Troy Township (part 7 of 10)

Mr. Emerson had none of the early advantages of collegiate training, neither was he permitted to spend years of study in some theological seminary. Nature had done all for him. Tie was endowed with fine ability, and an uncommon versatility in the use of words. He never hesitated, even during the glowing flights of imagination, for words to fitly, fully, and elegantly express his ideas. When addressing an audience, the spirit of genius awakened his whole countenance, 'fall in person, spare in form, with a voice musical and impressive, and great earnestness and energy in tl e delivery of his discourses, he always spoke with the utmost effect. He threw such a force and power into his sermons, that the magic of his address seemed to electrify the hearer as if touched by sacred fire. His clear, strong voice and energetic manner carried an audience along, and moved it to pit}' or thoughtfulness. He was svmpathetic in manner, and clothed his words it' beautiful images, and painted to the mind and heatt the wonder ful majesty and goodness of tire Supreme Father of all. Large audiences crowded to hear him in the South, and the presence of so many faces seemed to oKctrify him, and call forth his wonderful powers as a pulpit orator. He is gone, and we shall never hear his eloquent voice again. He has gone home until the summing up of ail things. It will be a long time before the impress of his preaching will fail to be remembered in this and other communities.

Mr. Emerson was of French descent, and possessed many of the genial traits of that most polite and remarkable people. He had eight children, four boys and four girls, all grown and married.

His friends secured him a nice metallic case, in which his body now reposes, in the Lutheran cemetery lot. A funeral discourse was delivered at the church by Rev. Wilhelm, and brief addresses made by Revs, john Robinson, Miller and Moody, after which he was conducted by Captain .Finger and company to the cemeteiy, and | buried with military honois, Thursday afternoon. No- [ vember 1 3, 1879.

Mr. Enoch Taylor

was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, May 21, 1793. In his youth he served an apprenticeship at the trade of a shoemaker.* He married ir, his native county, in April, 18x4, and removed to Ruggles township, Huron county, Ohio, in 1828. He erected a cabin north of the corners, in the midst of a dense forest. He cut away the trees in the vicinity of the cabin, and made a garden for vegetables. When he entered the township there were

' but about a dozen families in it. Wild game was quite, plenty, so much so, that he often shot deer in the vieini ty of his cabin. Wild turkeys were uncommonly numerous, and fed upon beach-nuts and acorns. "Wild hogs often approached the cabin. He obtained his meal and flour from a mill in the vicinity of Savannah, often cany : ing a few pecks of corn along the paths on his shoulders.

Like his pioneer neighbors, he underwent, for many years, all the hardships incident to the early settlement of this county. When he erected his first cabin there were few to aid him. The settlement of the township at that time was greatly embarrassed by eastern speculators, who owned and refused to part with the lands at a fair price. Mr. Taylor, in his lifetime, expressed the opinion j that he had made the fust pair of boots in the center of j the township. lie followed bis trade for many years, in I connection with the cultivation of a small farm, and bv the joint result of both occupations raised and educated his family. In person he was of medium size, pale, nervous and full of genuine Yankee vivacity. He could not resist the perpetration of a joke even to the last. He was a man of excellent habits. He had beer, a member of the Congregational church for a long series of years, and adhered with much firmness to its doctrines. In 1873 he lost the wife of his youth, with whom he had lived over half a century in great happiness. In Septemhvi, 1875, he attended and became a member of the i'ictiter I and Historical society of Ashland county, and expressed

! much gratification over the organization af such a society. He was then in feeble health, and expressed the opinion that he would never meet the pioneers again. He died of general debility, February 15, 1876. His family consisted of two sons, Clark Taylor, of Iowa, and ' George Taylor, of Ruggles, who resides on the old hornei stead, and two girls, Sarah, wife of Tames Grinold. of 1 ' . .

Jacob Herbert

I 1794. His parents were of German descent. During j his youth he attended a German school in his native I county, and became a fair scholar in that language,

I which he talked fluently. In 1814, in September, he j volunteered to serve in the war against Great Britain, j He entered a company commanded by Captain George [ Hartman, and was stationed about twenty -five miles I northwest of Philadelphia. Pie saw no active service.

| In December, 1814, he was discharged and returned j home. He now (1876) draws a pension of .ninety-six | dollars per annum for his services during the war of i 1812. In 1812 he married in his native county. His : wife was two years hi? senior, and survived until 1872, i when she deceased at the advanced age of eighty years.

I Mr. Pleibert removed to Mohican township, Wayne, now | Ashland, county, in 1835, and located adjoining the vilj lage of Mohicanville, where he purchased a farm. In j connection with his enterprise as a farmer, he engaged i in selling dry goods ir. the village, for a number of years.

| He now resides with a daughter - Mrs. Wachtell - and is | quite frail in body, though his memory of the past is j quite perfect. Pie is an upright citizen: a conscientious j and courteous old gentleman, and much respected by ail i hi? acquaintances. P I is family consisted of eight sons,

| Mrs. Chailes (..osner, Mrs. Henry Wachtell, and two de- | ceased. His children all reside within the limits of : Ashland county, and are noted for their industry and iu- ! te'Jigence.

Abraham Dopy

j tract, which he improved and remained upon until his decease, in 1S45. He was one of the pioneer Presby- ; terians of Milton township, and assisted in the organization of "old Hopewell chmv h," of which be became an j elder and leading member.

At his decease his family consisted of James Doty, tin: first sheriff of Ashland c untz, iYvr, Elizabeth. John. Joseph Martin, leekson, Samuel, Mnr\, Sard).

Joseph Doty was born in West Virginia, August 2, j 1S1 2, and accompanied his father's family to Milton in j 1S1O. In 1835 he pun : based his homestead in Mifflin j township; and in 1838. married Rachel Lambright, daughter of John Lambright, who had located in Mifflin j township prior to the Ruffner-Zirnmer-Copus tragedies j in 1 Si 2.

The family of Joseph Doty consists of six girls and three boys, all of whom survive but one girl, the wife of | Joseph Staffer, of Ashland; and are all located in Ashland county, but two married daughters, who reside in j Indiana. The Doty family have long been attached to 1 the Piesbyterian faith. j

Mr. Doty has creditably filled several township offices, ! but prefers the plain life of a farmer to the duties and : criticisms of a public officer. He has been a life-long | Democrat.

Rev. William Hughes

mary school and academy, at Darlington, and gradu- | ated at Jefferson college, Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1 and studied theology at Princeton, New Jersey, and was licensed to preach June 24, 1S29. He came i west in August, and, having preached a few trial discourses in September, 1829, it was arranged for i him to preach steadily at Perrysville, and in Lake town- j ship, now in Ashland county. He occupied the pulpit, ! in Perrysville, from 1829 to November 17, 1866, a ! period of over twenty seven years. He retired in consequence of failing health. He is now disabled by chronic j rheumatism. During his pastorate, at Perrysville, he j preached at several places in the south part of this ! county; some of them statedly, on Sabbath evenings and ' week days.

When he settled in Green township, in 1829, there J were no church buildings in either Green, Hanover, or Lake townships. The larger part of that territory was then covered with a primitive forest, unbroken, save where were found the scattered cabins of the pioneers.

'J he preachers of that era met their congregations in . the cabins of the new settlers, or in Log schoolhouses. Mr. Hughes has lived to see the forests leveled, . and hundreds of tarms opened and improved where wild game resorted forty years ago. The sons of the pioneers have productive farms and line improvements, and comfortable residences, and are blessed with abundance. Great has been the change. Dozens of school-houses, neat and comfortably furnished, are now to be seen, where fifty years before the red man had scarcely ceased to hunt. Then there were no churches. Now we find one Methodist, one Presbyterian, one German Reformed, and two Baptist churches. in Green; and one Methodist, one Baptist, one Presbyterian, one German Reformed, one ( .ithoiii church, i:i Hanover; and one I.uthu .m, one Presbyterian, and one German Reformed in Lake; in the aggregate, containing several hundred members.

Mr. Hughes now resides on his farm in the vicinity of what is known as Meanor's mill, on the Loudonviile road, in the east part of Green township, where, when not engaged in the active service of his congregation, he performed, for many years, a good deal of manual labor in the improvement of his farm. He is very comfortably situated.

He was married in 1830, and has had seven children, six boys, and- one girl. Of the sons, one is a farmer, the other a physician, three are ministers; and an only daughter, the wife of a minister. The others are deceased.

It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Hughes can be congratulated upon his effort to educate and prepare his children for usefulness. Few men have accomplished as much. He died in July, 1880.

was born in New Jersey, about thirty miles below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1792, and came to Steubenville, Jefferson county, Ohio, about 180G, where he worked at his trade as tailor for seven or eight years. He came to Uniontown. now Ashland, in 1817, and was among the earliest tailors :n the pkice. About the time of his location, he married Miss Nancy Harper, daughter of William Harper, who removed from Steubenville in 1815, and settled in Vermillion township, then of Richland, but now of Ashland county, where he remained with his family until 1832, when he was unfortunately killed by his team, while hauling wheat, to Milton, near Plymouth, aged sixty-eight years. Mr. Sheets survived until March 6. 1866, when he died, aged about seventy-four years. At his decease, he had the following family: Elizabeth, Joseph (dead), William,

Mariah, Martha, Samuel, Alfred (dead), Mary and Sarah. Mrs. Sheets still survives. She was born in Faiifax county, Virginia, June v r., 179G, and is over eightyfour years old, and yet possesses a clear intellect, and is quite active for one of her age. Mr. Sheets originally owned the eighty acres of land upon which South Ashland. was laid out.

Mrs Sheets lives on the south margin of town, where a large number of the old settlers of Ashland and vicinj t v assembled, to celebrate her eighty-fourth birthday. The old lady had been kindly invited by Mrs. Judge Kenny, to spend the afternoon with her, tea included; and while the time was passing, ladies assembled in multitudes, took possession of her house, and like busy bees went to work preparing supper. Ere Mother Sheets was aware of what was being clone, all was ready, and the good old lady invited back to her own house, to be entertained there. '1 he attendance was large, numbering, perhaps, nearly one hundred. Besides a large number of her friends and neighbors of the long ago, in the pioneer age. many of her present neighbors were there to share in the festivities, as well as to do her lu not by their presence and encouragement. Moth r Sheets came to this county in 1817, and was, of conrv:, one of the earliest settlers of Montgomery township. The tables were furnished abundantly with all the good things ; that the market supplied, and the ladies maintained j their well deserved reputation, which has become proverbial for excelling tire world in the getting up of choice viands.

Mr. John Harper, of Vermillion, one of the oldest settlers of that township, and brother of Mrs. Sheets, was present, and although he bears the burden of ninety \ years, still appears hale and hearty. He came to Yer- j million in rSiG. Mrs. Polly Strickland, widow of Joseph Strickland, was also present ; a fine appearing lady j who bears the weight of seventy-five years veil. Francis Graham, esq., ex-president of the Pioneer association, of Ashland county, was present, and although somewhat feeble, and carrying eighty-eight years, was still able to j do justice to a well filled table, and without doubt hopes j to live many years, and enjoy many another agreeable j meeting with old friends. Many others were there also, ; old and venerable, their gray haiis and wrinkled visages ! showed them to be toilers of years; and though aged I they still had not forgotten how to enjoy themselves, j Among the ladies a list was obtained of names and j agea, but some, being so much older than any one dared j to dream, while others were so much younger than | hope ever whispered, it is deemed best not to publish j the iist without unanimous consent. It may not be best j to individualize when al1 did so well, or tell tales out of i school, still it was a warm day, and Mr. McNulty's ice- j cream tasted so good that it cannot veil be avoided in j this instance.

Mrs. Sheets desires that- her thanks be. publicly ex- ' pressed to her friends and neighbors for their kindness ; and thoughtfulness in remembering her in the loneliness I of age, and that her blessings will follow them m their : journey of life,, and that it will be long remembered as an epoch in her life.

Thus has passed another of our profitable ami interesting pic-nic sociables, and it is hoped they will ! continue to be held from time to time, as long as a single pioneer is left.

Rev. Thomas Peer

same year, and settled on a farm on the north side of the I Ohio river, on which the flourishing town of Sewickley ^ now stands, twelve miles below the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until his twenty-third year. He enjoyed the advantages of a common school education, such as ! it was. In r 82 a he commenced a classical course of ! study at an academy in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania In 1825 he entered the Western university of Pennsylvania, graduating in 18.7, with a class composed of seven, ! all of whom afterward became ministers of the gospel. [ In the fall of tiro same year he, with three other young ' men, entered the Western Theological seminary of the Presbyterian church, located in Allegheny City. Mr. Peer's name stands at the head of the roil, and he is the only survivor of the class. Leaving the seminary in the fall of 1S30, under the auspices of the Home Missionary society of the Presbyterian church, he took charge of four small churches in the northwestern portion of Wayne county, Ohio. A few years later his labors were given to the two churches, Congress and Mt. Mope. From the spring of 1834 until 1859 he resided at Mt. Hope, Wayne county, now Ashland county. In the fall of 1S59 he located on a farm three miles southwest of Ashland, where he still resides. In 1861 he took charge of the Presbyterian church in Jeromeville, where he labored until near the close of 1 S 7 1 , since which time, on account. of the infirmities of age, he has had no parochial charge.

His family consisted of thirteen children, two of whom died -in infancy - eleven lived to maturity. Dr. John Cameron, deceased 1865; Rev. Robert, of Valparaiso, Indiana; Judge Thomas, of Pucyrus, Ohio; Adeline, an inv alid ; Asbbcl G. who lost a leg in the battle of Stone River, and for several years post-master ai Ashland, and at this writing engaged as hardware merchant in Ashland; Henry M., lieutenant, and now physician at Valparaiso, Indiana; James A. died at Cumberland Gap; Willkim N., captain, attorney at law, Iowa deceased in 1874; Charles E., deceased 1864; Richard C. and Mary L.

Feeling that his own education had been deferred too long, Mr. Beer has been assiduous in educating his family. The result is very gratifying. His children, upon arriving at the age of maturity, have entered upon the business of life with energy, and have attracted the good opinion of the public because of their integrity, efficiency and manhood.

John Robison

was born June 16, 1791, in what was then Chester count), Pennsylvania, and upon arriving at the age of manhood married Miss Mary Hawk, who died in Pennsylvania about 1831. Mr. Robison came to Montgomery township about 1834, with his children, and stopped at the residence of David Robison, sr., his father. Soon after his arrival, July 4, 1836, Michael Ritter got up and prepared a dinner in Carter's grove, east of Ashland some two miles, where the youthful I.oriii Andrews was the orator of the day. Mr. Ritter kept a hotel at that time where Finley's now stands. Mr. Robison was a carpenter by trade, and made paterns, etc., for the Penn foundry, in Northumberland, now Union county, Pennsylvania, where he was employed for many years. David Robison his father, came to Montgomery township in 1S24, and died in iSa.*, aged about eighty years, and his wife about 1847, aged about eighty finir years. David Robison, j r. , who served as justice of Montgomery township, remaned 10 Indiana where he died many years ago. Ilis family consisted of Wallace, Wlson, Willard, Fernando/, Hannah, I ueiu, Alt: ilia and Rebecca.

His deal!', resulted from a fall at the hardware store of j Messrs. Stull & Charles, of Ashland, .about the third of i May iSSo. The old gentleman was desirous of being weighed and passed into the store room with Mr, Charles to learn his weight, stating- that he felt unusually well that morning, and on reaching the stairway stumbled and fell heavily upon the floor, striking his shoulder and fracturing it. He was rendered immediate assistance, and the injury dressed, when he was taken home, where he remained in a feeble condition until his death. He did not seem to rally from his wound, but did not appear to suffer much from it, and died on the evening of June io, 1880.

He retained a fine memory to the last, and knew his friends at each visit. He was an honest, upright man, j and always noted for punctuality and prompt dealing among bis neighbors. We believe that he was respected j by all, and had no enemies in the world. May he rest j in peace.

Martha S. Davis was born in Franklin countv, Penn- : sylvania, December 12,1803. and died at Ashland, Ohio, j April 8, 1870, aged sixty six years, three months, and j twenty-four days. j

Hugh Davis came to Knox county, Ohio, about 1820, and returned to Pennsylvania in 1821, where he completed the trade of tanner, after which he married j Martha S. Morrow, in 1829, and returned to Mount I Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, and lived some months, I working tor James Coverage and Samuel Trimble, at the j tanning business, and about 1829, located in Ashland < upon the property now owned by Justus \V. Davis, his ! son. He erected and carried on a tan 'nouse upon this ! lot, commencing business about 1830. Himself and the j late George Swine-ford were the only tanners in the vil- j lage. Mr. Swineford had purchased the Property of ! George Croft, where the machine works of D. Whiting, j are now located, and carried on business, while Mr. ! Davis, as a rival, erected property on the east end of Main street.

The family of Mr. Davis consisted of Morrow H., ! Lester Finley, Justus Wilson, Sylvester Curtis, Josephine Agnes, Ilgar Va nicer, and Martha Kstelle. The two j girls are dead. The boys are all living and married.

Justus XV. was born April 13, 1833, in Ashland county, 1 and married Miss Catharine June Trimble, of Carlisle, \ Pennsylvania, daughter of Thomas i'rimble, November ; m, 1857, at Mount Vernon, Ohio. Their children are : ; Horace Uric, Thomas Trimble, and Mary File n.

Mr, and Mrs. Davis were originally members of tinold Hopewell Presbyterian c hurch, and, upon its sale and transfer to the Catholics, never united with the First j church.

John Swineford

was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1795. Flis father, Peter Swineford, located with his family in Fairfield county, Ohio, it1. 1807, and remained there until 1819, when he removed to Montgomery township, then in Richland, but now in Ashland county, and settled one mile and a half southeast of Ashland, then Uniontown. In February, 1823, Mr. Swineford married May, daughter of the late Jacob Young, and having erected a cabin, commenced to improve his farm. He remained on the homestead until 1S57, .when he moved into Ashland, where he now resides. Mr. Swineford gives the following statistics :

First carding-tnachine, stood where Smiths' mill now is in Vermillion township, built by Andrew Newman; tire next by the late Andrew and Uriah Dre-nub, in Ashland.

The first tannery stood where Whitingsagricultural works now stand, built by John Croft, and subsequently owned by the late George Swineford.

The family of Peter Swineford, father of John, consisted of George, John, Anthony, Samuel, and A. C. Swineford. They are all deceased, except John and Abram C., who reside in Ashland. Peter Swineford, sr., died January 30, 1849. aged seventy-eight years, and Samuel died January 13, 1S62, aged sixty-two years. The family of John Swineford consisted of Abraham (dead), Lib (dead), Hannah, Mary, Nancy, and Austin. The family of Samuel Swineford consisted of Luthet, Alfred P., James, Curtis, Sarah, Elsa, Jane and Emily.

He was born in Laucsborough, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, March 14, rSoo, and attended the common schools of the neighborhood until he was fifteen years of age. In rS25, he emigrated to l ewis county, New York, and remained there until the spring of 1830, when he emigrated to Ashland, Ohio, where an older brother (Dr. Joel Luther) had located and entered upon the practice of medicine, some fourteen years before.

At that time, Dr. Luther and John P. Re/ner were in company in the mercantile business, and Mr. I uther entered their employ as clerk. In 1831, he forme! a 'partnership with John P. Rezner, and continued the same some six or eight years; and dissolved the arrange limit, and formed a new firm with Jacob Grail, known as Luther K Crall, which continued until 1854. In 1849, the linn established a hardwaie store, under the management of George H. Topping, and the new firm was known as that of H. Luther <lv Co. In 1851, Luther, Crail & Co. established a bank of deposit and exchange in Ashland, which continued until 1864, when the same stockholders, under a law of Congress, established the First National Hank of" Ashland, and Mr. Luther became its president, and Jacob O. Jennings, cashier; and retained the position until 1870, when he withdrew his stock, and Jacob O. Jennings became president. At that time, Mr. Luther purchased a farm in Milton township, in this county, and for about five years gave his attention to agriculture. Some time prior he owned and conducted the steam flouring mills of South Ashland, and was one of the principal proprietors of the woollen factory connected with it. In 1874, he engaged in the sale of ready-made furniture, and continued to carry on the business until his decease.

For a period of forty-nine years he has been actively engaged as a business man in Ashland. When he arrived it was a mere village. His business career, and his bearing as a citizen, have been influential and honorable. He has done as' much as any other citizen to promote the growth and prosperity of the place. He was for a long time postmaster of the town, and was very influential in securing the location of the county-seat at this point. At a period when the markets were distant, and the transportation of the surplus products of the country exceedingly expensive, he paid the farmers and producers liberally for their products. In this respect, the interests of the farming portion of the community were promoted, and those of the merchant enhanced. In habits, Mr. Luther was retired, and, though reserved in manner, in conversation he was fluent and agreeable.

Though chronically dyspeptic, he was regarded as a well preserved man of his age, and bus prospects of long life were thought to be fair. Llis sudden demise, unexpected, enables us to realize that in the midst of life we are in death, and what shadows we are and what shadows we pursue.

Mr. Luther married Miss Lydia E. Wicoff, of Ashland, February 17, 1835. His family consisted of his wife and three children- Joel IL, and two daughters - Helen, wife of John Holland, of Cleveland; and Emily, wife of Andrew J. Hums, of Ashland.

Mr. Luther died Saturday evening, March 15, 1S79, aged seventy years and one day, after a brief illness. The remains of Mr. Luther were deposited in the cemetery of Ashland, on Tuesday, March iS, 1S79. May he rest in peace.

The circumstances attending the last illness, and de cease of Mr,. Luther, though generally known in this comnumily, may be repeated in this connection. On Saturday, March 1st, he had gone into the garden for some purpose, when he found his strength failing him, and at once attempted a return to the house. Finding he could not succeed in this, he colled to his daughter, Mrs. Hums, who sat by a window ne'ar by. Before that lady could reach him, however, he had fallen 10 tire

! ground, and lapsed into unconsciousness. By the time ! aid had been summoned, and - his removal to the house had been effected, sensibility returned, and towards i evening the heart had resumed its normal condition.

! From this time until the middle of the following week | he gradually rallied, and hopes were entertained of his \ recovery. But on Thursday he grew rapidly worse, to rally slightly the day following, and to relapse again and | pass peacefully away Saturday afternoon. With the ex- | ception of one short moment of unconsciousness when he was first stricken, he retained his senses until the i last moment, conversing easily with, his family and i friends until death took him.

\ 1796.' His grandfather, Aijuilla Cole, came from Eng- 1 land and settled near Baltimore about 1760. After the i close of the Revolutionary war, when the lands of Kenj tucky came into market, he started on a journey to that | region with tire intention of purchasing a large tract of | land and fit. ally locating there. On his way through . Ohio, while traveling along "Zaire's trace,' from Wheeling to the present site of ZanesHile, in crossing the main ; stream of Wills creek, his horse became entangled in ! driftwood, the stream being full and deep, and he was | drowned. His traveling comrades all escaped, and rej covered and buried his remains near where he met his | melancholy dwuh. His estate, under the old English j law, fell to h;s oldest son. His sons were Thomas. F.lij jah, Aquilla, Salathiel, Mycagy, and Stephen. They all I removed to Kentucky. but Thomas and Stephen. Thomas i finally located in Washington county, Pennsylvania, j Charles, who died in infancy, Abraham, Mycagy, John, j Eleanor. Mary, Richard, Charles, Wesley, Elijah, and ! Eliza. Stephen and Thomas came to Jackson township,

| Thomas had manied in i-Stfi, and had one child at the : time of his removal. On his route from Fairfield he I came by Newark, Mount Vernon, Bellviile, Creentown,

I Teromevillc, and over the east pn.it of Montgomery t-.nvn- I ship to the forest home of William Bryan, south of the ! present site of Polk, where he remained until lie and Ids brother cut a path to section eight, southeast and south - | west quarters. When they selected a site for a cabin their wives stitched a number of linen sheets together 1 and a tent was erected, in which they lived until the 1 cabin could be erected and prepared for occupation, j The third day was Sunday, and with the night canto a heavy rain. His child was sick, and the rain beat through the tenl. 1 he bed became wet, and Mr. lik sat upright with the quilt over his head to piott t a . sit k f luid. Fortunately the next morning his child w.^ better. lie retains a vivid m\»llwtioti of thm intro ductory storm, and his altitude as "center-pole." Salathiel, with a team, accompanied them to their wilderness | home, and returned to Fairfield by the path he came. | When the cabin was raised, Mr. Cole states that most of j the hands were from the present vicinity of the village | of Orange. He squared his house to the meridian by I observing tire section line, setting up and plumbing a stake and watching when, the sun shadow pointed due north..

Mason, Mr. Morton, Thomas Green, Josiah Lee, Jesse | Matthews, Laffler, and James Durfee, and in tire south j half, Noah Long, Jonas H. Gierhart, James A. Dinsmore, j John Jackson, Michael and Matthias Rickel, William j Bryan, Charles Hoy, and John Davault. A number of i other families arrived during the fall of 1819. Stephen 1 and Thomas Cole brought a number of milch cows and ; young cattle, and two or three head of horses. A favor- | ite mare escaped and attempted to return to Fairfield, . but was pursued and captured, after a lively chase of \ several hours in the south part of the township, j Wild grass was abundant in the forest, and cattle thrived \ upon it. Mr. Cole, by industry, and the assistance of j his pioneer neighbors, soon prepared fields for culture, j There were no schools or churches at his arrival in the i township. Rev. Mr. Hazzard was a gentleman of good ! English education, and soon volunteered to instruct the i children of the pioneers. He resided in the northeast part of the township, on section eleven. In 1822-3 Mr. Hazzard also established the first class of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was leader and teacher. | He became a loco! preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. The class was established in what has since be- j come the village of Perrysburgh - known sometimes as ; Albion, the name of its post-office. The first class contained about ten members; Josiah Lee was at one time j a leader. Mr. Cole became a member in 1S25, and * about 1830, a leader and exhorter, and in 18.40 was ! licensed a local preacher and still retains his license, j The Rev. Mr. Hazzard died in 1870 and was buried on ! his homestead. Mr. Cole, and we believe, Mr. Hazzard also, was licensed by that venerable and mu h loved pio- | neer minister, Rev. Elmer Yocum. Mr. Cole is now j (1876) deprived o( his vision, having been afflicted someyears with opacity of the crystalline lens, or cataract. { His general health is good, and his disposition quite j cheerful. Mrs. Cole, his excellent wife, who shared his | pioneer toils, deceased May 8, 1870, aged seventy-four, j His children are: Thomas Cole, jr. ; Elizabeth, wife of 1

Chester C. Matthews; Rebecca, wife of Joseph C. Holies; j Mary, wife of Jacob Plice ; Rachel, wife of Isaac Gor- | don, deceased, and Ruth ie, wife of James Campbell, of Iowa. Mr. Cole has forty-six grandchildren, and twentyfive great-grandchildren. Most of his children reside in Ashland county.

Henry Brothers

was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, December ir, 1804. When a babe, his parents removed to Stark county, this State, where he resided until the year 1827, when he removed to this county, where he resided until his death, making him a resident of Ashland county for over fifty years.

On May 20, 1S25, he was married to Miss Mary Duffy. The fruits of this union are eleven children, seven of whom are still living: Nathaniel, Mary, Ruin,

John, Elizabeth Ann, Ursula, and Franklin. The ones deceased were: Catharine, Hannah, Nancy, and Jonas. They were all born in this county but Nathaniel; and all' that are living are married but one, Franklin C.

Mr. Brothers settled in Rowsburg, at a time when there were but one or two houses in the place, as well as in Ashland. At that time Ashland was called Uniontown. He used to often recall the many hardships and privations that he, together with others, had to contend with, that the present as well as future generations will never know or experience.

He never professed religion, but always tried to live an upright life. Although he had his faults as well as virtues, and which the human family are all heir to, his friends have the satisfaction to know he enjoyed the respect and esteem of those in the community where lie resided, and have their sympathy 'in their sad bereavement.

William Ramsey

was born in Maryland and removed to Jackson township, Wayne counly, in 1823, and has resided in Jackson township about forty seven years. When he located the original settlers were Charles Hoy, John Baker, John Russell, Noah Long, John Jackson, William Brvan, Elisha Chilcote, John Tucker, John Davault, John Swuney and Robert Crawford, who owned a horse-mill, and finally went to Missouri, lie owns a good farm and has it under line cultivation, with fine buildings. Mr. Ramsey is now about eighty two years of age.

Michael Riddle, Sr

MICHAEL RIDDLE, SR., sort of George and Mary Riddle, was horn August 2i, [703,111 Mankind. His father was of Scotch- Irish descent, and his mother was a native of Marx', nd. and of Welsh descent. His father died and v ax buried on Clows' Island, when 'he subject o| this sk -ten wax. but ten years old; and a! the age >f sixteen lie o.nne into Fayctu count'.', Pennsylvania, and engaged to >, r*e an apprenticeship at biacksmithir.g, with a Mr. Peter Herd- j sack, for a term of five year-. But a short time before the expiration of said term, and in the fall of 1812, the \ Ruffncr, Zimmer, and Copus assassination on the Black ; fork of Mohican took place, by the Indians.

Volunteers from westerrt Pennsylvania were called out i to defend the border settlers in Ohio. He entered the I service as one of the volunteers, for a term of six months, under General Robert Crooks, and passed over the territory now constituting Ashland and Richland counties, en route for Upper Sandusky; was at all the principal j points along the rivers and lakes, from Fort Meigs, on i the Maumee, to Toledo, Detroit and Cleveland, under General Harrison. He became acquainted with Col. Richard JVI. Johnston, of Kentucky ; and was finally detailed j to take charge of the sick on Put-in Bay and South ! Bass islands, where he remained most of the time for j which he had enlisted.

lie stood by and saw James Bird shot for deserting j Perry's fleet ; and in tire spring of 1813 he returned to 1 Fayette county, Pennsylvania, worked at his trade, and ! in the fall, September 11, 1814, married Miss Barbara | Ann Franks, daughter of George and Abigail Franks, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. The result of said marriage was eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, j George W., was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 1 June 5, 1815; Aaron, born in same county, February 10, ; 1817. , And in the spring of 1S18, he removed with his j little family to Applecreek, Wayne county, Ohio, at j which place his daughter Abigail was born, December ! 31, iS'18. And in the spring of 1820, he located on eighty acres of military school land, four miles northeast ! of Ashland, then Union town, on the Cleveland road, it , being then in Richland county, and there he erected his ; little log cabin in which to live, surrounded by a dense I forest of tall oak and hickory, as well as beech and ma- j pie. And in the fall of the same year, November 28, 1820, his son, Samuel was born. Then Michael, jr., born October 28, 1822; John R., born April 12, 1824; 1 Jacob, horn January 12 , 1826; Cornelius, born December 8, 1827; Jesse, born August 3, 1830; Mary Ann, born January 9, 1S32; and William Patterson, born October 31, 1834; of these, Jacob, Jesse, Cornelius, Aaron, and Mary Ann are dead.

Aaron married Miss Delia Ann Alexander, February 15, 1838, who died August t 7, of the same year. George W., married Miss Ruth Alexander, October 23, 1838, who also died, May 31, 1S39; George's second marriage, : to Miss Jane Scott, March 3 r, 1842, by whom he lias eleven children - John S.. dead; Sarah, Cornelius F., Ira A., Jane Irene, dead, Samantha Ann, Sophia S., Eliza E., Rebecca A., Flora and Dora, twins. Of these Samantha Ann, Sophia S., and Eliza E., are school 1 teachers. Aaron's second marriage was with Miss Elizabeth McGammon, November r, 1843. They have had j four children - -throe hoys and one girl: Marshall W., dead; Almon 0.. dead; judsou !'., in the far west; and Lucy Jane, school teacher, wife of Joseph Welch, a fanner. Aaron died November 17, 1851, aged thirty four yeais nine months and seven days. Abigail remains single.

Samuel married Miss Margaret Dally, of Mohicanville, November 16, 1843. The result of said marriage was nine children, three boys and six girls.

Michael, jr., married Miss Catharine Hatfield, of Doylestown, Ohio, February 1, 1849. Result of marriage, six children, two boys and four girls.

Mary Ann was married to James A. Hazlett, and had seven children, three boys and four girls; Willie, dead; John, Elbe, Ettie, Lucy, Phoenie, and James Franklin.

William Patterson married Kate D. Stents, December 10, 1861, and has three children - Orwell, Emma, and Norman. Two of his sons, Samuel and Michael, turned their attention somewhat to the subject of education, and attended the Ashland academy, under the superintendence of the Fuitons and Lorin Andrews. After teaching school each several terms, the former turned his attention to the study and practice of medicine; the latter, to the ministry of the Gospel. The other members of the family are farmers, and live on and near the old homestead.

Mr. Riddle was noted for his habits of industry, economy, and self reliance. He was an excellent farmer, and experimented largely in choice varieties of fruits, and is believed to have manufactured the first wine in Montgomery township, from the catawba grape. In his earlier years he was an active member of the Baptist church; he and his wife were baptized by Eider John Rigdon, who was then a pioneer preacher, living in Clearcreek township, Richland county; but when Alexander Campbell began to publish his view's of church doctrine and government, in what was called the Christian Baptist , first published in 1823, Mr. Riddle embraced the doctrine of the Disciples, and assisted Mr. Rigdon and others in organizing a church in Ashland. Many years, however, before the little church-house was built which stands on Orange street, of which he was one of the original trustees, he opened his own house for public worship; he made it the home of all the old pioneer preachers, as they passed through from place to to place, and not unfrequently they held protracted meetings at his house. He entertained on many occasion.-. from forty to fifty people at a time, giving largely of his means to support the ministers, besides. He was for a long time the only elder of the church, but in after years, others were appointed to assist him.

He unfortunately received a mortal injury in a fall from an apple tree, October 28, x S 5 7 , from which he expired in a few hours, aged sixty-four years two months and twenty seven days. II is wife died June 15, iSSc, aged sixty-seven years five months and seven days.

Peter Yam Nordstr And, Sr

PETER YAM NORDSTR AND, SR., was born in New Jersey, and, after the close of the Revolutionary war, cmigiuleJ to Westmoreland c Minty, Pennsylvania, llis am e, tors were from Holland. In

1816 he came to Clearcreek township, Richland (now Ashland) county, ana located on section thirty-five, where he deceased, in 1S17, aged about fifty years. He had been a neighbor to the Baileys and Brytes in Westmoreland county, and was induced to settle in the wilds of Clearcreek because of their emigration to that region. A brother-in-law, Archibald Gardner, located in Mifflin, on the present site of Windsor, in the spring of 18 ix, and forted at Ream's in 1812.

Mr. Van Nordstrand's sons were: John, who subsequently removed to, and deceased, in Iowa; Isaac, who also located in Iowa, and Peter, who continues to reside in Clearcreek township. The daughters were: Elizabeth, wife of Abraham Bebout; Anna, wife of William Andrews; Rachel, wife of David Urie; Effie, wife of Alexander McCready; Eleanor, wife of James McCool ; Margaret, wife of Michael Shoup; Mary, wife of David Bryte, and Sarah, wife of John My brants-.

Peter married Nancy Shaw, and is now about seventytwo years of age. He states that when his father landed in Clearcreek, there were but eight or ten families in the township. Tire first school-house in ids part of the township was a little cabin of round logs, erected on the farm of the late Abraham Huffman, in 1817. The children of the following householders attended, Mr. Robert Nelson being the first teacher: Abraham

Huffman, John Brown, Andrew Stevison, Robert Ralston, Widow Trickle, David McKinny, Rev. William Matthews, Levi and Thomas Bank, Widow Mary Van Nordstrand, and the children of Robert Nelson. The country was in its primitive condition, game was plenty, and the Indians from Sandusky hunted annually in the forests of Clearcreek for a number of years after the arrival of the first settlers. They were harmless, and rarely visited the cabins of the pioneers, except when they were driven to do so from pinching hunger.

Peter Van Nordstrand, jr., occupied the old homestead until about 1872, when his wife deceased. He is now residing with a son-in-law. He has been an exemplary member of the Christian church for oxer thirty years. His wife was also a devoted member of the same church. It is rarely that men, in a single community, witness the changes that have taken place within this county in the last sixty years. From an almost unbroken forest, the hills and valleys of this county have been reduced to cultivation, and every township teams with abundance. Schools, villages, and towns have sprung into being, as if by magic. From a few hundred the inhabitants of the county have multiplied until our population reaches over twenty-three thousand. Tile Indian that roamed over the hills ar.d along the fertile valleys of this county, has long since removed to the far west, and his race* will, ere long, become extinct.

The Mercers

Abner E. Mercer was born in Virginia, January 19, 1810. He emigrated with his family to Jackson county. Ohio, in 1S12. from that comity his father, I evi Mer-

I cer, served as a soldier in the war of 1S12, in the north- J west. In 1824 he removed with his family to Milton j township, Richland, now Ashland, county, where he entered a half section of land in section six. He deceased in 1850, and his wife in 1853: he at the age of seventy ; years, and she at seventy-three. They left a numerous ; family - thirteen children - Sabra, Elizabeth, Levi, Maria,

Ebner E. was the sixth member of the family, and has I resided on a part of the home farm since arriving at man- 1 hood. He attended the common schools of the town-

' shin, and learned the trade of a plasterer. He married ! Miss Thankful Crabbs, daughter of John Crabbs, near j Olivesburg, Richland county, February 17, -'834. In | 1.835 he became a member of the Disciple church, and I adorned his faith by an upright walk. In 1844 he be- ; came 'the elder of Bryle's church, and was devoted to j his faith.

Mr. Mercer was also a farmer of industrious habits : and admitted integrity and uprightness. When he en- 1 tered the township, in 1824, it was largely in its prirnij t>vs condition. The native forest had been compara- I lively undisturbed by the woodman's axe. At that period cabin-raising, log-rolling, and wood-cutting were ther rin- ! cipal occupations of the pioneers, who cheerfully vclun- | teered their aid to assist those who sought a home amid ! the forests. Great have been the changes since the ; Mercers entered the township. Mr. Mercer, for the last six or seven vears, had been greatly enfeebled by that 1 fell destroyer, consumption. The immediate occasion of ! his last illness was pneumonia, of which he deceased | February 23, 1S77, and was interred at Bryte's church on ; the 24th.

He was the father of fourteen children - Jefferson, John, Levi, Polly, Madison, Abner, Sarah, Darius, Benjamin, William, Silas, Jacob, Nancy, and one unnamed. His funeral was attended, by a large number of husneighi bors, the members of his family, ar.d fourteen grandchil- ; . .

Thus, one by one, the pioneers are being gathered j home by the great reaper, and soon the funeral chime j will have tolled the knell of the last early settler.

Solomon Market

l was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, December, 1813, and came with his parents to Congress township, Wayne county, in 1S37. The name of his J father was Solomon Markle, sr., who died in 1S52, at I the age of fifty-two years; his mother died in 1S50, aged j seventy two years. Solomon located on section sixteen, Orange township, in 1857. He had married Mi s Han i uah Howman oi Congress, Wayne county, prior to locating in Orange. Their family consists of five bow. Jacob, Israel, Aaron, Franklin and Lewis O., and four ' girls, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth and Hannah J. The children are all married but Lewis C. 'They are much scattered, living in the new States. Mr. Market possesses a fine homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of well-improved land, on section sixteen, Orange township.

Israel Markel was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1819, and came with his lather's family to Congress township, Wayne county, in April, 1835, where he remained until 1830, and married shortly after settling on section sixteen, in Orange township, Miss Mariah Riclcet, in 1839. Mr. Markel has been a justice of the peace two terms, a constable two terms, and a coroner of the county one term, in 1846. He now resides in Ashland, but retains one hundred and" seventy acres of his homestead in Orange township, on sections sixteen and nine. His family consists of six boys : Jacob W., George A., Samuel 1)., Israel C., a physician, Isaiah F. and Henry A., lawyer, and four daughters, Eliza, Rachel, Lucia A. and Artha M. Like the family of Solomon, they are much scattered in the west and in this State.

Eli W. Wallack

was born September 3, 1828, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, from whence, at the age of twenty years, he removed to Ashtabula county, Ohio, and remained until 1S4S, when he located in Ashland. At first he foimed a \ partnership with J. W. Hannan in the provision business, j which lasted about two years, when he formed a partner- | ship with R. and J. Freer in the same business. About this time he married Miss Anne Faws, who deceased in 1873 aged thirty nine years. He afterward marred Mrs. Caroline Campbell in 1876. Mr. Waliack has been an active business man in Ashland for thirty-two years, and is one of the oldest business men of the town. He has met many business reverses. The failure of the Citizens' Bank in 1877, greatly shook his confidence in men. The destucllon of his store rooms, by fire, in June, 1S80, was a sad disaster and a great loss. He is new in company with W. C. Frazee in a furniture establishment on Main street, Ashland. Mr. Waliack has often been called to fill the office of treasurer for Montgomery township, and has many friends who respect him for his undoubted integrity and honor.

William C. Frazee

was born December to, 1841, in Alleghany county, Maryland, and came to Ashland county, Ohio, in 1863,^1^! taught school two winters and labored one summer on a farm, after which he formed a partnership with John Rubra an in the provision business about one year, and then entered the same business with Joseph Stoffer, during which t i nf c lie was elected clerk of the court of common pleas for Ashland county from 1S70 to 1876. Since his time as clerk has expired he formed a partnership with E. W. Waliack in the bed spring business, and subsequently in the furniture and undertaking business in Ashland. He marned Miss Nancy Swineford, daughter of John Swineford, December 26, 1864, by whom he had two children, one of whom yet survives.

The Ralstons

Robert Ralston, sr., served in the war of 1812, in a : regiment from western Pennsylvania. On the way to | the Maumee, he passed over the territory now constituting Ashland county; and being pleased with the appearance of the country, sold his farm in Washington county on his return from the army, and came to Montgomery township, Richland (now Ashland) county, in 1S14. and settled two miles north of Ashland, where he resided until rS3o. He became one of the justices of the peace at the first election, after the organization of Montgomery township, his commission being in the possession | of his son James.

He married Jane Woodburn; he died October 26, 1854. aged eighty-six years. Jane, his wife, died September 3, 1862, aged eighty-six years, five months.

Their children were: Robert, jr., who died November 17, 1871, in Clinton county, leva, aged seventy-four years; James, of Plymouth, Richland county, Ohio, aged seventy-seven years; Jane Hall, oldest daughter, resides in Nevada, Wyandot county, Ohio; Margaret Hal!

1 resides in Orange township, Ashland county: Nancy I Gribben, in Plymouth, Richland county; Alexander, in ! Franklin county, Tennessee; Samuel IV., m Auburn,

: Indiana; Maria Dickson, in Crawford county, Ohio; David, in Clinton county, Iowa; and Julia Ilodiey, in Whitley county, Indiana. Robert was the father of the late W. C. Ralston, of San Francisco, California.

James, the second son of Robert, sr., the oldest living 1 member of the family at this time (1876), was the milij boy during the first few years of their residence in Ashi land county. With a horse and pack-saddle, with a sack i of corn or wheat, he often traveled by new-cut roads \ and Indian trails to Shrimplin's mill, in Knox county.

| the journey occupying three or four days, to obtain a I grist. In these trips, he often forded swollen streams, j and encountered many dangers and difficulties.

Robert, jr., was a house carpenter, and constructed many of the first buildings in Ashland and Montgomery township. He removed from his farm, north of Ashi land, to Plymouth, Richland county, in 1S29; and from there to Brooke county, Virginia, in 1S32; and from there to Wellsville, Ohio, in 1836; and to Clinton county, Iowa, in 1853, where he died.

Alexander represented Richland countv in the Ohio legislature two terms, and served as justice of the peace a number of years, prior to his removal to Tennessee ; he was also a carpenter by trade.

The Ralstons, like their Scotch-Irish ancestors, are warmly attached to the Presbyterian faith, and have all been noted for their intelligence, frugality, industry, and moral integrity.

Adam Link

was born November 14, 1763, in Washington county, Maryland, i I is father, Jacob Link, was a native of the saint State, while his mother was born in Switzerland. When Adam was about six years old his mother died. His father married again, and moved to the frontier, and located some seven or eight miles from Wheeling, Virginia, where he secured by "tomahawk right," six hundred acres of land, four hundred in Virginia and two hundred in Washington, then We stmoreland, county, Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of Indian hostilities he had already made a good deal of progress in clearing and fitting up his farm, and had a number of horses, cattle and hogs, and determined to remain in his cabin and defend his property, taking the precaution, however, of sending his wife and smaller children back to the settlements before the approach, of the savage S/iawnres and their allies. In August, Mr. Link sent Adam and an older brother, Jonathan, with horses laden with provisions to his family. After the departure of his sons, the same evening, two strangers hunting strayed horses stopped at the cabin of Mr. Link for the night. A nephew of Airs. Link by the name of Aliller also remained at the cabin. When the strangers arose the next morning Mr. Link cautioned them not to go out, as the dogs had been uneasy all night. Paying no attention to his warning, they opened the door and went out to wash, and were immediately shot by Indians, who were concealed near the cabin. Link and Aliller gathered up the guns and retreated to the second story of the cabin, drawing up the ladder. The Indians rushed into the building, but finding the stairway safely guarded by rifles pointing down, retreated. After exchanging shots for an hour without effect, a painted white man came forward with a flag of truce, and said if they would give up their arms and come down they would not be hurt, otherwise they would set fire to the cabin and burn them out. Finding further resistance to be useless, they handed down their guns, descended, and their hands were tied. They were marched some distance into the woods, where the Indians halted and held a council, there being some thirty in the gang. The consultation related to the fate of the prisoners. At the conclusion, Air. Link was tomahawked and scalped, and his body left. Mr. Aliller was a sad witness of the fate of his friend. The Indians then moved forward, marching, as he observed, in a circle. That night they had a scalp dance, after which Aliller was fastened by raw-hide cords to a large Indian to sleep. '1'he Indians being tired, soon slept profoundly. As soon as it was safe Mr Miller commenced to gnaw the thongs from his wrists. After much perseverance he finally succeeded. 1 1 le then carefully removed the cord that encircled his ! wrist, arose to hit feet, seized a good gun and passed into the forest; but had made little progress be for . the In- 1 dian awakened, and with a yell, aroused his companions. Miller continued his flight, and finally reached the settlement. On the morning before the fight took place at the cabin, Adam and Jonathan, who had accompanied their step-mother to a neighboring settlement, were requested to remain part of the day to cut wood. Adam remained, but Jonathan returned. There were several families on the route. On his way Jonathan rode up to a cabin where the owner was making a trough, and asked him if he was not afraid of Indians. He replied - "the d - d redskins are afraid to come about here." Jonathan had not proceeded over one hundred rods when he found himself in the middle of a large body of savages, who were watching the cabin he had just passed. They ordered him to surrender, but he fled. The Indians pursued- bis horse became frightened - the saddle turned; he cut the girth and fled in the direction of his father's cabin. When he came in sight of it he found it and the barn in flames. He returned by a circuitous route to the fort. In a few hours Adam followed his brother, and met a stranger on horseback, who told him to turn back, "for the Indians were as thick as yellow jackets in Hawkin's bottom."

After these adventures, the family of Jacob Link became scattered, until the close of the Revolutionary war. Some returned to the vicinity of Baltimore, where the father of Airs. Link resided. At the conclusion of the war, Adam located adjoining the old homestead in Washington county, Pennsylvania. The old farm passed from the possession of '.he family, and Adam became a common laborer. He was a young man of great endurance, and could thresh, with a flail, sixty bushels of wheat per week, and make as many rails as any man of his weight in the border settlements.

At the age of twenty-eight he married Aliss Elizabeth j Link, a relative, and settled in Washington county. He ourchased, improved and sold a number of small farms in that county. He saw no active service in the war of 1812. In 1S1S he walked from his home in Pennsylvania to Uniontown, now Ashland, Ohio, and located in the southwest quarters of sections one and eleven in Milton township, built cabins, and in the following spring removed with his family, consisting of four sons and five daughters. He located on section one, and afterward sold it to William Lockhart, and removed to i section eleven, which, in his seventy-fourth year, he sold j to a son, and then improved a small farm on section \ fourteen, and then removed to Crawford county, and j resided with his son-in-law, Air. Rashton Alarkley, until August, 1864, when he deceased, at the age of one iiun- ' died and one years.

Mr. Link was a peculiar man. Ilis habits are worth notice. In height he was five feet ten inches. His weight, was about one hundred and sixty pounds, lie was compact in muscle, and possessed great strength and endurance. He was never sick, and never sufLr- ! pain. He retained his soundness of constitution until he had nearly tea* lied the age of ninety years. As his limbs began 10 grow stiff and unwLldly, he was accustomed to say "the machinery is wearing out." was born June 14, 1S13, in Washington county, Penn- ! sylvania. He had two brothers, one, James A. McCombs, died at the age of four years. Andrew M. McCombs ! was a member of Captain Barber's company, and died in the service on the thirtieth of April, 1862, at Ashland, j aged forty-seven years and five months. His mother, [ Ann McClean, was married to his father, Matthew Mc- Combs, on the twenty third day of April, 1812. His father served six months in the war of 1812, under General Harrison, and died, from the effects of the service, in the year 1822. His mother died at Ashland February 1.8, 1S67, in the eighty-second year of. her age.

Mr. McCombs' grandfather, on the father's side, was born in Ireland, and emigrated to, and bought a farm in, ' Washington county, Pennsylvania, and lived to about the age of eighty years, and his wife to near the same age. Mr. McCombs' grandfather, on the mother's side, Andrew McClean, died on his farm in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Smith township, at the age of eighty-five years, and his wife at the age of sixty-seven years. Grandfather McClean was born near Fort Deposit. Maryland, was a Revolutionary soldier, who died at a ripe age, full of years and full of faith, being an elder in the Presbyterian church of Raccoon. He performed an important part in procuring the liberties we now enjoy. He was in the battles of Brandywine, Lot g Island, Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point, etc., serving five years.

and enlisted at the age of seventeen. He saw and participated in the mighty event which, under Providence, ended in the permanent independence of this country, and died enjoying the confidence arid esteem of all his neighbors. Mr. McCombs was left to the care of his mother, who brought him up and early taught him selfindependence. He taught school in His neighborhood at the early age of sixteen. lie commenced to acquire a liberal education at Florence academy, Washington county, Pennsylvania, then attended Washington college, and after a course of over five years was graduated at Franklin college, in Harrison county, Ohio, in the class of iSgp. He then read law with the Hon. T. M.T. Mc- Kern,an, who was Secretary of the Interior under General 'Fay lor, and his son, William McKennan, now United States distnet judge for northwestern Pennsylvania, and he was admitted to the bar in Washington. Pennsylvania; when he came to Ohio and resided in Richland county one year; came to Ashland, Ashland county, Ohio, before the county was erected, and assisted in procuring the county-seat, where he has ever since resided and engaged in the practice of the law. He was married to Sarah A. Wright, a native of the State of New York, December 29. 1846. They had three children S. Anna, M.'.rv and John. Tin- youngest, John remains h the parents; Anna is 'married to S. W. Andrews, and Marv to James Whvtj curly life he attended the Presbyterian church, but al- | ways contended that "all men would be saved after j being beaten with few and many stripes, according as j they had sinned in this life. That having paid the pen- j alty of sin, they would eventually be saved with the j just." Although nearly all his life a border settler, he | was well versed in tiie history of the times. He was an j interesting conversationalist, and in narrating the adventures of the border settlements of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, he was accurate in incident, and often eloquent in description. In politics he was a Jefferson- j ian Democrat. He had a strong preference for military j presidents, and is believed to have supported General W. 11. Harrison, General Xachariah Taylor and General Scott, for president. As a farmer, he was peculiar. For a period of nearly sixty years he never used or owned a wagon. He always attended market with a sled, and ! packed his wheat to mill on a horse*. He was equally singular in his diet. His standard living was bread, ! meat, eggs, potatoes, butter, sugar and coffee. No fruit or milk. He was a hearty meat eater. He regarded two goose eggs as a medium breakfast, combined with a little bread and meat. When he was eighty-seven years old, having used whiskey freely all his ife, he became . convinced that the modern modes of its manufacture were pernicious, by reason of the deleterious drugs entering into the new compound, and abandoned its use. Here, then, are two problems for solution : i. Did his diet contribute to the preservation of his health to so j advanced an age? 2. Is it true that the use of pure j spirituous liquors, as a common beverage, shortens life by enfeebling the physical and vital powers ?*

John Bishop

To preserve the memory and hold in respect the deeds and services of the pioneers who have devoted their j lives and energies to leveling the forest and taming the , wild luxuriance of a new country, must ever be grateful to those who survive. While this is true, in regard to 1 I the world's great men in military life, it is equally true in | all discoveries of science, as well as in building up of ! new communities, in prosperity, intelligence, virtue, and ; wealth. It has often been the case, that in the age | in which the pioneer lives, his invaluable services fail to 1 be appreciated, yet those who survive, have generally j made liberal amends for any apparent neglect. The j present generation is under lasting obligations to those ! who encountered the dangers, and endured the hardships j of our new settlements to prepare the way for the ad- I vance of the standard of civilization, where hitherto the I wild native roamed free and unmolested. We should long remember these fathers and mothers for such in calculable services in the cause of human improvement; I j for they deserve to be held in remembrance in all coming time as public benefactors. 1'his sentiment, we

*NoTI'. J<. nation '.ink built a bUicX-liousc on Midille Wheeling j creek, in 1780, near the present town of Tri.itlulplc.i. He was killed in it by the Indians in the fall of iy3t.

John Bishop was born January 22, 1793, in Frederick county, in the State of Maryland. At the age of thirteen years, his parents removed to Green county, Pennsylvania. His father, being in moderate circumstances, John was hired to work for a neighbor named William Estei, for ten shillings per month, and having amassed sufficient means, came to Licking county, Ohio, during the war of 1S12. That county was then spaisely settled, and the pioneers had to endure many privations in the midst of war. F3ere he found employment for one year. He was then twenty years old, and remained one year. In 1814 he returned to Pennsylvania and induced his father's family to accompany him to Licking county. At the close of the war, in 1815. he came to Orange township, then Richland, now Ashland, county. He found the pioneers of that region few and greatly scattered. Jt was not uncommon to meet the red men in the woods, who were friendly to the whites, and often hunted in our forests. His first work consisted in digging the foundation of a new mill erected by Martin Mason, on the present site of Mr. Leidigh's mill in the west part of Orange township. There were then no villages in the township and none in the county. The mill was put in running order, to do a small business in 1816. In 1820, he aided in the erection of the first school-house in the township in the Iliffner settlement. In 1819, March 9, he married Miss Catharine Hi liner, daughter of Jacob Hiffner, a revolutionerv soldier, who died about 1849. This lady was the choice of his youth, and he lived in great peace with her until about 1876, when she left earth for a happy home prepared for all the good. Mr. Bishop could exclaim with the poet:

There were ten children when the Bishop family arrived in Ohio. There are still living: Jacob, Catharine Weedman, and Elizabeth Young, all of whom now reside in the State of Illinois. Mr. Bishop leaves several members of his family in Ashland county. He resided about sixty-four years in this count)-, most of the time on iris late homestead north of Orange.

Mr. Bishop had always been an industrious, unpretending farmer, and, by economy and uprightness had acquired a, good property, which lie divided among his children. As a citizen, socially and morally, he occupied a high place in the respect of his neighbors. Me was among the earlier pioneers of the township - the Metcalfs, the Fasts, the Norrises, the Youngs, and the Uries. He helped to clear its forests, make its roads, erect its school-houses, and aid die pioneers by bis kind offices. As a citizen he was kind and gentle in iiis manners, and, as a Christian, exemplary among Iris neighbors. He was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church for more than half a century, and deemed death but gain for the true Christian. Although regarded as a member of the^ l'ionecr and Histoiical society of the

Mr. Jlishop died, after a brief illness, March 12, 1879, aged eighty-six years, one month, and eighteen days. Ilis work is done, and he has gone to rest. May he find the reward of the good and true.

John Cory

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1800. His father, Aaron Cory, was born in- New Jersey in 1772, and came to Washington county when a young man, in 1793, and married Miss Elizabeth McGuire' sister of the late Thomas and Hugh McGuire. He and his family, consisting of his wife and children, removed to what became Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1802. That region had been the home of the Delaware Indians prior to the expeditions of Williamson and Colonel | William Crawford, in 1781-2. and was long a favorite re- ' sort for Indians of that nation, after the Corys came in- I to the country. The Delawares were much attached to j the preaching and teaching of the Moravian missionary, j Rev. John I leckewelder, and visited Goshen in memory j of the past. Here the Corys and Carrs became ac- j quainted with many leading Indians, among whom were j George Hamilton and Philip Ignatius, who participated ; in the fight with General Wayne at Fallen Timbers in j 1795, and often spoke of the wonderful manner in which j he conducted the campaign. These Indians, with others, i often visited Mr. Cory in Perry township, Wayne county, ! after his removal in subsequent years. In the year 1814 i Aaron Cory located two quarters of land in Wayne and I Richland counties, one in section twenty-nine in Perry, i and one in Montgomery township,. known as the old An- j dress farm, at the land office at Canton. In 1817 Aaron I Cory and his son John, the oldest member of his family, j visited Perry township with the view of improving his j land. They cleared about ten acres, and Mr. Cory returned to Tuscarawas county. John remained, and con- j tinned the improvements in the summer season, for two 1 years, returning home during each winter. In the spring i of 1819, Aaron Cory and family, consisting of his wife !

John Cory continued to reside on the old farm until j 1867, when he sold it and purchased in Morrow county, whence he removed. Here he had the misfortune to lose, ' by death, the wife of his youth, in 1872, aged about sixty-five years. He felt the separation most keenly, and was never fully reconciled to lie. death Mrs. Cory was an excellent lady, and possessed of great firmness, good judgment, and Christian forbearam c, in a large degree. Oi late years Mr. Cory has resided in Sandusky township, Richland county, at the residence of a daughter, Mrs. Stevens, where he died.

His family consists of Anne Mariah, wife of Peter Spangler, of Evansport, Defiance county, Ohio; Aaron F. Cory, of Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Dr. J. McKune, of Marion county, Ohio; Martha J., wife of George Palmer, of Marion county, Iowa ; William W. Cory, esq., of Ottumwa, Iowa; John F. Cory, of Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; and Rhoda A., the wife of Lewis Stevens, of Richland county, Ohio. The members of the family above enumerated are all living, and were generally present at the funeral of Mr. Cory.

The Corys, on the mother's side of the house, were French, and on that of the father's and grandfather's, of Scotch descent, and originally settled in New Jersey, some time before the American Revolution. Mr. Cory, at the time of his decease, possessed a Bible printed in France in 1727 , which is said to have been originally the property of his great-grandfather, Joseph Freeman. The Bible was purchased in France about the time his ancestors settled in New Jersey.

Mr. Cory often, in his conversation, dwelt upon the early reminiscences of settlement in Perry township, the wildness of the forest, the hardships of the pioneers, the difficulty of procuring milling, and the thinness of the. settlements. Pie related, with much merriment, the experience of himself and father during the first summer, whilst engaged in making their first improvements. They erected, against a large log, a camp cabin, eight by ten feet, of small logs or saplings, and covered it, the roof all sloping one way, by clapboards, to keep out the wet. It had no floor, and was open in front. A fire was built a few feet from the front, to keep off the wolves, which at night were quite, numerous. The on!\ furniture of the cabin consisted of a rifle, two axes, two or three knives, a fork or two, two or three pewter plates, one or two tin cups, an iron pot for cooking, a skillet for frying meat, and two 01 three home-made stools. They slept on their blankets spread on leaves in their cabin. In this solitary home they were often joined by the late John Carr, sr. , who lix eel r few miles away, in their work. One evening, while preparing supper, Mr. Cory had the misfortune to upset the skillet in frying meat. The oil immediately took fire, and with a great blaze was, with the meat, consumed. The fragrance of the consuming fat was wafted on the evening breeze, and snuffed by the hungry wolves, which speedily gathered in the distance, and commenced a hideous serenade, not daring to approach, having great fear; of the fire. In this manner, Mr. Cory began his improvement in Perry, about sixtytwo years ago. Such has been the change that has, almost imperceptibly, gone on in a single life time.

It may be remarked that Mr. Cor;, was an intelligent, honest, and kind-hearted gentleman. He was noted 'or his Christian bearing and generous impulses. In his polities as in his religious views, he was firm and fixed, and never shrank from the issue. For a long series of years he was a most exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He met the dread mon ter, Death, fearing not, but conscious that his work was well done, and he had nothing to regret, Hut was ready to go. ; fust as the morning of the fourth of July, 1S79, ccmi nrenced to dawn, the good old pioneer was ushered into ; the presence of all those who had long since departed to a better and, we trust, a happier world. May lie rest | in peace.

John Carr, Sr

was born in Maryland, and came to Washington county, Pennsylvania, about 1790, and married Margaret Mc- Guire, sister of the late Thomas and Hugh McGuire, and during the border wars acted as an Indian spy a . short time, when the Bradys, the Poes, as well as Frank McGuire, Robert McGuire, and the Wetsels, scouted j ington county, Pennsylvania, John Carr removed into Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he remained until about | 1810, when he came to Mohican township, then in | Wayne, now in Ashland, county, with his family, and ! settled on what is now known as the Chessman farm,

1 about half a mile northwest of Jevomeviile, which he subsequently sold to John Ewing, sr., and purchased j what is now the Horn farm, on the east line of Montage mery township, where he died in 1837, aged about | sixty years. Mrs. Carr died there also. His children ' were: Thomas, Nicholas, Nancy, Hugh, Joshua, Ben-

, jam in, John, Samuel, Margaret, .Aaron, Susan, and I Curtis, by his first wife, and Aquiiia and David by- the | second wife. When the people became alarmed in Moj hican, in the fall of 1812, because of the menacing coni duct of the Indians, Mr. Carr and his family took refuge j upon the Tuscarawas, until ail danger and threats had J been so far removed as to warrant a return to his cabin.

Mr. Carr is understood to" have been on friendly terms j with the Indians of Mohican township, many of whom 1 had resided in other days, at Goshen, on the Tuscarawas. I In fact, it has often been suggested, that so warm was j his attachments for many of the Jerome Indians, and so ! deep their regard for Mr. Carr, that he probably would j have remained unmolested in his cabin, near the fort, | had he chosen to do so, during the war. The Indians j often called on him, after the war, in their hunting excursions in Mohican. He was a good man.

J Ames Clark

was born in Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1790, and in youth attended the common schools of his j neighborhood. In 1797 his parents removed to Wash- ; ington countv, in the same State, where he grew to manhood. War having been declared against Great Britain in 1812, by the United States, all those capable of bearing arms in the contest were either drafted or volunteered ; i for the service. Washington county during the Revolution and subsequent struggles, had .suffered severely by the incursions of the red men from Sandusky and the Scioto. From the temper evinced by the mother country, it was apprehended that so far as her agents could corrupt and inflame the passions of the tribes of the northwest against our people they would do so. Her agents secretly gave to the fierce red men ammunition, blankets, and arms, as the price of human scalps. They regarded the Americans as rebels in rebellion, and in a relentless war expected to subdue our people. The border settlers were aroused,, and a most determined effort was put forth to turn back the red fiend, headed by British bayonets, and thus parry every attempt to subdue our country a second time. The young men of Washington county, in 1813, of the proper age, were drafted into the service. Mr. Clark was among those who drew a place in the service, and was soon enrolled. 'The heroic victory on Lake Erie, by Commodore Perry, and the brave conduct of Captain Crogan, turned back the reel hordes of the northwest, headed by British bayonets, and thus repelled invasion, by lake and land, and by the time the troops of western Pennsylvania had reached Pittsburgh, a lull in the contest soon caused a declaration of peace, and Mr. Clark and his comrades were discharged without further service. He was in i:o battle, but evinced his readiness for the fray.

In 1814 he entered, at the land office, his late home in Orange township. When he visited his land he came by way of Wheeling, Zanesville, Coshocton, up the Walhonding, the Lake and Jerome forks, by Finley's, to the blockhouse on Jerome's farm, and thence up the stream by what became the home of Jacob Young, to his own location northwest of what is now the village of Orange, on the waters of Mohican. In 1 S 1 8 he built a small cabin on his land, and kept bachelor's hall during the summer season, doing his own cooking, grubbing, chopping, and preparing his land, and in the fall returned home and engaged in teaming to "old Piet." In this manner he continued to labor on his land, each summer, for seven successive years. When he came out in 1818, he was. accompanied by his brother John, and stayed all night at Uniontown, now Ashland, at the cabin hotel of Joseph Sheets, just opposite the present hardware store of Mr. Stull, on the north side of Main street. Mr. Sheets deceased several years since; but Mrs. Nancy Sheets, the former landlady, resides in South Ashland, possessing a good deal of energy, and quite a vigorous mind, for an aged lady. For some time after his arrival wild game was abundant, Mr. Clark was a good marksman, and easily procured plenty of venison, wild turkeys, and occasionally a black bear. These he dressed and cooked according to his taste. Wolves were very numerous and bold. He related that on several occasions, having no door to his cabin, wolves ventured in during the night and actually carried away meat and other articles On one occasion he killed and dressed a large, fat turkcv, expecting to enjoy the luxury of roasting and eating the same. On going to bed he hung it up in his cabin: but when he arose next morning lie found that during ihe night some howling, hungry wolf had t arried it away anu devoured it while he slept.

He was repeatedly visited by bands of Delaware Indians, from the Fire Lands, during their encampment and hunts in the neighborhood, 'these Indians were very ]>oor. and miserably clad. They were always apparently hungry, and in a begging humor. . They often got j corn-meal and other food from him, and agreed to pay j him in deer skins and peltry for it, but invariably forgot to remember the agreement. Mr. Clark, in hi?, prime, | was fully six feet high, and would weigh one hundred > and eighty pounds. He was very resolute in his man- J ner, and frank in his interviews with the Indians, and hence was never uncivilly treated by them. These Indians had a number of wigwams, or bark huts, three- I quarters of a mile northwest of him, in what is now . Troy township. Old four Lyons, Jonacakc and his squaw, Catoitawa, and other Indians, often came to his I cabin, on their hunting excursions. He was also visited : on several occasions by the eccentric, but harmless, ! Johnny Apple-seed, who was engaged in planting, on j Mason's run, a nursery in advance of the pioneers.

These were solitary times; but Mr. Clark often stated j that, being busily engaged in clearing and preparing his ; farm, time passed rapidly, and he really enjoyed himself j working, arid occasionally traversing the wild forests in I search of game. When he entered the township, he was I of the opinion there were not over sixteen or seventeen families in it. Joel Mackerel, John JCishop, and Peter I JBiddinger were his nearest neighbors. Mr. Piddinger was a blacksmith, and also repaired guns and tomahawks j for the Indians.

At that time two shillings a day, and twenty-five cents > a bundled for cutting and splitting twelve foot rails, in i trade, was the customary price. He often traveled five < miles on foot, to help roll logs or raise a cabin, and was ! really glad to assist in this manner all new settlers. I There wore no improved roads; all was new, and no road i fund to repair highways. The willing hands and stout j arms of the resolute pioneer had it all to do, and right ! cheerfully did they perform the task. It was some years ! before the advantages of good schools were enjoyed by i the rising generation.

survives her husband, and resides at the home of James M. Clark, on the old homestead. Mr. Clark and his aged lady enjoyed the filial attentions of the family, ; and esteem of all his pioneer neighbors, and life ebbed quietly away, and at eighty-nine years he became grade- j ally feeble, and gently passed over the dark tivei to a better and happier land July 7, 1879.

In the last twelve months w.. have parted with ovet twon ty five of the pioneers of tlm county, who hive beer, gatu vred to their fathers. Kc long the last will disappear from among us. It is a grateful duty we owe them to smooth their departing hours by kind and respectful attention, ere we cue called upon to enjoy the fruits" os their toil and valor.

James Kilgore

was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 21, 1795. He removed, with his parents, to Fairfield county, Ohio, in December, 1809, when about fourteen years of age. In rSio, his father located in Franklin count}', on Alum creek, about two miles east of the present site of Columbus. He resided in .1 cabin, at this point, when the city of Columbus was surveyed and numbered in lots, and helped erect the first cabin, in 1S11. This cabin was owned by Adam Hare, and stood on the corner of Broad and High streets. The Kilgores helped cut the trees and roll the logs on Broad and High streets, and hauled the stone for the foundation of the old capitol building from Black Lick, nine miles east of Columbus.

In 1S12, after the surrender of General Hull at Detroit, a great panic took place in the county of Delaware, arid extended to Franklin, resulting from what was then known as Drake's defeat, in the southern part of v hut is now Marion county. Captain Drake was leading a new company of pioneer settlers from Delaware county, to recruit some advanced station near Upper Sandusky, to prevent surprise by the Indians, then largely in the interest'of the British. By way of testing the courage and steadiness of the new troops, after the company bail encamped, and placed a guard about the camp, and retired to rest, the captain managed to send out a few soldiers, who were to return from the forest in a short time, awing, "Indians! Indians!" arid fire in quick succession, and thus arouse the soldiers from their slumber. In due time the false alarm took place. The new soldiers were greatly tenifa-d, many taking tire back track, and giving the alarm all along the road to Delaware, while the settlers immediately became panic-stricken, and, aim: re in a body, tied toward the settlements in Franklinton and Chiilicothe. John Brickel, who was engaged on lire up per branches of the Scioto, six n riiws above C- -Embus, in the milling business, ana others in the neighborhood, tied to Fnmklinton, then the capital of the State, to the stockade. A requisition was immediately made for the service of all able bodied men and youth, who vs c re notified to report for duty at the stockade. James Kilgore, then about seventeen years of age, took i is father's old gun and obeyed the call. In crossing the Srioio, at a ford near the site of the present National hi idee, fie overtook a woman and thiee children or. their way to the stockade. He remained at the stockade a few weeks on guard duty, and when the excitement over t ho Drake stampede had subsided, southern Ohio and Kentucky having sent forward a large number ot ltoop>, to 1 - -; ant the army of the northwest, he returned h »n cio.sc of the war. the Kilgores rcoecupied then «.i,l cabin on .Mum creek, and continued thou improvema . :-<>

After Columbus became the fixed capita! of the State, j the growth of the new city was quite rapid. The Kil- j acres participated in its improvement, and Mr. James j Kilgore often stated that he saw the erection of the first i cabin, in what is now the most valuable part of the city, : and if nature had endowed him with a sufficient fore- . sight, he might have owned some of the most valuable j locations. Like General Cass (when asked how he . made so much real estate in Detroit, responded: "Buy j a farm, young man, and have them build a city on it"), ' he long since felt that the only mistake was that he did j not purchase in the city, instead of in Ashland county.

In i8rS, he located in Stark county, where he married in 1821. In 1827, he purchased a half-quater of land, then in Richland, hut now of Ashland county, and removed to it, and continued to reside there until his decease.

In 1873 he had the misfortune to lose, hv death, his j excellent lady. She deceased at the age of seventy-six j years. At the time of her death then family consisted 1 of one son and five daughters. One son fell in the bat- j tie of Chickamauga, in the war of 1S02-5. The other, j Silas, lives on the homestead, and with whom the old j gentleman lesided at the time of his demise, July 4, ; 1878. Mr. Kilgore is beiieved to have been a member I of the Presbyterian church for more than fifty years. In politics he was an old time Whig of the strictest order. He was in full possession of all his faculties to the last, and was very fond of . relating his pioneer experiences. Upon the organization of the Ashland County Pioneer and Historical society he became an active member, and retained a high regard for the society. Thus, one by one, the pioneers pass away. May their exemplary lives and great sacrifices long impress the rising generation. Peace to their ashes.

Sylvan Us P Arm Ely

was born in Wilmington, Vermont, March 31, 1784. He was the oldest son of John Parmely, of English descent. He married Miss Louis Gould, in Somerset, Yer- | nonl, where he resided several years. In 1816 he | came to the Western Reserve to select a home. He j traveled the entire distance on horseback. At that time j the lands of the Reserve townships were being surveyed i into lots and sections. Mr. Patmely assisted in survey- j ing Sullivan township during that season. The survey- j ing party camped in the forest, and procured food from j Harrisville during the 'period of the survey, by means of i pack-horses. In the fall he returned to Connecticut, j and in the spring of 1817 removed his family, accompanied by six other families, to Sullivan center. These 1 families were his father, John Parmely, his brother, ! Asahel Parmely, his brother-in-law, 'Thomas Rice, James Palmer and their families. A few months later this little colony was joined by Henry, Benjamin and Khcsa , Close and their families. The first .mentioned families came in ox teams, with the exception of \L. Rice, who drove a span of horses. From Harrisville to Sullivan center, a distance of ten miles, they cut a road through the forest, to enable their teams to pass. They arrived August 28, 1817. The log hut, enclosed on two sides and one end, which had been erected and occupied by the surveyors the year before, was given to Mr. and Mrs. James Palmer to occupy, while the rest of the families slept in their wagons about three weeks, until cabins could be erected for their accommodation. Two hewed log houses were built near the center of the town. Mr, Palmer went to the village of Wooster, on foot, by paths through the forest, to obtain glass for his windows. The nearest mill was also that of Stibbs, near Wooster, to which the new settlers in Sullivan resorted for their grists. Mr. Parmely and others soon conceived the idea of erecting a horse-mill in the center. The people, far and near, came there to have their grinding done, after staying all night. Mr. George Mann was the next pioneer. When it became necessary to establish a post-office in the Center, about the year 1820, Mr. Parmely was made the first postmaster. In 1822 he removed to Elyria, and Mr. John Gculd was appointed postmaster. In 1S33 Mr. Parmely returned to Sullivan and reoccupied his old farm. In company with Alexander Porter, he erected a large steam grist- and saw-mill, and established a dry goods store at the Center.

In 1843 he was elected representative from Lorain county to the legislature. After the expiration of his term he attended at Columbus as lobby member several years, to procure the erection of a new county, of which Sullivan was proposed to be the seat of justice. It was believed by him that ample territory could Ire procured from the surrounding counties to erect such a county. A counter project was set on foot by rival interests, culminating in the erection of Ashland county in the winter of 1846. This unexpected result terminated the legislative efforts of Mrs. Parmely. He returned to the routine of business, and conducted his store until advancing age required his retirement.* He was noted as a thoroughgoing, energetic and upright business man. He was exceedingly industrious, and during his pioneer life labored early and late. His axe was heard ringing amid the wilds. He felled the lofty forest tiees, and soon made "the wilderness blossom as the rose." He was strictly honorable in business, mild in disposition, genial and kind to all. He was a friend to the struggling pioneer, and always ready to lend a helping hand to wotlhy enterprises. He was an earnest member of the Christian church, and a diligent student of the scriptures. He was, for man) years, a member of the Baptist church, which was established at an early day in Sullivan. Upon, hearing the doctrines advocated by Alexander Campbell, he became warmly attached to that reform, and helped or gani/e the first Disciple church in Sullivan. For a period of nearly seventy years his name was enrolled as a member of the Baptist and Disciple churches, lie died. January 23, 1S74, aged nearly ninety years. Mrs. Louis Gould Parmely, his wife, was born January 31, 1781), and died April 12, 1S73, about nine months prior to the decease of her husband. Her ancestors were also F.ng lish, and settled at Newburyport, as early as 1644. She was a Christian lady, and much beloved by her children and acquaintances. Her house was the minister's home, and many pilgrims were sent on their way rejoicing by the ministrations of this excellent woman. Eight of her nine surviving children were at her funeral. "The memory of the just is blessed."

The children of Sylvanus Parmely were - -Manning, Louis, Louisa, Rosetta M., Sylvia I'., Ellesworth, Jane L., Celia D., Melvin P>., and Sarah A. Louisa married Robert B. Campbell, of New Orleans; Rosetta M., John P. Mann, of Sullivan; Sylvia P., John L. Campbell, of Cincinnati; Jane L., John M. Gorham, of Ashland; Celia D., James Pritchard; Sarah A., Stephen Doughton. Ellesworth resides in Wisconsin, and M. B. in Dayton, Ohio.

The whole number of families arriving in 1S17 was nine. There were but twenty-seven families there in 1824, and in 1825, about twenty-nine. Jesse Chamberlain and Betsy, his wife, are the only heads of families now (1876) living, of the original pioneers, Arctas Marsh having deceased May 2, 1876, aged seventy-seven years. Whitney Chamberlain is eighty-two years old, and his wife, Maritta, is eighty years old.