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History of Pickaway County
Source: History of Franklin & Pickaway Counties,
Ohio
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
Published by Williams Bros. 1880
SALT CREEK TOWNSHIP
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SALT CREEK TOWNSHIP
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PHYSICAL
FEATURES
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GAME
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SETTLEMENT - Includes lots of short biogrphies
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EARLY SCHOOLS
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CHURCH HISTORY
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FIRST FRAME BUILDING
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MILLS
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POST OFFICE
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
BIOGRAPHIES
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BALLARD, OTIS
DREISBACH FAMILY
LUTZ, SAMUEL |
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MOWERY, JOHN
REIGEL FAMILY
SHOEMAKER, JOSEPH
STROUS FAMILY |
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 OTIS BALLARD, M. D.
Tarlatan received a valuable acquisition to its list of substantial,
useful men, in the person of Dr. Otis Ballard. For whatever
benefit his residence in their midst conferred upon the people of
the village, and of Salt Creek township, there were indebted to one
of those so-called accidents of fate, which, at the time of their
occurrence, are regarded as unimportant vexations.
Dr. Ballard was born at Charlemont,
Massachusetts, October 10, 1792, and there passed the years of his
boyhood and early manhood. He studied medicine with Dr. Bryant,
the father of the famous poet, William Cullen Bryant, and
when twenty-one years of age, started for the great unknown west to
find a place where he could establish himself in his profession. He
left home in March, 1817, and upon the fourth of July, arrived at
the place which he afterwards made his home. It had not been his
intention to go so far west, but destiny had so decreed, or chance
decided. He was unable to find his brother, whom he had expected to
meet in New York State, and so pushed on into Ohio, then almost a wilderness.
He intended to locate then in Zanesville, but, again, circumstances
interfered. There was no opening there for a young physician.
The only thing that remained for him to do, was to journey on until
he found a place where his professional services were needed.
Such a place was Tarlton. He immediately began there the
practice of medicine. It was in a small way, to be sure; but
it was a beginning, and as such, was welcomed. The
professional services of the young pioneer physician were for
sometime only called into requisition in a few families in the
neighborhood, but as he became better acquainted, and favorable
reports of his understanding and skill went forth, his ride became
constantly larger, and his practice finally became as extensive as
he could wish for; it fully occupied his time. This practice
was continued unbroken by any extended absences until as late as
1842, when the doctor experienced a slight decline of health, which
became gradually more severe, until he had violent hemorrhage of the
lungs, which threatened to destroy his life. He recovered
complete health, however, and retained it almost unimpaired until
within a short time preceding his death.
Other occupations then the practice of medicine claimed
Dr. Ballard's attention. He had a farm of two hundred
and fifty acres in Tarlton, and a larger one in Fairfield, for
grazing purposes, and engaged in various business projects of
mercantile and other nature, having active partners, who attended to
the details. He raised much fine stock, and carried on an
extensive business in buying and selling. In his later years
he was one of the directors of the Hocking Valley bank of Lancaster.
Beside his professional duties and the attention given to farming
and business interests he - being a man of large public spirit -
devoted much time and effort to the furtherance of such measures as
were proposed form time to time for the moral or material
advancement of the community. When any project of improvement
was advanced, he gave it warm support. He was one of the most
zealous of those who endeavored to effect some means of railroad
communication between Tarlton and neighboring centers of trade, that
the farmers might have an advantageous outlet for the products of
the soil, always so well tilled.
Dr. Ballard was a devotedly religious man, and
was one of the founders of the English Lutheran church, in Tarlton,
of which he was, during the remainder of his life, a prominent
member and liberal supporter.
Politically, he was a Whig, and then a Republican, and
strong union man during the war. Although not a politician, he
was a close observer of political action, and very positive in his
convictions.
Dr. Ballard's strong characteristics were
energy, the habit of doing with his might, and to his best ability,
whatever he undertook, good judgment, strong common sense, strict
integrity of purpose, and a generous disposition. He was not
an educated man, in the commonly accepted meaning of that term, but
he was a close observer, was well-read, and had a good knowledge of
men and affairs. |
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THE DREISBACH FAMILY. The history of
the Dreisbach family, which has, in Salt Creek
township, a representative in William; in Circleville,
Martin E. and Mrs. D. B. Wagner; in Pickaway,
Isaac E.; and in Washington township, Edward Dreisbach,
with numerous others, extends back to Martin Dreisbach,
who was born in the year 1717, in the earldom of Witgenstein,
Germany, and his wife (Anna Eve Hoffman), the daughter of a
teacher, of Nausaugiegen. They emigrated from the fatherland
in 1746, to the United States, and located upon a farm in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania. The had four sons and two daughters - Jacob,Henry,
John, Martin, Margaret, and Catharine.
Jacob, the eldest son, married Magdalene
Buchs (whose name, anglicized, is Books), and they had a family
of thirteen children, eight of whom were sons, namely, Martin,
John, George, Samuel, Benjamin, Henry,
Jonathan, and Jonas, all of whom were early settlers
in Ohio.
George, the third son, was born January 13,
1784, and his wife, whom he married in Northumberland (now Union)
county, Pennsylvania, was born February 14, 1788. Her name was
Catharine Betts. They were married January 10, 1809. Their
children were, Mary, born November 27, 1809; Hannah,
January 2, 1812; Elizabeth, June 17, 1814; William,
September 21, 1817; Manuel, March 9, 1829; Sarah,
January 16, 1823; George, August 18, 1825; Abner,
August 16, 1828; and Solomon, August 16, 1831. All are
now living except Mary, Sarah (Mrs. P. Brock),
Manuel, and Solomon, the last named of whom died in
infancy.
Only the eldest of the children was born in
Pennsylvania, and the others in Ohio, their parents moving in 1811,
to this State. They stopped at first at Peter Spyker's,
on Salt creek, south of Tarlton, but in a short time removed to the
farm upon which their son William, now resides, and which the
elder Dreisbach bought of Mrs. Sayler, a widow.
He cleared up this farm, endured the privations and toils, braved
the dangers of pioneer life, and lived to enjoy the triumph of his
labors. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and underwent, in
the service as well as at his home in the back woods, the viscissitudes
of a frontier life in troublous times. He was a man of hardy
constitution, and one of the most actively industrious of the large
class of fearless, thrifty men, who prepared the way for the army of
civilization and hewed out the rich inheritance that the present
generation enjoy. He was noted for his uprightness of Character, and
his long life was, in all respects, an exemplary one. The church of
the United Brethren was the religious institution which most closely
embodied and exemplified his ideas, and he was for long years one of
its most worthy members, as well as one of its best supporters. His
long life of usefulness was brought to a close November 3, 1863 -
ten years after the decease of his wife.
The descendents of this pioneer pair were
brought up at the farm home, accustomed to the labors incident to
such life as they led, enjoying its simple pleasures, and taking
advantage of the few opportunities afforded for improvement. Their
educational facilities were limited; their chances for social
recreations of seldom occurrence; but they had health--that best of
all inheritances - the example of good lives before them, wholesome
training; and the happiness - physical as well as mental - that
wholesome labor and the right discharge of duty bring. They retained
the traits of their parents, and matured into men and women of
intrinsic worth, valuable to society and to the communities in which
they dwell.
Hannah, the eldest living,
married Philip Pierce, and resides near Bloomington,
Illinois. Elizabeth is the wife of A. Medsker,
of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Manuel fell a victim to one of
those terrible crimes of violence which grew out of the Rebellion.
In 1863, he was living in Amanda township, Fairfield county, Ohio,
and was a strong Union man. The drafting of men for the army by the
National government was meditated, and in some sections had been
begun. In his neighborhood, men were mustering, to prevent, by
force of arms, its taking effect. Partisan feeling ran high,
and violence was threatened in many localities. Manuel
Dreisbach was not one of those who feared to speak his
sentiments, and he did so, on several occasions, telling various
individuals that they had no right to resist the orders of the
government, and using his influence towards creating a law-abiding
sentiment. It was feared by some of his friends that he would meet
with violence, but he entertained no such apprehensions. One
day, while engaged upon his farm in threshing grain, he went to the
house to make some arrangement for dinner for the men in his employ,
and there met a man who had worked for him several years, and with
whom he was on the best of terms, so far as he knew. The man
had a rifle, and with scarcely a word of warning, he raised it to
his shoulder and fired. The ball took effect in Mr.
Dreisbach's chest, but he did not fall. The assassin drew a
revolver, to finish his bloody work, but was driven away by the
threshers, who pursued him with pitchforks. He escaped. Mr.
Dreisbach died in a few hours. John C. Corder, the
hired man who fired the fatal shot, is to-day in the State's prison,
serving out a sentence for murder, having escaped, by a narrow
chance, the gallows. No cause was shown for the crime, other
than that Mr. Dreisbach's utterances had been
distasteful to some of the people in his neighborhood. It
transpired, in the trial, the Corder had, sometime in previous
years, committed a murder in Virginia; that he was a desperate
character, whom a few dollars would induce to commit any crime. It
was alleged that he was a hired assassin.
George Dreisbach is in Winona
county, Minnesota, and has twice represented a constuency in
the legislature of that State. He married Mary Nichols.
Abner is in Australia, and has been there since 1852. William
lives in Salt Creek township, at the old homestead, an illustration
of which is given on another page. He is a farmer by occupation, and
one of the substantial, representative men of the county. Like his
father, he was, in his early years, a Democrat, but since 1848 has
not voted with that party, and, most of the time since its origin,
he has been a supporter of the Republican party. He is a member of
the United Brethren church. He was united in marriage, February 22,
1839, with Margaret, daughter of William and Jane
Earnheart, of Washington township. They have had nine children:
James A., Mary J., Martin, Harriet,
George, Kate, Amanda, Jemima, Milton
and Abner Scott, all of whom are living, except Martin and
Jemima. The mother of these children died May 28, 1863, and Mr.
Dreisbach, August 1, 1869, was married to his second wife,
Mrs. Louisa Ford (formnerly Wheitsel), a
daughter of Jacob and Polly Wheitsel, of
Salt Creek township, with whom he is still living. |
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 SAMUEL
LUTZ. To live ninety years
on earth is the lot of very few human beings. To find one's
self, at ninety, with all one's physical senses and mental
faculties unimpaired, and with an almost youthful vigor, both of
body and mind, is an occurrence so rare and exceptional as
properly to be considered a phenomenon. Yet this, without
exaggeration, is the lot of Samuel Lutz. And the ninety
years which he has lived, and for seventy-five of which he has
been an interested student and observer of human affairs, have
been among the most eventful the world has ever seen. It is
doubtful if, even in the civil and political history of the
world, any previous era of equal length has been marked by so
many important changes as those which have characterized the
past ninety years. And, certain it is, that the discoveries and
inventions in science and the useful arts, which have been made
during the same period, exceed in number and magnitude those of
any previous century. A bare enumeration of the great historical
events and scientific discoveries which have passed under Mr.
Lutz's careful, intelligent and studious observation, would
occupy more space in these pages than that which the limits of
our space necessarily prescribe for his biography.
Samuel Lutz was born March 13, 1789, in Upper
Saucon township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. His
parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Demuth)
Lutz, his mother being a native of Bucks county, and his
father of Newton. They were married about the year 1787. His
grandfather, Ulrich Lutz (also a native of Pennsylvania),
died about 1790; his great-grandfather (and first-known
ancestor) emigrated from Germany to the same German-American
State, near the year 1730. Notwithstanding their remote
connection with the Father-land, the family have persevered in
the use of the German language, down to the present generation.
At a family reunion held at the residence of Samuel
Lutz, in Salt Creek township, October 15, 1877, to commemorate
the seventy-fifth anniversary of the settlement of the family in
that locality, John A. Lutz, one of the sons of Samuel
Lutz, the only lawyer and professional writer thus far produced
by the family, this spoke of the family name and first-known
progenitor:
"The
name seems to be pure4ly arbitrary, without any known
significance, and, possibly, may have been obtained from the
place of nativity, as there is a town in Germany called Lutzen {Luetzen
in German}, noted in history as the place where the great battle
was fought during the thirty years' war, in which the brave
Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, was killed. The
name being quite common, both in Germany and in this country, is
doubtless of remote antiquity, dating back, perhaps to the days
of Herman, or even Julius Cæser.
We would remind our
friend Lutz, that there is a German provincial word,
luetzel, meaning the same as the English adjective,
"little," and doubtless only another form of that and the common
German, leitel. Luetzel might easily
have been contracted into luetz, and that
transformed (by a slight change of spelling, frequently met with
in German) into lutz--thus furnishing the family
name. This etymology derives a singular plausibility from the
diminutive size which is said to be a striking characteristic of
the Lutzes.
He proceeds in the following pleasant vein:
Baron Von Lutz, the minister of education of Austria, may be
a descendant of the same ancestor, and simply had the title of
nobility cast upon him or his immediate ancestors, by some play
of fortune, during some of the revolutions and political
upheavals, which have taken place in Germany, in the last few
centuries; for the venerable dame is somewhat capricious in the
bestowment of her favors, and has been known to make noblemen
out of plowmen. But if he is of the same ancestry, his
lineage is so remote that, like a distant planet, the light
reflected by him does not affect us in the least, either for
good or evil.
Tradition has it, and we have accepted it as a true
history, that about the year 1730, a little old bachelor, by the
name of Michael Lutz, came from Germany and settled in
Northampton county, Pennsylvania. It is not known what
part of Germany he came from, and it has been suggested that,
perhaps, he was a natural son, and was silent as to his
ancestry, or had not sense enough to tell where he came from.
He soon found that a different state of things obtained
in this country. In the densely populated States of
Germany, he might have been permitted to remain an old bachelor,
and to waste his sweetness on the desert air; but here, where
immense forests were to be cleared and the land brought into
cultivation, towns and cities to be built., the increase of
population was a very important item in political economy; and
the policy of the colonies was not unlike that of Brigham
Young - to utilize all propagating elements. He was
admonished that no such moral and social delinquency as
bachelorhood could be tolerated; For some reason, he
seemed to be unsuccessful in his efforts to obtain a wife, and
therefore the elders of the church to which he belonged came to
his relief, either from motives of brotherly kindness, or of
public policy, and soon procured for him a wife. The issue
of this union was two sons, and perhaps one or two daughters.
He purchased a small tract of land in Northampton
county, on the south side of the Lehigh river, and not far from
its mouth, upon which he lived the remainder of his days, and
which is said to be still owned by one of his descendants.
Of his history, only these few fragments have escaped oblivion.
What became of him daughters, if they, or either of them, lived
to years of maturity, and left any children, we do not know.
His elder son was named Benedict, and the younger
Ulrich. Upon the death of the father, Benedict
inherited, by laws which obtained in Pennsylvania, twice as much
of his father's estate as Ulrich; and although the estate
was small, there seems to have been enough to create a coldness
between the brothers; and in consequence of this, the families
separated, and abut little intercourse passed between them.
Benedict Lutz lived to a great age, and
died about the year 1818, in Pennsylvania. Some of his
descendants are still living in Pennsylvania, but further than
this we have no knowledge of them.
Ulrich Lutz married Elizabeth Dice, about
the year 1760. Her parents from Dupont, Germany, and she
possessed considerable native intellect, with a liberal
endowment of common sense, and the improvement in intellect
which the family exhibited subsequent to this, was doubtless
inherited from her. Though herself of medium stature, she
was descended from a family noted for their size. Two of
her uncles, about seven feet in height, served in Frederick
William of Prussia's celebrated regiment of giants.
Though most of us are mere pigmies in stature, it would seem we
have some of the blood of the giants in our veins. They
lived in Springfield township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, till
about in the year 1790, when they, with their sons and families,
moved to Shamokin Valley, Northumberland county, where Ulrich
Lutz died, the same year.
In 1794, Jacob Lutz,
the father of Samuel Lutz, moved from Shamokin
valley, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, to Buffalo valley,
a beautiful and fertile portion of the same county. Here
he resided until September, 1802, when, with his wife, five sons
and his mother, he emigrated to Ohio, and, on the fifteenth day
of the same month, settled on the premises where his son,
Samuel Lutz, now resides.
His sons were Samuel, Jacob D., John D.,
Joseph, and Peter. The last two died in their
boyhood; the other three grew up to manhood, and, being trained
to the occupation of farming, became leading farmers of this
county. There were then no public schools in this State, but
their father, appreciating the importance of an education,
provided his sons with books, and encouraged them to study at
home; and, in this way, they acquired a good practical
education.
Samuel Lutz married Elizabeth
Fetherolf on the fifteenth day of October, 1811. His father
set off to him one hundred and eighty-five acres of land, from
the west side of his home tract, as part of his patrimony. Upon
this he erected a cabin to live in, near the site of his present
fine residence, and commenced the work of felling the native
forest and bringing the land under cultivation. This was no easy
task at that day, for there was very little money in
circulation, and hired labor was scarce; and the following year
our country became involved in a war with Great Britain, and
many of the able bodied men in the new settlement were called to
the defence of the frontier, which made it still more difficult
to obtain hired labor. He served, himself, a short campaign,
under the general call, and he was once drafted for a
thirty-days' term, for which he furnished a substitute. The
financial depression, which followed the war, produced stringent
times and seriously checked every form of improvement in the new
States. But, notwithstanding these obstacles, he toiled on, and,
after ten years or more of hard labor and self-denial, he had
the pleasure of seeing himself the owner of a well-improved
farm, with fair prospects of enjoying some of its comforts. He
be came the owner, in the meantime, of other lands, and united
with farming the business of raising and dealing in live stock,
which subsequently became a prominent part of his business. he
was one of the pioneers in driving live stock form the Scioto
valley to the eastern cities, having driven cattle to Baltimore
as early as the year 1822. The business in which he was engaged
was well adapted to his habits and taste, and he took
considerable interest in live stock, being never in better
spirits than when he had his farms well stocked with cattle.
Though his principal business was as just stated, yet he managed
to devote considerable time to surveying, which was rather a
favorite pursuit with him, and one in which he acquired quite a
reputation for accuracy and skill. In most of the litigated
cases of disputed lines or overlapping surveys in the Virginia
military district in this county, he was employed to make
surveys, and his opinions had great weight with the court and
jury in deciding them.
He has always been a man of decided political
convictions, and the exercise of the right of suffrage, with
him, has been a sacred duty; and it is doubtful whether he ever
failed to vote at a political election. His first vote for
president was cast for James Madison, and the last
for General Hayes. In the days of the old Whig
party he was one of its leaders in this county, and Henry
Clay was his ideal of a statesman; and, perhaps, no one
suffered more keenly than he the mortification of Clay's defeat
for the presidency, in 1844. As a Whig, he was elected four
times to represent this county in the legislature: the first
time in 1830, and the last in 1849. He held many minor offices,
and it can be said, with truth, that he performed the duties of
every public trust, to which he was called, with fidelity. Upon
the repeal of the Missouri compromise and the organization of
the Republican party, he united with it, and became a radical
anti-slavery man. He supported Lincoln for the
presidency, and, when the South seceded, he was in favor of
coercion, and he heartily endorsed the war measures of his
administration. Though more than three-score-and-ten, when the
Rebellion began, yet he took a deep interest in the efforts of
the government to suppress it, and contributed money liberally
to encourage enlistment. And, perhaps, no events which
have occurred in his life were more joyful to him than the
abolition of slavery, and the final triumph of our arms in the
suppression of the Rebellion.
Naturally inclined to be studious, in early life he
provided himself with a good library, and his leisure moments
were devoted to reading and to the study of mathematics, in
which he became well versed.
Endowed with a good share of common sense and a
generous nature, and having acquired extensive practical
knowledge and a readiness with the pen, he made himself very
useful to his neighbors and to the community in which he lives.
His manner of living was plain and simple, and his
habits strictly temperate. His life, in some respects, has been
a success, having raised a family of nine children and
accumulated an estate of three thousand acres of land in
Pickaway and Ross counties, which he distributed among his
children as they arrived at full age or married.
On the fifteenth day of October, 1861, he and his wife
had the pleasure of celebrating their golden wedding. His wife
died on the fifteenth day of April, 1868, aged seventy-four
years and four months. They had fourteen children, five of whom
died in infancy. The remaining nine are still living, are
married, and have families. The following are the names of these
surviving children: Samuel G.; Harriet, wife of
Robert Zurwehly; Catharine, wife of Ovid Lutz;
Isaac; John A.; Lydia, wife of Peter Lutz;
George; Mary, wife of Lewis R. Lesher; and
Rachel, wife of Christopher Patrick. The
oldest of these is sixty-tow, and the youngest forty-two. The
living descendants of Samuel Lutz are nine children, forty-nine
grandchildren, and thirty-one great-grandchildren.
The Lutzes are a social race, and not
interesting anniversary is allowed to pass with being celebrated
by its appropriate family reunion. The last of these which has
thus far been held, was on the thirteenth of March, 1879, the
ninetieth anniversary of Samuel Lutz's birth. The
orator of that occasion was Harry E. Lutz, a grandson of
"our hero," and a son of John A. Lutz, the lawyer. If it
be true, as we have heard it intimated, that he is ambitious to
attain a high rank in the honored profession of journalism, we
hazard nothing in predicting, that at no distant day, should his
life and health be spared, he will fully realize his ambition.
His address, on the occasion referred to, was so graceful and
felicitious, and, withal, so fine a resume for the
life and character of his honored grandfather, that we insert it
here:
Nearly
seventy-seven years ago two large, canvas-covered wagons plodded
slowly westward from Pennsylvania. They passed over hills
covered with the majestic trees of the forest; they journeyed
through valleys richly mantled with flowers and grass; they
crossed peaceful rivulets, angry torrents, and broad rivers.
In one of those wagons there was a boy of thirteen summers.
He was small in stature, but his bright gray eyes, which shone
beneath a broad, high forehead, and lighted up a
thoughtful-looking face, betokened a maturity of mind beyond his
years. Untutored and inexperienced though he was, he had
enough of natural force of mind to overcome the disadvantages of
his position. This journey introduced him into a new life,
for those wagons finally halted in the valley which he now been
his home for seventy-seven years, and we meet to-day to
celebrate the ninetieth birthday of that boy, who is now father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather.
In 1807 he studied surveying at Chillicothe, under
John G. Macan and last year, after seventy-one years'
service in that profession, he bought a new stock of
instruments, expecting to begin life anew. In 1819 he
surveyed the first public road which the Pickaway county
commissioners ordered, and recently, after an interval of
sixty-nine years, he was again appointed to resurvey a portion
of that same road.
In 1811 he married Elizabeth Fetherolf, and
they, together, shared the joys and the sorrows of life for a
full half century.
In 1813 he served a few weeks in the militia, when Ohio
received a fright from the British, which has only been equalled
by that which John Morgan's raid occasioned in 1863.
Although it is a family trait "to snore louder in bed than to
shout in battle," our hero was not without glory in this his
only campaign, for he confidently affirms that he fired off his
gun once, which is more than many of his fellow warriors could
say. And for his invaluable service his grateful country
has pensioned him and given him one hundred and sixty acres of
land. He afterwards served eighteen years as a justice of
the peace, and represented his county in four sessions of the
Ohio legislature.
Such is the record of his life, as it would be told to
a stranger, but it is as inadequate as the boy's note of his
daily experiences, that "he got up, washed, and went to bed."
Behind this short account there is another, of days of joy and
days of sorrow, of weeks of pain and weeks of pleasure, of years
of gain and years of loss; and it is this account which truly
shows the progress of his main, but which we have not now time
to trace.
We will, therefore, turn from the life to the character
of our hero, and we shall find that, in the words of Emerson,
the man towers head and shoulders above his deeds. The
most prominent characteristic of his mind is force. He
pats his whole soul into whatever he undertakes. He is
inclined to go over or through, rather than around. Yu
have noticed an ant moving along on the earth, and have noticed
that when it comes to an obstacle in its path it immediately
turns aside. That is the way with some men; they change
their course whenever anything opposes them, without trying to
overcome it. gut that is not the way with our hero. If it
is possible, he will go over, or he will go through. Last
summer, while in Adelphi, a man told me an anecdote which fully
illustrates this trait in his character. About fifteen or
twenty years ago, he was carrying one end of the chain, while
surveying a field, and the man was carrying the other, when they
came to a large pond. He urged our hero to make a triangle
and estimate the distance across, but, with scowls, was
answered: "Come on, come on; what are you about? Let's go
through!" And in they plunged, up to their wastes, and did
go through. This same force of mind, however, makes him
impatient of slow people, and causes him, also, to get into what
has been called a "cast-iron seat" at trifles.
Another trait of his character is inquisitiveness.
He would walk to mile to find out a stranger's name, and think
that he was amply rapaid for his journey, though he should
forget it the next day. He would have made a first-class
newspaper reporter, if he had been taken when young, for he
could get an interview with the greatest man on earth any day.
While we were traveling, he wanted to know the name of every
station which he passed, and asked me all sorts of questions
about the things which he saw, and not unfrequently
compelled me to expose my ignorance, and that was rather rough
on my pride, you know. He invariably inquired the price of
everything, from a boot-black's outfit to the steel bridge at
St. Louis. Macaulay may have had a great memory, but I
would be willing to wager a fortune that our hero has forgotten
more than he know. But, notwithstanding all the facts that
have passed from his mind, his inquisitiveness has not been in
vain, for he is well posted in history, and has a wide knowledge
of current events.
Another characteristic of his mind is studiousness.
He sometimes works at the problem during a whole day, which is
something that neither love nor money could induce any of his
descendants to do. Farm life has very little in it to
stimulate one to hard study, but our hero overcame those
discouragements, and is now well acquainted with the different
branches of mathematics. But this special study did not so
bias his mind that he neglected other things, for he has read
much of the classical prose and poetry. Last summer, when
in his ninetieth year, he bought a volume of poems, and since
then has spent many of his leisure moments in reading those
stirring Scottish lays of Robert Burns.
The chief characteristic of our hero's old age is
vigor.. To-day, were we to walk a race, he would outstrip
one-half of us. Last summer, when strong men were lying
under shade-trees, complaining of the heat - when people of all
ages and conditions were being stricken down in the great cities
- our hero surveyed a field in Ross county. When
eighty-six years of age he climbed to a top of the Bunker Hill
monument, and, a few days afterward, he went up the three
hundred and sixty-four steps leading to the dome of the capitol
at Washington. In 1876 he passed thro9ugh that most
wearisome of all ordeals, the attending of the Centennial.
And that he fully appreciates his vigor, the following
anecdote will show: Last summer, while we were at
Cincinnati, he started to get into a stee-car before it
should stop; but I kept him from doing so; and when we were
seated in the car the drier passed through and remarked that he
was too old a man to get on a car while it was in motion.
At that a scowl came over our hero's face, like a thunder-cloud,
and, throwing up his arms, he exclaimed, with withering
contempt, "That's nothing; I could jump over the whole car."
Then, seeing the general look of amused incredulity, he added,
with emphasis, "Why, yes! why yes!"
Whatever position in society our hero has attained, it
has been entirely owing to his own efforts. No long line
of ancestors has given him "title deeds to sloth." Others
may boast of their descent, but he can glory in his ascent.
As the Swedish epic says:
"Boast not they father's fame -
'tis his alone,
A bow that thou canst bend is scarce thine own.
What can a buried glory he to thee?
By its own force the river gains the sea."
We are
accustomed to speak of beauty as an exclusive attribute of
youth, but we forget that nature has thrown a mantle of grace
over old age also. One is the beauty of action; the other,
the beauty of repose. One is the beauty of a torrent
dashing over rocky precipices; the other is the beauty of still
waters, which unchangeably mirror the heavens. The bright
green of a forest in spring is beautiful; but so, also, are the
golden hues of the trees in autumn. The rosy-faced child
and the white-haired old man, alike command our love. And
we can think of nothing in which our hero has been more
fortunate than in having all the venerableness of age, without
its pains and its weaknesses.
I would call him great, not only because he has
performed his part in the drama of life well, but also because I
think that his natural talents are sufficiently above mediocrity
to make him deserving of that name Great men do not always
occupy high places, and the heroes whose names adorn the pages
of history are outnumbered by heroes equally great, though
unknown to fame. In the story of our family, one of the
brightest pages will be the one which records the struggles and
triumphs of Samuel Lutz.
The grandmother who accompanied Mr. Lutz to Ohio,
died at the home of her son, June 23, 1818, aged about
seventy-five. His father died September 4, 1824, at sixty-two,
and his mother, January 27, 1842, at eighty-six.
Mr. Lutz was, as we have seen, abut
thirteen years of age when he left his native State, having
received there only such education as the Pennsylvania common
schools afforded. After his arrival here, the only training
which he received from a teacher was that obtained during the
two months under Professor Macan, studying the
elements of surveying. So that, even in his favorite science, it
may properly be said that he was self-taught.
At the family re-union (the first one noticed above)
held to commemorate the settlement of the Lutz family
in Pickaway county, a large stone (after the good old Jewish
fashion) was set up and dedicated, as a memento of the event.
The formula for the dedication of this stone, pronounced by John
A. Lutz at the close of his address on that occasion, will form
an appropriate ending for this imperfect sketch. It is as
follows:
"To
perpetuate the memory of the interesting event which we to-day
celebrate, and as a memorial of the divine goodness to us as a
family, I now solemnly dedicate this simple monument composed of
a rude boulder, found upon these premises, and doubtless brought
hither by the great northern drifts. Of itself it ts
a monument of the wonderful changes which have taken place on
the surface of the earth in the geologic periods of the past, in
the formation and preparation of these picturesque hills and
beautiful fertile valleys for the abode, comfort, and happiness
of man.
"May no rude hand deface it, nor unrestrained violence
destroy it, but may it ever remain to remind the future
generations of our children o_ the event we celebrate, and of
the goodness of God to their ancestors. And to this let
all the kindred say, Amen."
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JOHN MOWREY was
the youngest son of John Mowery, sr., and was born in Berks
county, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1805. When five years of age, his
parents emigrated to Ohio, and settled in Salt Creek, Pickaway
county, where John F. Mowery now lives. His father made
a purchase of land in sections eleven and fourteen, and erected his
dwelling in the southwest corner of section eleven. He died about a
year after his settlement.
John Mowery, the subject of this sketch,
married, September 27, 1827, Rachel Dunkel, daughter of
George Dunkel, and took up his residence on the homestead which
became his at his father's death, and which he occupied during his
life. He died July 2, 1876. He was a prominent member of
the Lutheran church, in Tarlton, and was a man of strict integrity.
He was an industrious, hard-working farmer, and possessing a sound
judgment, he accumulated a good property, owning at the time of his
death between six and seven hundred acres of land.
Mrs. Mowery died October 8, 1878, age sixty-nine
years, nine months and eighteen days.
There were thirteen children born to John and Rachel
Mowery, three of whom died in infancy, and the dates of their
birth are not recorded. The others are as follows: Leannah,
born March 9, 1828, married for her first husband Venus
Reichelderfer, by whom she had two children. She is now
the wife of Elias Crites and lives in Allen county, Ohio;
Catharine, born February 27, 1831, died May 3, 1862, was the
first wife of her sister Leannah's present husband; Mary,
born September 18, 1833, became the wife of Jonathan J. Stout
(now deceased), and resides in Washington township; Rachel,
born May 27, 1836, married Amos Reichelderfer, and now
resides near Bucyrus, Ohio; Susannah, born January 18, 1839,
is the wife of Peter Meyers, and now lives near Stoutsville,
Fairfield county; William H., born June 13, 1845, married
Leahan Fetherolf, and now resides in Salt Creek, near Tarlton;
John F., born February 3, 1848, married Mary Wolf, and
now resides on the old homestead; Louisa Jane, born November
23, 1850, is the wife of William H. Housell, of Tarlton;
George D., born May 10, 1853, married Alice Courtright,
and lives at Stringtown; Allen S., born April 9, 1857
(unmarried), lives with his brother George. The four
brothers, above mentioned, wishing to perpetuate the memory of their
parents, have secured the insertion of their portraits, with a view
of the old home, in connection with the history of Salt Creek. |
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THE RIEGEL FAMILY of Salt Creek township,
has been as prominently identified with the improvement of that part
of the county, and the territory adjoining, as any family who reside
in the vicinity. Solomon Riegel, the father, is a man
of great activity and industry, and ever since he came to the State
has been engaged in some enterprise which has developed and enriched
the neighborhoods of which he has been a resident. He was a native
of Berks county, Pennsylvania, a son of George and
Elizabeth Riegel, and was born April 10, 1811. He came to
Salt Creek in 1832, induced by the favorable reports of the country,
made by his brother, Jesse, and others. Two years
later, October 31, 1834, he married Mary, daughter of
George and Mary Dunkel, natives of Berks county,
Pennsylvania, who removed to Ohio in 1802. She was born, March 31,
1803. Soon after their marriage, the couple removed to Fairfield
county, where they remained three and a half years. From thence they
went to Hocking county, where Mr. Riegel worked for a time
for his brother-in-law, George Dunkel; but Mr. Riegel
securing, as a present from his father, a farm of one hundred acres
in Fairfield county, removed to it, and there made the beginning of
his successful and actively industrious life. After living
here ten years, accumulating some property, and being generally well
rewarded for his labors, Mr. Riegel bought Mr. Dunke'ls
sawmill, woolen-factory and about two hundred and fifty acres of
land, and engaged in business upon a large scale. He erected, at
Laurelville, a hotel and other buildings, and contributed largely to
the good appearance and prosperity of that village. Building has
always been one of the most common exhibitions of Mr. Riegel's
active creative nature, and one of his family, who has taken pains
to sum up the results of his work in this line, states that within a
few miles of the corners of Pickaway, Hocking and Ross counties, he
has erected nineteen dwelling houses, and enough other building,
mills, barns, etc., to make a total of one hundred. In this
work he has usually been his own contractor, designer and
superintendent, getting the timber from the woods manufacturing the
lumber, and taking the stone from the quarry himself - that is,
having it done under his supervision. He has also been an
enterprising farmer, and has devoted considerable capital and time
to milling, and to stock-raising and dealing. His various business
ventures have, as a general thing, been thoroughly managed, and have
paid well, so that he has accumulated a large property, although,
like nearly all men, meeting with an occasional loss. It has been
principally through his efforts that some of the best turnpikes of
Pickaway county, especially the south-eastern part, have been
constructed.
Mr. Riegel is one of those men, who, not having
the advantage of education, has still been eminently successful,
through the possession of sound native sense, good judgment, a
genius for work and strict integrity of character. And we may also
add, that having achieved an independency for himself, he has
materially benefitted the community of which he has bee a valuable
member, the neighborhood in which he has lived. He is a man of
strong moral character, and religiously, is a member of the Reformed
church. It is a notable fact, too, that every one of his entire
family, nine persons beside himself, are members of the same church.
Another fact, rather curious, is mentioned by members of the family.
There has never been a death within the circle. Not one family in a
thousand of as many members, and aggregating as many years, has thus
been spared the terrible visitor. The mother's name (Dunkel)
is honored by the insertion of its initial in the name of her eight
children. The first-born (February 21, 1836), George D.,
is now in Salt Creek township, and resides at his father's
residence. He married, in 1859, Lovina Werner, of Allen
county, Ohio, who died September 18, 1872. He was engaged, for a
number of years, in a general mercantile business, at Laurelville,
beginning at the time the civil war commenced, and continuing until
1867. From 1870 to 1876 he conducted a large bus ness
in produce and provisions, in Brooklyn, New York. Harvey D.,
the second son, born January 31, 1838, was, for a number of years,
in California, but is, at present in the lumber and planing-mill
business at Laurelville. He married Matilda Hedges, of
Tarlton. Jane D., born August 6, 1840, married Andrew
Defenbaugh, and resides at Cedarville, Fairfield county.
Samuel D., born July 29, 1842, took for his first wife Mary
Morris, of Washington township, and after her death, married his
present wife, Mary Owens. He resides in Salt Creek, and is a
farmer and bee-keeper. He is publisher of the Bee Keeper's
Instructor, and one of the best authorities in the country upon
all matters pertaining to bee culture. Sarah Ann D., born
June 28, 1843, is the wife of Wm. C. Markel, and resides in
Salt Creek township. Mary Elizabeth D., born September 2,
1845, is the wife of George H. Lutz. Solomon D., has
his home in Salt Creek, a short distance from that of his father.
He is one of the representative farmers of the township, and one of
its most substantial, well-informed citizens. In addition to
farming, he carries on the business of raising and selling stock,
and is a large dealer. He Married Mary A. Rush,
daughter of John and Melinda Rush, of Greene township,
Ross county.
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JOSEPH SHOEMAKER was born in Tarlton, Salt
Creek township, February 18, 1808. His parents, john and
Elizabeth Shoemaker, of German descent, were natives of Berks
county, Pennsylvania, where there is a little village called
Shoemakerville, in honor of the family. They emigrated to Ohio in
1806. He was the first-born of three children - Isaac, tow
years his junior, who is still living, and Mary (afterwards
the wife of Dr. William B. Hawkes, of Columbus) who
died in 1837. The three children were left half-orphans, by the
death of their estimable father, after only about ten years
experience of pioneer life. Mrs. Shoemaker, the mother subsequently
married Dr. Otis Ballard.
Joseph Shoemaker, the subject of
this brief biography, grew up in the little village of Tarlton, and,
in addition to the practical education that farm life afforded, had
the limited advantages of instruction at best schools in this part
of the country - the old academies of Circleville and Lancaster. He
taught school for a short time, but, resolving to lead the life of a
farmer, to which he had become accustomed by all his associations as
a boy, he began in earnest the chosen avocation, which he has since
pursued, and in which he has been eminently successful. In addition
to his regular agricultural pursuit, Mr. Shoemaker has
been engaged in raising cattle and in extensive stock raising. His
father was an active, energetic pioneer, and the son has inherited
may of his qualities. The farm upon which he resides, in Tarlton, is
a portion of the large body of lands his father owned.
Mr. Shoemaker has had no ambition to hold
office, and has not been, in any sense of the term, a politician,
although a firm supporter of the principles he believed to be best,
and taking a deep interest in public affairs. He was an "old
line Whig" until the formation of the Republican party, since which
time he has by ballot, and by the quiet influence that every man of
worth unconsciously exerts, supported the men and measures of that
political majority.
He is one of the oldest and most prominent members of
the Methodist Episcopal church, but his efforts for the promotion of
good morals and right living have by no means been confined to the
limits of that organization, either as the field in which or the
medium through which they were made. All improvements, all
plans for the advancement of the best interests of the community,
have had, in Mr. Shoemaker, a warm friend and supporter. The
temperance cause, in all the forms in which it has battled evil for
the past forty years, has had his assistance. He has been
among the foremost in securing a good school for the village in
which he has passed the many years of his life. In short, he
is a public-spirited, though modest, man, and the community has much
to thank him for.
Mr. Shoemaker was married May 22, 1832, to
Eliza Carpenter, a native of Vermont, who removed, with her
parents, at an early day, to Athens, Ohio. Their children,
four in number, were Otis B., Cynthia S., Mary E.,
and Ann Eliza. Otis B. married, for his first wife,
Sarah Dunan, and after her death, Mrs. Minerva Lutz;
they now live in Tarlton; Cynthia S. lives in Greenfield,
Ohio, and is the wife of R. H. Miller; Mary E. married
the Rev. T. R. Taylor, and resides in Portsmouth;
Ann Eliza married Joseph Ward, who died in 1877.
Mrs. Shoemaker died September 30, 1859.
June 2, 1863, Mr. Shoemaker married Nancy C.
Meeks, a native of West Virginia, with whom he still lives.
The offspring of this union were two children--John William,
aged fourteen, and Joseph, aged nine years. |
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THE STROUS
FAMILY. Jacob Strous, born in Mifflin
county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 27, 1775, came to Ohio in the fall of
1799, performing the journey on foot. He remained with his
brother-in-law, Adam Defenbaugh, six miles below
Chillicothe, until 1802, when he settled near where the village of
Laurelville, in Hocking county, now stands. He and
Defenbaugh, who also settled there, put up, on Laurel
creek, a short distance above the present mill, the first grist-mill
in this region. The mill consisted simply of forked stakes
driven into the ground and covered over with slabs.
In June, 1807, Jacob Strous was married to
Mary Reichelderfer, and resided in the neighborhood of
Laurelville until his death, which took place in 1845. He was
an active and industrious pioneer, and did much for the improvement
of his neighborhood.
He was the father
of five children as follows: John, born Jan.
28, 1808; Mary, born Aug. 16, 1812; Samuel,
born Aug. 9, 1814; Elizabeth, born Aug. 12, 1824;
Allen, born Dec. 26, 1826.
John married, Nov. 13, 1832, Angeline
Holderman, born Feb. 22, 1811, and settled where his son,
David, now lives. He followed milling and
farming during his life, which was one of great industry and
usefulness. He died July 23, 1875, and his wife, Mar. 21,
1879.
Mary Strous
married Hiram Flannagan. She is now a widow,
and resides at Laurelville.
Samuel
married Mary Swoyer, Jan. 24, 1841, with whom he is
now living in Salt Creek township, Pickaway county, Ohio. They
have had five children, four of whom are living.
Elizabeth is the wife of William Webster,
and resides in Pickaway township.
Allen Strous lives near Laurelville on the old
homestead.
John Strous
had eleven children, who are all now dead but three, and it may here
be mentioned as a somewhat remarkable fact that, since 1850, there
were occured at the house which is now the residence of the son,
David H., and a view is elsewhere given, no less than
fourteen funerals.
David H. Strous,
one of the substantial and enterprising citizens of Salt Creek
township, was the third child of John and Angeline Strous,
and was born Feb. 11, 1837. At the age of twenty-one he took
an equal interest with his father in the mills and farm, and at the
death of his father, succeeded to the entire ownership.
Mr. Strous' career has been a very successful one;
his energy, industry and good management being rewarded by the
accumulation of a good property.
Mr. Strous was united in marriage April 22, 1858, with
Ann Bochart, and to them the following named
children were born, viz.: Jane Almeda, born Sept.
10, 1858, is now the wife of Levi Lutz, of Pickaway
township; Susannah, born May 29, 1860, is now the
wife of Byron Mowery, of Salt Creek township;
John Elsy, born Aug. 15, 1862 - died Aug. 26, 1863;
Charles, born June, 3, 1864 - died Sept. 9, 1865.
Mrs. Strous, the mother of these children, died
Sept. 23, 1866. Aug. 20, of the following year, Mr.
Strous was again married, to Rebecca J. Dillon,
who was born May 19, 1842. The result of this union is five
children, as follows: Olive D., born Aug. 18,
1868 - died Dec. 7, 1870; Frank D., born Sept. 3,
1869; Eddie D., born Mar. 3, 1872; Eva
Grace, born Oct. 16, 1874; Lizzie May,
born Apr. 8, 1876.
Just west of his
residence, Mr. Strous has a beautiful grove of
forest trees, containing about fourteen acres. The ground is
very pleasantly situated, being higher than the surrounding land,
and is skirted by Salt Creek, on the bank of which is a beautiful
mineral spring. A company has been formed who contemplate the
improvement of the place next season as a pleasure resort. |
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