Leesburg Township (part 2 of 3)

JOHN McAllister, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, November 4, 1829. He is the sixth son of John McAllister, deceased, a native of Pickaway County, of Scotch-Irish descent, and Mary (Grattan) McAllister, a native of Virginia, of Dutch and Irish descent. They had eleven children, of whom six survive. Our subject was married March 1, 1853, to Hester Ann, fifth child often children born to John and Keziah (Johnson) Bird, the former of Dutch descent and now deceased, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania, of Dutch descent. She was born in Knox County, Ohio, February 17, 1833, and by her Mr. McAllister has had ten children, viz.: Zoa Z., born May 12, 1854, wife of H. D. Wright ; Oscar R., born September 7, 1855, died October 28, 1855 ; Silva Z., born December 22, 1856, wife of Frank Bruce; John W., born December 15, 1858, died December 13, 1879; Orin K., born April 20, 1861, died May 20, 1862; Emma R., born August 8, 1863 ; Elva B., born March 28,1866; Dillon, born January 30, 1868 ; Owen C, born March 27, 1870 ; and Frank, born August 12, 1873. Mr. McAllister is a farmer and a Republican and has been Township Trustee several years. His father served in the war of 1812.

D. McLEAN, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, was born at Washington C. H., Fayette County, Ohio, January 3, 1838, and on October 23, 1859, married Joanna Degood, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Thomas and Joanna Degood, the former of English and the latter of Scotch descent. By this union three children were born, viz.: Orville, born February 10, 1861; Rosetta, born March 6, 1863, and Lewis, born April 1, 1865. Mr. Degood owns 108 acres of good land two miles southeast of Magnetic Springs, on which he resides. He is also the holder of a one-fourth interest in the bath-house at the Springs. In politics, he has espoused the cause of the Prohibition party, and is an earnest advocate of all works of reform. His grandmother Degood was a niece of Admiral Nelson. His parents, Daniel and Helen (Boyd) McLean, were natives of Ohio, of Scotch descent. The name McLean is traceable far back among the old Scottish clans, one of that name having been the chief of a powerful clan during the fifteenth centuiy.

JOSEPH MOREY, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, was born in Knox County, Ohio, August 5, 1823, and remained in that county until fourteen years of age, after which he lived several years in Indiana and in Shelby County, Ohio, his mother dying in the latter place. He also resided six years in Delaware County, after which he came to Union County. He was married in Knox County, Ohio, October 8, 1846, to Elizabeth, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Ports) Gossage, and a native of Jefferson County, Ohio, where she was born March 28, 1826. By this union ten children were born, viz.: Cordelia A., Sarah M., Hannah A., Joseph G., Adam L., Benjamin F., Mary E., William S., Laura D. and Hattie. Of these, eight are living and four are married and have families. Mr. Morey is a farmer and owns 12'i acres in this township, on which he resides. He is a Prohibtionist in politics, and for forty years has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which his wife has been a member thirty years ; he has acted as a class-leader and steward. His ptrents were John and Hannah (Gosnell) Morey, natives of New York State, the former of English and Scotch and the latter of Dutch and English descent.

GEORGE MAY, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, son of James and Mary (Moore) May, was born in Pennsylvania May 9, 1848, and came to Ohio at the age of fifteen years. He was reared on a farm and received his education in the district schools of his native State. He has adopted farming for a life occupation and now owns land near Magnetic Springs. On March 22, 1869, he was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Ann Morey, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Gossage) Morey, whose sketch appears in this work. She was born July 22, 1847, and by her Mr. May has had five children, viz.: Roselby, born January 19, 1872, and died January 4, 1880; Ora, born September 22, 1876, deceased ; James R., born October 16, 1872 ; Mary Ann, born May 7, 1877, and Jennie, born April 2, 1880.

H. S. MAY, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Crawford County, Ohio, January 9, 1830. He is a son of William and Sarah (Burchfield) May, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Irish and the latter of German descent. Our subject early commenced the life of a farmer, and has spent his life in thai occupation. He occupies a fiirm of fifty-three acres of land, one and one-half miles south of Pharisburg, which he cultivates in a successful manner. In 1867, he married Virginia (Evans) McAdow, widow of James VV. McAdow, deceased ; by this union one child has been born, viz.: Frances Lena, born February 12, 1870. Mr. May is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the M. P. Church. Mrs. May is of Irish and English descent, her parents both being natives of the "Old Dominion," the father of Irish and the mother of English parentage.

RICHARD MAYFIELD, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Licking County, Ohio, October 24, 18-37, and is a son of William and Eleanor (Conaway) Maytield, natives of Ohio, and the latter a daughter of David Conaway. At the age of nine years our subject went to Delaware County, where he lived until January 20, 1860, when he married Malinda, a daughter of Daniel and Catharine (Thompson) Ross, and a native of Ohio, born October 20, 1840. After their marriage they moved to Marion County and thence to Union County, where they have since resided. They have had five children, three boys and two girls, viz.: Edward S., Jennie 0., Emma C, Richard and William. Mr. Mayfield is a Republican in politics and a farmer by occupation, now owning 115 acres where he resides. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He enlisted for three months during the rebellion, in Company C, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Wallace, and was in service nearly five months. He is a member of Pharisburg Lodge, No. 664, I. 0. 0. F.

JOHN Mc. HAMILTON, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born December 9, 1807. His father was James Hamilton, son of Thomas and Lydia Hamilton. His mother was Margaret (McClain) Hamilton. Our subject received his education in Holmes County, Ohio, anil came to his present residence when the whole of the surrounding country was covered with forest. In 1838, he married Lucinda, daughter of Lewis and Jane (McClain) Bonnett. By this union seven children, two sons and five dajnghters, were born, of whom the following survive: Margaret Jane, Isabel and William. The latter married Ellen Fogal and has four children - Lewis L., Mary C, Nettie J. and Frederick D. Josiah, a deceased son, enlisted in Company D, Thirteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was taken prisoner at Stone River, but was paroled and again captured at Kenesaw Mountain. He was confined in Andersonville Prison, where he died September 22, 1863. He was a good soldier, and took part in several holly contested battles during his term of service.

HUGH E. MOORE, farmer, P. O. Marysville, was born in Union County, Ohio, March 12, 1856. He is a son of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Scott) Moore, the former a native of Warren County, of English descent, and the latter a native of Knox County, of Irish descent. His mother came to Union County when four years of age, with her parents, William and Fanny (Barcus) Scott. They settled on 103 acres adjoining what is now known as the "Scolt farm" which consists of 113 acres, both farms being occupied now by our subject. On this land there is a church, schoolhouse and graveyard. Mr. Moore was married May 4, 1880, to Mary J., daughter of Eli and Jane (Lee) Hildebrant ; she was born August 29, 1860, and by her Mr. Moore has one child, William Curtis, born June 17, 1881. Mr. Moore is a Democrat in politics. Though young in years he is a thorough farmer, well posted in all that pertains to his occupation and very successful in all his farm operations. He makes a specialty of raising sheep and cattle.

R. T. McAllister, farmer and stock-dealer, P. 0. Marysville, Ohio, was born, of Scotch- Irish parentage, in Adams County, Penn., in 1827. His parents removed in 1830, to Delaware County, Ohio, where he was raised near Sunhury, receiving a common school education only. In October, 1851, he married Martha C. Gale, a daughter of William Gale, at Delaware, Ohio, they have six children, viz.: Mary, who is married to James B. Cole, an attorney at law, of Marysville, Ohio; Abdiel T. ; William G., who married Josephine McFadden ; Lemington W., R. T., Jr., and Emma. Abdiel T. is in the United States service, in the Pension office at Washington, D. C; William G., Lemington W. and R. T., Jr., are farmers near Marysville; Emma resides with her parents. Mr. McAllister resides in Leesburg Township, Union County, Ohio, where he owns a fine farm of about 900 acres, which he has by industry and energy reclaimed from the forests and put in a high state of cultivation and improvement. Mr. McAllister has been honored by election by his fellow-citizens to various public offices. While yet very young, he was for live years Assessor of Berkshire Township, Delaware County, and afterward was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners of that county. In the latter position, he was an efficient instrument in recovering a large sum of money for the county, which had been lost by defiiult of one of the county officers; also in collecting their part of the "Surplus Revenue Fund," which had long been neglected. At the breaking-out of the rebellion, he oifered his services as a private in defense of the Union, but was rejected on account of physical disability. He afterward was elected Colonel of one of the " Home Guard" regiments, and went into the camp of instruction at Piqua, Ohio, but their services proving to be unnecssary they were soon discharged. The services of the regiment were then tendered to the Governor to go out of the State, but were declined. In 1865, he removed to his present residence in Union County. He has served three years as Commissioner of Union County, during which time he was largely intrusted with the superintendence and management of the gravel roadbuilding, which was then being most vigorously carried on throughout the county, and discharged said duties with marked ability, being noted for the thorough and substaLfial work he insisted upon and obtained in the interest of the tax payers. In 1880, he was elected by the Republicans of the Thirteenth District, composed of Union, Logan, Hardin and Marion Counties, a member of the Stale Board of Equalization, in which capacity he served his full term, and secured for his district material benefits in reduced taxation. He was noted as one of the most indefatigable workers on the board. Mr. McAllister's chief characteristics for which he is most widely known, are strict integrity and high busines ability, courageous independence of spirit as a public man, and keen, clear and comprehensive perceptions in regard to public interests and affixirs, for which and many other good qualities he is highly esteemed in the community.

ALEXANDER NEEL, farmer, P. 0. Richwood, was born in Pennsylvania, and lived in Greene County, Ohio, until eleven years of age, when he moved to Knox County, with his parents, and from there they went West. His parents were both of Irish descent. His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, and his mother one year later. Our subject was married September 26, 1844, to Charlotte Warwick, a daughter of Thomas Warwick, and a native of Licking County, Ohio. By this union si.K children were born, of whom five survive, viz.: Thomas, Rhoda Ellen, wife of Jonathan Fayman; Mary, wife of William Hite ; William A. and John H. Mr. Neel owns about 119 acres of land in this township, on which he resides, and which he is engaged in cultivating. He and his wife are members of the Deciples (Ihurch. His grandparents were Barnett and Martha (Hughes) Neel.

J. C. NEVILLE, plasterer. P. 0. Pharisburg. was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, September 20, 1835. His parents were William and Mary (Smith) Neville, the former of French and the latter of English extraction. Our subject received his education in the public schools of his native State, and upon reaching a proper age learned the trade of a plasterer, which he is now following and at which he has worked for twenty-seven years. On July 27, 1857, when about twenty-two years of age, he was united in marriage with Miss Diana Baldwin, by whom he has had born to him four children, one deceased, viz.: Martha R., Ida, deceased, Alice and David W.

M. B. NEWHOUSE, carpenter and builder, Magnetic Springs, son of John and Rebecca Newhouse, whose sketch appears in this work, was born in Union County, Ohio, in January, 1855. He was raised on the farm and received his education in the district schools. He remained on the farm until twenty years of age, in the meantime learning carpentering with his brother, which trade he has followed for the past twelve years. He owns a residence at Magnetic Springs, whicn he built in 1880 and which was one of the first houses on the village plat. He also built a second house in 1881, which is valued at $2,000. On September 1, 1882, while engaged in hoisting a derrick to be used in sinking a drive well, he was crushed to the earth by by a part of the derrick falling on him, but miraculously escaped without serious injury. His first contracting was done in Iowa in 187G, and he has also been as far west as Nebraska. On July 1, 1877, he married Eliza J., a daughter of William and Jane (Williams) McGee. and a native of Delaware County. They have two children - Cora Belle, born April 10, 1878, and Alice Nevada, born in .luly, 1880. Both parents are members of the Christian Church.

J. E. NEWHOUSE, the leading business man at the village of Magnetic Springs and the originator of the water-cure establishment at that place, is a son of John and Sophia (McCune) Newhouse, whose biography appears in this work. He was born in Union County, Ohio, in February, 1845, and was reared on a farm, receiving his education in the district schools of his county and at Marysville. At the age of twenty years, he began the cultivation of grapes and small fruits, and in one season raised as many as 14,000 pounds of grapes, part of which were made into wine and the rest shipped. In 1879, he discovered the medical properties of the Magnetic Springs, and at once began preparing accommodations and opening facilities that would induce the health and pleasure seeking public to make it a place of resort. A village charter was applied for and obtained and a village of considerable size platted, with spacious lots, broad and straight streets and wide alleys. For the first six months after the plat of the village was made, it received but about a half dozen additional buildings, and, while every one who tested the waters were satisfied of their medicinal worth, but few had confidence in the success of the enterprise. The next year, however, marked an evident increase in the settlement, and the success of the enterprise became a certainty. The place has now become a thriving village, and hundreds of the afflicted visit it annually to receive the benefit of its pain-def troying waters. These waters are so strongly charged with magnetism that a knife submerged in them for an instant becomes imbued with loadstone qualities in a marked degree. A flow of nearly 18,000 gallons of water are obtained in twenty-four hours, and the bath-houses of Newhouse, McClain & Co. furnish facilities for 400 baths per day. The water is used for drinking, bathing and toilet purposes, and large quantities are annually shipped for outside consumption. The first well sunk was seventy-seven feet deep, and soon another was sunk of like depth and a pumping capacity of five barrels per mi aute furnished. Many people of wealth have purchased lots in the village and on them erected neat and comfortable residences, and it has been estimated that fully one hundred additional buildings will be erected during the spring of 1888. A very strong sulphur spring was discovered recently about one mile from the village, and fourteen 'acres of ground surrounding it have been purchased by the proprietors of Magnetic Springs, with a view of converting it into a park and connecting it with the Magnetic Springs by an avenue, using it as a pleasure ground for the patrons of the latter resort. The gentleman who is the principal factor of these enterprises and whose name heads this sketch was married to Francis E. Brown, a daughter of A. C. and Nancy (Steel) Brown, and by her has three children, viz.: May, born in September, 1868, Ray, born January 1, 1874, and Laura Lee. born in December, 1876. Mr. Newhouse began life with one acre of ground, and now by dint of his indominitable energy he has become the head of one of the most enterprising and successful firms in the State.

JOHN NEWHOUSE, retired farmer, Magnetic Springs, was born in Salt Creek Township, Pickaway Co., Ohio, December 14, 1806. He is a son of Anthony and Nancy (Coons) Newhouse, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of English and the latter of German descent. They emigrated to Ohio in 1798, and settled in Pickaway County, where they lived until 1814, when they moved to Delaware County, in which both died. Our subject was married, June 4, 1880, to Sophia McCune, a daughter of James and Polly (Junk) McCune, acd a native of Delaware County, born April 10, 1810. By this union, eight children were born, three sons and five daughters, of whom two sons and one daughter survive, viz., James M., Martha, widow of Jacob Hoskins, and John E. Mrs. Newhouse died, and on September 29, 1851, Mr. Newhouse married Rebecca McAllister, who was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, December 29, 1820 ; she is a daughter of John and Mary (Gratton) McAllister, who came to this county in 1834. By this second marriage two children were born, Marshall, who married Jane McGee, and Celinda, wife of .James C. Bi-own. Mr. Newhouse is a member of Mount Cirmel Lodge, No. 303, F. & A. M., and an old Jacksonian Democrat in politics, having cast his first vote for " Old Hickcry," the leader of the party. He has acted as Township Trustee for many years in his township, but about ten months ago he retired from business, and is now enjoying life in a comfortable home at Magnetic Springs. He came to this township when there were but twelve voters, and resided on the farm from which he has retired, since 1834. He is a member of the Pioneer Association.

J. K. NORRIS, farmer, P. 0. Richwood. was born in Harrison County, Ohio, February 16, 1837. His parents were Jeremiah and Margaret (Harris) Norris, natives of England. The former came to Ohio after he was grown ; the latter emigrated from England to New York, thence to Virginia and to Ohio, when twelve years of age. They had a family of four boys and five girls, of whom four boys and two girls survive. Our subject was married, March 4, 1859, to Ann L., daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Scofield) Pennypacker. She was born in 1836 and died April 18, 1870. They had six children - Margaret, deceased; Alexander, Sarah, Eleanor, deceased, James, deceased, and Jeremiah. On March 5, 1875, Mr. Norris was again married to Elizabeth, daughter of William and Betsey (Scott) Ports. She was born in Delaware County in 1849. By this union two children were born - Charles, born October 24, 1878, Iva, born February 8, 1876. Mr. Norris is a farmer and owns ninety-three acres of land, on which he resides. He is a Republican and a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. Mrs. Norris is a member of the M. P. Church.

LESTER OLIVER, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 31, 1842. His parents were Reuben Oliver, who was born January 1, 1812, and died April 9, 1862, and Zura Ann (White) Oliver, a native of New York State. He was a member of Company D, Eighty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the late war. Mr. Oliver resided in Fulton and Henry Counties for a time and from 1880 to 1882, was engaged in the livery business with J. H. Trickey at Magnetic Springs. He now owns two good buildings well adapted to that business, and is still an ardent admirer of fine stock, horses especially. He owns a good farm of ninety-five acres, north of Magnetic Springs, on which he resides, and where he is engaged in farming. He is a member of Mount Carmel Lodge, No. 303, F. & A. M.

J. R. OWEN, harness-maker. Magnetic Springs, was born in Union County, Ohio, October 5, 1848. He is a son of Warrett and Emily (Farnham) Owen, the former a native of Ohio, of Welsh descent, born in 1828, and the other a " Yankee." Our subject was married .June 6, 1872, to Anna C, daughter of Benjamin and Matilda (Spout) Gamble; she was born in Watkins May 26, 1852, and by her Mr. Owen his two children - Emma, born April 11, 1873, and .John W., born January 7, 1876. Mr. Owen is a harness-maker by occupation, and has plied his trade for the past fourteen years. He was educated in the district schools and at Marysville. He was burned on*, at Watkins, Ohio, in 1881, and afterward came to this place. He is a Democrat in politico, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church. He owns a nice residence at the Springs, in which he and his family live.

HENRT K POWELL, farmer, P. 0. Rockwood, was born in Mirion County, Ohio, December 14, 1839. He is a son of John and Hannah (Crawford) Powell, natives of Ohio, the latter deceased. Our subject was educated and raised in Marion County. He owned and operated a saw-mill and thresher for more than a quarter of a century, and now devo'ea his time to farming. He was married April 5, 18(i0, to Cynthia A. Thatcher, who was born March 15, 1842, and died March 10, 1868. They had two children, John H., dece'ised, and Joseph W. On June 10, 1869, Mr. Powell married Melissa, daughter of Charles and Jane (Graham) Crouso. By this unioi they had four children - Francis E., Chirles, deceased, Henry W. and Eva Leah. Mr. Powiill enlisted in 1861, in the Ninth Oliio Civalry, but was transferred to Company B, of the Tenth, and served tTiree years. He took part in ttie battles of Chickamauga, Atlanta, Buzzard's Roost, Smithfield, Blue Ridge, Jonesboro, and other engagements. He is a Republican, and a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities.

A. T. PERRY, farmer, P. O. Richwood, was born at Delaware, Ohio, August 18, 1847. His parents were Henry Perry, a native of Delaware County, of Welsh descent, and Martha (Lavender) Perry, the latter born en route while her parents were emigrating to this State. They had four children, viz.: Oliver, Maggie, 0. E., wife of G. W. Stevens, and our subject. The latter was married at Prospect, Marion County, by Rev. C. B. Hill, to Laura, daughter of William and Sarah (Rhodes) Irving, the former a native of New York State. She was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, November 23, 1842, and was one of seven children, the others being Jacob, John, Joseph, Frank, Mary and Catharine, wife of S. B. Dilsaver. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have four children, viz. : Piatt, born October 20, 1869 ; Rolin P., born June 20, 1871 ; Jennie, born September, 20, 1873, died September 3, 1877 ; and William H., born July 6, 1880. Mr. Perry owns 100 acres of land on which he has resided since his marriage, and which he has successfully cultivated since then.

DANIEL REAM, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Ross County, Ohio, July 29, 1820. His parents were John and Catharine (Redman) Ream, natives of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to Ohio at a very early day, and were among the pioneers of the Buckeye State. Our subject was married, April 27, 1840, to Harriet Muncy, daughter of Thomas Muncy, and a native of Delaware County, Ohio, where she was born in 1822. By this union thirteen children were born, of whom twelve survive. Mrs. Ream dying, three years later Mr. Reani was again mxrried .

A. W. ROBINSON, hotel-keeper, Magnetic Springs, was born in Union County, Ohio, March 30, 1829. He is a son of Asa and Ann Catharine Robinson, the former a native of Massachusetts, of English descent, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. Our subject was married, December 18, 1851, to Elizabeth E., a daughter of William D. and Jane (Truster) Kirkland, and a native of Tennessee, born May 16, 1831. By this union they have three daughters - Jennie C, Elizabeth E. and Mollie M. - all now living. Our subject is a farmer by occupation, and owns a fine farm near the Springs, which furnishes the hotel tables with vegetables in their season, he being one of the proprietors of the hotel conducted under the firm name of Savage & Robinson. This house was built in 1880,' and has been used as a hotel since June, 1881 ; it contains forty-lhree rooms, thirteen of which are double, furnishing ample accommodations for the many guests entertained there every summer. Mr. Robinson read medicine with an older brother for eighteen months, and has paid some attention to the treatment of cancers and chronic diseases. He is a member of Delaware Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., at Delaware, Ohio, a Republican in politics, and with his wife a member of the Christian Church.

WILLIAM H. STYER, farmer, P. 0. Claibourne, is a son of Joseph T. and Abigail M. (Cams) Styer, and was born in Knox County, Ohio, January 4, 1852. His parents were married in Union County in 1850, and had seven children, viz. : Adeline, Charles, William H., Martha E., James S., George A. and Eber. His grandparents were Joseph and Rachel Styer, and William and Jane Cams. Our subject was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. He married Lizzie Miskill, who was born in Union County January 12,1851. She is a daughter of John and Adeline (Wells) Maskill, the former a native of Clark County and the latter of Ross ('ounty. Her grandparents were Robert and Isabelle Maskill. Mr. Styer has five children, viz. : Millie M., born February 16, 1876; Arthur, born May 29, 1877; Carrie, born December 31, 1878; Webb L., born October 12, 1880; and John S., born June 24, 1882. Mrs. Styer was educated at the Marysville High School, and taught nine terms in six schools of this county. Mr. Styer is a Republican in politics. His wife is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church.

NELSON S.VIITH, farmer, P. 0. Claibourne, is a son of John and Rebecca (Tracy) Smith, and was born December 14, 1832. On Miy 27, 1853, he married Ann Jane (h-awford.

by whom he had seven children, viz. : Alsenia E., John E., Sarah, Josephine, David, Sherman and two infants, deceased. Mrs. Smith died August 25, 1873, and on December 24, 1873, Mr. Smith married Margaret A., daughter of Thomas R. Price, and a native of Tuscarawas County, born in June, 1834. Mr. Smith owns 107 acres of land on which he is engaged in farming and stock-raising. He owns a celebrated horse which was imported by W. H. Hawk and J. F. Smith. It is a dapple gray, weighing 1,800 pounds, ftnd was purchased August 31, 1881, at a cost of $15,000. He also has two very fine mares which he keeps for stuck purposes. Mr. Smith is a member of the Grange, and of the M. P. Church. He is a Republican in politics, and has lived in the county twenty-three years.

JOSEPHUS SMITH, farmer and veterinary surgeon, P. 0. Claybourn, was born in Fayette County, Ohio, October 16, 1828. He is a son of John and Rebecca (Tracy) Smith, the former a native of Greenbrier County, Va., and the latter a native of Maryland, and came to Highland County, Ohio, in 1812. Our subject was married December 18, 1850, to Elizabeth Car.-on, who was born in 1833. She died and on March 2, 1862, Mr. Smith married Eliza Ann, daughter of John and Polly Earheart. She was born in Ross County, Ohio, September 2, 1834, and by her five children were born, viz : Ellraphy, deceased, aged eight months; Anthraatis, bora October 12, 1865; Amanetta, born November 11, 1808; Wilbur Crawson and Josephus, born October 30, 1879. Mr. Smith was a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry from May 2 to September, 1864. He is a farmer and veterinary surgeon, having practiced the latter profession successfully for thirty-three years. He owns fifty acres of land, on which he resides.

ISAAC STOUFER, farmer, P. 0. Richwood, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., inl835, and is a son of John and Nancy (Harvey) Stoufer. His parents moved from Pennsylvania toMuskingum County, Ohio, where they remained three or four years, and about 1857 came to Union County. They settled about one mile west of where our subject now lives, but soon afterward moved to Wyandot County, where the father died. The wife still survives and is residing at Larue, Ohio, in the seventy-seventh year of her age. Our subject was raised in town in Pennsylvania, and, during a part of his residence, in Muskingum County, and has provided for himself since twelve or thirteen years of age. He conducted an ashery in Pharisburg for a time, and for about fifteen years operated a saw mill. In 1857, he married Miss Mary Welsh, a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Welsh, by whom he had one child - Laura, deceased, aged two years. Mrs. Stoufer died in 1862, and in 1867 he married Mattie Langstaff, daughter of James H. and Catharine (Dixon) Langstaff, and by her has one child, viz., Laura, born August 10, 1830. Mr. Stoufer purchased sixty acres of land one mile north of Pharisburg, in 1867, and turned his attention to farming. In the spring of 1882, he disposed of his farm and purchased one hundred and sixty acres where he now resides and on which he has recently erected a handsome and commodious two-story frame residence. He is a Republican in politics, but, having no aspirations for official honors, he has never been called to serve in any official capacity.

A. J. SMITH, farmer, manufacturer of pressed brick and tile and proprietor of a saw mill. Magnetic Springs, is one of the prominent citizens of the township. His father, a native of Virginia, of English descent, emigrated to Ohio at an early day and settled in Fayette County. In 1824, he married, in Ross County, Christina Howard, a native of Pennsylvania, who also came to Ohio at an early day and settled in Fayette County. They had a family of eight children, five boys and three girls ; both parents died in Union County. Our subject was married in 1864 to Sarah Ann Redding, a daughter of William and Priscilla Redding, the former of Dutch and the latter of English descent. Sbe was born June 4, 1842, and by her Mr. Smith has had eight children, viz.: William S. T., Flora R., Rosalie, Lilla M., Andrew J., Minnie A. and Benjamin F. and Frederick W., twins. Mr. Smith was raised on the Black farm, to which he went when four years of age, and remained until twenty-four. After his marriage, he was "burned out" at Pike's Peak, and in 1869 he went to the Rocky Mountains, where he remained one year and dug for gold nine months. He at one time owned over 800 acres of land in Ohio and Iowa, but now owns only 140 acres, on which he has 500 or 600 rods of hedge fence. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Granger's fraternity. He makes farming the principal object of his attention, but also operates a saw mill and manufactures drain tile extensively and is engaged in the cultivation of grapes.

ROBERT B. SMITH, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, son of Andrew and Jane (Barr) Smith, natives of Pennsylvania, was born in Washington County, Penn., July 12, 1837, and emigrated to Ohio at the age of sixteen years. On December 15, 1864, he married Margaret Westlake, a daughter of Josiah and Christina (Krouff) Westlake, and a native of Belmont County, Ohio, where she was born September 15, 1836. They have had three children, viz.: Eva J., born January 27, 1866, Josephine C, born February, 1869, and William Barr, born January 26, 1871. Our subject was rearel to farm life and has made farming his life occupation. His paternal grandparents were James Smith and Jane, his wife. His maternal grandparents were Robert Barr and Christina, his wife. His wife's grandparents were Samuel Westlake and Elizabeth Reed, his wife.

GEORGE SHREYER, former, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Germany February 2, 1812, and was a son of Adam and Margaret (Helman) Shreyer. He emigrated to America and thirtyfive years ago located where he now resides. He is a farmer by occupation, and has succeeded in accumulating 221 acres of land. He was married April 19, 1839, to Catherine, daughter of Jacob and Ann Catherine (Sicrist) Weaver, a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, where she was born February 22, 1820. By this union ten children were born, viz., Jacob, who married Anna W. Wagner and now lives in Fairfield County ; Ada, deceased; Ann C, Phebe Margaret, Samuel W., who lives in Kansas ; Keziah, Frances R. Mary Alice, Delia Maria and Emma Phonetta. The last named is the only one residing at home, the others being married and settled elsewhere.

ROBERT SHARP, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Ros-* County, Ohio, September 24, 1810. He is a son of Henry and Nancy (Travilian) Sharp, natives of Albemarle County, Va., the former of English «nd the latter of French descent. Our subject was married September4, 1833, to Ann, daughter of Jacob and Eleanor (Devoss) Davis, natives of Ross County, Ohio. By this union five children were born, viz., Allen T., deceased, born July 21, 1834; Matilda, wifeof David Cahill, born i\Iarch 17, 1836; William, born May 6, 1838, asoldierin the Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Clarissa, wife of D. R. Armitage, born April 27, 1840; and Russel B., born July G, 1843. Mrs. Sharp died November 15, 1844, aged thirty-one years, and oa November 12, 1846, Mr. Sharp married Julia Organ, daughter of .John and Susannah (Teter) Organ, a native of Champaign County. By her he had two children - Charles W., born December 22, 1852, and Jennie R., born October 30, 1865. Mr. Sharp owns a farm of eighty-two acres of land, upon which he resides, where he devotes his time wholly to farming and stock dealing. He has crossed the Alleghany Mountains twenty-six times during his life, in the prosecution of his business. He was Superintendent of the County Infirmary for several years ; Deputy Sheriff four years under James B. Whelpley, and Sheriff two terms ; Coroner one year, and, in the latter capacity, held an inquest on the body of C. S. Hamilton, who was killed by his son. Mr. Sharp is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has been a class-leader forty years, and of the Palestine Lodge, No. 158, F. & A. M., and Royal Arch Chapter, No. 99, F. & A. M. His father was born in 1781.

JOHN N. TRICKEY, proprietor livery stable, Magnetic Springs, was born in Licking County, Ohio, .July 6, 1818; he is a son of Christopher and Caroline (Redmon) Trickey, the former a native of West Virginia, of German descent, and the latter of Irish parentage. Our subject grew up on the farm, receiving such schooling as was attainable in the country schools. He followed farming until July 22, 1881, when he engaged in the livery business with Lester Oliver; the latter having since retired. John Mickey has been taken into the firm, under the name of Trickey & Mickey. Mr. Trickey was married, November 15, 1872, to Margaret Braunan, daughter of John and Mary A. (Elliott) Brannan. By this union two children were born, viz., Mary, who died. June 7, 1880, and Sadie, boi-n February 21, 1877. Mr. Trickey owns a very desirable piece of property at Magnetic Springs, on which he resides. He is well adapted to his business, which he conducts in a very successful manner

J. R. TAYLOR, farmer, P. 0. Pharisburg, was born in Champaign County, Ohio, August 15, 1847. He is a son of William H. and Eliza Ellen (Robinson) Taylor, the former of English and the latter of Irish descent. Our subject w is raised on a farm, and early adopted the occupationi of a farmer for his life work. In 1872, he married Miss Emma Bowen, who was born in 1852. By this union four children were born, viz., Ada, Lulu Eva, Harry Wayne, and an infant daughter. Mr. Taylor owns a well-improved form of 147 acres, near Pharisburg, upon which he resides, and which he cultivates in the most successful manner. He is a member of the I. 0. 0. F. Lodge and Encampment, and in politics a stanch Republican, taking an active interest in all questions of public reform, and, especially those advanced by his party. For six years he ably served his township in the capacity of Justice of the Peace.

JOHN WOOD, farmer, P. 0. Claibourne, is a son of Ingram and Ann (Maskill) Wood, and was born in Union County November 12, 1815. He was reared on a farm and educated in the Union County common schools. He was marrieil October 20, 1870, to Miss Margaret Jolliff, who was born in Union County. They have four children, viz., Francis, born July 20, 1871 ; Minnie, born April 17, 1874; Vina, born March 13, 1877, and Harry, born June 25,1880. Mr. Wood devotes his whole time to agricultural pursuits, and in cultivating his farm of forty acres, which lies one mile south of Claibourne. He served four months in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, Capt. Norville. His wife is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church.

A. WALKER, farmer, P. 0. Magnetic Springs, was bora in Delaware County, Ohio, March 16, 1821. His parents were Alexander and Margaret (Cain) Walker, the former a native of Pennsylvania, of Scotch descent, and the latter a native of Virginia, of Irish and Dutch descent. Our subject was married to Mary Adolphia Utley, a daughter of Jared and Polly (Fisher) Utley, and a native of Delaware County, born October 24, 1839. By this Union six children were born, viz., William R., born October 24, 1859; Elizabeth Ann, wife of Marion Roberts, born January 21, 1861, and mother of two children, Charles and George; Solomon A., born November 3, 1863; Mary Margaret, born May 31, 1867; Daisy Dell, born March 11, 1875. and George Ray, born April 16, 1877. Mr. Walker is a farmer by occupation and owns seventyfive acres of land, which he purchased eight years ago. He is a member of Rich wood Lodge, No. 347, I. O. 0. F., and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. He is a Democrat in politics. His father and seven brothers served in the war of 1812. His father was also a Revolutionary soldier. His grandfathers were James Walker and J'arnes Cain.

Source changes here: from The History of Union County Ohio, by Various, published 1883; 22,384 words in this source stream.

Leesburg Township

| EESBURG TOWNSHIP occupies a position in the eastern part of Union 4.1 County. It is bounded on the east by Delaware County; on the north is Claibourne Township; on the west by Taylor, ind on the south by Dover and Paris. Its outlines are broken, owing to the irregular manner in which the original surveys were made, whose bounds the township lines follow.

Tho topography of the township does not differ from that of the remainder of the county. The surface is level, and somewhat low. Itis drained mainly by Boke's Creek, Blues Creek and Grassy Run. The first-mentioned stream enlers the township across the northern part of the western line, and pursues & winding, easterly course, passing into Delaware County. Blue's Creek crosses the south western corner of the township, in a southeasterly direction. Grassy Run rises in the southern part of the township, and flows south. The highest land is along the borders of the streams, and the first settlements were formed here. Away from the streams, the land was regarded as too low and wet for cultivation, and it was believed by the first comers that many years must elapse before settlers would attempt to farm it. Since it has been cleared and drained, however, it has proved to be the best land in the township. During the last few years, tiling has been laid very extensively, and the increase in productiveness thus obtained has amply repaid the cost of drainage. The soil is clayey throughout, with a slight admixture of sand in places.

The swale lands have a surface soil of black clay, underlaid with a substratum of blue clay. Springs are not abundant, but the water found is of excellent quality, and some are strongly impregnated with minerals. A thrifty growth of timber covered the 'township when the first settlers came, and considerable underbrush was found. On the creek bottoms, white and black walnut grew on the uplands were beech, sugar, hickory, white oak, white ash, burr oak, red oak, red elm and other varieties; and in the swale lands black ash, hickory, maple, elm, burr oak and other types prevailed.

Organization And Elections

Leesburg was the seventh township organized in Union County. The date of its erection was 1825. The records of the County Commissioners do not contain its exact date, nor the original boundaries, which, however, included the territory now embraced within Claibourne and Jackson Townships.

1879; Henry Highbargain, 1880; O. B. Martin, 1832. Samuel Lafferty was also an early Justice, but his name does not appear on tbe county record of oaths administered, from which the above list is taken.

The following are the original proprietors of the surveys, comprised within what is now Leesburg Township, with the dates of survey and surveyors: William Semple, No. 803, 1,000 acres, located in the central-western part of the township, surveyed November 17, 1809, by Duncan McArthur; Francis Smith, No. 1,189, 750 acres, located in the northwestern corner of the township, surveyed November 25, 1808, by Duncan McArthur; Falvery Frazier, the representative of William Frazier, deceased, Nos. 3,692 and 3,693, 1,000 acres each, on Boke's Creek, northwestern part of township, surveyed September 16, 1799, by Lucas Sullivant; Thomas Frazier, heir to Falvery Frazier, Nos. 3,694 and 3,696, a corner of the latter in Delaware County, 1,000 acres each, on Boke's Creek, in eastern part of township, surveyed September 16 and 17, 1799, by Lucas Sullivant: Andrew Meade, assignee, No. 5,006, 1,796 acres, in southwestern corner of township, surveyed November 8, 1807, by James Galloway; Robert Means, assignee, No. 5586, 1,000 acres, northern part of township. surveyed November 25, 1807, by James Galloway; Thomas M. Bailey, assignee, No. 5,618, 1,000 acres, on Blue's Creek, southwestern part of township, surveyed January 10, 1808, by James Galloway; Robert Means, assignee, Nos. 5,630 and 6,510, 900 acres, in western part of township, surveyed November 11, 1811, by Duncan McArthur; William B. Bunting's representatives, No. 5,870, 1,000 acres in southern part of township, surveyed June 2, 1808, by James Galloway; Benjamin W. Ladd, No. 6,010, 711 acres, in southwestern part of township, surveyed October 10, 1808, by James Galloway; Edward Dromgoole, assignee, No. 6,031, 1,500 acres, partly in Delaware County, surveyed October 10, 1808, by James Galloway; John Baird, assignee, No. 6,033, 1,000 acres, in northern part of township, surveyed April 14, 1809, by James Galloway; John Baird, assignee, No. 6,199, 400 acres, corner in Delaware County, surveyed April 14, 1809, by James Galloway; James Barnett, assignee, No. 6,211, 840 acres, in northeast corner of township, surveyed by James Galloway, March 29, 1810; Samuel Hyde Saunders, No. 13,066, 100 acres, in northern part of township, surveyed February 5, 1530, by Cadwallader Wallace; Frances T. Short, widow of Wiley Short, deceased, and Martha P. Williams, wife of William Williams, the two daughters and heirs of Capt. Cuthbert Harrison, Nos. 13,502 and 15,941, 6663 acres, in southeastern part of township, surveyed October 18, 1834, by Cadwallader Wallace. Besides the above, there are, in the northeastern part of the township, small fractions of the following four surveys, which lie mostly in Delaware County: Joseph Taggert and others, Nos, 6,540 and 6,889, 418 acres, surveyed by John Kerr, October 20, 1810; H. Bedinger, No. 1,931, 800 acres, surveyed by John Kerr, November 6, 1800; Cadwallader Wallace, No. 15,056, 83 acres, surveyed by Cadwallader Wallace, December 26, 1847; John Barrell, No. 3,402, 500 acres, surveyed November 24, 1807, by James Galloway. As will beseen from the foregoing, the greater part of the township was surveyed from 1807 to 1810. Only the four Frazier surveys, including all the land in the township that lies on Boke's Creek, were surveyed prior to this time; and they were surveyed in 1799. A majority of the surveys that lie wholly in the township are of 1,000 acres each, and the average size reaches almost that amount. The division lines between Leesburg and the bordering townships in Union County, do not cross any surveys. The actual amount of land within a survey often exceeds considerably the area for which it was surveyed.

Tax Valuations

In 1825, the personal property, returned in Leesburg Township, consisted of six horses and twenty-seven cattle. Of these, two horses and thirteen cattle belonged to what isnow Claibourne Township. Jeremiah Gardner owned one horse; Simon Gates, Sr., four cattle; Simon Gates, Jr., four cattle; Culwell Williamson, two horses and four cattle; Hale Winchester, one horse and two cattle. Horses and cattle were the only kinds of personal property then taxed. The former were valued at $40 each; the iatter at $8. In 1830, there were in the township 33 horses, 115 cattle; total valuation, $2,240; tax, $22.40. There were 22,975 acres of land, valved at $24,557, and taxed for $227.99.

Early Settlement

The early settlers were largely from Clark County. In the northwestern part of the township particularly, the majority hailed from that locality, aud over the rest of the township was a fair representation from the same place. Some of the earliest settlers were lured hitherto by the game which frequented the forests, while others came for the purpose of engaging exclusively in agricultural pursuits. Deer was the principal game that was sought for, swarms of bees were plentiful in the woods, and wild honey was found on every pioneer's table. Bee-hunting consumed much of the time of the first settlers. The honey did not possess a great commercial value and was little in demand, for nearly every one supplied himself with the article, though some became much more expert in procuring it than others. The bee-hunter was usually supplied with pocket compass, to note and follow the course the bees would take when freighted with honey. Bees were attracted to a spot by the scent arising from honeycomb burnt by the hunter between two heated stones. Honey, or, better yet, honey mixed with extract of anise seed, war sprinkled near, and when the bees that alighted were surfeited, after circling around for a few times, they would fly away in a " bee line" for home. By getting the courses of two bees of the same swarm from two localities, the swarm would be found in the tree at the intersection of these two lines. When a bee tree was once found, the hunter would cut his initials on the bark of the tree, and by universal consent it became his individual property, to be cut down and the honey extracted therefrom at his leisure. The Indian plan of honey gathering was to climb a tree and cut out the honey. Ina three weeks' hunt, an early settler in Leesburg Township found twenty-five trees, and from two hives in one of them, an ash on the farm where William Bonnett now lives on Grassy Run, procured ten gallons of honey.

The first settlement was made in the sonthwestern part, on Blues Creek. The exact date at which it was formed, and the pioneer who first pitched his camp there, it is impossible now to discover, as these pioneers have all removed to other counties or died long since. They were mostly squatters, who came into the midst of a deep solitude for the purpose of hunting, long before the proprietors of the land could find ready purchasers for it. A cluster of settlers from Clark County settled here before 1820, and the central and most prominent figure in the group was Simon Gates. He was a man highly esteemed in those days of rough frontier life, but did not stay long after the country around him began to be thickly settled. His father, Simon Gates, Sr., owned sixty-one acres in Survey 5,506, and departed this life a few years after he immigrated to the township.

Hale Winchester was one of these primitive pioneers. He, too, hailed from Clark County. His wife was Sybil Gates, a daughter of Simon Gates, Sr. He first oceupied land on Blues Creek as a squatter, but afterward purchased a small place and finally emigrated to the West. David Gallant, George Anthony, Nelson Emery and Henry Hulse were also among the earliest settlers on Blues Creek. They were all from Clark County, and some years after they came to the township purchased land here. David Gallant married Phoebe, a daughter of Henry Gandy, raised a family, and then moved to the West. The wife of George Anthony was Mrs. Polly Shepherd, also a daughter of Henry Gandy. Mr. Anthony went West when hunting became poor in this vicinity. Emery Wilson married Selinda Brooks, and brought his family to Leesburg Township. He died here, and his family removed to the West. The wife of Henry Hulse was a sister to Emery Wilson.

Culwell Williamson, of Lynebburg, Va., early in this century purchased Survey 3,694, of 1,000 acres, 200 acres being reserved by the grantor for two Virginian local preachers - Revs. Munson and Denton - the reservation to be surveyed by Mr. Williamson. In 1811, he visited the land, riding horseback from Virginia. No white settlers were then near, but the woods were full of Indians. Mr. Williamson soon returned to Virginia, and twice again came to see the land before emigrating. In 1824, he gathered tugether his effects, and, placing them in a four-horse wagon, bade farewell to Old Virginia, and, with his sister, Mrs. Jane Martin, a widow, her three children - Samuel, Culwell and Ann - and James and Nancy Oglesbie, a young nephew and niece, began a wearisome journey to Ohio. Eight weeks were consumed on the trip. Procuring assistance from the Scioto River, the men coming befcre 7 o'clock in the morning and working till late. in the one day the cabin was raised, clapboard roof placed over it and a déor sawed out and hung in place. That night, for the first time since they left Virginia, it rained; but there was shelter overhead, and the pattering rain-drops on the roof were music to their ears. This was the first settlement in the upper part of the township. The cabin stood on the farm now owned by O. Jewett, about one mile up Boke's Creek, from Magnetic Springs. Mr. Williamson was an old bachelor. By trade he was a carpenter. He surveyed his land into small tracts, and sold much of it to incoming settlers. Thomas Tunks purchased 100 acres soon after, in the southwest corner of the survey. Joseph Brannon, Henry Hulse and Isaac White each obtained 100 acres, and Joseph White and Arad Franklin also became purchasers. Richard Hoskins bought the Rey. Denton 100- acre tract, and William Wells the Munson tract. Mr Williamson died in 1828.

Culwell Martin died in 1828. He had married Sophia McCune in that year. Their only child, Culwell, is now living in Michigan. Sarauel Martin married Sarah Pugh, of Marion County, and settled on 100 acres of the Williamson land. He remained on the farm through life, for a time operated a mill on Bokes Creek, and died in 1854. His children were nine in number- - Elizabeth, wife of Emery Newhouse; Ann, married to Levi Skeels, and residing in Kentuck;; James; Thomas; Richard, deceased; Samuel, a lawyer at Eureka, Kan.; John, deceased; Llewellyn and Oliver B.

Richard Hoskins was born in Franklin, Franklin Co., Ohio, in 1804; removed to Delaware County, and, in 1827, settled in Leesburg Township, on the 100 acre farm which Dr. Skidmore now owns, about a mile up Boke's Creek from Magnetic Springs. There was no clearing on the place when he settled there, and the remainder of his life was spent upon this home farm, to which he became deeply attached. He was well respected by his neighbors and his judgment and advice was always held in high esteem. In 1827, he married Ann H. Martin. Their marriage was blessed with a family of ten children, only four of whom survive, viz.: James M., proprietor of the Hoskins House, Magnetic Springs; Culwell; Ellen, wife of Ephraim D. Pitts; and Ann, the wife of James Leeper. Mr. Hoskins died in 1870.

James Oglesbie wás raised on the Williamson place. He married Ann Wells, the daughter of William Wells, and for a time engaged in farming in this township. He then sold out, and removed to Marysville, where he died. Nancy Oglesbie married William McAllister, and lived and died in Leesburg Township.

Thomas Tunks settled in the township in 1825. He had formerly been a resident of Clark Couaty. He first came out and built a cabin, living in the meantime in a rudely built camp. He then brought his family to his new wilderness home. Mr. Tunks was a farmer by education and occupation, and tilled the soil upon the place he first settled in this township for the remainder of his life. His wife was Ann Wallingsford; his children - Rachel, wife of Levi Spencer, a Missouri farmer; Jane, deceased, who was the wife of William McAllister; Allen, Levi, William, Thomas and Samuel.

In 1825, Joseph White, Benjamin White, Arad Franklin and William Franklin started from their homes in Clark County to visit Bokes Creek, forty miles away, with the intention of settling there if a desirable location was found. They had but one horse. Arad Franklin was just recovering from a spell of sickness, and Joseph White was aged. These two alternately rode, while the others walked. They reached Newton, and remained there overnight. The next morning they traveled northward till they reached Bokes Creek, about eight miles above Pharisburg. From that point Joseph White returned to Newton with the horse. The other three continued down the stream, threading their way, as best they could, through the rough thickets, until they reached the place Thomas Tunks had purchased. He was there, with his boys, building a cabin. They stopped that night with him, and the next day started on their return journey. They were pleased with the country, and determined to locate here. Isaac White came out first, in February, 1826. He was born in Pennsylvania, emigrated with his father, J oseph White to Clark County, and here married Jane Hulse. After his arrival in Leesburg, he pursued the even tenor of a farmer's life up to the date of his death, which resulted from typhoid fever.

Joseph White was born near Winchester, Va., and when seven years old moved to Pennsylvania with a Mr. Tucker, and in his domicile grew to maturity. He then crossed the Ohio River and lived awhile on Short Creek, and from that place traversed westward to Harmony Township, Clark County, where he passed many years. While here, during the war of 1812, he served a short time at the Zanefield block-house, in Logan County. In 1826, when he moved to Leesburg Township, his children had grown up. Some of them accompanied him to his new home; others remained in Clark County. His three daughters, who settled in this towaship were Jane, Elizabeth, the wife of Bradford Wood, and Sarah, wife of Perry Eubanks. Mr. White passed his declining years here and died in the township. | with his father, in November, 1813, to Hamilton County, Ohio, and eight years later to Clark County. Here Arad married Nancy White, March 6, 1525, and in October, 1826, packed his few household goods in a wagon, and, with his wife and infant child, made his way to the Culwell Williamson land. He purchased fifty-seven acres north of Bokes Creek, paying for it $2.50 per acre, He moved his family intu the house of his father-in-law, Joseph White, and returned to Clark County to harvest his corn crop. During the ensuing winter, he built his cabin, and moved into it in February, 1827. Mr. Franklin has ever since been a resident of the township, and though he is now eighty years old, is hale and hearty, and still active and busy with his farm duties.

Henry Gandy, a Yankee from New Jersey originally, had settled in Darby Plains, and from that place came to Leesburg Township about 1827, and settled about two miles up Bokes Creek from Pharisburg, on the south side of the stream, in Survey 8,692, where he purchased 200 acres of land. He was an old man when he came, and had a family of children who had grown to maturity, and who settled in the same locality. Mr. Gandy had been twice married. By his first marriage he had six children, four daughters and two sons - Abijah and George. By the second marriage he had three sons, Harris, Shepherd and John. He was a farmer by occupation, and died on the farm he settled on in this township. Abijah had married Rebecca Harris before he came to Leesburg; was a prominent and influential citizen, and lived and died here. His farm was just east of that of his father, and just west of the latter was the place of George Gandy, who afterward moved to Illinois. Shepherd occupied the home place after his father's decease, until he emigrated West, and John now occupies it.

Ephraim Carey emigrated from Washington County, Penn., to near Marietta, Ohio, in 1796, and in 1901 near Plain City, in Madison County. In 1826, he came to Leesburg Township, arriving on the 16th day of December. He here spent the balance of his life. He died December 7, 1878, aged nearly eighty-nine years. He was long a member of the Presbyterian Church.

About 1827, John Wood moved from Clark County to the place his son, Ingham Wood, now occupies, two miles above Pharisburg. He was advanced in life when he came, and spent the remainder of his life here.

About the same time, Alexander Elliott came from Clark County for the purpose of preparing a home for his family. He had contracted the disease called " milk sickness" before he came, and was just recovering from it. By too great application to the arduous labor that confronted him here in the wilderness, he suffered a relapse, aud died at the residence of Abijah Gandy. His family afterward moved to the place. His son John now occupies it; his son Samuel has emigrated to the West.

In 1826, Joseph Brannon moved, with a large family, to the township from Clark County, and settled on the south side of Bokes Creek, below Pharisburg. His wife was Jane Hulse, a sister to Henry Hulse. Mr. Brannon removed with his family to Illinois.

David Bacon had come from Clark County prior to 1880. He was not a property holder, and first took a lease from Bradford Wood. Leasing was practiced to a large extent in early times. The terms of a lease then were usually different from contracts of this nature made now. No rent was paid by the tenant, nor a share of the farm products given, but the tenant, in consideration of the free use of a tract of land for a stipulated period, agreed to clear a given amount of land within that time and build a cabin. Ordinarily, a lease would provide for the erection of a cabin and clearing of twenty acres of timber, for which improvement the tenant was to have possession for ten years. Mr. Bacon died ir the township, and none of his family now reside here. His son Constant removed to Delaware County. William Borum, a genuine specimen of the rough frontiersman, tarried here for awhile, coming before 1830.

Alexander Cowgill settled early on the siteof Mineral Springs. He came from the Scioto River, in Delaware County. While there, he had served as a scout in the war of 1812. Mr. Cowgill remained here only a short time. He sold his landed estate in Leesburg Township to Samuel Barcus, and crossed the line into Claibourne Township, where he died. He had one son - George - and a family of girls.

The following settlers were here in 1830. They had entered the township within a few years prior to that date Abraham Elifritz lived for a time on Blues Creek. Thomas Foreman settled on Bokes Creek, about three miles above Pharisburg. He was from Clark County, and after a residence here emigrated to Champaign County, Ill. Pierce Lamphere lived in the southern part of the township. He was quite an old man when he arrived. William McIntire became a settler on Blues Creek. He was from Clark County, and died not many years after he became a citizen of Leesburg. John Price made the first improvements on a farm on' Blues Creek. He did not remain long,' but in 1830 removed to Jackson Township. His brother, David Price, also changed his residence to Jackson Township. Ira Phelps was a resident on Blues Creek, but his abode here was transient. John Sovereign was for a time an occupant of land in Leesburg Township. He had formerly resided on Mill Creek, two miles below Marysville. Samuel Simpson was a settler from Clark County. His first wife was a daughter of Joseph Brannon. Mr. Simpson moved West, and-died inthe summer of 1882.

In addition to the foregoing settlers, in 1835 the following were also citizens of Leesburg Township: Deliverance Brown, Lorenzo D. Beebe, Matthias Collins, Robert P. Curby, Stephen Davis, Samuel Graham, Thomas Graham, Henry Goodrich, John Gamble, Robert Gamble, Jonathan Jones, Samuel Lafferty, Thomas Lee, Hugh McAdaw, John McAllister, John Newhouse, Samuel Meek, Robert Maskill, William Mawhater, Alexander McConkey, Robert Pharis, James Sibold, Joseph Bellvile and Stephen Smith. There were, doubtless, others, whose names have not been obtained. A number of the above had settled in the township several years before 1835.

Deliverance Brown built a cabin and lived with his family on Bokes Creek, about two miles above Pharisburg. He was considered one of the best hunters in the county, and was occupied most of the time in his favorite pursuit. He annually killed from seventy-five to one hundred deer. He finally sold out, when game could no longer be found, and sought a more congenial environment in the West. !

Lorenzo Beebe lived with his father.in-law, Daniel Reed, about a mile north of Pharisburg. They were New England people, and in a few years both families moved West.

Matthias Collins had come from Clark County to Union County, and for a time wasa tavern keeper at Marysville. He then settled below Blues Creek, in the southern part of this township. He was an eccentric character, well informed and intelligent, but more theoretical than practical, and possessed of a number of queer ideas. His second wife was a sister of Simon Gates, Jr., and he moved West with him.

Robert P. Curby brought his family from Warren County about 1834, and purchased a farm from Robert Pharis, situated on Bokes Creek, about one and a half miles above Pharisburg. He subsequently returned to Warren

Stephen Davis hailed from somewhere in the East. He purchased and occupied a farm in the southwestern portion, and there remained with his family until his death, Samuel Graham was from Clark County, and, like many other early settlers, removed with his family to Illinois.

Henry Goodrich owned a farm near Pharisburg, on which he died at a good old age. His family still lives there. John Gamble came with his family from Clark County, and settled near Blues Creek. He died here, and his sons sold out and moved away. Jonathan Jones lived on the north side of Boke's Creek, about one and a half miles above Pharisburg. He subsequently removed to Porter County, Ind., where his children now live.

Samuel Lafferty, a native of Virginia, emigrated to Champaign County, and thence to Union County. He purchased and occupied a farm about a mile east from Pharisburg on the Delaware Pike, for awhile, then returned to Champaign County, and there died. Thomas Lee, in 1832, emigrated from Virginia to Clark County, and in 1833 settled on a hundred-acre farm on Blues Creek. He raised a family of twelve children, and died in March, 1864, aged seventy-three years. Hugh McAdaw settled about a mile northwest of Pharisburg. Jobn McAllister came from Pickaway County, and settled on a farm in the woods in the eastern part of the township, where he died August 7, 1856, aged sixty-four years. His son, John McAllister, now lives there.

Samuel Meek came from Coshocton County. He was an honest, somewhat singular man, quick to resent an insult. He built a mill on Bokes Creek, on leased land, and later removed to Illinois.

Robert Maskill settled in the northwestern portion of the township, where he died. He came from Clark County. William Mawhater, who moved to the township from Coshocton County, purchased and took possession of a little farm in Survey 5,586. He afterward removed from the township. Alexander McConkey owned and occupied a farm in the same survey. He was. from Clark County; returned there and then moved West.

John Newhouse, in 1834, settled just north of the site of Magnetic Springs. He was born in Pickaway County in 1806; removed with his father to Delaware County in 1814, then settled in this township. He/ remained on the farm until 1881, when he removed to Magnetic Springs, and is now a resident of that place. t

Robert Pharis purchased Survey 3,693, of 1,000 acres, and immigrated to it from the East prior to 1835. He was a shrewd Yankee, successsful in business and prominent in local public affairs. His sons, Samuel, Joel, Martin and two younger children also came West and settled on this survey. Samuel and Joel were well educated men. Robert Pharis died shortly before 1848, and the family moved farther West.

In 1833, Joseph Bellville, from Belmont County, settled on the farm on Blues Creek, which his son Sylvanus now owns. Joseph died here in 1863. He had twelve children, ten of whom are now living, but widely scattered through Ohio, Michigan and Iowa. His wife, Sarah, died in 1882, aged eightyseven years.

One of the earliest schools was taught in a log schoolhouse, about a half mile south of Pharisburg, by Samuel Pharis. Naomi Carney was another early teacher of this school. There were, doubtless, several small schools in the early Blues Creek settlement, but nothing is known of them.

Magnetic Springs

Magnetic Springs is the title that has been bestowed upon a village of recent but vigorous growth, located in the northern part of Survey 3,696, in a bend on the south side of Boke's Creek. Its existence is due to the discovery there of 'mineral waters, possessing strong medicinal properties, and its population consists largely of invalids or persons in broken health, who have come to test and prove the efficacy of nature's remedy, stored in the free, gushing springs of water in this vicinity. i ;

. The principal part of the village - all lying west of the pike - was covered with forest trees, until, perhaps, eighteen years ago. J. W. Hoskins then built a cabin here, and cleared off the greater portion of the timber. In 1872, J. E. Newhouse having purchased the site of Magnetic Springs, started a nursery and garden, which supplied the surrounding farmers for many miles with grape vines and other nursery products. The travel to and from his place was considerable, and the mud road, in bad weather, was almost impassable. He petitioned the Commissioners for a pike, and offered to donate the gravel for two miles of the road, from a fine bed of gravel on the place. The gravel road was built, and the material for four and a half miles of road dug from the pit. Intent on utilizing the cavity thus made in his field, he requested the Commissioners that the surface soil be not thrown back into the hollow as the gravel was removed, as he designed converting it into a fish pond. For the purpose of supplying the pond with water, in April, 1879, he sunk a well, sixty-eight feet deep, close by, without reaching rock, and was about to abandon the undertaking as fruitless when the water gushed out from the opening, furming a pretty fountain. The sight was a novel one in this vicinity, and many came to see it, and naturally partook of the stream. Several who were afflicted with kidney difficulties experienced relief, and it was not long until wonderful stories of the healing powers of the water were circulated abroad, and the water was carried off by hundreds of gallons. In the autumn of 1878, M. F. Langstaff had become the partner of Mr. Newhouse in the nursery business, and after the interest in the fountain was aroused they built a bath-house near the fountain for the benefit of those who wished its use. A number of persons desired lots, and for their accommodation, Novem. ber 24 and 25, 1879, fifty in-lots and five blocks were surveyed by F. A Gartner for J. E. Newhouse and Duncan and Matilda McLean, the Jatter two having purchased Mr. Langstaff's interest.

The additions to the village have been as follows: N. D. Degood's Addition, consisting of twenty-four in.lots (51-74), comprising about five and onesixth acres, situated south of the original site, was surveyed by F. A. Gartner, March 31, 1880; N. D. Degood's Second Addition, twenty-five lots (75-9 9), was surveyed by F. A. Gartner March 3, 1881; H. C. Hoskins' Addition of thirteen lots (100-112), was surveyed May 6, 1881, by J. Van Pearse; James E. McBride's Addition of fourteen lots (113-126), was surveyed July 1, 1881, by J. Van Pearse.

^ The residence of Mr. Newhouse was the only building in the village west of the pike, in 1879. In 18S0, about a dozen houses were erected, and there are now over one hundred. A considerable portion of the population is floating. It vmies from three hundred to five hundred. John Smith was appointed Postmaster in the spring of 1880, and still retains the office. He started the first grocery. The first dry goods store was opened by A. L. Smith & Sons, of Richwood, in the spring of 1881. There are now two dry goods stores, owned respectively by Buffington Lynn and Hill & Jolliff. The latter firm purchased the stock of Smith & Sons. There are also in the village two groceries, L. Roley and John Smith; one hardware store. Bee & Murphy: one drug store, Dr. H. McFadden; one jeweler store, Ramey & Son; a billiard hall, bakery and restaurant, photograph gallery, meat market, extensive livery establishment, owned by Mickey & Trickey, a shoe, and a blacksmith shop.

traveling public generally, there are three good hotels and quite a number of boarding houses. The Fountain House was built by M. F. Langstaff, in 1880. It was the first building erected in that year. Mr. Langstaff sold it to A. Thompson, and it has subsequently been leased to Mr. Hill, the present host. The erection of the Park House was begun in 1880 and completed in 1881. It is an imposing and spacious three story frame structure, 52x80, the largest building in the village. Morgan Savage and A. W. Robinson, the builders, still own it, The latter is proprietor of the hotel. The Hoskins House was commenced in 1881, and finished the spring following. J. M. Hoskins is proprietor. From fifty to three hundred guests are registered constantly at the hotels and stopping at private boarding houses, and they tax to the utmost the capacity of the village for hospitality.

Indications point to the erection of two large hotels during the summer of 1888, one of them by W. M. Murphy & Son, of Cleveland. They have purchased a very desirable site for a building of this kind, and in the autumn of 1882 were engaged in sinking an artesian well to a great depth, with a view to supplying the proposed hotel with water. In November, a depth of 700 feet was reached, and the work still progressing. The water rose to within a foot of the surface, but a flow had not yet been attained.

A frame schoolhouse was built in 1882, the first one in the village, and O. ©. Degood was the teacher during the ensuing winter. There are no church edifices yet erected, but a Methodist society has been organized, and small; Rev. Jagger preaches to it. Two physicians, Drs. McFadden and $. S. Skidmore, are resident practitioners. The dwelling houses are far above the average in villages of the same size, for neat and attractive appearance,

A large bath house has lately been constructed, which is supplied with water by a twelve-horse power engine. The park grounds, including the springs, lake, bath house, cottages and two hotels, comprise seven acres, and are owned by Newhouse, McLean & Co.

In all directions from the first well that was sunk, outside of a radius of probably one hundred feet, limestone rock exists from thirteen to thirty feet below the surface, while at the spring, at the depth of seventy-seven feet, no rock was encountered. This deep pocket from which the mineral magnetic water arises, below the depth of thirty feet is filled with a reddish substance resembling hard clay for thirty feet, and below it is a gray-colored substance of similar composition, An analysis of this water, made by Prof. E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati, shows the following: having distinct mineral ingredients. One of them, a sulphur spring, is located about a mile southeast of the village; a spacious avenue has just been opened to it. A park of fourteen acres has been purchased, including a grove. It is proposed to erect here, during the summer of 1883, a large hotel and a number of cottages, and to connect it with the village by a street-car line.

Pharisburg was surveyed by William B. Irvin July 21, 1847, and the plat acknowledged May 25, 1848, by the proprietor, Allen Pharis, administrator of Robert Pharis, deceased. It contained forty-five lots, including ten acres and sixty-two poles. Its location, near the southeast corner of Survey 3,693, and near the center of the township, had previously been known as " Scott's Corners." The residence of Samuel Pharis, a large, two-story, hewed-log house, stood on the site when the plat was made, and Francis Scott soon after built a frame house west of the road, running north and south. Merilla Cameron, a young Kentuckian, sold the first goods here. He brought them before the village was laid out and operated the store only a year or two. Not long after the discontinuance of this store. Mr. J. Reed opened a general stock of goods, and did business for some time. Matilda Chiggage taught the first school. Thomas Barcus was the first Postmaster. Benjamin Welch, Samuel Kirk, S. A. Tunks, Benjamin Welch again and A. B. Stricker have been his successors.

Dr. McClaskey, of Pennsylvania, was the first physician. In th» spring of 1856, Dr. M. Thompson entered on a practice which was continued twelve years. Dr. H. McFadden came about 1867. Dr. Henry Vigor soon after practiced for a few years. Dr. R. A. Gray was here only a short time. Dr. S. S. Skidmore, in the spring of 1882, closed in part for practice of about ten years' duration, by removing to Magnetic Springs. He was succeeded at Pharisburg by Dr. G. J. Skidmore. Dr. Samuel Breese settled in the village about 1869, and practiced till his death in March, 1881.

At present there are three stores at Pharisburg, owned respectively by A. B. Stricker, A. G. McAdow and William Hayes. There are two blacksmith shops and nearly two hundred people. A new schoolhouse has just been erected, and a township graded high school, the first ever held, is in operation, witb S. W. Van Winkle as teacher.

The Daughters of Rebekah, Pharisburg Lodge, was instituted May 15, 1879. The first officers were Elizabeth Hoskins, N. G.; Emma Langstaff, V. G.; Maggie Stricker, Rec. Sec.; Emma Taylor, Fin. Sec.; Elizabeth Green, Treasurer. The other original members were Mattie White, Mary Hickok, Mary Gandy, Mary Rinehart, Mary Clevinger, Lola Hoskins, Anna A. Langstaff, Rosalinde Mayfield and Bell Green. The membership is now about forty. The regular meetings are held every Wednesday on or before the full

Leesburg Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, No. 372, was granted a dispensation January 9, 1874, and chartered May 26, 1874. 'The hall was built by a joint-stock company of its members. This company still owns the lower floor, the upper story is the joint property of the Grange and the Odd Fellows lodge. The present membership is about forty; J eremiah Rivehart is Master, and Josephus Brannon, Overseer. Regular meetings are held every Wednesday afternoon on or before the full moon. x

The Methodist Protestant Church at Pharisburg is a large, substantial frame structure, which was dedicated July 4, 1875, by Rev. Alexander Clark, of Pittsburgh, Penn. The church is well finished and surmounted by a bell. Its total cost was about $2,500. The old frame church, in use before the present one was erected, is still standing. It was built about 1850. The society was organized some time before this latter date, and held its meetings in private houses for awhile, and then in the schoolhouse north of Boke's Creek. Early and prominent members were Alexander McKonkey, the Laffertys, Abraham Blackburn, Julius A. Bell and Julia his wife, Harvey Skeels, Benjamin W. Welch and his wife Elizabeth, and J. H. Langstaff and his wife Catharine. Revs. O. P. Stephens and Sanford Flood were early ministers. Rev. W. M. Creamer is the present pastor. The membership is not so strong as it has been in past times. A Sabbath school is maintained throughout the ear. 2 A Universalist Church was organized here, anda church built about twenty-five years ago, but the society continued in active operation only a few years. Isaac Zane, Stephen Davis, Amasa Rosencrantz and Abijah Gandy were included in its membership. Revs. Arba Gass and Waite administered to the congregation. 5

The Pharisburg Universalist Church was organized in Augúst, 1879, at the Methodist Protestant Church, by Rev. Mrs. Letta D. Crosley, who has since been pastor. The society began with only a few members, and has now increased to about forty. Among the early members were George W. Cary and wife, William Foster and wife, John Gandy and wife, Jasper Cary and. wife, John Elliott and wife, Lester Webster and wife, George Hill and wife, Othneil Jewett and Andrew Hartman. Services are held once a month in the Methodist Protestant Church.

Hopewell Methodist Episcopal Church was organized about 1830, at the house of Samuel Martin. It began with a very limited membership, consisting chiefly of the Martin family and Culwell Williamson. A hewed-log church, located about one and one-fourth miles northeast of Pharisburg, was built and served as the house of worship till the present frame building was erected. A protracted meeting was conducted by Rev. Longfellow about 1858, which resulted in a great increase of members. The church has since been weakened from a variety of causes, and at present there are no regular services.

In Hildreth's Schoolhouse, west of Pharisburg, a Christian, or * New Light," society was organized several years ago. Rev. Shirk held services there for some time, and Rev. Hurd has been preaching for several years. The society is gaining in strength. David Hildreth, Albert Gardner, Emanuel Shinnaman and Daniel Burkopile are members. A Sunday school is conducted during the summer.

Blues Creek Christian, or " New Light," Church, located on the Marysville Pharisburg pike, is the home of a small society, which was organized in 1833 or 1884. About that time, a log meeting house was built, about a half mile south of the present church, on the farm now owned by Ira Phelps. Joseph and Sarah Bellville, Hale Winchester, Jonathan and Polly Brooks, Thomas and Anna Lee, Mr. Spurgeon and wife and Mrs. Hannah Phelps were early members. Elders Ashley and Barber were pioneer preachers. They were succeeded by Elder John McInturf, who was a powerful preacher and a well- . beloved pastor. The old log church subserved its purpose until 1861. The present edifice was then coustructed, on a lot donated to the society by Jacob Lee. It was dedicated, in October, 1861, by Elder Danie] Long, an aged and revered minister of the church. At that time, Nicholas Bellville, Robert Lee and Thomas Lee were prominent members. The Christian society formed recently in a schoolhouse just west of Pharisburg drew its membership largely from the Blue's Creek congregation. Owing to this, and to deaths and removals, the numerical strength of the church has been weakened. It once numbered eighty, but now scarcely more than one-fourth that number. Elder William Webb, in 1868 and 1869, conducted a revival, which resulted in thirty-six accessions to the church in one year, and many during the next. Elder Lure was the pastor last year. At present there is no settled minister, but Elder Kerris has been supplying the church in this capacity. The Sabbath school, which has been held for many years, is very successful. It was superintended last year by Hii Hildebrand.

In the extreme southern edge of Leesburg Township, near the southwest corner of Survey 5,870, is a frame meeting house called Ryan's Chapel, the property of a Methodist society that worships here. It received its name from James Ryan, a local minister of Dover Township. A Methodist Church, known as Mount Harmon, formerly existed about three 'miles south of Ryan's Chapel. After the village of Dover attained some importance, many of the members of Mount Harmon, who resided in Dover, wished the place of meeting changed to the village. Those members who resided north of the church were unwilling that the church be removed. A compromise was effected by dividing the membership, and each of the two divisions obtained a church centrally and favorably located. The northern portion of the old congregation erected Ryan's Chapel, during the spring and summer of 1868. Lewis White, of Dover, was the contractor. During the winter preceding its erection, a protracted series of meetings were conducted in the schoolhouse, about threefourths of a mile north of the church, by Rev. Isaiah Herderson. Many conversions were made, and the interest which was aroused led to the building of the church. George Montgomery, John Montgomery, W illiam, John, Samuel and William H. Bonnett, Thomas Kindal, Louis White and Jesse Carpenter were prominent members. Rev. Waters, of Delaware, dedicated the church. The membership was once strong, and now exceeds thirty. Rev. Jaggers is the pastor in charge, holding services each alternate Sabbath. The congregation forms a part of the Dover Circuit. Besides these two charges, Ostrander and Millville churches are included in the circuit. A Sabbath school is regularly maintained during the summer and sometimes is continued through the winter.

Union Chapel is a substantial, neat, brick edifice, 28x88 feet in dimensions, located in the extreme eastern part of the township, on tne Delaware & Bellefontaine pike. It is the joint property of two religious societies, a Christian Union and a Disciple congregation, which worship here separately, and was erected by them in 1872, at a cost of about $1,800. The property is controlled by five Trustees, two of whom are chosen by each congregation, and the fifth, who holds the deeds of the property, is selected by the four so chosen, and is to be a member of neither church. The land for the building was donated to the two societies by John McAllister. The church was dedicated by Rev. John Clise, a Christian Union minister, then of Columbus, had its origin in 1863. A number of the members of the Methodist Episcopal and of the Methodist Protestant Churches, who were dissatisfied with the political character of the public services held there, ceased to attend; but soon realizing the need of religious exercises, they formed a class, independent of any denomination, and met in the Beech Grove Schoolhouse for prayer meetings. This class consisted originally of about sixteen members and, as near- 'ly as can be ascertained, included the names of Richard Hoskins and wife, Abram Hall and wife, Arad Frarklin and wife, Benjamin Long and wife, Sarak Hickok, John Manuel, Richard Peters and wife, Jane and Nancy Franklin and Jacob Hoskins and wife. After a little while, the services of Rev. Samuel Hull, an Independent Baptist minister, were procured; he preached to the society for six months. When the sect known as the Christian Union Church was organized, this independent society joined it. Rev. Roscellus Gates was the first Christian Union minister in charge. He entered upon his pastoral duties in 1864, and remained with the congregation two years. The services were held in the schoolhouse until the erection of Union Chapel. Among the ministers who have served this society are Revs. Jacob Hoskins, Durant, of Westerville, Lacey, Levi Ely, Hannawalt, Racey and Baker. The circuit to which it belongs comprises four charges besides this one--Millville, Scioto Valley, Liberty aud New Salem. Of these, the first three are in Delaware County; the last one is in Franklin County. The membership of Beech Grove numbers about thirty. Until the Sabbath school was organized at Mineral Springs, a year or two ago, one was regularly maintained in this church.

The Disciple congregation that meets here was formed by the union of two similar societies, both of which were in Delaware County. One was known as the Money Church, in Thompson Township, the other worshiped in a schoolhouse in Scioto Township. After they united, services were held in a Delaware County Schoolhouse, until Union Chapel was erected. At that time there were very few members besides John McAllister from this township, but a number have afterward entered the township and joined the society. The membership at present is not very strong. Rev. Call was pastor when the church was built. Rev. Moss is the minister now in charge. ^

The first burial-place in Leesburg Township, was on J oseph Brannon's farm, half a mile east of Pharisburg. Quite a number of early settlers were buried here, among them Alexander Elliott. The place is no longer used as a public graveyard. Before it was set apart for this purpose, the Decker graveyard, in Delaware County, was used.

Connected with the Hopewell Church is a burying-ground, where the remains of many early residents of the northern portion of the township repose. It is still a public cemetery.

Close by an old log Presbyterian Church, which was located in the southwestern part of the township, was acemetery, which has also ceased to be used for this purpose. Another, south of Blues Creek, on the farm of William Scott, was known as Scott's Graveyard.

Nathan Meek, between the years 1832 and 1833, constructed a mill, known as a "corn cracker," on Boke's Creek, about a mile below Pharisburg, which had a capacity of from twelve to forty bushels of corn per day. The mill-stones, about twenty inches in diameter, are still in use in the steam mill at Pharisburg. An upright saw was attached to the mill, and, as civilization grew apace with the development of the settlements and the need of lumber was felt in the community, this mill supplied the primitive farmers with this commodity. It stood on the farm of Samuel Martin, and was sold by Mr. Meek to him. George Barcus afterward became the possessor, and from him Arad Franklin leased and operated it for three years. Mr. Witsbaugh next purchased it, but its period of usefulness had about expired, and little work was done after it came under his control.

After disposing of the above mill, Mr. Meek built another, on the farm of John Woods, about one and three-fourths miles above Pharisburg. He sold it to John Warner, and in a few years it, too, was abandoned.

Ingham Woods and John Elliott afterward built a saw mill, a little farther up Bokes Creek, on the same farm. A long race was dug, but by a mistake of the millwright a fall of only three feet was obtained where nine had been expected. This was insufficient to give any value to the mill, and, after a considerable expense, the mill project was abandoned.

In earliest times, the Scioto and Darby Creek mills, and one on Buck Creek, in Champaign County, were patronized by the denizens of Leesburg.

Biographical Sketches

H. D. ANDREWS, farmer, P. O. Marysville, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, August 29, 1842. His parents were Edward and Harriet (Lampson) Andrews, natives of Ohio, of English descent, and both now deceased. Our subject is a farmer by occupation, and owns about fifty-eight acres of land, seven miles north of Marysville. During the late war, he enlisted, on August 1, 1861, in Company F, Thirty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served four years, participating in some hotly contested engagements, among them being the battle of Stone River, Atlanta, Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca and many others of more or less importance. He was discharged July 1, 1865. He was married February 25, 1864, to Louise, daughter of David and Hannah (Hand) Lockwood, by whom he has two children - Don M., born April 21, 1866, and Clara E., born October 1, 1870, Mr. Andrews is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics he is a Republican. His grandfather came to Ohio before Columbus was a town. Mrs. 'Andrews' mother was born in Columbia County, N. Y., in September, 1807, and emigrated to Ohio at the age of ten years, settling on Darby Plains. She was married November 7, 1825, and lived in Union County fifty-seven years.

BEE & MURPHY, dealers in hardware, tinware, stoves, nails and fixtures, Magnetic Springs. The firm doing business under the above title engaged in their present enterprise in September, 1882. They are live, energetic business men, and keep constantly on hand a full stock of such goods as are usually found in a first-class store of the above description. W. H. Bee, the senior partner, was born at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, January 30, 1838, and is a sou of George B. and Catherine (Wise) Bee, the former a native of England, and the latter of Richland County, Ohio. Their family consists of three sons and three daughters, one of the latter being the wife of Charles E. Ragon, of Columbus, Ohio. W. H. graduated at Upper Sandusky, 1877, and for two years taught school. He is a plasterer and stone and brick mason, at which trade he worked eleven months after coming to Magnetic Springs. He is a man of good business qualifications, and stands high in the esteem of the people at the Springs.

J. W. BEEM, farmer, P. U. Magnetic Springs, was born in Union County, Ohio, May 1, 1887. He is a son of Michael Beem, who was born in Maryland, and emigrated to Ohio in 1818, settling in Licking County. He died in 1879. Our subject was married September 19, 1861, to Hannah, daughter of John and Jane (Bridge) Dilsaver, and a native of Union County, born January 11, 1842 By this union two children were born, viz.: Hattie B., born June 28, 1862, and wife of Rev. W. J. Elliott, and Francis M., born October 7, 1870. Our subject owns a nice farm northwest of Magnetic Springs, on which he built a handsome residence in 1879. He has been a farmer most of his life, but for ten terms taught school. Heisa Republican, a member of the M. P. Church, and at present & Township Trustee. His grandparents were Michael Beem, a Revolutionary soldier, and Ruth (Rose) Beem. :

ROBERT BLACK, deceased, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, March 17, 1826, and died in Union County July 11, 1868. He was a son of William and Martha Jane (Mark) Black, who were both Americans, of Irish ancestry. He was a life-long farmer, and at the time of his death owned 136 acres of land near Magnetic Springs, on which his family now reside, having lived there seventeen consecutive years. He was married November 13, 1849, to Mary Freshwater, who was born April 12, 1829. Her father, George Freshwater, married Mary Hunter, who died after having borne him ten children, of whom Mrs Black was the youngest. He was married the second time, having two children by his second wife. Our subject was the father of nine children, viz; Benjamin F., bora February 5, 1851; Eliza Jane, born November 10, 1852; Archibald, born September 6, 1854; Lucy, wife of John W. Worline, born August 24, 1856, and died November 20, 1880; Ameda, born August 20, 1858, died September 12, 1876; Reuben, born in 1860; Mary, born September 30, 1864; Eunie, born January 26, 1866, and Rosanna, born March 17, 1868, 1