Source:
Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of
Fairfield Co., Ohio. by C. M. L. Wiseman Publ. F. J.
Heer Printing Co., Columbus, O. 1901
Transcribed by
Sharon Wick
REMINISCENCES
of Several Families Prominent in the Early
History of Fairfield County.
pg. 176 -
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LARIMER-CHANEY
pg. 352
The LARIMER FAMILY were citizens of Rushcreek
township as early as 1802. Robert Larimer
was the first resident to die and Phoebe Larimer
the first to marry. Her husband was William
Martin, the son of a pioneer. Ebenezer
Larimer was a prominent man among the first
settlers; Isaac, Sr., James, Joseph and John
Larimer were other members of the family.
Isaac and James were in Capt. Sanderson's
company in 1812, and with their comrades were
surrendered by by General Hull at Detroit.
Joseph and John were in the second company
raised by Capt. Sanderson.
Wright Larimer and Isaac Larimer were
well known, popular, useful and honorable men of a late
period. Fifty years ago they were the prominent
Democrats of the township and received favors at the
hands of their party. Isaac Larimer was a
member of the Ohio General Assembly in the years 1848
and 1849, representing Fairfield, Hocking and Perry
Counties. The Whig and Democratic parties were so
nearly a tie that two Freesoilers held the balance of
power and dictated legislation. They knew their
power and ruled with an iron hand. They proposed
to the Whigs to repeal the Black Laws and elect
Salmon P. Chase United States Senator and that they
should have the Supreme Judge. The Whigs declined
the offer. It was made to the Democrats and
accepted. Daniel Keller, Isaac Larimer and
H. C. Whitman, Senator, voted with the
Freesoilers.
All that the Democrat got out of this combination was a
Judge of the Supreme Court and the satisfaction of
defeating the Whigs and Thomas Ewing for Senator.
They builded better than they thought; they drove the
entering wedge that finally disrupted parties. The
election of Chase gave new life and strength to
the Freesoil sentiment throughout the north, and it soon
became apparent that the watchword of parties would be
slavery or anti-slavery. The Whig party went down
before it and he result was the formation of the
Republican party. Chase led in this
preliminary skirmish, and from that day to the present,
fifty years, Ohio statesman have been influential
leaders in public affairs.
The vote of Keller,
Larimer and Whitman was denounced in
unmeasured terms by the Democrats of this county, both
in public and in private; indignation meetings were held
in some townships.
Larimer became disgusted with the treatment he
received and ever after followed the fortunes of
Senator Chase. He became a leading and active
Republican and voted for Chase for Governor of
Ohio, and for General Fremont and Abraham
Lincoln for President.
Chase had him appointed a mail agent from
Zanesville to Morrow in 1861, but the work proved too
hard for him and his eyes gave out. He resigned
and returned to his farm. In a year or two he sold
out and moved to Darke County, Ohio, where he died a few
years since. He left two daughters in this county
who are highly esteemed - one, Rebecca, is the
wife of William Rowles, the other, Elizabeth,
is the wife of a relative of William, John S. Rowles.
William Rowles is the present owner of the old
homestead of John M. Ashbrook, a beautiful farm
of good land. Mr. and Mrs. Rowles have
about reached three score and ten years. They are
the happy parents of ten children.
JUDGE CHENEY
Pg. 354 JUDGE
CHENEY was one of the brainy and enterprising
pioneers of Fairfield County. He was always a
leader in his township and for his opportunities one of
the foremost men of Fairfield County. He was
blessed with good common sense, good habits, good morals
and was in all respects an exemplary citizen. He
was born in Washington County, Maryland, January 12,
1790. When four years of age his father moved to
Bedford County, Pa. There he died when his son
John was fourteen years of age. Soon after his
father's death, his only brother died, leaving the
mother and three sisters in very poor circumstances.
His father owned a good farm but lost it by endorsing
for friends. From the age of fourteen to twenty he
supported his mother and sisters. In the fall of
1810 he bade adieu to his family and made his way to the
West, and landed in Fairfield County, near the site of
Waterloo. He did not remain, but went over to
Pickaway County, where he remained two years and then
returned to his Pennsylvania home. In the year
1815 he returned to this county and settled in Bloom
township. In the fall of 1816 he married Mary
Ann Lafere and went to housekeeping in a log cabin
fourteen feet square. He said that he was poor,
but did not doubt the future, as he intended to live a
correct life. He made rails for fifty cents per
hundred and cut cord wood for twenty-five cents per
cord.
Notwithstanding his poverty, having learned of the
serious illness of his mother, he went to Bedford, Pa.,
and remained with her to the end and buried her by the
side of his father. "Honor they father and mother
that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy
days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee." He returned to his home and began
anew the struggle of life in the new country with
undaunted courage. The country rapidly improved
and every year saw a change for the better. He met
with many discouragements and sometimes longed for the
old home, but poverty kept him in Ohio. He was too
poor to move.
A few of his early neighbors were Henry Dove, Chaney
Ricketts, Abraham Pickering, Jacob Pickering, Mordecai
Fishbaugh, Isaac Meason, the Courtrights, all
were living near him, previous to the year 1812.
He was soon able to purchase a mill, saw-mill and a
distillery and the business brought him in contact with
people over a wide extent of country. This
property was on Spring Run, about one and one-half miles
west of Carroll.
He was elected a justice of the peace for 1821, 1824
and 1827, serving nine years.
He was trustee of Bloom township for a period of
twenty-three years. He was also a major, colonel
and paymaster in the old style Ohio Militia.
In the years 1828, 1829 and 1830 he was elected to the
lower house of the Ohio Legislature where he served the
public with distinction and honor. In 1831 the
legislature elected him as associate judge of Fairfield
Common Pleas Court.
In 1832 he was nominated as candidate for Congress.
Judge Irvin was his competitor. The
preliminary work was done at the general muster, three
fourths of the militia voting for him. This ended
the contest, Irvin retired and Chaney was
elected in October. The district was Fairfield,
Perry, Hocking and Morgan. He was re-elected in
1834, and again in1836. Having served three terms
in Congress he returned to his farm and the stern duties
of life. In 1842 he was again elected a member of
the legislature and in 1844 he was elected State senator
from the Fairfield district. In the year 1855 he
was again returned to the lower house of the legislature
and served one term. In 1832 he was a presidential
elector and voted for Andrew Jackson.
In 1851 he was elected a member of the
Constitutional Convention that formed our present
constitution. His associate was Col. Wm. Medill.
His public career closed as a legislator in 1855.
A wonderful career, when we consider his situation and
prospects in 1816. He lived a correct live,
improved his opportunities and made friends and success
followed - and the fortune that looked so dark and
gloomy became bright and brilliant. There is no
instance in this county of so many distinguished honors
being conferred upon a plain, unassuming farmer.
It is said of John Chaney that he never
solicited office, they came unsought.
When ninety years of age, he, with the writer, made his
last call upon some old friends. He said to
John T. Brasee that he had all his life been opposed
to slavery. That he learned to hate the
institution from what his mother told him of it.
It was an interesting interview to witness, but sad to
see the old men part, never to meet again.
Brasee soon bid adieu to earth and Chaney
died in two or three years at Canal Winchester.
Both began life as penniless orphans, both achieved
distinction and honor and both accumulated wealth.
Both were honest, fearless, just men.
Judge Chaney reared three sons who have been
quite prominent men in this and Franklin County.
James was all his life a farmer of Bloom
township. Dr. Chaney, of Canal Winchester,
has represented Franklin in the Ohio legislature.
Oliver P., in his young days was a clerk for
Reber & Kutz, in Lancaster. He made the trip
to Europe with his friend. John Reber.
Since that time he has resided in Canal Winchester,
where he dealt in grain and bred fine horses. He
owns the old home farm in Bloom township. He is an
intelligent man and a worthy son of the old Judge.
REED,
DENNISON AND SLAUGHTER
pg. 357 The
Reed and Dennison families were among the
early pioneers of Greenfield Township, Fairfield County,
Ohio.
There were three of the REED BROTHERS, viz.,
James, William and Huston. The land
first owned by the Reeds lies just west of the farm of
James W. Wilson. James, whose children
resided on the farm until quite recently married
Nancy Hood, a girl of the neighborhood, but whose
family is now unknown in the township. James
and William Reed were among the very early
settlers of the township. They built and operated
one of the first salmills on the Hockhocking River at a
very early day.
Huston Reed came out from Pennsylvania with an
only daughter and only child, and made his home with his
brother William. The girl grew to womanhood
and became the wife of John M. Schoch, a German,
who at that time worked at the Barrett Woolen
Mill, near the upper falls of the Hockhocking River.
After marriage he moved to near Canal Winchester, where
he again worked in a woolen mill. He soon
exchanged this business for that of a tavern keeper in
Canal Winchester, and was long well known to Lancaster
people as the landlord of the stage station. His
son, John M. Schoch, still keeps open the
old-time tavern.
The family of James Reed has been well known in
their township for one hundred years, retaining the old
home farm until within a year or two.
William Reed married a Miss Black in
Pennsylvania before emigrating to Ohio. When war
was declared in 1812, he enlisted in the company of
Captain Sanderson and served until his death, which
occurred in camp at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He died
of the measles and necessary exposure incident to a camp
and army life.
His wife, finding herself a widow with two children,
determined to return to Pennsylvania. Twenty-five
acres of land was set off as her share of the estate of
the Reeds, and her brother-in-law, James Reed,
assisted her to return to her old home. He secured
the services of Hiram Owens to accompany her, and
the two made the long journey on horseback, each
carrying a stout boy before them - Rufus Reed and
John B. Reed. In future years Rufus
was a prominent merchant of Tiffin, Ohio, and John B.
a prominent mechanic of Lancaster, and a brother-in-law
of H. H. Hunter and George H. Smith, and
father of the late Rufus Reed.
Richard DENNISON was an Englishman, and in his
young days a British soldier, a member of the King's
Guard. He understood the tactics, and often gave
his young neighbors lessons. He was a shoemaker by
trade.
In what year he came to the United States is not known;
when he did come he settled in Pennsylvania. There
he met, wooed and won the widow of William
Reed. After their marriage they moved to Ohio
and settled on the widow's share of the Reed farm,
now owned by Mr. Markwood. The year of
their coming is not known, but it was prior to 1818, in
which year their son, James was born. A
second son, Nelson studied and practiced law in
Lancaster, but he died while yet a young man. Nelson
married Amanda Manson and moved to Iowa. A
daughter married a Tarlton merchant. This merchant
was a Mr. Julian, late of Circleville. This
couple in their old age moved to Tarlton, where they
died and where they were buried.
James Dennison grew up in Greenfield, and
received such education as the county afforded. At
the proper age he went to Lancaster and was soon
apprenticed to the business of a tanner, with William
V. Thorne and James M. Pratt, who conducted a
large tannery at the foot of Broad street.
Having completed his apprenticeship, he went to
Tiffany, Ohio, and became a partner of his half-brother,
Rufus Reed. After a few years they failed in
business and he returned to Fairfield County. He
soon formed a partnership with a young tanner in
Tarlton, Allen Hamilton, brother of Col.
William Hamilton. Their business was a success
and was continued for some years. William
Lynch worked for them in 1852, and Captain Roby
in 1855. Both at the time were single men, but not
long so to remain. They courted sisters, Maria
and Ann SLAUGHTER, daughters of Judge
Robert F. Slaughter. The young ladies at
that time lived on the hill just this side of
Clarksburg. The gallants were accustomed to make
the trip from Tarlton on horseback and remain during
their convenience. There were no buggies and
moonlight rides in those days.
Dennison married
Maria and took his bride to Tarlton. Later,
Hamilton married Miss Ann and took her to
Tarlton. Some years later Hamilton moved to
Columbus where he made investments that made his widow a
fortune.
James Dennison moved to
Kansas City in 1859, when it was a mere river landing.
He followed his business for a year or two, when he
became a leather merchant, which business he followed
successfully, making a small fortune. It is said
that his wife traded a good cow for an acre of land.
That acre is now in the heart of the city.
Dennison lived in Kansas
City during the civil war, and being a northern man of
pronounced principles, he was often in danger of his
life, the same having been often threatened. About
the year 1884 he closed up his business, disposed of
property and moved to Los Angeles, California, just in
time to make investments that made him another fortune.
Dennison and wife lived
a delightful life for fifteen years in the land of
sunshine and flowers. He died Oct. 7, 1899,
leaving his wife and three children. Mr.
Dennison had a long, varied and useful career.
He was a prominent and honored citizen in Lancaster,
Tiffin, Tarlton, Kansas City and Los Angeles. He
was an intelligent, honorable, courteous gentleman,
highly esteemed and respected where he died. He
was one of the many distinguished men, born in Fairfield
County, who made fame and fortune in the west, and who
to the day of his death remembered, with pleasure and
affection, the fair fields over which he roamed in early
life. His widow was recently killed in Kansas City
by a street accident.
THE
BRANDT FAMILY OF THE EARLY DAYS
A NUMEROUS AND HONORABLE ONE
Pg. 361 "The
brief duration of our families, as a hereditary
household, renders it next to a certainty that the
great-grandchildren will not know their father's
grandfather." Thus wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne.
But since his time, in many parts of our country,
especially in Pennsylvania and New England, people are
waking up to the importance of family history.
"In this the closing year of the nineteenth century it
is fitting to write up the events of the past," and
especially the history of the families that settled and
cleared up this country and brought it to its present
state of civilization. Among the early settlers
there were but few families if any, who stood higher
than the Brandts. Three sons and one
daughter of the original stock came to Fairfield County
from Pennsylvania.
Ludwig Brandt in 1745 left his home in Germany
and came in a sailing vessel to America. He had a
long, stormy and perilous passage, but the time passed
away pleasantly in the society of a pretty German girl,
Catharine Mueller, who he met on the vessel.
They landed in Philadelphia June, 18745, were married
July 4, and settled at Hummelstown, Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania. To this union came five sons
and four daughters. Adam, the second son,
was the father of Jacob, Adam and David Brandt,
and their sister, Mrs. Jacob Pence.
Ludwig Brandt, a relative of Adam Brandt,
founder of the Fairfield County family, came to this
county as early as 1800. He purchased about 500
acres of land, since known as the Pence and
John Brandt farms. On this land
he paid taxes up to 1806. About that time he
returned to Pennsylvania and sold his land to Adam
Brandt and Isaac Pence, who in time settled
his son-in-law, Jacob Pence and his sons Jacob
and Adam upon it.
Jacob PENCE and wife, in May, 1802, left
Pennsylvania, came through an unbroken wilderness to
this county, and settled upon a part of this land - the
tract now owned by Geo. B. Brasee, for more than
50 years known as the Pence farm. Mrs.
Eve Metzler Brandt, mother of Mrs. Pence,
with the sons, Jacob and Abram, came out
on horseback and made a visit of two weeks in 1805, and
the long journey homeward was made in the same way.
Jacob Brandt married Frances Baughman, of
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Sept. 8, 1808, and
departed the next day in a two-horse wagon for Ohio,
making the trip in two weeks, about as soon as it could
be made now. They settled near Mrs. Barbara
Pence's, now the Reefe farm. Adam
Brandt was married to Rachel Dunlap in
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1812, and on
the day of his marriage started in a two-horse wagon for
the west. They did not make the quick trip
recorded of Jacob. Their trip was a tedious
one. They took a farm near their brother Jacob,
where they spent their lives, the farm now owned by
H. M. Brandt. David Brandt, the oldest of the
brothers, came to Greenfield in 1814, and settled upon
80 acres of land, on what is now the Baltimore road, the
Brooks farm, six miles north of Lancaster.
Besides being farmers. Adam was a shoemaker
and David a saddler and school teacher. He
taught school in the winter season from 1815 to 1838, in
both the German and English languages. He took an
interest in politics, and served as a Justice of the
Peace for several years.
The son Isaac inherited many of the good
qualities of this old scholar and has been recognized in
Iowa as a good politician and distinguished citizen for
many years. HE was a member of the Iowa
Legislature, Deputy State Auditor and Postmaster of Des
Moines under Harrison. He has kindly sent in for this
sketch an old Whig song of 1840, from which we make an
extract: "THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE"
"Ye jolly young Whigs of the nation,
And all ye sick Democrats, too,
Come out from amongst the foul party,
And vote for old Tippecanoe."
CHORUS -
And vote for old Tippecanoe,
And votes for old Tippecanoe,
Come out from amongst the foul party,
And vote for old Tippecanoe."
He sends also a brass medal or badge, with likeness of
General Harrison, which was worn by himself in
1840.
"When parties were formed David Brandt became a
Whig and was a close friend of Thomas Ewing, Sr.,
Henry Stanbery, John M. Creed and Col. Van Trump,
all of Lancaster.
In the presidential election in 1828, Fairfield County
was almost unanimous for General Andrew Jackson.
In Greenfield township, in which David Brandt
lived and voted, there were but two votes cast for
John Q. Adams, and they were cast by David Brandt
and Jacob Graybill. When the votes were
counted out the Jackson men said that the two
Adams men must accompany them to Lancaster - they
wanted to exhibit them as curiosities. They went
and had a grand good time. General Sanderson
and Thomas Ewing said they were jewels found in
Greenfield township.
In 1836 the political campaign assumed a wider range.
Parties had been organized. The Democratic party
nominated Martin Van Buren as their candidate for
president, and the Whig party nominated General
William Henry Harrison. Fairfield County cast
2,906 votes for Van Buren and 1,846 votes for General
Harrison. Greenfield township nearly
divided her vote between the two candidates. In
1840, the memorable political campaign in the history of
our country, the Democratic party placed Martin Van
Buren in nomination for the second term, and the
Whig party nominated General William Henry Harrison
for the second time and dubbed him the hero of
Tippecanoe. In June, 1840, General Harrison
visited Lancaster. There was a wonderful gathering
of the people. It seemed as if the hills and
valleys, and the highways and byways were alive with
people, with coons and coonskins, buckeyes and log
cabins. It was the largest gathering ever held in
Lancaster up to that date. It was soon followed by
a monster gathering of the Democrats, which excelled
that held by the Whigs. The speakers were
Governor Wilson Shannon and William Medill.
In September there was a joint discussion on the
political issues of the campaign between Richard M.
Johnson, the Democratic candidate for Vice
President, William Allen, on the Democratic side,
and Thomas Corwin and Samuel F. Vinton in
behalf of the Whigs. The meeting was held in the
woods near the foot of Mt. Pleasant. This meeting
eclipsed all other gatherings held in the county, and
the friends of each party returned to their homes
satisfied that they would win the day. Fairfield
County cast 3,318 votes for Van Buren and
2,463 votes for Harrison. Greenfield
township, in which the Brandts were numerous,
gave a small majority for General Harrison.
The ticket voted at the presidential election in 1840
was only for electors. Ohio was then entitled to
21 electors. Their names were:
WHIG TICKET, 1840
Pg. 365
COLONEL
SAMUEL SPANGLER
Pg. 370
JOHN
AUGUSTUS
Pg. 376
THE SHARP FAMILY
Pg. 378 The
political history of the family of Joseph Sharp, Sr.,
one of the first settlers of Belmont County, Ohio, is
one of the most remarkable in the history of the state.
Robert H. Sharp, of Sugar Grove, was on Saturday
nominated by the Democrats as their candidate for
representative. Conceding his election in
November, and that he will serve the usual two terms,
his family will have served the state as members of the
house and senate of the general assembly of Ohio in an
unbroken line of succession from the first legislature
to the end of Ohio's first century.
Joseph Sharp, Sr., was one of the prominent men
of Belmont County in its early history. He was a
member of the first Ohio legislature, and in 1804 and
1805 a member of the senate. He was returned to
the house in 1807 and was re-elected for the years 1808,
1810 and 1813. Joseph Sharp, Jr., reared a
family in Belmont County, and about the year 1838
settled in this county on a fine farm just below Sugar
Grove, where his son, William, now resides.
He soon became a contractor on the Hocking Canal and
built for the state what has always been known as
Sharp's dam on the Hockhocking. He was a man
of energy and force of character, and soon became
prominent in his new home. In 1842, just six years
after coming to the county, he was elected a member of
the Ohio legislature. He served but one term and
returned to the management of his farm. He lived
to a good old age, rearing a large family. One of
his daughters is the wife of Daniel Stukey.
His sons, William and George, are farmers;
his son James studied medicine and practiced his
profession for years in Sugar Grove and later in
Lancaster. From here he went to Kansas City Mo.,
where he lived a few years and then returned to Sugar
Grove broken down in health. He was recently
killed by a railroad accident near his home.
Robert L. Sharp, son of Joseph, Jr., was also
a farmer near his father. He was a man of more
than ordinary ability, of good habits and good standing
in his neighborhood. He was a good business man
and wise enough to invest early in Kansas City property,
which became valuable. He was elected a member of
the Ohio legislature in the years 1864 and 1865, and
served with credit to himself and honor to his
constituents. His son, Robert, just
nominated for the same office, will doubtless be
elected. He is a young man of good habits and good
character. He resides upon his father's old farm.
In addition to his farm he manages, with profit, a good
stone quarry. There is everything in the past
history of his family to stimulate him to an honorable
and useful career. A century of honorable living
and precept is behind him, and a future, such as he may
make it, is before him. That he may prove worthy
of the high honor conferred upon him and of the esteem
in which he is held, is the wish of all who know him.
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