Genealogy Trails
Athens County, Ohio
Athens Township Biographies
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Genealogy Trails Athens Township Biographies |
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Joseph D.
Wolf, deceased, was born on Wolf's Plains, Athens Co.,
Ohio, Jan. 7, 1822, a son of Christopher C. and Rhoda (Dorr) Wolf among
the earlier settlers of Athens. Christopher C. was a live business
man---owned and ran a grist and saw mill and dealt largely Jonathan Wilkins, one of the earliest inhabitant’s of Athens, was a man of very considerable learning, and for some time taught a pioneer school. Of his son, Timothy Wilkins, the following reminiscence is furnished by Dr. C. F. Perkins; it is hardly less strange than the history immortalized by Tennyson in “Enoch Arden.” Mr. Wilkins was skillful and enterprising in business, but, through no fault of his own, became embarrassed, was hard pressed by creditors, and pursued by writs. In those days, when a man could be imprisoned for a debt of ten dollars, to fail in business was an awful thing. Wilkins was not dishonest, but had a heart to pay’ if he could. He battled bravely with his misfortunes for a considerable period, but with poor success. One day in the year 1829, full of despair, he came from his home west of town, across the Hockhocking, and having transacted some business with the county clerk went out, and was supposed to have returned home. The next morning it became known that he was not at his house. Inquiry and search being made, the boat in which he usually crossed the river was seen floating bottom upward, and his hat was also found swimming down the stream. Mr. Wilkins was a popular man in the community; news of his loss soon spread, the people gathered from every quarter and measures were taken to recover the body. The river was dragged, a cannon was fired over the water, and other means resorted to, but to no purpose; the body was not found. The excellent Mrs. Wilkins put on mourning, and friends remembered the departed for a time with affectionate regret. As time sped, the sad incident was forgotten, and Timothy Wilkins passed out of mind. His wife, faithful for a time to his memory, had for years been the wedded partner of another, and a little family was growing up around the remarried woman and her second husband, Mr. Goodrich, himself a well known and worthy citizen. In 1834 [sic - 1814] a vague rumor—an undefined whisper from the distant southwest—circulated through the settlement that Mr. Wilkins yet survived. Soon more positive assertions were made, and finally it was said that the missing man was alive and on his way home. At last a neighbor received a letter from Wilkins, announcing his approach; fearing to shock his wife by a sudden appearance, he had himself originated the rumors of safety, and now announced that he would soon be in Athens. He knew of his wife’s second marriage, and in friendly spirit proposed to meet her and Mr. Goodrich. Much excitement and distress ensued. Mr. Wilkins arrived; there was a cordial meeting and strange interview among the parties most concerned. The conference was friendly and satisfactory. Messrs. Wilkins and Goodrich honestly left to the wife of their rivalship the final choice of her companion, and she selected her first love, to the great grief, but with the full acquiescence of her second. The reunited pair bade adieu to their friends, and together set out for the distant south. Mr. Wilkins’s disappearance was a ruse to escape his creditors. He went to New Orleans, engaged successfully in boating, accumulated money enough to pay off all his debts, which he honorably did, and returned to claim his beloved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eliphaz Perkins, son of John Perkins, a leading citizen of Norwich, Connecticut, was born at that place, August 25, 1753. Deprived of his father at an early age, he was nevertheless enabled, through the exertions of, his mother, to obtain a liberal education. Soon after leaving college, Mr. Perkins married Lydia Fitch, daughter of Dr. Jabez Fitch, of Canterbury, Connecticut, and engaged for a time in the mercantile business in that town. Subsequently he engaged in the same business in New Haven; having, however, an inclination to professional pursuits, he finally entered on the study of medicine with his father-in-law, and this was his vocation during the rest of his life. The times being hard, and his family increasing, Dr. Perkins decided to remove to a new country, and, in the spring of 1789, leaving his family in Connecticut, he started for Marietta. On his arrival here he found a number of persons from Clarksburg, Virginia, engaged in laying out a road between that place and Marietta. At their urgent solicitation he returned with them to Clarksburg, where he practiced medicine for nearly two years. The Indian war began about this time, and Dr. Perkins witnessed some terrible scenes of border warfare. In one instance the savages killed and scalped a family near where the Doctor was passing the night. One member of the family, a girl about fourteen years old, was scalped and left for dead in the fence corner. Dr. Perkins found her the next morning, still alive, took her under his care, and with good treatment and an elastic constitution, she was finally restored to health. In the autumn of 1790, Dr. Perkins returned to Connecticut and rejoined his family, whom he had not heard from, nor they from him, for nearly two years. During the next few years, he lived part of the time in Connecticut, and part of the time in Vermont, and practiced his profession. He finally decided to remove his family to the northwest, and they set out for Marietta the third of June. 1799. He had at this time seven children, the eldest of whom, then a young lady of fifteen (afterwards Mrs. David Pratt, of Athens), kept a journal of their trip to Marietta, which is now before us. Diary Dr. Perkins was a man of much culture and refined manners, and, being a skillful physician, his arrival in the community was hailed with general joy. His professional skill, gentle manners, and quiet Christian deportment gained him immediate popularity and influence, which he was prompt to exert in every good cause. He labored to establish and sustain common schools in the county, and was an ardent friend of and liberal contributor to the Ohio University, of which institution he was one of the first trustees, and for many years treasurer. He was postmaster at Athens for about seventeen years, and county treasurer for many years. His descendants are widely scattered. His sons, Chauncey and Jabez, studied medicine with their father at Athens. Jabez died January 12 th, 1843, having never married. Dr. Chauncey Perkins lives in Erie Pennsylvania. Eliphaz was a mechanic in early county, life, but studied for the ministry and preached for several years before his death; his descendants are in Kansas. John, another son of Dr. Perkins, is well known in Athens, where he has lived nearly seventy years. Henry, another son, graduated at the Ohio University, and in theology at Princeton, New Jersey. He has been pastor of a Presbyterian church at Allentown, New Jersey, over thirty years. One of Dr. Perkins’ daughters was married to Captain David Pratt, of Athens; another to Mr. Isaac Taylor, long known as a hotelkeeper in this town; another to Dr. Medbury, formerly a physician here; another to Dr. Win. Thompson, of Richmond, Ohio. Seven of Dr. Perkins’ descendants have been ministers of the gospel, and six the wives of ministers; he died at Athens, April 29th, 1828. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Perkins, son of Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, was born in Leicester, Vermont, in 1791, and came to the town of Athens with his father’s family in the year 18oo. His father located at Athens on account of the prospective establishment of the Ohio University here, and since that time two of his sons, five grandsons and two great-grandsons have graduated at this institution. Mr. Perkins has lived in Athens nearly seventy years, and was postmaster here for about twenty-two years. He has been engaged in mercantile pursuits during a large part of his life, and is known in the county as a most upright man and a good citizen. Though nearly eighty years old, his firm step and clear mind bespeak a temperate life and approving conscience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Rev. Jacob Lindley, seventh son of Demas Lindley, one of the early settlers of Washington County, Pennsylvania, was born in that county, June 13, 1774. At the age of eighteen he was sent to Jefferson college, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Princeton; New Jersey, where he graduated in 1798. After a course of theological study he was licensed to preach by the "Washington Presbytery,” and in 1803, he removed to Ohio, settling first at Beverly, on the Muskingum. Having been selected by the first board of trustees of the Ohio University, to organize and conduct that institution, he removed to Athens in 1808 and opened the academy there. For several years he had entire charge of the infant college, which he conducted with distinguished ability and success. He was the prime mover in securing the erection of the college buildings, and also in founding the Presbyterian Church at Athens. He labored assiduously here for about twenty years, during part of which time he was the only Presbyterian minister in this portion of the state. He returned in 1829 to Pennsylvania, where he spent the rest of his life, and died at the residence of his son, Dr. Lieutellus Lindley, in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, January 29th, 1857. Dr. Lindley was no common man, but an earnest thinker and conscientious worker. The leading trait in his character was an inflexible and unswerving devotion to moral principle. His whole life was a continuous effort to promote the moral welfare of others. He was of an amiable disposition, possessed an eminent degree of sound common sense, and an unerring judgment of men. His kindness of heart and known purity of life and conduct gave him great influence with all classes during his long residence at Athens. One who knew him well says: “I have seen him go into a crowd of rough backwoodsmen and hunters, who used to meet at the village tavern every Saturday, and settle and control them in their quarrels and fights, as no other man in that community could.” His control of the students under his charge was equally extraordinary, and was always marked not less by gentleness of manner than by firmness of purpose. He led a laborious life at Athens, and his works live after him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Brown, well known in southern Ohio as “General Brown,” son of Captain Benjamin Brown, one of the pioneers of Ames, was born in- Rowe, Massachusetts, December 1, 1785. In 1787, his father’s family moved to Hartford, Washington county, New York, and in 1796, with several other families seeking homes in the west, came to the Forks of Yoh, on the Monongahela, three miles above Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Here they remained till February, 1797, building a boat during the winter, in which they completed their journey and arrived at Marietta, February 11, 1797. Of the twenty-three persons of various ages who descended the river in this boat, there are but four now living, viz: Samuel and John Brown, Mrs. Aphia Hamilton, and Mrs. Phebe Sprague. As elsewhere stated, Captain Brown’s family came out to Ames township in the spring of 1799, moving their household effects by canoes down the Ohio, and up the Hockhocking and Federal creek—the members of the family not required to work the canoes, coming across the country. In 1811, Mr. Brown married Sophia Walker, daughter of Dr. Ezra Walker, and continued to live in Ames township till 1817, when he removed to the town of Athens, where he still resides. On coming to Athens, he kept a public house one year at the Zadoc Foster house (on the south end of the lot now owned and occupied by Judge Barker), when he bought the corner property in front of the university, and built and kept the "Brown House,” so long known to the public, and so kindly remembered by his hosts of friends. He kept this house till December, 1865, a period of forty-seven years. In 1808 Mr. Brown was elected captain in the militia, and was subsequently made major and colonel, and in 1817 was elected brigadier general. He was county auditor from 1822 to 1827, and has been treasurer of the Ohio university from 1 824 to the present time. He was also mayor of Athens for several years, and coroner for two terms He is, in every good sense, one of the village fathers who has “come down to us from a former generation.” Possessed of sound judgment, a kind heart, sterling integrity, and unfailing humor, General Brown has for fifty years had the respect and affectionate regard of this community. His genial wit still oft enlivens the social circle, and his venerable form is recognized with pleasure by all, on the streets of the town where he has lived so long and where, without an enemy in the world, he is cheerfully approaching the end of his journey. He reared here a family of six sons and two daughters; four of the sons graduated at the Ohio university, and three survive, viz: Oscar W., Win. Loring, and Archibald Douglas; the latter is cashier of a bank in Pomeroy, Ohio. One of the daughters, Mrs. Hannah Pratt, lives in Illinois, and the other, Mrs. Lucy Hey, in Cincinnati, Ohio. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. G. Brown, son of Captain Benjamin Brown, was born April 16th, 1798, near Waterford, in Washington County, Ohio, and has lived in Athens County since he was one year old. His youth was passed in working on his father’s farm (in Ames township), and in assiduous study and preparation for college. In due time he became a student at the Ohio university, and graduated there in 1822. From 1824 to 1825, he was preceptor in the academical department of the university. In 1825 he began the publication of the Athens Mirror, the first paper printed in the county, and continued as its editor and publisher for five years. From 1827 to 1833, he was county recorder, which office he again filled from 1836 to 1841, when he began the practice of law in Athens. In 1841 he became a member of the board of trustees of the university, which position he still holds. He was a delegate to the convention, which formed the present constitution of Ohio, and was for two years president judge of the Athens district. For many years past he has practiced law in Athens. Judge Brown came to Athens County when nearly the whole of its area was an unbroken forest and to the town of Athens when it was a mere cluster of log cabins. The personal friend and associate of the leading men of the community who assisted in building up society here, most of whom have passed away, he has witnessed the steady development of the county during considerably more than half a century. Looking back over its whole history to a period before it was organized, he may very truthfully say: “Quae ipse vidi, Judge Brown's sons, Henry T. Brown, an active lawyer and businessman, and Louis W. Brown, for many years clerk of the county, are natives of Athens, and well known in the community. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Henry Bartlett, the son of Captain William Bartlett, was born at Beverly, Massachusetts, February 3, 1771. His father was a seafaring man, and received, it is believed, the first commission that was issued to engage in privateering, during the revolutionary struggle, in which he rendered conspicuous service. In 1785, Captain Bartlett removed with his family to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and settled near the Forks of Yoh, where he lived till his death in While living in Westmoreland county, Henry Bartlett married Miss Betsey Corey, and in 1796, brought his young family to the northwestern territory and settled the next year at Athens. During his youth, Mr. Bartlett enjoyed pretty good educational advantages, and after his arrival at Athens was soon recognized as one of the readiest and most accurate clerks and businessmen in the community. Previous to the organization of the county, he taught school several quarters in the surrounding neighborhoods. Soon after the organization of the county in 1805 he was appointed by the county commissioners as clerk of the board and of the county courts, which position he held, discharging the duties with great fidelity for thirty years. He ceased to be clerk in 1836, and from that time till his death, acted as a justice of the peace in Athens. He was also for many years secretary and auditor of the Ohio university. He died September 9th, 1850. Esquire Bartlett was a man of great purity of character, thoroughly judicial mind and excellent capacity for business. During his early residence here, he adapted himself with admirable facility to pioneer life, and to the changing circumstances of the times, and was for many years almost indispensable in the management of county affairs. He possessed a fine quality of wit and humor, which he was fond of exercising, though always without offense to others, and which made him one of the most popular as he was one of the most highly respected men in the county. His family consisted of two sons and ten daughters, of whom nine daughters are living. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert Linzee, a native of western Pennsylvania, came to this county in 1801 and settled on a farm two miles below the town of Athens, on the “River road,” where he lived nearly thirty years. Mr. Linzee was, a leading man in the early history of the county. He was the first sheriff of the county and held the office several years; was a member of the state legislature several terms, a trustee of the Ohio University and associate judge of the court of common pleas. In 1830 he removed to Mercer county, Ohio, where he died in 1850. Mr. Linzee occupied a prominent place in county affairs during his residence here, and in private life was an amiable and interesting man. His name is still kindly remembered by those who were acquainted with him, among whom he had many admirers and warm friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Johnson, settled in Athens with his family as early as 1805. One of his daughters was married in 1807 to Robert Linzee, and another, about the same time, to Jacob Dombaugh, who was an active man, and at an early day kept public house where the Brown House is now situated. A son of John Johnson’s, Samuel, married a daughter of Abel Glazier, of Ames. In 1815 Mr. Johnson and Mr. Glazier carried the mail, as sub-contractors, between Marietta and Chillicothe, when there were but two post offices on the route, viz., at Athens and Adelphi, Ross county. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Capt. Philip M. Starr, a native of Middletown, Connecticut, came to the town of Athens in 1801, where for several years he followed the mercantile business. Later he located on a rich and valuable farm on the river three miles below Athens where he died in 1857. Capt. Starr was a very active business man, and of more than average mental culture. He had considerable means when he came to the county, and though never in public life he was a man of influence among the early settlers. He devoted the latter part of his life to horticulture and fruit growing, in which he was notably successful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joseph B. Miles, for many years a merchant and leading citizen of Athens, was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, June 21, 1781. In 1791 he removed to the northwestern territory with his parents, who settled at Belpre, in Washington county. Here he lived till he was’ twenty-seven years old. In 1808 Mr. Miles came to Athens and began business as a merchant. In January, 1809, he married Miss Elizabeth Buckingham, of Carthage township. He lived in Athens for thirty-five years, during which period he was prominent in all social, religious and business movements here. He engaged extensively in the mercantile and milling business, and was universally respected as an upright man and exemplary Christian. In 1843 he removed with his family ‘to Washington, Tazewell county, Illinois, where he died September 18th, i86o. His first wife’ died in Athens in 1821. By his first marriage Mr. Miles had six children — Catherine B., who married Mr. C. Dart and died in Houston, Texas, in February 1866; Lucy W., who married Mr. L. A. Alderson and died in Greenbrier county, Virginia, in 1832; Belinda C., who married Mr. Jared Sperry and now lives in Mt. Vernon, Ohio; Pamelia B., who died before marriage at Havana, Cuba; Elizabeth B., who was married in Natchez and died there of yellow fever in September, 1837; and Benjamin E., who now resides in Washington, Illinois. Mr. Miles married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Fulton. Their children were Martha M., James H., Daniel L., Joseph B., Mary F., William R., and Sarah J. Mary, Martha and Joseph live in Washington, Illinois, James in Chicago, and Sarah J. (Mrs. Robert Wilson) in Farmington, Iowa. William R. died young; and Daniel L., who was lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteers, during the war of the rebellion, was killed in a skirmish near Farmington, Tennessee, in May, 1862. Mr. Miles’s second wife died in 1862. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Gillmore, was born in Washington county, New York, December 25, 1786. Soon afterward his father’s family removed to Rutland, Vermont, whence they emigrated in 1813 to Ohio. They were accompanied by Cephas Carpenter, a relative by marriage, and all settled in Athens. The father, James Gillmore, was the first elder in the Presbyterian church formed here about the time of his arrival, and was an excellent man; he died July 25, 1827. John Gillmore held several minor local offices, and served with credit two terms in the state legislature. In 1836 he removed with his family to Illinois, and finally settled at Rock Island, where he died, July 9th, 1859. The Gillmores are remembered as one of the most substantial families of the town during their long residence here. One of the daughters of Mr. James Gillmore, Ann Eliza, married the Rev. 5. 5. Miles (brother of Mr. Joseph B. Miles), who now lives in Geneseo, Illinois. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Archibald B. Walker, son of Dr. Ezra Walker, was born in East Poultney, Vermont, October 15th, 1800, and came to Ames township with his father’s family when ten years old. In 1825 he married Lucy W., daughter of Judge Silvanus Ames, and in 1826 they removed to the town of Athens, where they have since resided continuously, and reared a family of two sons and four daughters. Soon after coming to Athens, Mr. ‘Walker, having formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, James J. Fuller, engaged for a few years in the cattle-driving and pork-packing business. In 1839 they commenced the manufacture of salt at the old furnace, opposite Chauncey, afterward owned by Judge Pruden, and soon after they bored the wells and erected the furnaces now owned by M. M. Greene & Co., at Salina. For a period of twenty years the firm name of Fuller & Walker was well and favorably known in the valley. The partnership was dissolved in 1853. Since that time, Mr. Walker has not engaged in active business on his own account. During his long residence in the county, he has always been one of the most prompt to embrace, and ardent in the support of every useful local enterprise. At home and abroad, in personal intercourse and through the press, he has ever been ready and efficient in advocating the development of the county, and presenting her claims. He was one of the original friends, and for several years a director of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, and an early and strenuous advocate for the construction of the Hock-hocking Valley railroad, which is now building under the energetic control of younger men, and which he is likely to live to see finished. Having been through his whole life scrupulously faithful and exact in the discharge of every duty, public and private, Mr. Walker is peacefully completing the last stage of a long and worthy career in the very spot where he began it. If his part has been acted on a comparatively narrow stage, it has nevertheless, been well acted—"there all the honor lies.” Happy in the respect of his neighbors and the affection of children and grand-children, he possesses, in the words of Shakespeare: “That which should accompany old
age, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Leonard Jewett, one of the pioneer physicians of the county, was born September 6, 1770, in Littleton county, Massachusetts. He studied medicine and surgery at the Boston Medical college, and received a diploma from that institution in 1792. In 1796 he married Miss Mary Porter, of Rutledge, Massachusetts. After this he served four years as assistant surgeon in the New York hospital. In 1802 he removed from New York to Washington county, Ohio, and in 1804 or ‘5 to the town of Athens, and occupied a house built by Captain Silas Bingham, on the lot now owned and occupied by Mr. George W. Norris. In 1806 he was elected to the state senate, which position he held till 1811. When hostilities began in 1812, he was commissioned as surgeon in the army of the northwest, under Harrison, and was assigned to duty on the staff of General Tupper. At the close of the war he returned to Athens and resumed the practice of medicine with success. In 1816, while performing a surgical operation, he received poisonous matter into a small wound on his hand, the absorption of which produced violent inflammation and sudden death; he died May 13, 1816. Dr. Jewett was a gentleman of fine intelligence and professional ability, and there are those living who still cherish his memory as one of the leaders among the early citizens of the county. Four of his sons survive; three of them, Joseph, Leonard, and Leonidas Jewett, live in the vicinity of Athens, and one resides in Oregon. Leonidas was county auditor from 1839 to 1843, and was for many years a successful lawyer of Athens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leonidas Jewett, Jr., son of the last named, a lawyer of promise, is settled at Athens, where he was born. During the late war of the rebellion, he served three years with credit as adjutant of the Sixty-first Ohio regiment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Calvary Morris, was born near Charleston, West Virginia, in 1798, and spent his youth in the Kanawha valley, laboring on a farm, and battling with the hardships of pioneer life. In 1818 he married the eldest daughter of Dr. Leonard Jewett, of Athens, and in the spring of 18 19, located permanently in that town. “Finding myself” says Mr. Morris, “a stranger in a strange land, and obliged to make provision for the support of my family, my first step was to rent five acres of ground, upon which to raise a crop of corn. While cultivating that ground, during the summer of 1819, the Rev. Jacob Lindley (then acting president of the Ohio university) came to me and said that a school teacher was much needed in our town, and proposed that I undertake it. I informed him that I was not at all qualified—that reading, writing, spelling, and a limited knowledge of arithmetic was the extent of my education. He said that the wants of the community required ‘that’ arithmetic, geography, and English grammar be taught in the school, and, ‘now,’ said he, will tell you what to do. I have the books and you have brains; take my books, go to studying, and recite to me every day for three weeks, and by that time I will have a school made up for you; you will then find no difficulty in keeping ahead of your scholars so as to give satisfaction in teaching, and no one will ever suspect your present lack of qualifications.’ I consented, went to work, and at the end of three weeks went into the school. I taught and studied during the day, and cultivated my corn-field part of the time by moonlight, and if there was ever any complaint of my lack of qualifications as a teacher, it never came to my knowledge.” In 1823, Mr. Morris was elected sheriff of ‘Athens county, and re-elected by an almost unanimous vote in 1825. In 1827, at the close of his term as sheriff, he was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature, and re-elected in 1828. In 1829, he was elected to the state senate, and re-elected in 1833. In 1835, when the project of the Hocking canal was being warmly agitated, Mr. Morris was elected again to the popular branch of the assembly from Athens and Hocking counties as the avowed friend of that measure, and in the belief that he was the best man to engineer it through. To his adroit management and indefatigable efforts, the measure was mainly indebted for success, as he had to overcome the almost unanimous opposition of both branches of the legislature and the whole board of canal commissioners. He had the pleasure of seeing the bill triumphantly passed a few days before the close of the session, and on his return home his constituents tendered him a public dinner. In 1836 Mr. Morris was elected to congress, and re-elected in 1838 and ‘40. In 1843 he retired from public life and engaged, to some extent, in wool growing and in the introduction of fine-wooled sheep into the county, in which business he rendered great service to the farming community. In 1847 he removed to Cincinnati and engaged in mercantile pursuits, which finally proving unfortunate, he returned to Athens in 1854, and in 1855 was elected probate judge of the county, which office he still holds. ‘Few men, if any, now living in the county, have filled a larger part in its official history than Judge Morris, and, during his varied services, he has discharged every trust with honor and fidelity. His public life lay chiefly in the better days of the republic,’ and of our politics, and, from his present standpoint, secure in the confidence and respect of all his neighbors, he has the rare and happy fortune of being able to review his whole career without shame and without remorse. Judge Morris is a brother of the Reverend Bishop Morris of the M. E. church. William D. Morris, of Illinois, and Levi Morris, of Louisiana, are the other surviving brothers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Capt. Isaac Barker, came from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the northwestern territory in the autumn of 1788. For several years he lived in the Belpre settlement on the Ohio river, about fifteen miles from Marietta, and his name is preserved as one of the heads of families who, in the year 1792, took refuge in the block house called “Farmers’ Castle,” where he and his family remained till the violence of the Indian war was spent. In 1798 he removed with his family of five sons and three daughters to Athens township, and settled near the village of Athens, where he passed the remainder of his life. Capt. Barker was a sea-faring man in early life, being supercargo and captain of an East India vessel) and, during the revolutionary war, took an active, part in the privateering service. His sons were Michael, Isaac, Joseph, William, and Timothy. Michael Barker, son of Capt. Isaac Barker, born in 1776 at New Bedford, Massachusetts, came with his father’s family to Marietta in the autumn of 1788. During the Indian war, from 1792 to 1795, while they lived in Farmers’ Castle at Belpre, Michael served as a scout or spy against the Indians in a company raised under the authority of the Ohio Company. He came to Athens county and settled near the town of Athens in April, 1798, where he spent the rest of his life. He married a daughter of Win. Harper, who was county treasurer from 1809 to 1811. Mr. Barker was for many years a constable in Athens township, and held other local offices. He was a man of scrupulous exactness in his dealings, and of much firmness and decision of character. He died June 10th, 1857. Isaac Barker, Jr. (son of Capt. Isaac Barker), long known in Athens county as Judge Barker, was born in Massachusetts, February 17th, 1779. He remembers his father setting out with his family for the northwestern territory, from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1788. They had one wagon drawn by two oxen and a horse, and were accompanied on the journey by Capt. Dana and his family, also emigrating to the west. Their journey was not marked by any special incidents. At one stage Capt. Barker’s oxen having become footsore, he exchanged them with a Dutch tavern keeper where they stopped for a fresh yoke. The next morning the boys started on early with the team, the father remaining behind a little while. They had not gone far before they came to a very bad place in the road, over which the oxen refused to go. After working with them for some time the boys suddenly thought it was because the Dutch oxen could not understand English that they were so stubborn; one of them accordingly went back for the Dutchman, who soon arrived, and, by dint of considerable hard swearing at the oxen, in good Dutch, got the team over. The emigrants traveled by land to Sumrill’s ferry on the Youghiogheny, where they procured keel boats and continued their journey by water to Marietta. Captain Barker’s family spent several months in the family of Paul Fearing, at Marietta, and removed thence early in 1790 to Belpre, where he settled on a one-hundred-acre donation lot. They had hard work to get along here, especially for the first year or two. Mr. Barker says corn was four dollars a bushel and none to be had at that. They lived for one year almost solely on corn bread and wild meat. “One quart of cracked corn,” he says, “was the daily allowance for our family of eleven. The children used to stand by looking wistfully while their mother baked the daily loaf, and, having received their share, would hoard it carefully, nibbling it like mice during the day.” They lived in a blockhouse, or garrison, some four or five years, during the Indian war. At this time, says Mr. Barker, “I was a pretty smart boy and able to handle a gun, and while father and my older brother worked in the field I stood guard with the rifle. Every evening we barred up the door before sundown. In the morning we would open it an hour or so after sunrise, look carefully about, and, if no signs of Indians appeared, brother Michael would go out (the door being instantly barred behind him), and scout around a little Several men and one or two whole families were killed in that neighborhood by the Indians during these years. Mr. Barker recollects the massacre of the Armstrong family just across the river from where they lived, the killing of Benoni Hurlbut, the chase of Waldo Putnam and a man by the name of Bradford, by the Indians, and the killing of Jonas Davis. This Mr. Davis was engaged to be married to one of Mr. Barker’s sisters. One cold day during the war, seeing an old skiff lodged on the ice some distance up the river, he ventured out to get some nails out of her—they being very scarce. He never returned. Being missed, after several hours, and search made, he was found dead, stripped, and scalped on the ice. Though a mere boy during the war, Judge Barker received at its close one hundred acres of land as a bounty from the Ohio Company—Gen. Putnam saying that he had done a man s work and was entitled to a man’s pay. He used frequently to stand guard at the garrison. Capt. Barker’s family came to Athens in 1798, poling their goods up the Hockhocking in a light flat boat. These boats were built with a “running board” along each side; a man on each side, furnished with a long pole with a pointed iron socket at the end, would plant it firmly in the bottom at the bow, and then with the upper end against his shoulder would run to the other end of the boat, propelling her by that means. After coming to Athens’ they lived a year at the point close by Harper’s Ferry. ‘ Judge Barker tended this ferry for a while, and married Christiana, a daughter of Mr. Harper. At this time ‘they got their milling from Capt. Devol’s floating mill, some five miles up the Muskingum. It took four days to go and come, and Mr. Barker has himself more than once made this long trip to mill, going down the Hocking and up the Ohio in a pirogue and back by the same means, camping out over night. Moses Hewitt and his family lived a short distance up Margaret’s creek. In the year 1800 some thirty or forty Indians came in on Factory run, and three of them came over to Mr. Hewitt’s house. They were somewhat in liquor, and Mrs. Hewitt in alarm sent hastily for her husband, who was a short distance from the house. When Mr. Hewitt came he- ordered them in their own language (he had been a captive among them several years before), to “go away." ‘ They refused and were insulting) whereupon, Mr. Hewitt flew at the drunken ones and knocked one into the fireplace and another headlong out of the door. Mr. Barker was in the house and saw all this. A large athletic Indian, who seemed entirely sober, then grappled with Mr. Hewitt, and, after a violent struggle, threw him on the floor. Mrs. Hewitt and Mr. Barker, excited and alarmed, were about to pull the Indian off, when Hewitt, who was a noted fighter, told them to stand off and let him alone. The fight continued, and Hewitt very soon managed to get his thumb into the Indian’s eye, and the Indian’s thumb into his mouth, when the latter screamed lustily and begged till Mr. Hewitt released him. The moment he was on his feet, the Indian ran to the door) and, putting his hand to his mouth) gave a regular war whoop, loud and long continued, and then ran away. Mr. Hewitt himself was now alarmed, thinking that the Indians would come over in the night and kill his family. Accordingly he requested Garner Bobo, a man named Cutter, and Mr. Barker, to stay in the house over night while he took his wife and the children some distance across the river. Mr. Barker says, “We had but one gun among us— Bobo had that. I was armed with a heavy clothes-pounder, and Cutter had a conchshell which he was to blow for help in case of great danger. Thus accoutered we barred the door and prepared to pass the night. We took turns sleeping and watching, and the night passed without any alarm. About daylight I, being on watch, saw some three or four figures gliding about the house and thought the redskins were after us now, sure enough. I woke Bobo who had his gun ready in a minute, and we were preparing for a fight or a siege when we heard a loud laugh outside, and looking out saw Hewitt and two or three others coming up to the house. They had come over to scare us. We saw nothing more of the Indians, and I think this was the last considerable party of them seen in this part of the country. About this time Mr. Barker and Martin Mansfield, both vigorous and athletic young men, boated a man by the name of King, with his family, from the mouth of the Hockhocking river to the falls near Logan, and then dragging their boat around the falls, continued to within eight miles of Lancaster, the place of destination. The town plat of Athens was very heavily timbered at that time, and the few cabins that stood here were widely separated. Mr. Barker, though not a great hunter, killed great numbers of deer and turkeys hereabouts. He remembers the following incident: Chris. Stevens, who lived back of the college green, and a German named Heck, were hunting one day and treed a bear in a large poplar not far from Stevens’ house. The bear climbed nearly to the top of the tree, which was very tall. They had but one gun between them and Stevens was to shoot. He had leveled his gun, taken aim, and sighted a long time; Heck stood a little off waiting for him to fire, when, his patience exhausted, he asked, “Why don’t you shoot?” Stevens, who was a kind-hearted man, deliberately lowered his gun and said, “I can’t bear to see the poor thing fall so far!” “Gott in himmels,” cried the German, “gif me de gun den—I shoots him if he falls mit de ground till a tousand feet,” and bruin soon came tumbling down. Old Capt. Barker’s first cabin stood about where Joseph Herrold’s house now stands. He afterward built a log house near the river, south of John White’s present residence. Judge Barker’s first cabin was about one hundred yards west of his father’s first house, and he afterward built a two story hewed log house on the river bank just at the turn of the road, which was standing’ a few years since and occupied by the Beveridge family. In 1815 Judge Barker moved to the town plat and took the “Dunbaugh House,” which stood where the “Brown House” now stands, and which had been kept for a few years by one Jacob Dunbaugh. Mr. Barker kept tavern here till 1818, when he bought the lot where he now resides. There was a hewed log house on this lot, and he kept tavern in this while his brick house was building, and till it was finished in 1823, and then in his present dwelling till about 1830. During his residence here, Mr. Barker has held the offices of county sheriff, county treasurer, collector of rents for the university, and was judge of the court of common pleas for about ten years. He has lived for nearly three score years and ten in the town of Athens, where he is passing the evening of his days in quiet serenity. Though now eighty-nine years old, he devoted a part of every day during this season (1868), to working in his garden—his favorite employment—and is in possession of all his faculties. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abel Stedman, son of Judge Alexander Stedman, was born at Newbridge, Vermont, February 26, 1785, and came to the town of Athens in 1802. In 1811 he married Miss Sally Foster. In 1812 he enlisted in the United States service, and on the march from Sandusky to Chillicothe he marched next in the ranks to Thomas Corwin. Returning to Athens he engaged in his trade of house carpenter, and passed the rest of his days here. He was a man of active temperament and untiring industry, a professing christian and full of good works. He died December 20, 1859. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zadoc Foster, a native of Massachusetts, moved with his family to the northwestern territory in 1796. He came, like many others of that time, with an ox team as far as Olean point, on the Allegheny river, ‘and thence proceeded by raft down the Ohio to Marietta, in the autumn of 1796. Remaining that, winter in the stockade, he made a settlement in the spring at Belpre, and remained there till he came to Athens in 1809. During his residence at the Belpre settlement Indians were frequently seen, but had ceased to be considered dangerous, while the game was so abundant that deers and turkeys were sometimes shot, from the door of the cabin in which he lived. Mr. Foster kept public house in Athens till his death, by the “cold plague,” in 1814, first in the McNichol house, on the lot now occupied by Mr. E. C. Crippen, and afterwards across the street, on the lot now occupied by Judge Barker. His widow, Mrs. Sarah Foster, continued to keep the tavern a few years after his death. She then began to teach a school for young children, in which vocation she was eminently useful and beloved during the remainder of her life. She continued to teach within four days of her death, which occurred in 1849. Hull Foster, only surviving son of Zadoc Foster, was born in Sudbury, Rutland county, Vermont, January 23, 1796, and came to the northwestern territory, with his father’s family, when a few months old. His first visit to Athens was in 1804 or 1805. He came to visit Dr. Leonard Jewett’s family, and traveled on horseback from Belpre, there being no visible road, but only a horse path which crossed the river at the present site of Coolville. There was a sort of ferry at this point. At that time one Strickland kept public house in a log building, on the lot now occupied by Judge Barker, and Joseph B. Miles had a small lot of goods in a room of the same house. Timothy Wilkins had a cabin near where General John Brown now lives, and ran a little distillery in the hollow close by. Esquire Henry Bartlett lived in a cabin back of the college green, near the present site of Mr. J. L. Kessinger’s house. There was a horse mill on the point of the hill, a short distance northeast of town, on the Bingham farm. Mr. Foster, when a boy, drove the horse at this mill; the usual terms of grinding were, that parties should bring their own horse and pay one fourth of the corn as toll. In 1809 his father removed with his family to Athens. In the interval a few brick houses had been built; Dr. Eliphaz Perkins had built on the Ballard corner, and Esquire Henry Bartlett on Congress street, nearly opposite Dr. Wilson’s present residence; these, with Abbott’s tavern, the academy building, near Nelson Van Vorhes’ present residence, and a school house just east of where the Presbyterian church now stands, were, it is thought, all the brick buildings here in 1809. When about seventeen, Mr. Foster took up the trade of shoemaking—to use his own expression, “just as a cow does kicking—in her own head.” Between 1816 and 1820 he traveled with his kit on his back, through the west and southwest, visiting the present states of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. In 1821 he returned to Athens, resumed his trade, and built the house where Mr. Abner Cooley now lives. Soon after he married his first wife, a daughter of Mr. Ira Carpenter. Since then he has steadily adhered to his trade, at which he has worked for more than fifty years, and still works some, though under no necessity to do so. There is one family in the county for whom he has made shoes for five generations. He has been twice married—his second wife was a daughter of Mr. William Brown, of Lee township— and is now a widower. A man of strong sense, strict integrity, and marked force of character, his life and virtues are known and read of all his neighbors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ebenezer Currier, born at Hempstead, Rockingham county, New Hampshire, December 15, 1772, came to Ohio in 1804, and to the town of Athens in 1806, where he lived nearly fifty years. He was one of the pioneer merchants of Athens. In 1811, having to transport a small supply of goods from Baltimore, he hired Archelaus Stewart to fetch them. The latter made the trip to and from Baltimore, all the way in a light wagon, and delivered the goods safely in Athens, after a journey of about two months. During Mr. Currier’s long residence here he filled several town and township offices, was justice of the peace, county commissioner, and county treasurer; was four times a member of the state legislature as senator and representative, and for about twenty-one years was associate judge of the court of common pleas. For more than forty years he engaged here in mercantile pursuits, in which he was quite successful, amassing a considerable fortune. Judge Currier died March 2, 1851. Many of his descendants live in the county. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conrad Hawk was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania. While a young man he removed to Harrison county, Virginia, where he married Miss Nancy Read in 1805, and whence he moved to Athens county in 1810. He settled as a farmer in Athens township, where he died, October 1, 1841. Mr. Hawk’s family, formerly well and favorably known in this community are now scattered. William, the oldest son, died in 1864, while commanding a steamer in General Banks’ expedition up the Red river. John lives in Texas; James and Columbus in Clarke county, Ohio, and Geo. W. in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. One of the daughters, now Mrs. Dr. Huxford, lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the other, Mrs. Durbin, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nicholas Baker, senior, born in England in 1760, was brought to this country at seven years of age, for forty-four years followed the sea, as cabin boy and sailor, and in 1814, with his only son Isaiah Baker, came to Athens county where he lived in his son’s family, in the vicinity of Athens, till his death in 1829. Isaiah Baker, son of the foregoing, born in Barn-stable, Massachusetts, in the year 1780, came to this county with his family in 1814, and settled three miles west of Athens, where he followed farming the rest of his life. He died in 1825, leaving seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, except one son, Matthias, who was killed by the kick of a horse in 1837. Mr. Baker was a worthy member of the Methodist church. Nicholas Baker, son of Isaiah, born in Massachusetts in 1799, has lived in Athens (town and township) fifty-four years. Social and genial in his daily intercourse with friends, few men lead a more placid life than “Uncle Nick.” With a heart corresponding in capacity to his ponderous frame, with a healthy and happy temperament, he is one of those kind-hearted men whom dumb animals like and children make friends with. He fondly cherishes the remembrance of his once having lived in Judge Silvanus Ames’ family, in Ames township, in the summer of 1817. Edward R. Ames (Rev. Bishop Ames) at that time was eleven years old, and Mr. Baker, partial to him in boyhood, refers to their early acquaintance with lively pleasure. He relates with much gusto and laughter how “the bishop,” being naturally rather lazy, would lie on the grass in the shade and amuse young Baker with his talk, while the latter cheerfully performed an extra amount of work for his dreaming companion. Mr. Baker, formerly a farmer, has resided for many years past in the town of Athens. His son, George W. Baker, is now treasurer of Athens county. Jacob L. Baker, another of the sons of Isaiah Baker, is an extensive farmer in Athens township. He has a family of seven sons and one daughter, most of whom are well settled on good farms in the neighborhood of their father, who manages to buy an additional farm as often as needed, for some of his family. The five other sons of Isaiah Baker removed to the west and are-there settled—most of them in Illinois. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Capt. David Pratt, born at Colchester, Connecticut, in 1780, came with his father’s family to Marietta in 1798, and removed to Athens in 1812. Here he was for many years a successful teacher, ‘and there are old men living who well remember his thorough instruction and his stern discipline. In 1814 he married Miss Julia Perkins, eldest daughter of Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, whose Christian graces and excellence of character were long known and admired in Athens. To them were born three sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living. The sons are all graduates of the Ohio university; two of them, the Rev. Eliphaz Perkins Pratt and the Rev. John H. Pratt being well-known ministers of the Presbyterian church, and the third, Dr. Robert Pratt, a successful physician in Illinois. David Pratt died in 1861 and his wife in 1867, aged eighty-three. They were both members of the Presbyterian church in Athens for more than half a century. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joseph Dana, born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1768, was educated at Dartmouth college and graduated in 1788. He intended to pursue the ministry, but owing to delicate health did not carry out this purpose; he subsequently studied ‘and qualified himself for the practice of the law. He served some time in the Massachusetts legislature, but his health continuing frail, he resolved to leave New England. In 1817 he removed west and settled at Athens, where he at first engaged in the practice of law. Though never a ready speaker, Mr. Dana was a thorough lawyer and fine special pleader—a branch of the practice necessarily more cultivated in those days than now. About two years after coming here he was elected professor of languages in the university—a position for which he was admirably qualified by his fine scholarship and intellectual habits. His connection with the university continued till 1835 when the infirmities of age led him to resign his position. Professor Dana was an accomplished scholar -and cultivated gentleman. He was, for many years, an elder in the Presbyterian church here, and a lofty intellectuality pervaded his religion and all his modes of thought. He died November 18th, 1849. His sons, Joseph M. Dana, Daniel S. Dana, Capt. William Henry Dana, U. S. N., and others of his descendants are well known in this community. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James Brice was born in Maryland in the year 1750, and, removing to western Pennsylvania, settled near Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) in 1787. While living here he held various public stations, such as member of the state legislature, county commissioner, collector of internal revenue, trustee of Washington college, etc. In 1821 he removed further west, and settled in the town of Athens, where he passed the latter years of his life, living in the family of his son. He was a man of high character, and during his long life was an active and exemplary Christian. He died in Athens) December 22, 1832. Barnet Brice, his son, and a native of Pennsylvania, preceded his father to Athens, having settled here in 1807. He kept public house many years (he built the Union hotel now occupied by 0. B. Potter), and was extensively acquainted through the country. He died about 1853. Thomas Brice, another son of James, came to Athens in 1818. He was a successful merchant here for many years, and a large dealer in cattle from 1820 to 1830. He built the brick dwelling house on Court street, now owned and occupied by Dr. W. P. Johnson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1815 Nathan Dean, with his family, mostly grown, of six sons and three daughters, came to this county from Norton, Bristol county, Massachusetts. The young people all settled here, and raised respectable families in subsequent life. Three of them, William, Gulliver, and John N. Dean, made the brick, in the summer of 1816, for the central building of the Ohio university in Athens, and later, in 1835, one of them, John N. Dean, made the brick for the two additional or wing buildings of the university. The eldest of the family, afterward Colonel Nathan Dean, settled near Amesville, in the eastern part of the county, and died much respected in the year 1839. At the time this family left Massachusetts, in 1815, the manufactures of the country were only so far advanced, that, in making nails, their heads were made singly by hand, and these brothers had worked considerably at heading nails by hand before coming to Ohio. One of their ancestors, James Leonard, is believed to have been the first man that manufactured iron in America, and a son of his, Jonathan Leonard, the first to manufacture, steel. Jonathan went to England and feigned to be simple in order to get work in an establishment manufacturing steel, and thus gained the knowledge which the English were studiously endeavoring to conceal from the artisans of other countries. Upon his return the firm of “Leonard & Kinsley” successfully engaged in the production of steel in this country. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charles Shipman, for more than twenty years an active and leading citizen of Athens, was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, August 28, 1787. He came to Marietta, with his father’s family, in 1790, and they remained in the “stockade”’ during the Indian war. Colonel Shipman came to the town of Athens in 1813, and engaged in merchandising, in which line his business talent and popular manners soon gave him decided prominence,’ and ultimately large success. In early times he visited Philadelphia for the purchase of goods, once every year, and sometimes twice a year, always on horseback. Some of the old citizens of Athens still remember the fine sorrel horse, long owned by Colonel Shipman, on which he thus made nineteen trips from Athens to Philadelphia and back. Colonel Shipman was a man of fine social qualities, genial manners, and benevolent heart. He was the first, or one of the first, merchants in this part of the state to discard the sale of intoxicating drinks, to stop the practice of “treating” customers, and to engage actively in the temperance cause. He was, during the most of his life, a professor of religion, and for many years a ruling elder of the Presbyterian church of Athens. Colonel Shipman (he was elected colonel of a militia regiment during his residence at Athens) married Frances White Dana, of Belpre, in 1811. She died in 1813. The only issue of this marriage was a son, William C. Shipman, for many years past a citizen of New Albany, Indiana. In 1815 he married Joanna, the eldest daughter of Esquire Henry Bartlett, who is still living in Marietta. Colonel Shipman left Athens in 1836 to reside at Marietta, where he died July 7, 1860. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Silas Pruden, born in Norristown, New Jersey, in 1773, came to Athens county in 1815, and purchased the mills and farm east of Athens, then owned by Col. Jehiel Gregory, who soon after removed to Fayette county, Ohio. Mr. Pruden rebuilt and improved the mills, which were known as the “Pruden mills,” till about 1836, when Mr. Pruden sold them with the adjoining farm, etc., to J. B. & R. W. Miles. Mr. Pruden was a man of considerable means, and raised a highly respectable family of six sons and seven daughters. In November, 1832, one of his daughters, Achsah, was married to John Brough, late governor of Ohio. Mr. Pruden was a member of the Presbyterian church during his residence in the county, and a most worthy man. In 1837 he removed to Hocking county3 where he died, November30, 1856. Samuel B. Pruden, son of Silas Pruden, was born at Norristown, New Jersey, January 17, 1798, and came to Athens county with his father’s family in 1815. On arriving at manhood he developed unusual capacity for business, and, during his long residence in the county, was one of her prominent and leading citizens. In 1826 he began the milling and wool-carding business at the “Bingham mills,” west of Athens, which he continued about ten years. In 1836 he established himself permanently about two miles below Athens, on the Hockhocking, where he erected an oil mill, a grist and saw mill, and in 1840 a salt boiling establishment. “The settlement that he here founded has long been known as Harmony. For many years Mr. Pruden carried on the manufacture of salt at this point, and also at Chauncey, in Dover township, where he owned another furnace. He was associate judge for one term, trustee of the Ohio university for several years, and represented the county in the state legislature in 1854-5. He also held the office of county surveyor for many years. As a member of the Masonic fraternity he advanced from one degree to another in that body, till he became commander of the Athens Encampment of Knights Templar. He died December 10, 1863. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neil Courtney was an Englishman by birth, and was, for a time, in the British navy during the revolutionary war. Near the close of the war, while the vessel on which he was serving lay off Long Island, he deserted the service into which he had been impressed, swam half a mile to shore, and assumed allegiance to the new government. He came to Athens. county in 1806, and settled one mile north of Athens, on what was afterward known as the “Courtney farm.” The following entries appear in the old records, of the county commissioners: “April 8, 1809. The petitions of William Dorr and Neil Courtney, praying for an alteration in. the road leading from the Horse mill to the mouth of Sunday creek, and from Athens to Coc’s mill, read the first time. Petition granted. Jehiel Gregory, Samuel Moore, and Robert. Linzee appointed viewers, to meet at Neil Courtney’s on Monday, the 12th instant, at 9 o’clock A. “December 6, 1810. The commissioners agreed, on condition that Neil Courtney produce to them satisfactory proof that he has worked, or expended on the alteration in the road leading from the Horse mill, near Esquire Bingham’s, to the mouth of Sunday creek, the sum of five dollars, that then said road shall be established. Proof filed in office of commissioners, February —, 1811." Mr. Courtney died January 22, 1826, in his sixty-eighth year. Numerous descendants of his are living in this county. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joseph Goodspeed, born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in June, 1774, came to this county, with his family of five sons and three daughters, in 1818, and settled on a farm about two miles west of Athens, where he died February 12, 1857. His two sons, David and Ezra Goodspeed, well known in the county as successful farmers, were born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and came to Athens, with their father, in 1818. Many of their descendants still live in the county, and are highly respected. Major Arza Goodspeed, son of David, was killed before Vicksburg, while bravely doing his duty as a soldier of the Union, and J. McKinly Goodspeed, son of Ezra, and a graduate of the Ohio university, is at present superintendent of the Athens union schools. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Francis Beardsley, born at
Stratford, Hartford county, Connecticut, December 28, 1792, came to Athens
in 1814, where he has lived ever since. Soon after coming here he married
Miss Culver, sister of John Gillmore’s wife, who died in _____ . For his
second wife he married Rebecca, daughter of Esquire Henry Bartlett. Of a
retiring disposition and unobtrusive manners, Mr. Beardsley has led a
quiet and useful life. A model of Christian rectitude under all
circumstances, he is respected and esteemed by all who know him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Norman Root, born in Canaan, Litchfield county, Connecticut, January 22, 1798, removed to Ohio in 1816, and to the town of Athens about the year 1820. In 1824 he married Jane Brice, sister of Thomas Brice, long known as a leading citizen of Athens. In 1827 Mr. Root was elected county auditor, and served till 1839, being re-elected five times. He. was also, for many years, recorder of Athens, and held other positions of trust in the community, in all of which he discharged his duty with scrupulous fidelity. He was a man of great modesty and reticence, but of sound judgment and excellent business capacity. He was, for a long time, prominent as a Free Mason, and, for forty years, was a devoted and consistent member of the Methodist church. He died September 21, 1867. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E. Hastings Moore, born in Worcester county, Massachusetts, in 1812, came to Athens county with the family of his father, David Moore, in 1817. For about ten years the youth lived on a farm in Dover township, and then for several years on a farm in this township, about two miles from Athens, whence he finally removed to the town itself, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Moore had a good common school education (he taught some when a young man), and a taste for practical mathematics. In 1836 he became deputy county surveyor, and in 1838 was elected by the people to that office, then a difficult and laborious one. He held this position till 1846, discharging its duties with uncommon accuracy and entire acceptance to the public. In 1846 he was elected county auditor, which office he held, under re-elections, fourteen years. In 1862 he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the fifteenth Ohio district, and held the office till 1866. In 1868 he was elected to the forty-first congress from the fifteenth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ William Golden, born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, October 5th, 1799, came to Athens county in 1824, and settled at first in Athens, but later, in Alexander township, as a farmer. Here he was elected justice of the peace for many successive years. He was county sheriff from 1843 to 1847, and county treasurer from 1848 to 1854. In 1843 he removed to the town of Athens, where he has since resided, and is now postmaster. Three of his sons are living, viz: John C., a farmer and stock dealer in Meigs county, Elmer, a merchant in Jackson Ohio, and William R. William Reed Golden, son of the last named, was born in Athens, April 11 th, 1827, and passed his early years on his father’s farm in Alexander. He was educated at the Ohio university, studied law at Athens with Lot L. Smith, and attended lectures at the National Law School at Ballston Spa, New York, where he graduated in 1851. Returning to Athens, he entered on the practice of his profession here in 1852. In 1865 he was elected, as a democrat, to the state senate, and re-elected in October, 1867, to represent the counties of Athens, Hocking, and Fairfield, composing the ninth senatorial district. He has recently removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he is now engaged in the practice of law. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Welch, born in 1805, in Harrison county, Ohio, came to Athens county about 1828, and settled in Rome township. Here he and his brother Thomas Welch bought the “Beebe mill,” at that time owned by their father, and for some years he pursued the milling business. While performing his duties as miller, Mr. Welch studied law with Professor Joseph Dana of Athens, going some fourteen miles to recite once in a week or two. Having finished his studies and prepared to change his vocation, he removed to Athens, where he was admitted to the bar in 1833 by the supreme court of Ohio, sitting in Athens county. In this field his success was assured from the start. His eminent abilities, indefatigable industry and devotion to his profession soon placed him at the head of the Athens bar, and finally among the ablest lawyers of the state. He was prosecuting attorney of Athens county for several years; a member of the state senate in 1846—7; a representative in congress in 1851—2; and judge of the common pleas court from 1862 to 1865. February 23d, 1865, he was appointed by the governor, judge of the supreme court of Ohio, in place of Rufus. P. Ranney, resigned, and in October, 1865, was elected for Judge Ranney’s unexpired term. In October, 1867, he was elected for the fall term, and occupies the position at the present time. Judge Welch’s career, which has been attended with honorable and solid success, is a sufficient eulogy upon his character as a man and citizen, and his ability as a lawyer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Eben G. Carpenter was born at Aistead, New Hampshire, in 1808. His father was a physician, and, of eight brothers, five studied medicine. Dr. C. graduated at the Berkshire Medical college at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1831, practiced in New Hampshire a year or so, came to Ohio in 1833 and settled at Chester, Meigs county (then the county seat). In 1836 he came to Athens, where he has lived ever since, engaging very actively in the practice of his profession. Dr. C. has been notably successful as an operative surgeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. William Blackstone was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1796, and came with his father’s family to Ohio in 1802, settling first in Pickaway and afterward in Ross county. He studied medicine at Circleville, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated at the Cincinnati Medical college in 1833, having engaged actively in the practice during several years before this. Dr. B. came to Athens in 1838, and has practiced here continuously since. He and Dr.. Carpenter have both partially retired from active practice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nelson H. Van Vorhes, son of Abraham Van Vorhes, himself for many years a leading citizen of the county, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 23d, 1822. In 1832 his father removed with his family to Athens county; and settled in Alexander township. In 1836, his father having bought the Western Spectator and removed to Athens, Nelson entered the printing office as an apprentice. He worked diligently here for some years, part of the time having sole conduct of the paper, as his father was elected to the state legislature, and was absent for several winters. In 1844 he purchased the paper, which he continued to publish (a portion of the time in connection with his brother A. J. Van Vorhes), till 1861 as the Athens Messenger. During this time he took an active part in the political contests of the day and in furthering the home and local interests of the county. He served from 1850 to 1853 in the state legislature; in 1853 was Whig candidate for secretary of state; but, with the rest of the ticket, failed of election; in 1854 was elected probate judge of the county, but resigned to become a candidate again for the legislature. He was elected, and became speaker of the house, which position he held during two sessions. In 1857 he was re-elected, to the legislature. In 1858 he was republican candidate for congress in the 11th district, but was not able to overcome the democratic majority. He was a delegate to the Chicago convention in 186o, and took an active part in the presidential campaign which followed. At the breaking out of the war in 1861, Mr. Van Vorhes enlisted as a private in the first company of infantry raised at Athens, and on the election of officers was chosen first lieutenant. In 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 92d Ohio regiment of infantry, which command he retained, serving in Western Virginia, till the summer of 1863, when, his health completely failing, he was forced to resign. Col. Van Vorhes has never fully recovered his health.. He has held various local offices during the past few years, and possesses, in as high degree as ever, the confidence and respect of the community. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charles H. Grosvenor, born in Pomfret, Connecticut, September 20, 1833, came to Athens county with his father’s family when five years old, and lived in Rome during his youth and early manhood. While clerking in the store of Daniel Stewart he obtained books from Lot L. Smith, of Athens, and read law assiduously. He practiced with success in Athens for a few years prior to the breaking out of the rebellion, and entered the service in July, 1861, as major of the 18th Ohio infantry. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel March 16, 1863. March 14, 1865, Maj. Gen. J. B. Steedman recommended Col. Grosvenor to the secretary of war for promotion “for faithful, distinguished and gallant services. The recommendation was thus indorsed by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas: “Respectfully forwarded and earnestly recommended. Lieut. Col. Grosvenor has served under my command since November, 1862, and has, on all occasions, performed his duties with intelligence and zeal.” Gen. Grosvenor was promoted to colonel April 8, 1865, and served till the close of the war. He was brevetted brigadier general to date from March 13, 1865, and was mustered out October 28th in that year. He is now practicing law in Athens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Samuel Knowles, a native of Connecticut, and, during early life, a sea-faring man, came to Athens county in 18o8 and settled at Hockingport. In 1812 he married Miss Clarissa Curtis, sister of Judge Walter Curtis of Washington county, and in 1820 removed to the town of Athens where he resided for many years. He was elected marshal of the town in 1825 and 1826. He removed to the west many years since and is now living in Knoxville, Iowa. Samuel S. Knowles, son of the last named, was born at Athens, August 25, 1825, received his early education at the village schools, learned the carpenter trade when seventeen years old and followed it for a few years, entered the academy at Athens at the age of twenty-one, and pursued his studies there and in the university about four years, read law with Lot L. Smith, was admitted to the bar in 1851, elected prosecuting attorney of Athens county the same year, and held the office two terms. He practiced law at Athens till 1862, when he removed to Marietta. In October, 1865, he was elected state senator from the 14th district, comprising Washington, Morgan, and Noble counties, serving two years. In April, 1864, he was elected mayor of Marietta, and re-elected in 1866, serving four years. He is now engaged in the practice of law at Marietta. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Ballard was born in Charlemont, Massachusetts, October 1st, 1790, and came to Athens in February, 1839. During the greater part of his residence here he engaged successfully in the mercantile business; was also for several years president of the Athens branch of the State Bank, and a leading man in the local enterprises of the place. He has now retired from business. Four of his sons are living, viz: Otis, a banker in Circleville, Ohio; Charles, manufacturer of farm implements in Springfield, O.; James, merchant in Athens, and the Rev. Addison Ballard at Detroit, Michigan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thomas F. Wildes was born at Racine, in the dominion of Canada, June I, 1834, came to Ohio with his father’s family in 1839, and to Athens in 1861 as the editor of the Athens Messenger Mr. Wildes was an ardent republican, and in August, 1862, exchanging the pen for the sword, he entered the military service as lieutenant colonel of the 116th Ohio infantry. He was in active service with this regiment during the next two and a half years, in the army of West Virginia, part of the time commanding a brigade. In February, 1865, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the i86th Ohio volunteer infantry, and assigned to duty in the Army of the Cumberland. March 11th, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier general and commanded a brigade in the army last named till he was mustered out in September, 1865. He graduated at the law school in Cincinnati in 1866, and has since practiced his profession at Athens. From: "History of Athens County, Ohio...." Charles M. Walker - 1869~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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