Harmony Township (part 4 of 4)

WILLIAM TROXELL, farmer; P. O. Plattsbure. - The grandfather of this gentleman was Peter Troxell, a native of the Keystone State, of German descent, who was married to Rachel Chambers, a native of Chambersburg, Ind., to whom were born ten children, George, the father of William, being the second in the family. Peter Troxell was a Revolutionary soldier, and soon after marriage moved to Augusta Co., Va., where he and wife spent the balance of their days. And there George was born, grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Miller, of that county. and daughter of Adam Miller, a native of Germany, who had settled in Virginia. George was a soldier in the war of 1812, fighting the same old foe whom his father helped to whip in the Revolutionary struggle. To George and Elizabeth Troxell were born the following children - Daniel, Andrew, John, William, Hettie, Eli and Elizabeth, all of whom are living, with the exception of the two oldest. William Troxell was born in Augusta Co., Va., Dec. 16, 1816, and was raised to farm life, his boyhood being spent among strangers, laboring on a farm at from $1.50 to $8 per month, his small earnings going to help support his fathers family. His advantages for an education were very poor, and in 1836. when but 20 years old, he came with his brother Daniel to this State. Remained about one year in Pike Township, Clark Co., Ohio, and, in 1837. removed to Harmony Township, working as a farm hand. He here had the chance to attend school about four months, during which time he learned the rudiments of reading and writing, which have helped him to manage his affairs through life. In 1846, he went to Illinois, where, with money saved previously from his own earnings, he bought 160 aeresof land; then returned to Ohio, and, Feb. 17, 1847, was married to Mrs. Margaret Brooks, bot in Ontario Co., N. Y., June 6, 1800, and daughter of Nathan Hammond, a pioneer of

Clark County. Mr. Troxell finally settled permanently on his wife's farm, on which he had formerly worked as a farm hand, and afterward, by buying out the heirs, became owner of the property, and has since lived upon it. His wife died July 26, 1857934 sincere member of the Christian Church of Plattsburg, and he was again married July 28, 1874, to Dora V. Shryack, daughter of John and Matilda Shryack, natives of Ohio, and residents of Harmony Township. Mrs. Troxell was born in this township Jan. 18, 1849, and has had the following children: Pearl C., George W. and Jessie M., and she and husband belong to the Christian Church of Plattsburg. The fall of their marriage they went on a visit to Virginia, there to view the scenes of his childhood and ponder over the changes that time had made, as well as interview the friends of his youth. Mr. Troxell is a Republican, has held the office of Township Trustee for about ten years; been School Director a number of times, and has taken a deep interest in the building of roads, of which he has been Supervisor about twelve years. When he came to Clark County he was not worth $25, but by constant toil and persistent industry, he has accumulated 550 acres of land, besides paying over $15,000 security debts. He has always been a friend to the poor man, and ever anxious to help his struggling neighbor. He and his step-son, A. N. Brooks, did an extensive business as stock dealers and shippers for about twelve years. Mr. Troxell is strictly temperate in his habits ; is one of the energetic, enterprising farmers of Clark County, and stands as one of its most successful men in farm life. He is respected for his honest and upright character, ** his word being always considered as good as his bond."

GEORGE M. WARREN, farmer; P. O. Vienna X Roads. The subject of this biographical sketch is a native of Clark Co., Ohio, having been born March 17, 1837. His father came from the State of New Jersey, and settled in Clark County in the year 1827, in Pleasant Township; he died Jan. 27, 1877. The subject of this sketch began to work on a farm when quite young, and has followed farming since. Mr. Warren was united in marriage Jan. 21, 1858, to Miss Nancy Rathbun, a daughter of Clark Rathbun, a son of Col. Ratkbua, who was one of the early pioneers of Clark County. Mr. Warren is the owner of a very fine farm of 109 acres of land adjoining the town of Brighton, in Harmony. Township. where he resides, surrounded with the comforts of life. He is a Past Grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellowship ; he is a member of Vienna Lodge, No. 345, and is a member of Mad River Encampment, I. O. O. F.,also. Mr. Warren is a man of fine social qualities: he is an honored citizen.

GEORGE WATSON, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. South Charleston, Ohio. John Watson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in England Feb. 25, 1786; he was married there and came to America in 1829; he first came to Cincinnati. and in the fall of 1829, he settled in Harmony Township. Mr. John Watson while in England was the owner of a farm of 40 acres. He died on the old home place in Harmony Township May 13, 1844, in his 59th year; he left a wife and nine children, three of the children are living now, viz.: George (the subject of this sketch); William, who resides at South Charleston, Ohio, and Sarah, who lives at College Corner, Ind. His wife, Sarah, was born in England, April 11, 1783, and died in Harmony Township, Jan. 5, 1877, in the 94th year of her age. George, the subject of this sketch, was born in Cumberland County, England, Dec. 1, 1816, he came to America with his parents in 1829, and is now living upon part of the farm that his father purchased in that year. He was united in marriage March 4, 1851, to Miss Margaret E. Price, a daughter of James Price, late of Harmony Township; as a result of this marriage there have been born to them two children - John P., who was born Jan. 28, 1852, and Laura A., was born Nov. 16, 1854 (now the wife of Charles W. Batchelor, of Piqua, Ohio); John P.is married to Miss Luella E. Scott, of Springfield, Ohio. Mr. Watson is the owner of one of the finest and best improved farms of 520 acres that is in Clark County, it is all in one body in Harmony Township, excepting 8 acres across the line in Madison Township. Mr. Watson and his son John P. run the farm in partnership. and deals in fine short-horn cattle. He is a Deacon in the Baptist Church at Lisbon, and his entire family are members of the same church. Mr. Wat- son is a member of the F. & A. M. at South Charleston, is also the oldest Past Grand of the Lodge of I. O. O. F., to which he belongs. He is now in his 65th year, a man full of vitality, and, as he says, without an "ache or pain." Socially, he is very pleasant, a man who is given to hospitality ; he is a man who is much respected in the community in which he lives, and is an honest citizen.

ABRAHAM WEAVER, farming and blacksmithing; P. O. Vienna X Roads. The subject of the following sketch was born in Hampshire Co., Va., Jan. 24, 1823. He was married to Miss Sophia Sprague in 1847 ; the result of this union was two children, to'wit: Theressa, who died Aug. 20, 1849, aged 9 months and 4 days ; and Orlando, who died Jan. 20, 1851, aged 3 months and 4 days; and, on July 16,1851, the mother of the above-named children also passed away. Abraham Weaver was married to his present wife, Miss Mary Ann (Jones) Weaver, in 1852. Miss Jones was born Aug. 26, 1828 ; the result of this union is nine children, all of whom are living, except Nancy, who died in her 9th year; the names of the living children are as follows: Eliza was born Oct. 19, 1852; James E. was born Sept. 11, 1854 ; Charles F. was born Jan. 14, 1856 ; Kate was burn Sept. 22, 1857 ; Joseph was born April 13, 1859 ; Nancy was born Feb. 8, 1861; Harriet was born July 8, 1862 ; Laura was born Jan. 13, 1865; Frank was born Sept. 20, 1866. The parents of Mr. Weaver were natives of Virginia, whence they emigrated tc Ohio in the year 1829; Joseph Weaver, his father, was born Jan. 2, 1794; Sarah Weaver, his mother, was born June 22, 1798. The names of the brothers and sisters of the subject are as follows: Eliza was born May 5, 1821; Abraham, the subject, whose age is already given, and Nancy Feb. 13, 1825; the three above named were born in Virginia ; Amanda was born in Springfi-ld Township, Clark Co., Ohio, June 8, 1832; George, who is a half-brother of the subject, was born in Wisconsin, and connected with which there is a bit of romance. Mr. Weaver, who was a well-to-do farmer, meeting with heavy reverses by going security, concluded that he would leave his family for a time with the design ostensibly to repair his shattered fortunes, went to the young but growing State of Wisconsin, where fabulous amounts were suddenly realized in the lead mines, stock-raising, etc.; he never returned, but married there; the result of the union was one son, George, who came to Clark Co., Ohio, on a visit to his relatives a few years ago; Sarah, wife of Joseph, struggled along with her large family as best she could, supposing her husband dead, and, after a lapse of eleven years, was united in matrimony with Mr. Silas Melvin, with whom she lived until his death, which occurred in the year 1859. David Jones, the father of our subject's second wife, was a native of Virginia, came to Ohio in an early day and died in this, Harmony Township, in October, 1857 ; Jane (Ellis) Jones, his wife, was born in Clark Co., Ohio, and is yet living at the advanced age of 76 years. Mr. A. Weaver, our subject, has been a resident of Clark Co. since 1829, is in his 58th year, and has watched with a deep interest the rapid transformation of this once wilderness, to what may properly be turned the garden of Ohio.

MICHAEL WILSON, Sn. (deceased). The stroke of the mallet chisels the firm marble block into a shaft of beauty, and artistic skill fashions the letters that tell of the birth, years and death of the silent sleeper beneath ; but time covers the monument with the mosses of decay, and defaces the inscription. As we well know, change is constant and general; generations are rising and passing unmarked away ; and as it is a duty to the child and parent, as well as a gratification to the descendants of him who now "sleeps the last sleep," we place on record a brief sketch of the life and character of one of the leading pioneer farmers of Clark Co. Michael Wilson, Sr., was born in Harmony Township, Clark Co., Ohio, March 15, 1814, and was the youngest in a family of three children, viz., Washington, Josiah and Michael. His parents, Michael and Temperance (Judy) Wilson, were natives of Kentucky, who settled in Greene Co., Ohio, in an early day. On the breaking-out of the war of 1812, his father went into the army, where he served a short time, then returned home, procured a substitute and shortly afterward took sick and died. The widow, with her two oldest boys, came to Clark Co., and soon after settling in Harmony Township the subject of this sketch was born. It is unnecessary for us to speak of the hardships and privations to be endured by the widow with her three small children. Settling in the woods of Harmony Township, suffice it to say that she watched over them with loving care, and lived to see them become leaders of the township in which she settled, as well as large land-owners and respected citizens. Michael grew up in his native township, and was there married, by John Judy, April 12, 1835, to Lavina Henry, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Johnson) Henry, natives of Kentucky, who came to Clark Co. about 1814, settling in Harmony Township. There Mrs. Wilson was born Jan. 23, 1815, and has never lived outside of her native township. To Michael and Lavina Wilson were born the following children: Jasper N., Temperance (deceased), James T., Elizabeth, Jefferson (who was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, and there died), Johnson M., Michael B., Lavina (the deceased wife of Edmund West), Washington H., Emma D. (deceased), Martha Ann (deceased), John ©. F. and Francis S. All of the children are settled on farms of their own with the exception of two, who reside at the old homestead with their mother. Mrs. Wilson is the eleventh in a family of thirteen, as follows: Polly (deceased), John (deceased), Johnson (deceased), Willie (deceased), Martha, Jonathan (deceased), Nancy, Sarah, Benjamin (deceased), Lavina, William (deceased) and Betsey. From childhood Michael Wilson was noted for his quiet demeanor and steady, industrious habits, and his success in life was due to those leading characteristics which he inherited from his sturdy parents, and which were fostered under the care of a good mother. Beginning in life poor, he began at once to practice economy, and this, coupled with steady, persevering industry, caused him to rise. step by step, and fortune.to smile upon him, until at the time of his death, which occurred Feb. 10, 1879, he owned over 1,100 acres of land, all in his native township with the exception of 100 across the line in Madison Co. From the age of 30 until his death, he belonged to the Christian Church, of Plattsburg, and a Deacon of the same for several years previous to that sad event. Politically a Republican, he never took a very active part in politics, but was always an earnest advocate of schools, churches and public institutions generally, and his death was a serious loss to the community of which he was an acknowledged leader. He was a quiet, modest, retiring man, who attended strictly to his own affairs, leaving his neighbor to do the same; but no man was more firm and rigid in upholding a just cause when necessity impelled him to take sides. His life was an upright one, free from those imperfections that are so common among business men; and his character was strongly marked by those noble traits of honesty and charity toward all men which won for him the unlimited confidence and respect of all good citizens.