.


OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS

A Part of Genealogy Express
 

Welcome to
Athens County, Ohio
History & Genealogy

BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
History
of
Athens County, Ohio
And Incidentally of the Ohio Land Company
and the First Settlement of the State at Marietta
with personal and biographical sketches of the early
settlers, narratives of pioneer adventures, etc.
By Charles M. Walker
"Forsam et hæc olim meminisse juvabit." - Virgil.
Publ. Cincinnati:
Robert Clarke & Co.
1869..

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

< BACK TO 1869 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >

  ISAIAH BAKER, son of the foregoing, born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the year 1780, came to this county with his family in 1814, and settled three miles west of Athens, where he followed farming the rest of his life. He died in 1825, leaving seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, except one son, Matthias, who was killed by the kick of a horse in 1837. Mr. Baker was a worthy member of the Methodist church.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 289
  JACOB L. BAKER, another of the sons of Isaiah Baker, is an extensive farmer in Athens township.  He has a family of seven sons and one daughter, most of whom are well settled on good farms in the neighborhood of their father, who manages to buy an additional farm as often as needed, for some of his family.
     The five other sons of Isaiah Baker removed to the west and are there settled - most of them in Illinois.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 290
  JAMES BAKER born in Coshocton county, Ohio, in the year 1805, and came to Carthage in 1826, where he has followed the joint vocation of farmer and miller.  Six of his sons and one son-in-law were in the Union army during the late war.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  457
  NICHOLAS BAKER, son of Isaiah, born in Massachusetts in 1799, has lived in Athens (town and township) fifty-four years. Social and genial in his daily intercourse with friends, few men lead a more placid life than "Uncle Nick." With a heart corresponding in capacity to his ponderous frame, with a healthy and happy temperament, he is one of those kind-hearted men whom dumb animals like and children make friends with. He fondly cherishes the remembrance of his once having lived in Judge Silvanus Ames' family, in Ames township, in the summer of 1817. Edward R. Ames (Rev. Bishop Ames) at that time was eleven years old, and Mr. Baker, partial to him in boyhood, refers to their early acquaintance with lively pleasure. He relates with much gusto and laughter how "the bishop," being naturally rather lazy, would lie on the grass in the shade and amuse young Baker with his talk, while the latter cheerfully performed an extra amount of work for his dreaming companion. Mr. Baker, formerly a farmer, has resided for many years past in the town of Athens. His son, George W. Baker, is now treasurer of Athens county.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page
  NICHOLAS BAKER, SR., born in England in 1760, was brought to this country at seven years of age, for forty-four years followed the sea, as cabin boy and sailor, and in 1814, with his only son Isaiah Baker, came to Athens county where he lived in his son's family, in the vicinity of Athens, till his death in 1829.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 289
  CAPT. ISAAC BARKER, came from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the northwestern territory in the autumn of 1788.  For several years he lived in the Belpre settlement on the Ohio river, about fifteen miles from Marietta, and his name is preserved as one of the heads of families who, in the year 1792, took refuge in the block house called "Farmers' Castle," where he and his family remained till the violence of the Indian war was spent.  In 1798 he removed with his family of five sons and three daughters to Athens township, and settled near the village of Athens, where he passed the remainder of his life.  Capt. Barker was a sea-faring man in early life, being supercargo and captain of an East India vessel, and, during the revolutionary war, took an active part in the privateering service.  His sons were Michael, Isaac, Joseph, William, and Timothy.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 277
ISAAC BARKER, JR., (son of Capt. Isaac Barker), long known in Athens county as Judge Barker, was born in Massachusetts, February 17th, 1779.  He remembers his father setting out with his family for the northwestern territory, from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1788.  They had one wagon drawn by two oxen and a horse, and were accompanied on the journey by Capt. Dana and his family, also emigrating to the west.  They journey was not marked by any special incidents.  At one state Capt. Barker's oxen having become footsore, he exchanged them with a Dutch tavern keeper where they stopped for a fresh yoke.  The next morning the boys started on early with the team, the father remaining behind a little while.  They had not gone far before they came to a very bad place in the road, over which the oxen refused to go.  After working with them for some time the boys suddenly thought it was because the Dutch oxen could not understand English that they were so stubborn; one of them accordingly went back for the Dutchman, who soon arrived, and, by dint of considerable hard swearing at the oxen, in good Dutch, got the team over.  The emigrants traveled by land to Sumrill's ferry on the Youghiogheny, where they procured keel boats and continued their journey by water to Marietta.  Captain Barker's family spent several months in the family of Paul Fearing, at Marietta, and removed thence early in 1790 to Belpre, where he settled on a one-hundred-acre donation lot.  They had hard work to get along here, especially for the first year or two.  Mr. Barker says corn was four dollars a bushel and none to be had at that.  They lived for one year almost solely on corn bread and wild meat.  "One quart of cracked corn," he says, "Was the daily allowance for our family of eleven.  The children used to stand by looking wistfully while their mother baked the daily loaf, and, having received their share, would hoard it carefully, nibbling it like mice during the day."  They lived in a block house, or garrison, some four or five years, during the Indian war.  At this time, says Mr. Barker, "I was a pretty smart boy and able to handle a gun, and while father and my older brother worked in the field I stood guard with the rifle.  Every evening we barred up the door before sundown.  In the morning we would open it an hour or so after sunrise, look carefully about, and, if no signs of Indians appeared, brother Michael would go out (the door being instantly barred behind him), and scout around a little."  Several men and one or two whole families were killed in that neighborhood by the Indians during these years.  Mr. Barker recollects the massacre of the Armstrong family just across the river from where they lived, the killing of Benoni Hurlbut, the chase of Waldo Putnam and a man by the name of Bradford, by the Indians, and the killing of Jonas Davis.  This Mr. Davis was engaged to be married to one of Mr. Barker's sisters.  One cold day during the war, seeing an old skiff lodged on the ice some distance up the river, he ventured out to get some nails out of her  - they being very scarce.  He never returned.  Being missed, after several hours, a search made, he was found dead, stripped, and scalped on the ice.  Though a mere boy during the war, Judge Barker received at its close one hundred acres of land as a bounty from the Ohio Company - General Putnam saying that he had done a man's work and was entitled to a man's pay.  He used frequently to stand guard at the garrison.  Capt. Barker's family came to Athens in 1798, poling their goods up the Hockhocking in the light flat boat.  These boats were built with a "running board" along each side; a man on each side, furnished with a long pole with a pointed iron socket at the end would plant it firmly in the bottom at the bow, and then with the upper end against his shoulder would run to the other end of the boat, propelling her by that means.  After coming to Athens they lived a year at the point close to Harper's Ferry.  Judge Barker tended this ferry for a while, and married Christiana, a daughter of Mr. Harper.  At this time they got their milling from Capt. Devol's floating mill, some five miles up the Muskingum.  It took four days to go and come, and Mr. Barker has himself more than once made this long trip to mill, going down the Hocking and up the Ohio in a pirogue and back by the same means, camping out over night.
     Moses Hewitt and his family lived a short distance up Margaret's creek.  In the year 1800 some thirty or forty Indians came in on Factory run, and three of them came over to Mr. Hewitt's house.  They were somewhat in liquor, and Mrs. Hewitt  in alarm sent hastily for her husband, who was a short distance from the house.  When Mr. Hewitt came he ordered them in their own language (he had been a captive among them several years before), to "go away."  They refused and were insulting, whereupon, Mr. Hewitt flew at the drunken ones and knocked one into the fireplace and another headlong out of the door.  Mr. Barker was in the house and saw all this.  A large athletic Indian, who seemed entirely sober, then grappled with Mr. Hewitt, and after a violent struggle, threw him on the floor.  Mrs. Hewitt and Mr. Barker, excited and alarmed, were about to pull the Indian off, when Hewitt, who was a noted fighter, told them to stand off and let him alone.  The fight continued, and Hewitt very soon managed to get his thumb into the Indian's eye, and the Indian's thumb into his mouth, when the latter screamed lustily and begged till Mr. Hewitt released him.  The moment he was on his feet, the Indian ran to the door, and, putting his hand to his mouth, gave a regular war whoop, loud and long continued, and then ran away.  Mr. Hewitt  himself was now alarmed, thinking that the Indian would come over in the night and kill his family.  Accordingly he requested Garner Bobo, a man named Cutter, and Mr. Barker, to stay in the house over night while he took his wife and the children some distance across the river.  Mr. Barker says, "We had but one gun among us - Bobo had that.  I was armed with a heavy clothespounder, and Cutter had a conchshell which he was to blow for help in case of great danger.  Thus accountered we barred the door and prepared to pass the night.  We took turns sleeping and watching, and the night passed without any alarm.  About daylight I, being on watch, saw some three or four figures gliding about the house and thought the redskins were after us now, sure enough.  I woke Bobo who had his gun ready in a minute, and we were preparing for fight or a siege when we heard a loud laugh outside, and looking out saw Hewitt and two or three others coming up to the house.  They had come over to scare us.  We saw nothing more of the Indians, and I think this was the last considerable party of them seen in this part of the country."
     About this time Mr. Barker and Martin Mansfield both vigorous and athletic young men, boated a man by the name of King, with his family, from the mouth of the Hockhocking river to the falls near Logan, and then dragging their boat around the falls, continued to within eight miles of Lancaster, the place of destination.
     The town plat of Athens was very heavily timbered at that time, and the few cabins that stood here were widely separated.  Mr. Barker, though not a great hunter, killed great numbers of deer and turkeys hereabouts.  He remembers the following incident:
     Chris. Stevens, who lived back of the college green, and a German named Heck, were hunting one day and treed a bear in a large poplar not far from Stevens' house.  The bear climbed nearly to the top of the tree, which was very tall.  They had but one gun between them and Stevens was to shoot.  He had leveled his gun, taken aim, and sighted a long time;  Heck stood a little off waiting for him to fire, when, his patience exhausted, he asked, "Why don't you shot?"  Stevens, who was a kind-hearted man, deliberately lowered his gun and said, " I can't bear to see the poor thing fall so far!"
     "Gott im himmels," cried the German, "gif me de gun den - I shoots him if he falls mit de ground till a tousand feet," and bruin soon came tumbling down.
     Old Capt. Barker's first cabin stood about where Joseph Herrold's house now stands.  He afterward built a log house near the river, south of John White's present residence.  Judge Barker's first cabin about one hundred yards west of his father's first house, and he afterward built a two story hewed log house on the river bank just at the turn of the road, which was standing a few years since and occupied by the Beveridge family.  In 1815 Judge Barker moved to the town plat and took the "Dunbaugh House," which stood where the "Brown House" now stands, and which had been kept for a few years by one Jacob DunbaughMr. Barker kept tavern here till 1818, when he bought the lot where he now resides.  There was a hewed log house on this lot, and he kept tavern in this while his brick house was building, and till it was finished in 1823, and then in his present dwelling till about 1830.
     During his residence here, Mr. Barker has held the offices of county sheriff, county treasurer, collector of rents for the university, and was judge of the court of common pleas for about ten years.  He has lived for nearly three score years and ten in the town of Athens, where he is passing the evening of his days in quiet serenity.  Though now eighty-nine years old, he devoted a part of every day during this season (1868) to working in his garden - his favorite employment - and is in possession of all his faculties.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 278
  JOHN BALLARD was born in Charlemont, Massachusetts, October 1st, 1790, and came to Athens in February, 1839. During the greater part of his residence here he engaged successfully in the mercantile business; was also for several years president of the Athens branch of the State Bank, and a leading man in the local enterprises of the place. He has now retired from business. Four of his sons are living, viz: Otis, a banker in Circleville, Ohio; Charles, manufacturer of farm implements in Springfield, O.; James, merchant in Athens, and the Rev. Addison Ballard at Detroit, Michigan.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 307
  MICHAEL BARKER, son of Capt. Isaac Barker, born in 1776 at New Bedford, Massachusetts, came with his father's family to Marietta in the autumn of 1788.  During the Indian war, from 1792 to 1795, while they lived in Farmers' Castle at Belpre, Michael served as a scout or spy against the Indians in a company raised under the authority of the Ohio Company.  He came to Athens county and settled near the town of Athens in April, 1798, where he spent the rest of his life.  He married a daughter of Wm. Harper, who was county treasurer from 1809 to 1811.  Mr. Barker was for many years constable in Athens township, and held other local offices.  He was a man of scrupulous exactness in his dealings, and of much firmness and decision of character.  He died June 10th 1857.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 277
  Trimble Twp. -
ENOS BARNES, from New England, a son-in-law of Mr. Bagley, settled here in 1818.  He was a blacksmith.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  524
  The BARROWS BROTHERS, William, George, and Henry, came to what is now Canaan township in 1797, and settled near where N. O. Warren now resides.  During the next year they brought out their father, Ebenezer Barrows, and the rest of the family from the east.  The old man had been a soldier in the French and revolutionary wars.  His descendants are widely scattered through Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa.  One of his daughters, Mrs. Ebenezer Culver, is living in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, aged ninety years.  Two of his grandsons, Voltaire and Massena, own the old Barrow's mill on Federal creek.  Perry Barrows has a farm near the mill tract.  These are sons of Henry Barrows.  Several of the children of George Barrows survive.  Parker, now seventy years old, is a respectable farmers of Canaan township.  Orange and George, also farmers, live in Rome township, the latter on the old farm.  Between seventy-five and eighty of the descendants of Ebenezer Barrows, are known to have served in the Union army during the late rebellion.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  445
  Town and Township of Athens. -
HENRY BARTLETT, the son of Captain William Bartlett, was both at Beverly, Massachusetts, Feb. 3, 1771.  His father was a seafaring man, and received, it is believed, the first commission that was issued to engage in privateering, during the revolutionary struggle, in which he rendered conspicuous service.  In 1785, Captain Bartlett removed with his family to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and settled near the Forks of Yoh, where he lived till his death in 1794.  While living in Westmoreland county, Henry Bartlett married Miss Betsey Corey, and in 1796, brought his young family to the northwestern territory and settled the next year at Athens.  During his youth, Mr. Bartlett enjoyed pretty good educational advantages, and after his arrival at Athens was soon recognized as one of the readiest and most accurate clerks and business men in the community.  Previous to the organization of the county, he taught school several quarters In the surrounding neighborhoods.  Soon after the organization of the county in 1805, he was appointed by the county commissioners as clerk of the board and of the county courts, which position he held, discharging the duties with great fidelity for thirty years.  He ceased to be clerk in 1836, and from that time till his death, acted as a justice of the peace in Athens.  He was also for many years secretary and auditor of the Ohio university.  He died September 9th, 1850.  Esquire Bartlett was a man of great purity of character, thoroughly judicial mind and excellent capacity for business.  During his early residence here, he adapted himself with admirable facility to pioneer life, and to the changing circumstances of the times, and was for many years almost indispensable in the management of county affairs.  He possessed a fine quality of wit and humor, which he was fond of exercising, though always without offense to others, and which made him one of the most popular as he was one of the most highly respected men in the county.  His family consisted of two sons and ten daughters, of whom nine daughters are living.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 264
  FRANCIS BEARDSLEY, born at Stratford, Hartford county, Connecticut, December 28, 1792, came to Athens in 1814, where he has lived ever since. Soon after coming here he married Miss Culver, sister of John Gillmore's wife, who died in _____. For his second wife
he married Rebecca, daughter of Esquire Henry Bartlett. Of a retiring disposition and unobtrusive manners, Mr. Beardsley has led a quiet and useful life. A model of Christian rectitude under all circumstances, he is respected and esteemed by all who know him.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 298
  CAPTAIN HOPSON BEEBE was born in Connecticut, Feb. 17, 1749, was a soldier of the revolutionary war, and settled in Rome township in 1804, where he resided till his death in 1836.  One of this sons, the venerable Mr. Charles Beebe, now in his eighty-third year, resided on the "old farm" until quite recently.  He now lives with Mrs. J. W. Johnson in this township.  Doctor Wm. Beebe, another son, was an assistant surgeon in General Tupper's brigade in the war of 1812.  After the war he settled in Belpre, and practiced medicine there for the rest of his life.  His son, Dr. Wm. Beebe (grandson of Captain Hopson Beebe), is now a practicing physician in Barlow, Washington county.
     The youngest son, Peter Beebe, was an active and successful business man, and for several years one of the township trustees.  He died in the prime of life in 1849.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  516
  DR. WILLIAM BLACKSTONE was born in Bottetourt county, Virginia, in 1796, and came with his father's family to Ohio in 1802, settling first in Pickaway and afterward in Ross county. He studied medicine at Circleville, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated at the Cincinnati Medical college in 1833, having engaged actively in the practice during several years before this. Dr. B. came to Athens in 1838, and has practiced here continuously since. He and Dr. Carpenter have both partially retired from active practice.
     Dr. Perkins, Dr. Jewett, Dr. Bierce (who left here about 1840), Dr. Carpenter, and Dr. Blackstone are the only resident physicians who remained for any length of time in the place during the first half of this century. There are now three practicing physicians here, viz: Dr. W. P. Johnson, Dr. C. L. Wilson, and Dr. George Carpenter.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 303
  SAMUEL L. BLAKE, born in Middletown, Middlesex county, Connecticut, in 1779, removed in 1816 to Alexander township, where he lived the rest of his life.  He was a thorough farmer, a man of excellent character and sound judgment, and assisted largely in molding the society of the township.  He died March 16, 1859, leaving a large number of descendants, some of whom are well known in the county.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 359
  JAMES BOSWORTH, from Fall River, Massachusetts, came here in 1821, but, after living in the township a few years, went back New England.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  524
  DANIEL BOYD was born in Ireland in 1794, emigrated to the United States in 1819, and settled in Carthage township as a farmer in 1838.  He was an active member of the Methodist church and an excellent citizen.  He died August 20, 1867.  His oldest son, Dr. John E. Boyd, died in West Virginia in 1855.  His other two sons, Hugh and William F., graduated at the Ohio university in 1860 and 1866, respectively, and have engaged successfully in teaching.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  458
  COL. ABSALOM BOYLES, born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1797, came with his father's family to the northwestern territory in 1799, and to Ames township in 1801.  He grew up with the community, and was largely identified with the development of the township and county during a long and active life.  With fine intelligence, high sense of honor and ardent desire to benefit others, he was always one of the first and most active supporters of social reform, and of every movement that tended to the common welfare.  He held various civil positions in the township and county, and, in connection with the early militia organization of the county, was commissioned, by Governor Ethan A. Brown, ensign in 1819; lieutenant in 1820; captain in 1821; by Governor Trimble, lieutenant colonel in 1822, and by Governor Morrow, colonel in 1823.
     He lived an honorable and useful life, and died May 3, 1863, on the farm near Amesville, where he had resided for sixty-two years.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 416
  JOHN BOYLES, son of Peter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1791, came to Canaan township with his father's family in 1795, and lived there till his death in 1849.  Some of his descendants still reside in the county.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 447
  PETER BOYLES, a native of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, settled in what is now Canaan township in 1795.  He was probably the first white settler within the present county of Athens.  This was the year of the treaty of Greenville, and the close of the Indian war.  Athens county was the very frontier at that time, and Mr. Boyles, in settling here, took his life in his hand, for this section was by no means safe in that year from Indian outrages.  He lived in Canaan township till 1827, when he removed west, and died in Missouri in 1843.  The date of his settlement here is accurately fixed by his son, George Boyles, who is still living in Andrew county, Missouri, and who was born in Canaan township June 5, 1795.  He was, beyond doubt, the first white child born in Athens county.  He says he was born "on the school section between the graveyard and the river."  Mr. Hocking H. Hunter, of Lancaster, Ohio, has frequently been accorded the distinction of having been the first white child born in the Hockhocking valley.  He was not born till Aug. 23, 1801.  It hardly admits of a question that George Boyles, a native of Canaan, was the first white child born on the waters of the Hockhocking.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 446
  PETER J. BOYLES, son of John Boyles, was born in Canaan township, Dec. 20, 1820, and has since passed his life in this county.  He now owns and lives on the "Daniel Stewart farm" in Rome township - probably the best farm in the county.  Samuel S. Boyles, another son of John lives in Lodi township.  Both he and Peter W. are prosperous and highly respected citizens.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  447
  JAMES BRICE was born in Maryland in the year 1750, and, removing to western Pennsylvania, settled near Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) in 1787. While living here he held various public stations, such as member of the state legislature, county commissioner, collector of internal revenue, trustee of Washington college, etc. In 1821 he removed further west, and settled in the town of Athens, where he passed the latter years of his life, living in the family of his son. He was a man of high character, and during his long life was an active and exemplary Christian. He died in Athens, December 22, 1832. 

Barnet Brice, his son, and a native of Pennsylvania, preceded his father to Athens, having settled here in 1807. He kept public house many years (he built the Union hotel now occupied by O. B. Potter), and was extensively acquainted through the country. He died about 1853.
Thomas Brice, another son of James, came to Athens in 1818. He was a successful merchant here for many years, and a large dealer in cattle from 1820 to 1830. He built the brick dwelling house on Court street, now owned and occupied by Dr. W, P, Johnson.

THOMAS BRICE, another son of James, came to Athens in 1818.  He was a successful merchant here for many years, and a large dealer in cattle from 1820 to 1830.  He built the brick dwelling house on Court street, now owned and occupied by Dr. W. P. Johnson.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 292

  A. G. BROWN, son of Captain Benjamin Brown, was born April 16th, 1798, near Waterford, in Washington county, Ohio, and has lived in Athens county since he was one year old.  His youth was passed in working on his father's farm (in Ames township), and in assiduous study and preparation for college.  In due time he became a student at the Ohio university, and graduated there in 1822.  From 1824 to 1825, he was preceptor in the academical department of the university.  In 1825 he began the publication of the Athens Mirror, the first paper printed in the county, and continued as its editor and publisher for five years.  From 1827 to 1833, he was county recorder, which office he again filled from 1836 to 1841, when he began the practice of law in Athens..  In 1841 he became a member of the board of trustees of the university, which position he still holds.  He was a delegate to the convention which formed the present constitution of Ohio, and was for two years president judge of the Athens district.  Judge Brown came to Athens county when nearly the whole of its area was an unbroken forest and to the town of Athens when it was a mere cluster of log cabins.  The personal friend and associate of the leading men of the community who assisted in building up society here, most of whom have passed away, he has witnessed the steady development of the county during considerably more than half a century.  Looking back over its whole history to a period before it was organized, he may very truthfully say:

- "Qua ipse vidi,
Et quorum pars magna fui."

     Judge Brown's  sons, Henry T. Brown, an active lawyer and business man, and Louis W. Brown, for many years clerk of the county, are natives of Athens, and well known in the Community.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 262

  CAPT. BENJAMIN BROWN, father of General John, and of Judge A. G. Brown, and one of the most prominent among the early settlers of Ames, was born October 17, 1745, at Leicester, Massachusetts.  His grandfather, William Brown, came from England to America while a youth, was the first settler in the town of Hatfield, on the Connecticut river, and was often engaged in the Indian wars of that period.  Capt. John Brown, father of Benjamin, served with credit in the colonial army during the French war, and represented the town of Leicester in the Massachusetts legislature during, and for many years after, a revolutionary war.  In February, 1775, Benjamin Brown, then thirty years old, joined a regiment of minute men, and two months later was engaged in active hostilities.  In May he was commissioned a lieutenant in Colonel Prescott's regiment of the Massachusetts line, and in June participated in the battle of Bunker's Hill.  Two of his brothers, Pearly and John Brown, were also engaged in this battle, the latter being dangerously wounded in two laces, and born off the field during the engagement.  This brother Pearly was subsequently killed at the battle of White Plains, and another brother, William, died in hospital.  In January, 1777, Lieut. Brown was commissioned a captain in the eighth regiment Massachusetts line.  His regiment took a very active part in the operations directed against Burgoyne during the summer of 1777, and Capt. Brown was engaged in nearly all of the battles that preceded Burgoyne's surrender, in some of which he particularly distinguished himself by his gallantry and daring.  A short time after this he was offered the position of aide-de-camp on Baron Steuben's staff, but declined it, fearing that his military knowledge was inadequate.  In 1779, compelled by the necessities of his family and other personal reasons, he resigned his commission and returned home to provide for their support.  About the year 1789, he removed with his family to Hartford, Washington county, New York, then a new settlement, whence he again migrated in the fall of 1796, and sought a home in the northwestern territory.  He reached Marietta in the spring of 1797, and in 1799 came to Ames township, in company with Judge Cutler, as elsewhere stated.  He was one of the prominent citizens during the time he resided in Ames, holding various township offices and contributing largely to the advancement of the settlement.  In 1817, his health becoming feeble, he went to live with his son, Gen. John Brown, in Athens, and here he died in October, 1821.
     His wife, whom he married in Massachusetts in 1772, and who bore him a large family of children, died at Athens in 1840, aged eighty-six years.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 404
JOHN BROWN, well known in southern Ohio as "General Brown," son of Captain Benjamin Brown, one of the pioneers of Ames, was born in Rowe, Massachusetts, December 1, 1785.  in 1787, his father's family moved to Hartford, Washington county, New York, and in 1796, with several another families seeking homes in the west, came to the Forks of Yoh, on the Monongahela, three miles above Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Here they remained til February, 1797, building a boat during the winter, in which they completed their journey and arrived at Marietta, February 11, 1797.  Of the twenty-three persons of various ages who descended the river in this boat, there are but four now living, viz:  Samuel and John Brown, Mrs. Aphia Hamilton, and Mrs. Phebe Sprague.  As elsewhere stated, Captain Brown's family came out to Ames township in the spring of 1799, moving their household effects by canoes down the Ohio, and up the Hockhocking and Federal creek - the members of the family not required to work the canoes coming across the country.
     In 1811, Mr. Brown married Sophia Walker, daughter of Dr. Ezra Walker, and continued to live in Ames township till 1817, when he removed to the town of Athens, where he still resides.  On coming to Athens he kept a public house one year at the Zadoc Foster house (on the south end of the lot now owned and occupied by Judge Barker), when he bought the corner property in front of the university, and built and kept the "Brown House," so long known to the public, and so kindly remembered by his hosts of friends.  He kept this house till December, 1865, a period of forty-seven years.
     In 1808, Mr. Brown was elected captain in the militia, and was subsequently made major and colonel, and in 1817 was elected brigadier general.  He was county auditor from 1822 to 1827, and has been treasurer of the Ohio university from 1824 to the present time.  He was also mayor of Athens for several years, and coroner for two terms.  He is, in every good sense, one of the village fathers who has "come down to us from a former generation."  Possessed of sound judgment, a kind heart, sterling integrity, and unfailing humor, General Brown has for fifty years had the respect and affectionate regard of this community.  His genial wit still oft enlivens the social circle, and his venerable form is recognized with pleasure by all, on the streets of the town where he has lived so long and where, without an enemy in the world, he is cheerfully approaching the end of his journey.  He reared here a family of six sons and two daughters; four of the sons graduated at the Ohio university, and three survive, viz:  Oscar W., Wm. Loring and Archibald Douglas; the latter is cashier of a bank in Pomeroy, Ohio.  One of the daughters, Mrs. Hanna Pratt, lives in Illinois, and the other, Mrs. Lucy Hey, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 260
  JOHN BROWN (nephew of Capt. Brown), born February 10, 1774, Leicester, Massachusetts, married Miss Polly Green, of Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1797, and set out for the Ohio Company's purchase in the autumn of 1801.  He brought his young family and few effects over the mountains, with one horse, in a little wagon, and, when descending difficult places in the road, attached a small tree to the rear end of his wagon, to act as a break, or lock.  When he reached wheeling, on the Ohio river, after a most toilsome journey, he "swapped" his wagon for a canoe and two heifers, and proceeded down the river toward his destination.  His second son, Lemuel Green Brown,  was born the day after their landing, near Marietta, and the head of the family found himself in these rather difficult circumstances, with but fifty cents in his pocket.  As soon as practicable he resumed travel, and reached Ames township in March, 1802.  He first settled on the farm now owned and occupied by the heirs of Stephen Green, where he lived for a short time, and thence moved to where John D. Brown now lives.  He was soon elected a justice of the peace, and was frequently re-elected, holding the position, altogether, twenty-seven years.  He was also at one time one of the appraisers the college lands in this county, and of the same in Miami county.  In 1811 he built a brick house on his farm in Ames (one of the first brick houses, if not the first, erected in this part of the county), where for many years he kept public house.  Being situated on the principal thoroughfare from Marietta westward, it was, during fifteen or twenty years, much resorted to by travelers.  The building was standing till within a few years.  Of excellent business capacity, and of a kind and genial nature, Mr. Brown was always able and willing to relieve the poor and help the distressed.  His house was at all times open for religious services, and a list was made of seventy-two preachers, who, at different times, had held meetings there.  He was twice married, and his second wife is still living in the county, nearly eighty years old.  He died July 23, 1833.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 406
  JOHN BROWN, son of Samuel, was born in Ames township, December 23, 1801, but lived the greater part of the time, until 1840, in Washington county, about eight miles from Marietta.  In that year he bought property in Albany, Athens county, where he located and engaged successfully for many years in the mercantile business.  In 1867 he associated with his son, J. D. Brown, and engaged in the banking business.  During the present year they have removed from Albany to Athens, which is Mr. Brown's present residence.  He is a gentleman of fine business capacity, and a public spirited citizen.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 411
  JOHN B. BROWN, another son of John, was born in the year 1803, in Ames township, where he has lived ever since.  He has been successful in life, and is respected as one of the solid men of the community.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 403
  Ames Twp. -
PEARLY BROWN, oldest son of the preceding (John Brown) was born in Massachusetts, July 24, 1798, and was four years old when brought to this county.  In the year 1819 he married Eliza Hulbert (who is still living), and settled in Ames township, on a new farm, given him by his father.  A hard-working and energetic man, he soon improved his circumstances, and laid the foundation for a competence.  To afford some idea of the prices that prevailed when he was a young man, Mr. Brown states that he worked a week for Judge Currier, in Athens, in 1823, at 31¼ cents a day, and at Saturday night was paid in two tin cups at 25 cents each; a quarter of a pound of tea, 50 cents; one pound of coffee, 50 cents, and 37½ cents in money - making $1.87½ - with which valuables he walked home - ten miles.  While yet living with his father, in 1814 or 1815, he was hired to carry the mail, with two other riders, between Marietta and Chillicothe, the distance being about one hundred miles, and to make three trips a week, or two hundred miles a week for each rider; for which service he received $6 a month.  He cultivated his farm in Ames till 1829 or 1830, when he removed to McArthurstown (then in Athens county), and engaged for many years in selling goods and dealing in live stock.  In 1839 he and his partners drove across the mountains to the eastern markets 2,100 cattle, 1,300 hogs, 1,800 sheep and 20 horses.  He was at the same time quite extensively engaged in the mercantile business with his brother, Samuel H. Brown, well known in the county for many years, and till his death in 1854, as an untiring business man.  Pearly Brown has held the positions of county commissioner and justice of the peace, and is widely known in this and adjoining counties as a man of unswerving integrity.  He has reared a family of three sons and six daughters.  His oldest son, Pinckney Brown, is an extensive dealer in live stock.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page 408
  SAMUEL BROWN, brother of John and nephew of Capt. Benjamin Brown, a native of Massachusetts, came to the northwestern territory in 1797, and settled with his family on "Round Bottom," on the Muskingum river.  In the year 1800 he bought a piece of land on Sunday creek, within the limits of Ames township as soon after defined, but in the present township of Dover.  In 1805 he returned to Washington county (having sold his farm on Sunday creek), and opened a new farm about eight miles west of Marietta.  He lived here till 1835, when he took up his residence with his son-in-law, Mr. James Dickey, at whose house he died Jan. 15, 1841.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  410
  SAMUEL H. BROWN, youngest son of John, was born in Ames township, October 8th, 1807.  He became an active business man, and well known in southern Ohio and in the eastern markets as an extensive and successful cattle dealer, in which business he engaged, with little intermission, for over twenty-two years.  He served as justice of the peace and associate judge in this county.  He removed to Meigs county about 1850, and died there October 2d, 1854.  He was an honest and capable man.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  409
  WILLIAM BROWN, son of Capt. Benjamin Brown, settled in Ames township in the year 1800, and lived here till about 1817, when he removed to the Moses Hewitt farm, in Waterloo.  In 1820 he moved to Lee township, where he lived until a short time before his death, which took place at his son, Leonard Brown's, in Athens.  His son, Austin, still lives in Lee township, on a part of the old homestead.  Another son, Leonard, who served one term as sheriff and two terms as treasurer of the county, now lives in the town of Albany.  He is engaged in the mercantile business, and is a leading citizen.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page
 410
  EBENEZER BUCKINGHAM, SEN., settled in what is now Carthage township in 1801, near to Esquire Cooley.  He was the father of the late Ebenezer Buckingham of Muskingum county, who was at one time esteemed one of the wealthiest men of southern Ohio.  Stephen Buckingham of Muskingum county, who was at one time esteemed one of the wealthiest men of southern Ohio.  Stephen Buckingham, his brother, setter, settled near him and about the same time.
Source:  History of Athens County, Ohio - By Charles M. Walker, Publ. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1869 - Page  456

 

CLICK HERE to RETURN to
ATHENS COUNTY, OHIO
INDEX PAGE
CLICK HERE to RETURN to
STATE OF OHIO
INDEX PAGE

GENEALOGY EXPRESS
FREE GENEALOGY R
ESEARCH is My MISSION
This Webpage has been created by Sharon Wick exclusively for Genealogy Express  ©2008
Submitters retain all copyrights