, and the two summers following reading medicine with Dr. Charles McCloud, and the winters of 1848-49 and 1849-50 attending lectures at the Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, whence he gradu . ated an M. D. February 25. 1850. In the spring of 1849. after his first course of lectures. he commenced practice at Unionville Center, Union County, Ohio, and returned there after his graduation a year later. Re- mained there until the fall of 1851, when he went to New York for the fur- ther prosecution of his studies, attending a partial course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, but giving most of his time to study in the hos- pitals. After an absence of six months, he returned to Unionville again, where he remained another year, removing to Pleasant Valley (now Plain City) in 1853, and to Jefferson, Ohio, in 1858. April 14, 1862, he was commissioned Surgeon of the Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, then in Eastern Kentucky. On the 19th day of the same month, he joined the regiment at Piketon, Ky .. and remained on duty with it until the following September, when he was assigned to staff duty. From that time until the close of his service, although giving much personal attention to his regiment, he was on continuons staff duty, as follows: Surgeon of the Third Brigade, Army of the Kanawha. in the fall of 1862, at Gallipolis, Ohio: Medical Di- rector of the District of Eastern Kentucky, in the winter of 1862-63, at Catlettsburg. Ky .; Medical Director of the Third Division (Gen. Baird's), Army of the Ohio, in the spring of 1863, at Franklin, Tenn .; Surgeon of First Brigade, First Division, Reserve Corps, from July 24. 1863, until the re-organization of the army, after the battle of Chickamauga, and from that

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time until his muster-out, December 6, 1864, he was Surgeon of the Second Brigade (Gen. Whittaker's), First Division, Fourth Army Corps. Upon the opening of the Atlanta campaign, in the spring of 1864, in addition to his staff duties, he was assigned as one of the three operating surgeons in the hospital of the First Division, Fourth Army Corps, a position he retained until after the fall of Atlanta. After his muster-out of the service, he returned to Jefferson, where he has continued to reside. Upon the organiza- tion of the Columbus Medical College, in 1875, he was elected by the Trust- ees Professor of General Pathology, a position he resigned a year later, the duties of the chair interfering with other engagements. In 1875, was elect- ed a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. In 1878, he was com- missioned Surgeon of the Fourteenth Regiment Ohio National Guards, a po- sition he still retains. In January, 1880, he was appointed on the mili- tary staff of Gov. Charles Foster, as Surgeon General of Ohio, and in 1882 was honored by a re-appointment to the same position. Is a member of the State Medical Society, and was elected one of its Secretaries in 1868. Is a member of the Central Ohio Medical Society, and was its President in 1881-82. Is a member of the Madison County Medical Society, and has been its President. Married, June 1, 1858, Eliza J., daughter of Daniel and Anna (Kiser) Snyder, of Champaign County, Ohio, by whom he had the following children: Edith, born in Jefferson, Ohio, February 16, 1860; Anna, born in Jefferson, Ohio, July 26, 1865.

ELIJAH BELL, farmer, P. O. West Jefferson, is a son of Joseph and Nancy (Shubridge) Bell, the former a native of Pennsylvania, where he was raised, and the latter a native of Virginia, where she was brought up. They were married in Morgan, now Noble County, Ohio, where they were early settlers. In that county both lived and died, he January 7, 1866, and she February 15, 1870, both members of the Baptist Church, and he through life by occupation a farmer. Their children were thirteen in num- ber, and seven are now living, viz., John W., in Oregon; James, of Athens County, Ohio; George, in Oregon; Elijah, our subject; Leander, of Noble County, Ohio; Clarissa C., of Oregon, and Charlotte C., of Athens County, Ohio. Elijah was born in Noble County. Ohio, in 1832. He was raised to farm life and acquired a common-school education. He remained in his native county until 1853; when he came to Madison County and commenced teaching, which claimed his attention several years. In 1857, he married Mary, daughter of the pioneer David Sidener, of Jefferson Township, where

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The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 108

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