Pike Township (part 20 of 20)

In politics he is a Democrat, and has acted steadily and consistently with that party. In,1871 he was a candidate, on the Democratic ticket, for judge of the court of common pleas for the district of Mt. Vernon, and was elected by a large majority. He took office in 1872 for a term of five years. His course while on the bench has fully vindicated the wisdom of those who elevated him to the position. To high abilities and fine attainments he joins the strictest integrity, a judicial impartiality which nothing can swerve, and a regard for principle which all recognize and appreciate. At the expiration of his first term, in 1876, he was again nominated and reelected to the position he so eminently adorns, by a respectable majority. He is honored and esteemed as the right man in the right place; and the fact that his high and responsible station was awarded to him because of the sterling characteristics belonging to his nature, and the high attainments which he acquired through his own almost unaided exertions, isa fact that must be gratifying to himself no less than encouraging to all men who are struggling and aspiring within the circle of his influence. He was married on the sixteenth of May, 1860, to Julia Huxford, of Fort Wayne,

BANNING, ANTHONY, deceased. - Among the old settlers whose names have figured conspicuously in the history of Knox county, was Anthony Banning. Connected with the business» the growth and prosperity of the county at every period of its history after the first, and concerned as he was in various industrial pursuits, in commercial operations, in temperance movements, in church affairs, in political actions; as his name has been widely known in legal history, his memory is worthy of more than a passing notice.

"Judge" Banning .s he was called more frequently than "Parson," notwithstanding his monument states that he was a Methodist preacher sixty years, was born in Talbot county, Maryland, May 13, 1768, and was the only son of James Banning, a proprietor of much consideration and influence, who had but two children - the son, James Mansfield Anthony Banning, and a daughter who married Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia, chief justice of the State of Pennsylvania, a lawyer of much distinction and a man of great wealth, who was a bosom friend of Washington, and whose family were his most intimate associates.

His parents died when he was very young, and he was consigned to the care of an uncle, Henry Banning, a bachelor, who was a sea-captain and took Anthony with him several voyages: The family were members of the Episcopal church, but in his fourteenth year Anthony joined the Methodists. When about eighteen he went to preaching as a circuit rider in Greenbrier, Virginia, and the wilderness mountain region. In consequence of the great length of his name, and its inconvenience in writing, he dropped a portion of it in early youth.

July 30, 1791, he married Mrs. Sarah Pierce, daughter of one of the first settlers on Redstone, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, who was also a native of the eastern shore of Maryland, and had been reared near Ellicott's Mills. The children by this marriage were Sarah, wife of Daniel S. Norton; Jacob M., who died in 1835, and whose widow and children reside in Hardin county; Rachel, wife of Rev. Elmathan Raymond; James S.; Mrs. Mary Caswell; Elizabeth, Mrs. Bronson; Priscilla; and Anthony.

Priscilla Banning was born May 1, 1807, and on November 2, 1875, married Sewall Gray, of Massachusetts, who was born April 9, 1806, and died of paralysis, at Mount Vernon in May, 1862, without issue.

After his marriage Mr. Banning settled in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and resided for several years near Mount Braddock and Connellsville, where he preached the Gospel, having been ordained by Bishop Asbury in 1791, carried on a tanyard, kept store, officiated as justice of the peace, from 1791 until 1799, traded in stock of every description and navigated the western waters.

He made several trips up the Muskingum with goods and wares from 1808 till he moved out in 1812. After he had bought lands in the county he traded a lot of iron, leather and saddlery to Samuel Kratzer, esq., for the principal part of his interest in the town of Mt. Vernon, and then took up his residence here. During his long abode he was engaged, as elsewhere, in a diversity of pursuits; and by reason of his remarkable energy, industry, prudence and business tact, prospered in all, and enjoyed to a very great extent the confidence of the people. He was for the greater part of his life concerned in merchandizing at Mt. Vernon, Tymochtee and Danville - carrying on his mills at Clinton and his tanyard, farming extensively and preaching.

His name is found as president of the first Clay meeting ever held in this county; he was all his life an ardent admirer and friend of that great statesman and patriot. In principle, politically, he was a Whig - religiously, a Methodist - strictly moral and temperate - in all the relations of life a good example.

He was honest and conscientious - liberal and kind hearted - determined and resolute - never disguised his sentiments or harbored unkind thoughts; was not a fanatic in temperance, morals, politics or religion; but by his well balanced mind and daily walk exerted a great influence for good.

Among other public positions held by him was that of commissioner to select the premanent seat of justice of Clermont county, under an act of the general assembly, January 25, 1823, associated with John C. Wright, then of Jefferson, and James Clark, of Stark. He served as one of the associate judges of this county from 1827 to 1834.

In every public enterprise and work calculated to benefit the town, county and people he was active, liberal and useful. Among the many incidents of his life the following most clearly shows the liberality of his mind: In 1836 he set about erecting a church near his residence, and upon his own land. The neat brick edifice had been inclosed and about completed, when the Right Rev. Bishop Purcel visited Mt. Vernon for the first time, and there being no Catholic church the followers of that denomination, of whom there were but two or three families then in the place, to wit: David Morton's, William Brophy's and Timothy Colopy's requested the use of one of the churches for the bishop to hold service in on the forenoon of a certain Sunday. The favor was denied. An effort was then made to procure the use of the court-house, and that, too, was refused.

The writer, then a small boy, having heard the circumstances on his way home, stopped in at Judge Banning's and stated what had occurred, when he at once buttoned up his vest and coat, took his cane, went up to David Morton's, where the bishop was Staying, and tendered the use of the Banning chapel for Catholic service. The offer was most gratefully and graciously accepted, and the first Catholic discourse ever delivered in this town was pronunced at the Banning chapel. This, in the eyes of many bigoted and intolerant minds, was a very great sin; but the religion of grandfather Banning was of that catholic spirit which enabled him to do acts of kindness and pour out heart offerings as becometh a true Christian.

in the dam of the Clinton Mill company, while attempting to cross upon the ice to his farm. His body was soon recovered and great efforts made to resuscitate it, but in vain. The bold spirit that left its impress on this world had gone to explore the mysteries of another. He was in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and remarkably vigorous in mind and body.

BANNING, GENERAL HENRY B., attorney at law, Cincinnati, Ohio. - The subject of this sketch was, on his father's side, of Maryland stock, and his mother's family were Virginia people. Shortly before the Revolutionary war both his father's and his mother's families emigrated from their native States and settled near old Fort Redstone, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. They were pioneers in that then new country.

In 1812 the Rev. Anthony Banning, a pioneer Methodist preacher, the grandfather of General Banning, settled on the banks of the Kokosing, having traded a lot of iron, leather and saddlery for an interest in the then small village (now prosperous town) of Mt. Vernon. James S. Banning, the father of General Banning, was then twelve years old. When he grew to manhood he revisited his native town of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and married Eliza Blackstone, the mother of Henry. The Banning family has been actively and conspicuously identified. with the growth and prosperity of Knox county from its organization. In religion they are all Protestants. His mother was one of the principal organizers of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which sect she was then a commuicant, although at her death she was a member of the denomination known as Christian. In politics the Bannings were originally Jackson Democrats, afterwards Whigs.

Henry B. Banning was the sixth child of his parents and was born November 10, 1836. His childhood was passed at Banning's Mills and on the old Banning farm at Clinton. He first attended school at the Clinton school-house, in 1842, when Father Mott was the teacher.

Among the children attending that school with him were the Coopers, the Curtises, the Drakes, the Lovages, the Johnsons, the Brookses, and the Montises.

After leaving this school he attended Hull Bigsby's private school at Mt. Vernon, and Sloan's academy. He was examined and admitted to Kenyon college, but never attended.

At the age of seventeen he commenced the study of law in the office of Hosmer, Curtis & Devin, in Mt. Vernon, and was in due time admitted to the bar, and began the practice. He became the partner of William Dunbar, esq., the firm being Dunbar & Banning, at Mt. Vernon. He soon established and maintained a large practice, and was succeeding finely when the war began in 1861. He was one of the first to volunteer to put down the Rebellion, almost before the President had issued his call for seventy-five thousand troops. He was at once elected captain by his company, which afterwards became company B, Fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, a regiment which made one of the most gallant records of the war.

He was afterward, upon the recommendation of General Shields, appointed major of the Fifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, but never joined that command, being placed in command of the ighty-seventh, a three months' regiment. At the expiration of the term of this latter regiment, he was made lieutenant colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and \served as such until the spring of 1863, when he was made colonel of the One Hundred and Twentyfirst Ohio.

This regiment was in a badly demoralized condition, but the new colonel soon restored the espr/¢ de corps, gained the confidence of the officers and men, and by a thorough system of discipline made it one of the best drilled 1egiments in the service.

It took part in the Chickamauga and Atlanta campaigns, showing such signal instances of gallantry in action as to call forth frequent mention in the official aud unofficial reports of its engagements. At the battle of Chickamauga, in a bayonet charge, the regiment under lead of Colonel Banning, captured the battle-flag of the Twenty-second Alabama regiment, the only Confederate colors taken by our troops upon that bloody and disastrous field. At the battle of Kennesaw Mountain an eye witness in describing the fight said:

"Yesterday was a bloody day for the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio, more bloody in numbers than Chickamauga. More than one-third of her gallant sons were killed or wounded. History's page will recall the deeds of her fallen heroes; and the command of the gallant Banning: 'Iie down, One Hundred and Twenty-first, and don't retire one inch until I order you,' when the storm of battle was at its highest, will make for him an imperishable record, and the stubbornness with which the regiment obeyed the order, unsupported, and exposed to a galling fire from both flanks and front, of artillery and small arms, for more than four hours, will be rehearsed in story and in song in after years."

In the spring of 1865, after the fall of Atlanta, on the recommendation of General Jeff. C. Davis, approved by Major General George H. Thomas, General Banning was promoted to be a brevet brigadier general, for gallant and meritorious service during the Atlanta campaign.

After Atlanta had been taken, General Banning, still in command of the One Hundred and Twenty-first, accompanied General Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland, and took a gallant and conspicucus part in the fierce and decisive battle of Nashville.

In the spring of 1865 he was placed in command of the One Hundred gnd Ninety-fifth Ohio infantry, and served in the valley of Virginia. He was commander of the post of Alexandria, Virginia, until December, 1865, when he was mustered out of the service with the rank of brevet major general, a rank which his gallant conduct had won for him, enlisting as a private in 1861.

In the fall of 1865, while he was still in the service, the people of his home elected him to represent Knox county in the general assembly. Stepping from the field to the forum, he became a leading spirit in that legislative body. He was made chairman of the house committee on military affairs. He devoted his attention to the wants of the laboring classes, and through his efforts much good was accomplished for them. After the expiration of his term in the general assembly, General Banning removed to Cincinnati, where he resumed the practice of law, with his usual success.

In 1872 he was nominated by the Liberal Republican convention as the candidate to represent the Second district in Congress. His opponent was R. B. Hayes, now ex-President. After an exciting canvass General Banning was returned by a handsome majority. He was reelected twice to the same office as a Democrat, beating successively Job E. Stevenson in 1874, and Stanley Mathews in 1876. In 1880 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by a small majority.

representative of American' manhood of the highest type; modest in assuming responsibility, but when assumed firm, faithful and energetic in the execution of a trust. In all his career, both public and private, there is not an act can sully his name or stain his honor. <A good son, a good husband, a good father, a gallant soldier, a faithful and industrious representative, in alla worthy citizen, he is one of the sons to whom Knox county can point with pride as a part of her history.

BLAKE, WILLIAM, deceased. The subject of this sketch was one of Knox county's pioneers. He was born in Ireland in 1761, migrated to America, located in New York, remained several years, and from thence went to Connecticut, where he married Miss Hannah Sprague, born in Connecticut in 1778. They moved to Knox county, Ohio, in 1812, and located in Clinton township, on the farm now owned by John Guy, where they passed the remainder of their days. He died in 1848, aged eighty-seven years. His companion survived him until 1850, when she died, aged seventy-two years and five months.

They reared a family of seven children - Sarah, Hannah, William, Mary, Richard, James, and Emily J, Two of the children, Hannah and Richard, are dead. When Mr. Blake came to Clinton township, it was comparatively a forest, and settlers were few and far apart.

BOSTWICK, NATHAN, Newark, Ohio, was born November 2, 1819, in Pike township, Bradford county, Pennsylvania; emigrated to Ohio with his parents in 1830, landing in Newark, and living the first winter in McKean township, Licking county. In the spring of 1831 the family moved into Milford township, Knox county, and settled on a farm then covered with a dense growth of hardwood timber, as were all farms in those early days in Knox county. The immense labor of making a home out of the wilderness can only be fully understood by the pioneers engaged in the work.

Nathan Bostwick was married in 1840 to Adaline A. Beardslee. They had seven children, all boys, as follows: Julius C., George F., Henry C., William W., Burr W., Harmon R., and John A. - all living but Julius C. _

All the boys who were old enough became soldiers. Julius C. enlisted first in the three months' service, in the Eighth Indiana regiment, and served out his time, then reenlisted for three years in a company his father was recruiting for the Twentieth Ohio regiment. He was in delicate health and died on the battlefield of Shiloh, of hemorrhage of the lungs, April 9, 1862.

George F, (Fayette as he is better known), also enlisted in his father's company in the Twentieth, and shared in the hardships, battles and glory of his company and regiment until the army reached Atlanta, where he was desperately wounded July 22, 1864, by a canister shot through the thigh, and with his father, fell into the hands of the enemy, and was taken to Andersonville prison pen. He had before been a prisoner for a month, and had been exchanged at Vicksburgh, having been captured ina fight with Wheeler's cavalry, near Middleburgh, Tennessee. He made his escape from Andersonville in October, and hiding in swamps and bayous was pursued with bloodhounds, but finally secured a skiff and paddling down the Ocomulgee river, réached the Federal gun-boats in safety.

This young man suffered terribly from his wounds and prison life, a complete history of which would make an interesting volume; but he lived to see the end of the war, and to return home. He is now residing near Mt. Liberty, this county.

young, became a soldier, enlisting in company A, Ninety-sixth regiment, under Captain Mitchell, of Mt. Vernon. Joseph Devin, a patriotic citizen of Mt. Vernon, had offered a prize of fifty dollars to each of the first two men who should enrcll their names in this regiment. Henry Bostwick and Henry Hildreth were first to enlist, and received the money.

Henry was with the regiment at the battle of Arkansas Post, followed its fortunes through the Vicksburgh campaign, but was taken sick during the operations at Vicksburgh, and brought home. He was unable to again enter the service and was discharged. He is now a merchant in Newark, Ohio, engaged in the jewelry trade.

William W. Bostwick was a mere boy when the war began, but before it closed he enlisted, at the age of sixteen, in the One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio National guards, under Colonel Cooper, and was with it during its one hundred days of service in the rear of Grant's army. William is also in the jewelry trade in Coshocton, Ohio.

Nathan Bostwick went into the army as recruiting officer October 18; 1861, at Columbus, Ohio, with the rank of second lieutenant; was attached to company G, Twentieth regiment, which was sent, with three other companies of the same regiment, to Warsaw, Kentucky, in January, 1862, where they settled some trouble between the Union men and rebels of that place.

Company G remained in Warsaw until in February, when it returned to Cincinnati, and soon after joined the expedition against Fort Donelson, and was in the last day's battle at that place.

After the battle, Captain John N. Cassil and Jieutenant Bostwick, with their company, were detailed as guard for rebel prisoners, and escorted eleven hundred of them to St. Louis, from which place, in company with a portion of company C, of the same regiment, they escorted all the officers captured at Fort Donelson to Camp Chase, at Columbus. Lieutenant Bostwick came home from this place, sick with typhoid fever, but his company went on to Boston with the field and staff of that capture.

Upon his recovery from his very severe illness, he rejoined his company-at Bolivar, Tennessee, in June, 1862, and in September took command of company C, Twentieth regiment, with rank of first lieutenant. He continued in command of this company through the Vicksburgh campaign, the captain of company C having resigned. He was commissioned first lieutenant May g, 1862, and was with Grant during all the operations of the army for the capture of Vicksburgh; the first battle of that campaign in which the regiment was engaged being at Thompson's Hill, fought immediately after the battle of Grand Gulf. He was also in the battle of Raymond and that of Jackson immediately following it; also the battle of Champion Hill, where he received a sunstroke, from which he yet suffers. 'The siege of Vicksburgh lasted forty-seven days, during which he was on duty almost incessantly, day and night, fighting and working in the trenches. After the surrender the Twentieth remained in camp until Sherman marched to Meridian, Mississippi, in February, 1864.

Lieutenant Bostwick was promoted to captain, January 30, 1864, and transferred to the command of his old company, G, accompanying Sherman to Meridian.

Captain Bostwick came home on veteran furlough. The furlough having expired, the regiment rendezvoused at Cairo, Illinois, going thence by boat up the Tennessee river to Clifton, Tennessce, where it landed and marched over the Sand mountains, a distance of three hundred miles, joining Sherman at Ackworth, Georgia, shortly after engaging in the siege and battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Captain Bostwick was in the charge made by his division at this place.

The next desperate battle in which he was engaged was that before Atlanta, July 22, 1864, where his division, under Gencral Leggett, surrounded by Hood's forces was attacked in front and rear, and engaged in some of the hardest fighting of the war. Captain Bostwick says their division moved across their breastworks five times during the day, fighting first on one side then on the other. He was wounded twice in this action - with a sliver from a ball in the left eye, and a piece of shell in the left knee - and fell into the hands of the enemy. The brigade lost about half of its number in this bloody battle, in which it was frequently engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict.

After his capture Captain Bostwick was robbed of two hundred and thirty dollars in money, and most of his outer clothing, except his boots, which, being a fine, heavy pair, he refused to give up except with his life, and when a rebel captain approached for the purpose of taking them, he received such a ended his life. Captain Bostwick expected to be riddled with rebel bullets for this act, as the guards were all around him, but, probably from admiration of his pluck, they did not molest him. The rebel officer, however, after regaining his breath and his feet, again approached him the intention, no doubt, of running him through with his sabre, but just before attempting the cowardly act, he discovered a small Masonic emblem attached to the captain's waistcoat. This stopped him, and turning to the guards he ordered them to take the belligerent captain away. 'There is no doubt but that this mystic sign of Masonry saved his life at that time. He was takento the stockade at Macon, Georgia, and subsequently to Charleston, South Carolina, and placed in prison. He was again taken sick and remained for some time in the hospital, being treated by Dr. 'Todd, a rebel and brother of Mrs. Lincoln. From there he was taken to Columbia, South Carolina, October 6, 1864. Here ha was outrageously treated, being sick with chills and fever and compelled to lic on the ground, without shelter or medical attention for three wecks, and came near dying, being reduced to a skeleton. He was then put into a tent hospital, and treated by a doctor named LaGrone, a Frenchman, from whom he received much attention. December 1, 1864, he made his escape in company with Captain McFadden, of the Fifty-seventh New York, and H. C. Payne, a sergeant of the Twentieth Illinois. They travelled twenty-seven nights through the smoky mountains of North Carolina, travelling only in the dead of night, aided, fed, and piloted on their way by the negroes, and reached our lines at Knoxville, Tennessee, December 27, 1864. Here he reported to General Carter, provost marshal at that place, who ordered clothing for the starved and ragged prisoners, forwarding them to Chattanooga, and thence to Nashville. After being ordered to various places Captain Bostwick obtained a leave of absence and came home, remaining, however, only a short time when he went by way of New York to join Sherman, and then on the march through the Carolinas.

olina. After Lee's surrender he asked permission of his brigade commander, General R. K. Scott, afterward governor of South Carolina, to resign, believing the war over, and his health being poor he wished to return home. His resignation being accepted he went to Washington, settled with the Government, and was there at the time of the assassination of President Lincoln, after which he came home to his farm in Knox county.

He subseqnently sold his farm and spent some time travelling in the west; living a short time near Fredericktown, Ohio, Charleston, Illinois, and Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

This brief biography, merely touches upon the military life of this gallant soldier. The story of his capture, prison life, sufferings, and subsequent escape, would make a very readable volume of many pages, and would verify the fact that ''truth is stranger than fiction." He tells of his continual but many times unsuccessful efforts to escape; of sickness, exposure, hunger, and the horrors of prison life; of his escape in a strange manner with two confederates; of their hiding in the swamps and mountains; of exposure and starvation; of being tracked by bloodhounds who came suddenly upon them in a darke gorge in the mountains, compelling them to fight for their lives, which they did, and came off victorious; of capturing a rebel picket that was in their way, killing one man and taking two others prisoners; of continual hairbreadth escapes, and incessant danger, and above all, of the faithfulness of the blacks, who never once betrayed them, but fed and guided them on their way at the peril of their own lives.

People scarcely realize that they have intheir midst living, walking heroes, before whose deeds of daring and suffering the most intricate combinations of fiction pale and become commonplace.

CONDON, DAVID W., shoe merchant, was born in Maryland, Frederick county, in 1831. He came to Ohio in 1851, and was married May 8, 1862, to Melinda J. Royce, granddaughter of Amos H. Royce. She was born in Berlin township, this county. They have three children: Frank R. was born April 17, 1863; Jennie M., November ro, 1865, and Mary E., June 18, 1873.

Mr. Condon learned the shoe trade with his father in Maryland, and has always been engaged in that business. Heisa member of the firm of D. W. Condon & Co., leading shoe merchants of this city. Mr. Condon was a soldier in the late war. He first enlisted April, 1861, under Captain H. B. Banning. They went to camp Jackson. They elected Professor Andrews (of Kenyon college) colonel. Whei. they came to organize their company they had too many men, consequently Mr. Condon was relieved. He enlisted in the spring of 1864; was a member of company H, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio National guards, under Captain Cochran and Colonel W. C. Cooper; he served four months and was honorably discharged. Mr. Condon has always been identified with the Reputlican party, and is one of the loyal men of Fredericktown.

DONAHEY, P. N., was born June 4, 1843, in Jackson township, Knox county, Ohio. He was married to Sophia M. Houck, August 31, 1869. They have had two children, viz: Willie J. and Lotta. Willie J. was born May ts, 1870; Lotta was born May 31, 1878. Mr. Donahey is engaged in the grocery business at Bladensburgh.

HOLLIBAUGH, JOHN F., shoe merchant. He was born in Richland county, Ohio, December 7, 1832; he was married November 8, 1857, to Louisa M. Hughes, who was born September 6,-1837 in Berlin township jn this county. They have seven children; Lee Porter born August 31, 1858; Delphene, 1860, March 14, 1864; Estella Lute, December, 16, 1866; Frederick Roston, July 16 1871; Wilbert Alton, June 5, 1874; Ethel, November 11, 1878. Mr. Hollibaugh learned the shoe trade in Fredericktown, and has been engaged at that business since; he is a member of the firm of D. W. Condon & Co., leading shoe merchants of this city, and has been identified with the business interests in this place for some years. Mr. Hollibaugh was a soldier in the late war; he enlisted 'n the spring of 1864. He was a member of company H, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio National guard under Captai~ ochran and Colonel W. C. Cooper. He served out the time of his enlistment, and was honorably discharged.

HORN, ABRAHAM, was born January 2, 1813, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was married March 16, 1837, to Miss Rebecca Staats, who was born January 28, 1818, in

Butler township. They have had ten children, viz: Catharine, Jacob, Louisa, Joseph S., Maria, Mary M., Magdalena, Selonia Alice, Rebecca Jane, William Osborn, Benjamin

Franklin; all living except Joseph S. and Benjamin Franklin. Joseph S. was wounded at Big Shanty, Georgia, June 22, 1864, and died the following day. Benjamin F. died September 30, 1862; Catharine married William J. Withrow, April 22, 1860; Jacob was married to Isabella Withrow, June 22, 1861; Louisa was married to Jacob Delong January 15, 1863; Maria to Robert B. Giffen, June <1, 1869; Mary M. to Reason Lovett, February 7, 1869; Rebecca J. to Benjamin Ross, October 6, 1872; Jacob, married (second wife) Lydia Hall, September 23, 1873; W. O. to Alvila Bailey, November 2, 1878. Mr. Horn is owner of two hundred and ten acres of good farming land in Butler township, and three hundred and fifty acres in Jefferson township.

HORN, MARTIN C., deceased, was one of the wealthiest farmers of Clay township, owning about five hundred and thirty-seven acres of good tillable land at his decease. He wasa native of Knox county, was born April 9, 1823, and married to Jane Crumrine November 11, 1847; six children being born unto them; three, Laura, Lennie, and Emma, are living. Mr. Horn was a highly respected citizen, very ambitious and industrious, and was census enumerator for the present census. He died at his home, near Martinsburgh, July 25, 1880.

HYATT, R., farmer, Liberty township. He was born in Liberty township, September 11, 1848, and is the son of Mescheck and Elizabeth Hyatt. He spent his youth ona farm, and has followed farming as his vocation. He spent four years inthe Western States. He married Elizabeth Ann Bryan, November 19, 1871. They have one child, named Maggie A.

JOHNSTON, SAMUEL K., deceased. He was born in Morris township in 1820; was married to Susan A. White, who was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1825, and came to Ohio in 1825. They had five children - Williard W., Mary E., Edwin F., Charles C., and Lee R.

Marth was born in Holmes county in 1840; married J. B. Nixon. The have three children - Luella J., Nettie B., and Maggie K. They reside in Johnson county, Indiana.

Walter, George

Mr. Walter learned the carpenter trade in Mt. Vernon, and continued to work at it until 1872, when he engaged in the butchering business with S. Kirby, and afterwards with M. P. Minteer. In 1880 he engaged with Braddock & Hurst as clerk and salesman, and is one of the active and enterprising men of thistown. He was a soldier in the late war. His father, Samuel Walter, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1809; came to Ohio in 1836; married Mary Ann Clay, born in the same county in 1818. They had eight children - Jesse, deceased; George A., John W., Martha J., Mary E., Charles R., Orpha, deceased, and Sarah G.

George Smith, father of Mrs. George Walters, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1824; was married to Abigail Tirrill, who was born in New Hampshire in 1826. They had two children - Mary and Ophelia.

ALVERSON, THOMAS, farmer, deceased, Middlebury 'ownship, was born March 19, 1807, in the town of Guilford, Windham county, Vermont. His early ancestors were from Holland, and later in affinity with the English. In early childhood he was taken to Moriah, Essex county, New York. His widowed mother being poor he was obliged to live with other families. By hard labor and strict economy he secured sixty acres of land, which he improved, and on which he built suitable buildings. He was baptized by immersion in Lake Champlain. In his conviction of duty he had a very remarkable dream, in which he saw the Savior, with outstretched arms, standing in the sun.

t') re untll the fall of 1837, and then moved to western New York, near Middleport, and remained there until the fall of 1839, when they moved near Medina, Michigan, to his brother, Oliver Alverson, and in the month of February, 1840, he emigrated to Ohio and settled.near the Quaker brick meetinghouse, known as the Owl Creek settlement. In 1845 he purchased one hundred acres of land on the ridge, four and a _ half miles northwest of Fredericktown, in Middlebury township. Here his property increased to over six thousand dollars in addition to his real estate, which he loaned out. He had seven children, all of whom are living except the youngest - James T., born March 1, 1834; Sophia, November 4, 1836, and married to J.. N. Talmage, living near Chesterville, Morrow county. Ohio; Emma, October 3, 1838, married to Miller Mendenhall, now lives in Green Vally, Knox county; Sarah, November 14, 1839, married to John Disman, now living in Lima, Allen county, Ohio; Byram, Janu:ry 19, 1843, now a resident near Lone Star post office, Gentry county, Missouri; Louisa, May 3, 1844, now Mrs. Witliam Schroeder, of Knox county, Ohio; and John P., May 4, 1849, died in infancy.

Thomas Alverson became a strong Abolitionist, voting for the first candidate for the Presidency nominated by the Aboli_ tion party - James G. Birney.

Mr. Alverson was powerful in his reasonings and arguments in favor of freedom and equal rights to all. He afterwards acted with the Republican party.

In September, 1865, during a season of tent-meetings at Fredericktown, Ohio, held by Elders Vanhorn and Lawrence, he embraced the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists, and became an ardent advotate of its faith, giving liberally to it, institutions and missionary work. The subjects ''Man's Nature and Destiny,"' ''The Bible," ''Seventh-day Sabhath," and the ''Soon Coming of Christ," were his happy themes of conversation and work.

The last year of his life was the happiest, during which time he visited relatives and friends in the east - Vermont, Boston, Massachusetts, and the Round Lake camp meeting in Maine, and then to his brother, Samuel H. Russell, of Crownpoint Essex county, New York, where he died September 11, 1878, at the age of seventy-one years, five months and twenty-two days. He leaves nineteen grandchildren and. three great-grandchildren. Mrs. Lucinda Alverson died December 28, 1864, and was buried in the Salem cemetery.

James T. Alverson, post office, Fredericktown, Chio, born in Essex county, New York, came to Knox county, with his parents in childhood. Through industry, in teaching and laboring, he accumulated means to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of western Jand. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for a time a faithful worker. He was married August 1, 1861, to Miss Rebecca Price, daughter of John and Barbara Price, of Morrow county, Ohio. She was an amiable and Christian lady. After their marriage they purchased nearly seventy acres of land in Morrow county, still retaining the one hundred and sixty acres of western land. Her useful life ended November 25, 1864, and her remains were interred in Bloomfield cemetery, near Sparta, Morrow county, Ohio. a} T. Alverson is left with one daughter, Luella J., now Mrs. Olmstead, and one son, James T., jr.

In early life Mr. Alverson was a Methodist in faith, but by reading and investigating the Bible he changed his religious views June 23, 1877. He kept the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, endorsing fully the Bible doctrines of man's nature and destiny, the seventh day Sabbath as in the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ and his soon coming at the completion of his work as priest of the heavenly sanctuary; then the gathering home of all the saints, both dead and living, in the first resurrection; and finally, after the resurrection and destruction of all the wicked, enjoying the Sabbath with the redeemed in Christ in the earth made new. So August 27, 1877, he took a letter from the Methodist Episcopal church, being in good standing.

FIDLER, THOMAS, retired, post office, Fredericktown, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1804. His parents emigrated to Belmont county, Ohio, when he was a child. He came to this county in 1824, and was married to Rebecca Shuman. They had one daughter, Arminda; she married John Ewers, and is now dead. Mrs. Fidler died in Richland county.

Mr. Fidler was married (the second time) to Jane Dehart, who was born in New Jersey. Their children are: Marinda, now Mrs. James, a resident of Morrow county; Emily, deceased; Mary, deceased; Louis, deceased; Samuel A., deceased; Henry, married Mary Smith; he died in 1877; Anna, deceased; Deliah J., now Mrs. Wertz; Hannah L., now Mrs. Burson; they reside in Morrow county. Mrs. Jane Fidler died in 1872.

Mr. Fidler is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Wertz. He has been a successful farmer, and has accumulated considerable wealth, and has a competency for old age. Uncle Tom, as he is familiarly called, is one of the best citizens of Middlebury township.

LEWIS, JOHN and HANNAH came to Ohio from New Jersey, in the year 1805, stopping for a short time at Mt. Vernon, where there were two or three log cabins. They remained there only a few days, and following the trail of the Sandusky Indians on horseback for about ten miles in a northwest direction, they located in the wilderness on Owl creek, near what is now the village of Luzerne, in Wayne township, where they resided during the rest of their lives. Soon after selecting this place as their future home, they put up a cabin, fourteen feet square, of Buckeye logs, which was their residence for a number of years, and until they had aid enough to erect a house of heavy logs, about thirty feet square, which remained standing for a number of years. This building was used regularly for religious purposes, there being no church at the time in that part of the country. During the War of 1812, there was a fort, also a blockhouse, adjoining and communicating with this residence, and when these early settlers were threatened with danger, they would gather hurriedly together at this fort for protection. There were but few settlers in that part of the country prior to and during the war, and for some time Mr. Lewis' nearest neighbors resided at Mt. Vernon, and the nearest store and mill were located at Zanesville. The trail of the Sandusky Indians, used in going to and from Mt. Vernon and Zanesville, was within one hundred yards of his house, and his family was very frequently honored with their calls, which were usually friendly. These Indians would frequently have access to whiskey when meeting with white traders, and, when intoxicated, were sometimes troublesome customers. 'These early setilers had but little knowledge of the luxuries and comforts of modern homes. They owned a Bible, which was in many cases their only printed book, and constituted their only 1eading. A long rifle with a flint lock, a rude bed and a puncheon table, and but little more. Tea, coffee, sugar and flour were luxuries to be seldom indulged in. Their corn was pounded in a wooden mortar with a pestle, the finest part being used for bread and the coarsest for hominy. Their meat was mostly wild game, of which there was a great plenty. Mr. Lewis had some singular and exciting experiences and adventures with the wild animals that infested the then unbroken forest. Wolf scalps were a legal tender, and were received in payment of taxes, and he, with the assistance of Mr. James Bryant, who came into Ohio soon after, killed fifty-three wolves in one winter. One of the traps used by him is still in the possession of the family.

Live stock had to be protected from these wild animals. One night Mr. Lewis was awakened by some strange noises made by his pigs in the pen, and, taking his rifle, he proceeded to ascertain the cause. Seeing some object moving about, he fired at it, and the next morning, on going to the place, found a black bear lying dead.

About the year 1820, Rev. Henry George, a Welsh Baptist missionary, came from the east and located in this neighborhood, and was the first ordained minister to conduct religious services in that part of the State. His first sermon was from the text, Isaiah 63: i. After he had labored a number of years, a little congregation was collected together, and a church was organized. They erected a log building that had neither stove nor fireplace, on the spot where now stands what is known as the Wayne Baptist church. At the dedication of this log church Mr. George preached from Psalm 122: i.

The first school building in this neighborhood was erected a little way east of Mr. Lewis' residence, was made of logs, and, having no glass, the windows were made of greased paper. Mr. Lewis raised nine children, three sons and six daughters. There are yet four living: William Lewis, near Waterford, in Knox county; Mitchel Lewis, near Morrison, Illinois; Mary Jackson, near Gallion, Ohio; and Jane Bonar, who lives in Bellville.

PHILO, GEORGE J., farmer, post office, Mt. Vernon, born in England in 1834, emigrated to America in 1854, and located in Knox county. In 1856 he was married to Christina Haines, who was born in Muskingum county in 1840. They have five children living: Jesse E., Alice E., John H., Charles M., Agnes I.

Mr. Philo owns one of the best farms in Morris township, and is making a success of farming. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church at Mt. Vernon.

RINEHART, GEORGE, dealer in furniture. He was born in Morris township, this county; he was married to Hannah Jane Stinemetz, who was born in Mt. Vernon. They have four children: Ada A., Mary, Samuel, and Gracie.

He learned the cabinet-makers' trade, 4nd has been engaged in that business over twenty years, also connected with furniture and undertaking; he is doing a good business. ;

NEFF PETROLEUM COMPANY. Mention has been made in the geological chapter of this work of the Neff Petroleum company, whose operations are so extensive in the Kokosing valley in the eastern part of this county and extending into Coshocton county.

The work of this company, of which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambier, is the heart and soul, is continually extending and has assumed much greater proportions than the people of the county are generally aware. Already Mr. Neff has expended more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in this region, and still the work goes on with increasing interest.

Last spring (1880) Mr. Neff sunk '' Laurel Well" (No. 9) te the depth of one thousand and five feet, passing through the regular succession of sub-strata. Its log varies but little from the general developments in other oil regions. It is a gas well.

Personally, Mr. Neff is, and has always been, much interested in the study of geology and archeology, and in the development and preservation or utilization of whatever is found under the earth's surface. In accordance with this feeling he has all his life been collecting archeological specimens, and at present has in his home at Gambier one of the most complete and extensive collections of this character in the,country, the sarger part of which has been gathered from the fruitful fields of Knox and adjoining counties. His ''Sandstone Image," supposed to have been the work of the Mound Builders, is a rare relic, and is highly important 'as showing some sort of connection between this mysterious people and the Hindoos - the features of the image being of an unmistakable Hindoo type, or certainly much resembling the images left by that people.

He has many other rare and valuable specimens, and is continually on the lookout for others, his means enabling him to indulge his taste in this important branch of science.

Chemistry In The

This material is described in the following passage from my portion of the '' Report of the Judges on the Philadelphia I¢xhibition of 1876" (Group III Chemical Manufactures); ''One of the more interesting among the minor American exhibits consists of the fine lamp-black which has for about two years past been made at Gambier, Ohio, by imperfect combustion of the natural gas which occurs throughout the petroleum region, and which frequently escapes in such quantity from borings, yielding little or no mineral oil, as to give rise to the term 'gaswell.' There are two such wells in Knox county, Ohio, near the junction of the Kokosing and Mohican rivers, affording very large quantities of hydrocarbon gas, which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambier, has utilized in the manufacture of lampblack, which he calls 'Diamond Black. He has patented, and uses several kinds of apparatus for burning the gas [of which two are described and figured in the Report]. In the building used, 1,800 burners are at work, consuming about 275,000 cubic feet of gas per twenty-four hours, being about one-fourth of the available supply. The composition of the gas by volume is given as -

''No mention is made of free hydrogen, though from the experiments of Professor Sadtler on samples of natural gas from Western Pennsylvania, it probably is present in small quantity. The lamp-black is at present manufactured to the extent of about sixteen tons per annum. Itisvery fine and smooth, free from coarse or gritey particles, and of an intense blue-black color. * The absence of oily matter is very strikingly shown by mixing it with water. Although from the large amount of air in the mass of loose powder most of it floats at first upon the surface, stirring soon mixes it in large quantity with the water, rendering the whole black and opaque; in its behavior it contrasts strongly with the common lamp-black. It does not color ether, and the liquid, when evaporated, leaves but a trace of residue, while ordinary iamp-black, presumably from rosin, gives a deep yellow solution, leaving an orange-brown tar on evaporation. On burning a quantity of the diamond-black sufficient to fill a large plantinum dish, a barely visible trace of ferruginous ash was left, derived, no doubt, from the scraping of the metallic surfaces (on which the material was deposited and collected). This material is sold to makers of fine printing and lithographic inks inthe United States, and has been sent in small quantity to Europe. It deserves to become more widely known."

I have used this lamp-black for a number of laboratory purposes requiring an artificial form of carbon of very high degree of purity. Mr. Santos has analyzed it, with the following results:

"Sp. gr. at 17° C., after complete expulsion of air, equals 1.729. The air-dried lamp-black lost by exposure at ordinary temperature over sulphuric acid 2.30 per cent of moisture, and a further loss of 0.40 per cent was experienced by heating to roo° C. Continued heating to 200° and then to 300° under atmospheric pressure gave rise to no further loss, but 2 minute amount of water was expelled by subsequently heating in a Sprengel vacuum.

There was also expelled, and condensed on the cooler part of the tube, 0.024 of a solid light yellow hydrocarbon, soluble in alcohol, fusible, and volatilizing rapidly under atmospheric pressure between 215° and 225° C, (impure napthalene ?)

*See similar results obtained by Wright and Luff for carbon prepared from sugar and from carbon monoxide. - Chem. Soc. Y¥ourn., January, 1878, pp. 18 to 20.