The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 151

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214

USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county > Part 151

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DR. JOHN TREON, retired physician, Miamisburg. Of the pioneer medical men of Montgomery County, but few are left to tell of the trials and hardships of the early days, nearly all having long since been laid beneath the sod; but in the gentle- man whose name heads this sketch we find the oldest living physician of the Miami Valley, one who practiced his profession in this county from 1811 up to 1872, in fact, we might almost say from the first settlement to the present time. He was born in the town of Hamburg, Berks County, Penn., March 25, 1791, and is the son of Dr. Michael and Elizabeth (Selzer) Treon. When John was fourteen years old he began reading medicine in his father's office, afterward reading under the tutorship of Dr. De Weiss, one of the most prominent physicians of Philadelphia. In 1811, he, with his uncle, Peter Treon, started from Pennsylvania for Ohio, reaching the present site of Miamisburg October 3, of that year, traveling the entire distance on horseback. The Doctor served nine months as Surgeon in the war of 1812, and assisted in setting up the first picket of the fort built by Gen. Hull, at Greenville, Ohio. Upon arriving in Ohio, he was the possessor of 373 cents in money and a horse, on which he owed $50, but fortune favored him and he was soon able to join with his uncle, Peter, in purchas- ing 140 acres of land at $10 per acre, upon which they laid out a part of the present town of Miamisburg, in 1818. Dr. Treon's practice extended to a circuit of seventy miles, and was so extensive that he was compelled to keep horses stationed at different points in order to visit his patients, as one horse could not stand the long trips he made each day. He was married, November 13, 1818, to Miss Eve Weimer, who died May 20, 1873, after a happy and prosperous union of fifty-four years. Dr. Treon married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Black, widow of Hezekiah Black and daughter of George and Elizabeth Weaver. Beginning in life a poor man, Dr. Treon has made a wonderful success, and although by trying to build up the manufacturing interests of

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Montgomery County he lost about $120,000, he is yet worth over $100,000, all the legitimate result of his unremitting toil and business sagacity, coupled with steady habits and well-ordered economy. Besides being well versed in the English language, he can both read, write and converse in French and German, and has frequently con- tributed articles to the medical journals. He has been a man of wonderful endurance and possessed of a powerful constitution, and now in his ninety-first year, although feeble, retains much of his mental vigor. When eighty-five years old, he amputated a leg for a patient and even yet he is sometimes professionally consulted, though long since retired from active practice. Politically, he was a Whig, and afterward a Re- publican, and says he has never missed casting his vote for President from 1812 to 1880, a period of nearly seventy years. He has been a Mason nearly all his life, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church since 1808, giving liberally- of his time, labor and money to the upbuilding of the church and the spread of the Gospel.

WILLIAM TURNER, farmer, P. O. West Carrollton, was born in Mifflin County, Penn., April 17, 1820. His parents were John and Margaret Turner, both natives of Mifflin County, Penn., and removed to Ohio in 1820, making the journey by wagon, and landing at West Liberty, in Jefferson Township, in this county, August 7, 1820. John Turner was one of the representative men of the county in that early day. In 1824, he was elected to the Legislature of this State, and, in 1826, moved to Union, Randolph Township, and, in the fall of 1829, was again clected to the Legisla- ture. In 1831, he moved to Salem, and while there was appointed one of the Associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1840, he moved to White County, Ind., and, in 1834, returned to Ohio, settling in Greenville, Darke County. He returned to Salem after the death of his wife, where he again married. He died in October, 1866, at the age of seventy-seven years and seven months, thus ending a busy and useful life. The subject of this sketch went with his father to Indiana in 1840, and assisted in making a farm for his father; then entered the land for a farm for himself, where he remained until 1853, when he moved to Greenville, Darke County, and engaged in mill- ing and distilling with his brothers, H. M. and J. M. Turner, where he continued until 1865, when he returned to Montgomery County, locating at Carrollton, where he now resides. He married, September 14, 1843, at Monticello, White Co., Ind., Miss Susanna James, daughter of Richard and Mary James, by whom he had seven children -Mary Margaret, born August 17, 1844 ; John M .. February 1, 1847 ; Nancy, October 9, 1849 ; Sarah Cornelia, October 7, 1852 ; William Edgar, born June 15, 1855, died January 28, 1857 ; Franklin Pulman, born February 7, 1858, died March 12, 1861 ; Louisa V., born August 14, 1863. His wife died May 5, 1878. He was married again, December 30, 1880, to Miss Katie Conley, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Conley, both deceased. Mr. Turner has been an active member of society all his life, and is still actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has one of the finest resi- dences in the township.

SAMUEL M. UMBENHAUER, tobacco buyer and Township Treasurer, Miamisburg, son of Henry and Nellie (Miller) Umbenhauer ; was born at Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1836. He came to Montgomery County, Ohio, with his parents in the fall of 1852. The parents bought and located on the John Tobias farm in Miami Township, where they still reside, and Samuel began as clerk in a store in Miamisburg, which he followed eight or nine years. In 1868, he engaged in the enterprise of buying and selling leaf tobacco, and is connected with the firm of Havemeyers & Vigelius, of New York City. They handle some two million pounds at this point. Mr. Samuel M. Umbenhauer and Miss Annie E. Wallace were united in marriage July 4, 1856. She is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Wal- lace, of Columbus, Ohio, who were both natives of London, England. Of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Umbenhauer's four children, but two are now living-Allie J. and Bertha M. ; Charles F. and Ida L., deceased. Mr. Umbenhauer is regarded as one of the honorable, upright young business men of Miamisburg. He was elected Treasurer of Miami Township in 1880, and having performed the duties of said office so satisfacto- rily. He was re-elected in 1881 on the Republican ticket.

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MIAMI TOWNSHIP.

GEORGE W. WEAVER, merchant, Miamisburg. The grandfather of this gen- tleman was Jacob Weaver, a native of Pennsylvania, who there married Margaret Geb- hart of that State, and, in 1804, came to Ohio, entering a tract of land on Little Bear Creek in Jefferson Township, Montgomery County. They had a family of teu chil- dren, but two of whom are now living, and as each child grew to maturity, the father presented them with a farm, Philip, the father of our subject, receiving a farm lying one mile west of Miamisburg, which is yet owned by his heirs. Philip married Mag- dalena Gebhart, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Gebhart, who came to this county from Pennsylvania in 1805, and by this union was the father of fifteen children, of whom our subject was the third oldest. Philip was an industrious, temperate Christian man, and died July 12, 1851, his wife surviving him thirty years, and dying in Novem- ber, 1881, after a worthy Christian life of nearly eighty-one years. George W. was born on the old homestead September 27, 1824, and worked at home until twenty-one years old, when, with the small amount of $8, and $150 which he borrowed, he pur- chased a stock of groceries and opened a store on North Main street, Miamisburg, Ohio, where, by close application to business and an invincible determination to succeed, he rose step by step until, to-day, he ranks among the wealthy men of his native township. He was married, October 8, 1845, to Rebecca Rowe, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Squires) Rowe, who was born in Warren County, Ohio, October 22, 1827. They have had eight children-Sarah M., Eliza E., George C., Mary Ann L., Emma C., Charles E., Louisa J. and Harry C. He and wife have been members of the Reformed Church for the past twenty-five years, in which organization he has been Deacon, Treasurer and Trustee. Mr. Weaver carries the largest stock of goods of any house in Miamisburg, and is recognized as a man of integrity and honor in all his dealings, a man who is ever alive to the spirit and progress of this enlightened age.

JACOB ZIMMER, tobacco buyer, Miamisburg, was born in Bettenhausen, a vil- age in Rhine Bavaria, Germany, September 3, 1815. His father having died in 1825, his mother, with a younger brother, in company with another family of seven persons, in November, 1827, left their native land, descending the Rhine from Bingen to a vil- lage near Rotterdam, where a merchant vessel awaited them. In January, 1828, they left the Netherlands and landed at Baltimore, Md., in March, from where they moved to Hagerstown, Washington County. In 1836, Mr. Zimmer came to Miamisburg, where he has since resided. He was married in 1839, to Mary M. Klinck, who bore him seven children-Eliza J., Mary L., Amelia M., George C., J. Charles, Otto M. and Henry E, all of whom are living, except Otto M., who died in 1861. His wife died in 1873, and, in 1876, he married Mary T. Emerick. From 1843 to 1853. he was engaged in the hotel business in the building now known as the Miami House, where the Canal Packet line and mail stage lines were quartered until the completion of the railroad. In 1848, he commenced the cultivation of the grape, which he continued until 1873, the vineyard being located on land west of the town and surrounding his- present residence. The undertaking was successful for a number of years, but the northern part of the State proving better adapted to grape culture; the cultivation of the same on a large scale was generally abandoned in Southern Ohio. In 1852, Mr. Zimmer was elected County Auditor and served in that capacity two years. He was a member of the school board that built the first of a series of houses on the present site, and a member of the Council several years; was also one of the originators of the "Miamisburg Cemetery Association," of which he was first President, and is at pres- ent filling the same position. When the Miamisburg and Carrolton Hydraulic Com- pany was organized, he was chosen as one of the Board of Directors, and was re-elected every year until the company was merged into its present ownership. In 1856, he assumed the agency of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company at Miamisburg, serving in that capacity over twenty consecutive years. Himself and brother are the only survivors of those who crossed the ocean with them in 1828. For several years Mr. Zimmer has been engaged in buying tobacco, and is intimately known throughout his vicinity as a man of progressive views and wide experience on general affairs. Politically, he was a Whig in early life, after which he joined the Re-

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publican party with which he yet affiliates. He is a member of the Reformed Church, a good citizen and worthy gentleman.

JOHN A. ZIMMERMAN, farmer, P. O. West Carrollton, was born in German- town, Montgomery Co., Ohio, February 1, 1837. His parents were John and Mary Zimmerman ; his father was a native of Maryland, and his mother a native of Van Buren Township, Montgomery Co., Ohio. He came to Ohio about the year 1821, set- tling in Germantown, where he resided until the year 1856, when he removed to Salem, Randolph Township, Montgomery County, where he lived until the death of his second wife, which occurred in September, 1865. He married, about 1823, Miss Mary Catrow, by whom he had ten children, as follows : Catherine, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Jacob, Fran- cis, John A., Maria, Mary, David S., and Jane-only six of whom are now living. By his marriage with Harriet, his second wife, he had two children, viz .: Lovina and Jere- miah. He died at Winchester, Preble Co., Ohio, in September, 1876. His first wife died in October, 1845. Our subject left home to live with strangers soon after the death of his mother, and acquired a good common education in the public schools of the county, and, at the age of eighteen, passed an examination and taught his first school in Carrollton in 1856. He afterward attended the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. He followed teaching for six years. He married Miss Elizabeth Pease, daughter of Perry and Emeline Pease, October 5, 1858. Mr. Zimmerman is engaged in farming, and is also Justice of the Peace, which office he has held for six years, although the township is Democratic, and Mr. Z. is a strong Republican. Mr. Zimmerman is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and an active worker in the Temperance cause.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP.

I. J. BASSETT, County Commissioner, Dayton, was born in Leicestershire, England, September 10, 1837. He is the son of George W. and Harriett (Knight) Bassett, natives of the above place. The father came to America in 1844, and worked in Maryland until 1850, when he came to Dayton and engaged in the business of horse farrier, in which he is still engaged. The rest of the family, which consisted of the mother, three boys and three girls, emigrated in 1847. Our subject attended the com- mon schools of Maryland until 1857, when he came to Montgomery County, and, after working as a farm hand for two years, commenced farming for himself, in which occu- pation he still continues. He has been twice married, first to Miss Elizabeth Putter- baugh, daughter of George Putterbaugh, of Dayton, who died in 1863, leaving three children, one boy and two girls. He was married, in 1869, to Lydia Connett, daughter of Woodruff Connett, of Athens County, Ohio, by whom he has had two children, only one of whom survives. Mr. Bassett is a man of considerable ability and great popu- larity, as is evinced by the fact that he has been County Commissioner since 1877, and was a Trustee of Harrison Township, in which he lives, for eight years, previous to his election. He is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity only.

JOHN BOLINGER, proprietor of saw-mill, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Cumber- land County, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1830. He is the son of Samuel and Eliza- beth Bolinger, natives of Pennsylvania. His father came to Ohio in 1847, and com- menced running a saw-mill in Green County. He afterward located mills in different parts of the State, and in 1867 died, being followed by his wife three years later. Our subject remained at home until he reached his majority, when he married Miss Amanda Harris, of Miami County, and located at Taylorville, where he started a saw-mill. Here he remained five years, and then located on the Little Miami River, where he remained one year, during which time his wife died, leaving two children, viz .: Samuel L. and Mary E., wife of William Limebaugh. He was again married, in 1859, to Miss Catha- rinc Sensenbaugh, of Greene County. Mr. Bolinger is a Republican. Mrs. Bolinger is a member of the Lutheran Church.

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DANIEL BRAME, farmer, P. O. Dayton, was born in Adams County, Penn., April 6, 1845. He is the son of Danicl and Mary (Arnold) Brame, old residents of the Keystone State. His father was born in 1802, and his mother in 1812. He remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age, when he came to Dayton, and for five years worked for Mr. John Ewing. In 1873, he married Mrs. Kitty A. Beck, widow of Holister W. Beck, a conductor on the Dayton & Michigan Railroad, who died with consumption. Mrs. Beck was the daughter of Henry Haller, whose sketch appears on another page of this work. By her marriage to Mr. Beck she had one son, and by Mr. Brame she has two children, now living. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Brame located on the place he now occupies, where he has since remained. He is a Republican, and, with his wife, a member of the First Lutheran Church.

HENRY S. CITONE, gardener, Dayton, was born in Dayton Ohio, January, 1846. His father, Stephen, was born in Italy, in 1811, and came to the United States when sixteen years of age. He landed at New York and went from there to New Orleans, peddling for a living. He came to Dayton in 1830, and in 1832 married Angelina Hess, daughter of a Canadian family who came to the States during the Revolution, took the part of the patriots, and wove cloth with which to cover the soldiers. Her grandfather, John Hess, took such part in the war of 1812, as entitled his widow to a pension after his death. Our subject's parents had seven children, of whom three now survive. In 1848, the mother died, and four years afterward the father married Ellen Dye, to whom seven children were born; four now living. In 1855, Mr. Citone moved to Troy, Ohio, where he still lives. Henry, the subject hereof, lived with his parents until fifteen years of age, when he went to work for a Mr. Kreitzer, with whom he remained eight years, and then commenced learning the print- ing trade with Frederick Riser, of Dayton, Ohio. When the war broke out, he enlisted in Company I, Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. Houck, and after being out one year was wounded at the battle of Nashville, Tenn., and discharged. In 1869, he married Annie Roth, daughter of William and Mary Roth, German residents of Dayton. By this marriage five children were born, all living. Mr. C. has followed gardening since the war. He lives on the River road, is a member of the old guards, and, with his family, is connected with the Catholic Church.

W. H. CLARK, farmer, P. O. Dayton, was born in Van Buren Township, Mont- gomery County, Ohio, May 8, 1837. He is the son of John and Margaretta ( Ashton) Clark. His father was born in Montgomery County in 1813, and was married in 1833 to Miss Ashton, by whom he had three children. The father died on the home farm at the good old age of sixty-one years, and the mother on the same farm at seventy- one years of age. Within seventeen hours after the death of the mother, her daughter, Mrs. Martha Shawn, died. W. H., our subject, is still an unmarried man, and is living on the old home place. He has received a common-school education, and is in every way capable of conducting the work on the farm to the best advantage.

GEORGE L. CLEMMER, retired farmer, P. O. Dayton. Just across the line which separates Dayton from Harrison Township, quietly watching the progress of our growing county, and settled probably for the remainder of his life, on a half acre of ground, containing a comfortable dwelling-house and large storeroom, we find the sub- ject of our sketch. His father, Andrew, was a native of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to Virginia in an early day, and there married Salome Black. Not liking that State he, in 1814, removed to Ohio, and with his family, located in Perry Township, Mont- gomery County, where he entered a three-quarter section of land, cleared a part of it, built a mill, and with no neighbor nearer than three miles, commenced his pioneer life. The wild deer, turkeys and wolves were then familiar objects of every day life in that locality. It was there our subject first saw the light of day, on the 14th of June, 1815 ; there he received his limited education in the old slab-seated schoolhouse, and amid these scenes he grew up to man's estate. He remained with his parents until twenty- three years of age, when he married Susan Drayer, who was born March 30, 1820, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Myers) Drayer, natives of Pennsylvania. After his marriage, he took 100 acres of land, cleared it himself, built his own house, made his

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own farming implements and commenced doing his share toward making his county what it is to-day. After remaining in Perry Township fifty-two years he moved to Dayton, having, while in that township, accumulated some 320 acres of land. He has had six children, of whom he has succeeded in raising four, viz .: David, Eliza- beth, Lewis D. and Sarah. His other two were John W. and one that died in its infancy. Mr. Clemmer was Trustee of his township five years and School Director nine years. He and his wife are both members of the German Reformed Church, of which he has been an Elder for some time. This couple, though old, are hale and hearty, and are now enjoying the health and comforts due to two whose lives liave been so well spent.

CHARLES DIEHL, gardener, Dayton, was born in Prussia February 25, 1817. He is the son of Nicholas and Lizzie (Culman) Diehl of Prussia, where our subject re- ceived an education such as was afforded by the schools of his district. He emigrated to America in 1853, and after a short stay in New York came to Dayton, where he worked as a day laborer. In 1855, he married Mary Stark, who was born in Wurtein- berg, Germany, in 1822. In 1856 he purchased his present place, commenced garden- ing, and has since continued at it. He has had five children, one being dead. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church, and has served as School Director for his district.

ADAM EBY, farmer, P. O. Dayton. Among the wealthy farmers of Harrison Township, mention may be made of the above-named gentleman, who was born near Big Gunpowder Falls, Baltimore Co., Md., July 10, 1814. He is the son of Christian and Susan (McDaniels) Eby, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Ohio in 1838, and located near Farmersville, Jackson Township, Montgomery Co. His father and mother died at the advanced ages of eighty-two and eighty-five respectively, leaving thirteen chil- dren, of whom nine now survive. Our subject received a common-school education, and remained with his parents until twenty-six years of age, when he married Susan Mullendore, of Virginia, and moved to his present location on the River road. By in- dustry, perseverance and tact he has accumulated a considerable property, consisting of the home place of 427 acres, 150 acres in Jefferson Township, and 80 acres in Indi- ana. He has had thirteen children, of whom ten are now living.

JOSEPH L. ENSLEY, farmer, P. O. Dayton, was born in Butler Township, Montgomery Co., Ohio, May 18, 1821. He is the son of James and Susanna (Lodge) Ensley. His father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1785 ; came to Ohio in 1818, and located on 160 acres of land in Butler Township. His mother was born in Virginia, in 1789, and went to Pennsylvania, where she married Mr. Ensley. Mr. Ensley was a Justice of the Peace for eighteen or twenty years in Butler Township, where he died. His wife is still living in Darke County, Ohio, with one of her daughters, Mrs. Jol.n Eichleman. Our subject's grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject lived with his parents until twenty-five years of age, when he came to Harrison Town- ship and commenced farming on his father's farm, where he remained four years, and then married Miss Ann R. Drill, daughter of George and Jemima Drill, of Montgom- ery County, who were married in 1813. Her father and mother both came from Mary- land about 1827. He was born in 1787, and she in 1791. After marriage our sub- ject farmed in the neighborhood until 1865, when he bought his present place, and now owns about 400 acres in all. He has had six children, four girls and two boys, two girls being married and one dead. Mr. Ensley, his wife and four children are mem- bers of the Methodist Church, in which Mr. Ensley was Steward and is Trustee. In politics, he is a Republican.

MAHALA ENSLEY, P. O. Dayton, widow of George W. Ensley, and daughter of William and Susanna (Warrenfeldt) Patton, was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, October 4, 1821, and on the 16th of April, 1839, was united in marriage with George W. Ensley, a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bedford County, March 20, 1813, of parents, James and Susanna Ensley, he a native of Pennsylvania, and she of Virginia. Mr. Ensley came to Montgomery County, with his parents, in 1818, and ever afterward remained a resident of the county, until his death. He was a member of the United

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Brethren Church, a kind neighbor and a good citizen. In politics, a Republican. As a result of this union between our subject and Mr. Ensley, there was born to them one . daughter, Laura, who married William G. Turner, and became the mother of two chil- dren, Mary V. and Nettie E. The parents of our subject were born, the father in Virginia September 27, 1796, and the mother in Frederick County, Md., December 9, 1797, and were married in the latter State, September 22, 1818; that same fall they emigrated to Montgomery County, and in about ten years settled where Mahala Ensley now resides, on which farm he died, May 8, 1864. The mother is still surviving and living on the homestead with her daughter. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Patton was blessed with two daughters, viz., Mahala and Sophia, the latter marrying George Heikes, and died, August 31, 1866, leaving one daughter, Dora-the wife of Cornelus Mumma, to whom were born the following children : Marion V., Blanche E., Ernest L., Norma G. and Edith C. The great-grandfather of our subject, Jacob Warrenfeldt, at the age of fourteen years was sent to America to escape service in the army of his native land, Mrs. Mahala Ensley is a member of the United Brethren Church, and her mother identified with the Lutheran Church.

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The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 151

Author: W.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1214

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214