MONROE PHILLIPS, who is now successfully engaged in the liquor business in Greenville, was born on a farm near Castine, Darke county, October 7, 1852, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Reiswonger) Phillips, also natives of this county, the former born in 1820, the latter in February, 1826. His ancestors were from Pennsylvania and on the paternal side were among the very earliest settlers of Darke county, living in the neighborhood of Fort Jefferson, when Indians still inhabited this region and wild animals were numerous.
     Our subject grew to manhood upon the home farm. He was quite young when his father died and during his boyhood and youth he assisted his mother in the management of the place. She is still living, at the age of seventy-four years, and now makes her home in Savona. On the 21st of March, 1877, Mr. Phillip's was united in marriage with Miss Harriet McGriff, a native of Castine, and to them were born two children, namely: Minnie, who died in childhood; and Burnet, who was born in Arca­num December 9, 1879, and is still living.
After his marriage Mr. Phillips lived in Arcanum for a short time and then removed to Greenville, where he is now carrying on a profitable business as a liquor dealer, and also deals in fast horses. He and his family occupy a beautiful home on West Fifth street.
Source: A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 709

ANDREW POE.  One of the old and much respected citizens of Monroe township, Darke county, Ohio, is Andrew Poe, who has carried on farming operations at his present place for forty years.
     Mr. Poe is of French origin.  His grandfather, George Poe, was a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania; his grandmother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mater, was born in France, and in her girlhood came to America on a visit, while here meeting and marrying George Poe.  They subsequently came to Ohio and located in Montgomery county, near Salem, where he died, his death being the result of injury received by falling from a barn.  He was a captain in the Revolutionary war.  His son George, the father of Andrew, was also a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and at the time the family removed to Ohio was eight or nine years old.  He was married, near Germantown, Ohio, to Elizabeth Arnett, a daughter of Bartholomew Arnett.  Mr. Arnett was a Hessian soldier in 1776, and deserted and joined the American ranks to fight for independence.  After his marriage the younger George Poe removed to Darke county, where he spent the rest of his life, his chief occupation being farming.  He died at Arcanum, in 1890, at the age of eighty-eight years.  His first wife's death occurred some years before his.  His second wife survives him.  She was Mrs. Polly Fry, nee Townslee, and resides at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry Besecer.  Mr. Poe's children by his first wife, were named as follows:  Andrew, and direct subject of this sketch; George and Bartholomew, deceased; Daniel, Isaac and John C., deceased.
     Andrew Poe was born in Salem, Montgomery county, Ohio, June 14, 1826; received his education in one if the primitive log school houses of that period, and as he grew up learned all the details of pioneer farming.  After his marriage, which event occurred in Phillipsburg, Ohio, Mr. Poe located near there and remained until 1840, when he moved to Monroe township, Darke county, where he has since lived.  At the time of his settlement here he bought forty-two acres of land, thickly covered with forest, and the work of clearing and making a home at once occupied his energies.  As soon as he cleared a little patch of ground he built a cabin, 18x22 feet, one room with a loft above it, and here he established his family, has sine lived and labored, carrying on general farming, and has been fairly prosperous in his undertakings.
     Mr. Poe's wife was formerly Miss Sarah Eisenbarger, and they are the parents of five children, namely:  Isaac, of Arcanum, Ohio; Lewis, of Beamsville, Ohio; Simon, of Miami county, Ohio; Lafayette, of Salem, Ohio; and Albert, a resident of the same township in which his father lives.
     Politically Mr. Poe is a Democrat.  He belongs to no church.
Source: A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 441

COLONEL DAVID PUTMAN.     As one of the representative and prominent citizens of Darke county, Colonel Putnam well deserves representation in this volume.  He was born at Fort Black, now called New Madison, on the 4th of August, 1821, and his present residence is Palestine, in German township.  His father, Ernestus Putman, was a native of New York, born Oct. 27, 1776.  there he was reared, remaining at home until fourteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to learn the gunsmith and whitesmith trades.  He served for a term of seven years, and on the expiration of that period went to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he accepted a position as foreman in the stocking department of the government armory.  For two years he served in that capacity.  In the meantime he returned to his native place and was married.  With two companions he made his way over the mountains to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  These men were accompanied by their young wives, and on reaching Pittsburg they constructed a flat boat, on which they made their way dow the Ohio river.  This was in 1809.  Where the city of Madison now stands they effected a landing.  General Harrison was at that time governor of the Northwest Territory and was employed in surveying the town.  These three men each took a lot and erected a log cabin, which was the foundation of the city of Madison.  On the 11th of February, 1811, his first child was born in the town.  His name was Aaron.  He died in California in 1897.  Soon after the birth of this son the mother died.  Ernestus Putman established a gun smith shop in Madison and as soon as his child was old enough so that he could care for it he went to Harper's Ferry.  He there entered the government employ, again serving in the same capacity throughout the war of 1812.  At Shepherdstown, Virginia, he was married, on the 24th of March, 1814, to Miss Elizabeth Gray, a lady of Scotch-Irish descent and a daughter of David and Jane (Pollock) Gray, who came to the new world from the Emerald Isle.  They lived in county Tyrone, but in 1802 crossed the Atlantic, landing in Baltimore, Maryland, whence they made their way to Boonsboro.  Four years later they took up their abode in Fredericktown, Virginia.  Mrs. Putman was born in Ireland and was a maiden of twelve summers when she came with her parents to America.  Her eldest brother, Thomas, was a sea captain and lost his life at sea about 1818.  The next child was Nancy, who became the wife of Thomas Carson, and was married in Baltimore.  Mrs. Putman was the third of the family and is followed by Sarah, who became the wife of John Kinnear by whom she had a family of ten children, John M., the next of the family, settled in Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, and became a prominent man of the town.  He engaged in merchandising and was a recognized leader in political affairs, being elected to the legislature on the Whig ticket.  He died in 1853.  There was also one child, Mary, who was born soon after the arrival of the parents in Baltimore, Maryland.  She became the wife of William Watt, and they had four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom are yet living.
     After the marriage of the parents of our subject Ernestus Putman went direct to Washington city, where he opened a gun smith's shop and took the contract for executing all of the iron work for the White House.  His business assumed very extensive proportions and he furnished employment to a large number of machinists.  While residing in Washington city two children were added to the family:  Jane Gray, who was born in 1816, and John G., born June 11, 1818.  Mr. Putman remained in Washington city until 1819, when with his wife and children he came direct to what is now New Madison, in Darke county, Ohio, the journey being made with a one-horse wagon.  Here he entered land, securing a portion of the tract upon which the town of New Madison now stands.  He conducted not only the first store in the village but also the first in the southern part of the county.  Not long after his arrival the third child, Elizabeth S., was added to the family.  She was born in 1819, and became the wife of Dr. Rufus Gillpatrick. who went to Kansas in 1854 and was killed during the Civil war.  He was one of the conductors of the underground railroad, and his strong sympathy for the Union cause and his opposition to slavery led to his death.  David Putnam, the next of the family, was born Aug. 4, 1821; Mary I.,  born in 1824, became the wife of Dr. Charles Jaquay, and is now deceased; Ernestus J., born in 1826, married Sarah J. Deem, and afterward died in Colorado; Thomas C., born in 1828, is deceased; James, born in December, 1830, has also passed away; Nancy C., born in 1833, is the wife of Dr. James G. Blunt, who became a major-general in the war.  He went to Kansas and became an active factor in support of the Union cause at the time of the trouble in that state.  Prior to 1856 he was prominent in political affairs in Darke county, and was an adherent of the newly organized Republican party, giving his support to Fremont.  He died from the effect of a sunstroke, in Washington city.
     Ernestus Putman continued in business in New Madison from 1819 until 1842 and was instrumental in promoting the progress and upbuilding of the town.  He laid out the town in 1831, and was one of the oldest merchants of the county.  He served as the first postmaster and withheld his co-operation from no movement which he believed would prove of public good.  In politics he was a stanch Whig in early life and on the dissolution of that party became a Republican, supporting Lincoln in 1860 and again in 1864.  He was in his eighty-ninth year when Lincoln was elected a second time.  He held membership in the Presbyterian church at New Madison, and all the expenses of that organization in building the church, with the exception of eighty dollars, were paid by the Putman family.  He was widely and favor ably known in Darke county as one of its honored pioneers and he lived to the ripe old age of eighty-nine years, respected by all who knew him.  He was a member of the Masonic fraternity for sixty-seven years.  His wife passed away in February, 1864, at the age of seventy-seven.
     Colonel Putman of this review is the fourth child and second son in their family, and he and his sister are now its only representatives living.  He was reared in New Madison and obtained all his school privileges before he was thirteen years of age.  He pursued his studies in a subscription school, conducted in a log building, and at the age of fourteen he went into his father's mill.  This was one of the first in the county and was built at Weaver Station.  He was there employed for two years, after which he returned home to New Madison, and for a short time remained in his father's store.  On Christmas day of 1836, in company with thirteen companions, he started for Texas, walking to Cincinnati.  This company was under command of Colonel George D. Hendricks.  It proceeded by steamer to New Orleans and thence to the capital of Texas, where they remained until the 24th of March.  The company separated there and Colonel Putman, together with William Maroney, started on foot from Columbia, securing a passport from the secretary of state.  They walked four hundred and thirteen miles ultimately reaching the town of Nachatocha, near Alexandria.  They returned home by way of New Orleans, where Colonel Putman who had been intrusted by his father with a cargo of produce, which he had sold, leaving the money until his return, invested it in coffee, sugar and molasses, which was his first commercial transaction.  The venture proved a success.  He made his way to New Madison and continued in the store until he was twenty-four years of age, and in the meantime spent about a year in Hamilton, where he gained a practical knowledge of business transactions and of the value of merchandise.  He was twenty-one years of age when his father retired from business, and the Colonel then entered into partnership with his brother John, in the spring of 1842.
     On the 15th of November, 1842, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Mills, who was born two miles from New Madison, on the 17th lit January, 1822, and was a daughter of Colonel Mark T. Mills and a grand daughter of General James Mills, who be longed to a prominent family of the county that was established in Ohio at an early epoch in its history, coming here in 1816and settling on land two miles north of New Madison.  He was a native of New Jersey, and emigrated to Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, in 1800.  He was one of the first settlers in the county and was colonel of the First Ohio Militia, Third Detachment, in the war of 1812.  He left Hamilton, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1813, in command of the First Ohio Militia, and marched to Dayton; from there to Piqua, Loramie, St. Mary's, and finally, on the 7th of April, was ordered to Fort Meigs, where his regiment remained on guard duty till discharged from service.  We find the following entry in his regimental book:

     "Colonel Mills with a portion of his command, having honorably served out the period for which they were called into the service of their country, are hereby discharged and permitted to return to their respective homes.  Events not within the control of the present commander-in-chief of this army or of our government have rendered it necessary that the militia of the western states should compose a considerable portion of the northwest army.  Ohio stands conspicuous for the great zeal and promptness with which her citizens have yielded the comforts of private life for the toils and privations of the camp.  In the return of this detachment of Ohio troops to their families and homes, it is due to Ohio and her sons to record their honorable service.  To Colonel Mills and his staff, and his respective commissioned and non-commissioned officers and privates, whose term of service has expired, and to whose promptness in the discharge of every duty he has been an eye witness, the commanding general gives his sincere thanks.
     "By command of Gen. Green Clay."

     Colonel J. Mills served in both branches of the Ohio legislature.  He died of cholera in 1833, at Fort Jefferson, and is buried on the land he first settled.  His wife was a physician of much note in the early history of this county.  Colonel Mark T. Mills, son of the former, was one of the early sheriffs of this county, and while serving his second term was elected a member of the legislature.  He was continued a member of that body for four or five years by the suffrage of the people.  He was married to Miss Lydia Burdge Mar. 29, 1821, and died in March, 1843, his wife surviving him until March, 1886.
     Colonel Putman remained in business in New Madison until June, 1845, when he sold out to his brother John and came to Palestine.  Here he engaged in general merchandising until 1848, when he traded his stock of goods for a farm in Sugar Valley, Preble county, Ohio.  There he followed agricultural pursuits for two years, when he returned to Palestine and accepted a position as general traveling agent for the New York Mutual Insurance Company.  He was for two years connected with that line of business, traveling over New York and Ohio.  Again he took up his abode in Palestine and was engaged in the hotel business for a year, when he opened a stock of groceries, successfully conducting his store until the 10th of October, 1861.
     At that date Mr. Putman was commissioned second lieutenant, and on the 17th of December had raised a full company and was elected captain.  He was mustered into service as a member of the Sixty-ninth Ohio Regiment, and remained at Columbus until the 19th of February, 1862.  There they guarded rebel prisoners at Camp Chase until the 19th of April, when they started for Nashville.  Captain Putman did duty with the regiment in all its engagements until June 20, 1863, when he was discharged on account of disability and returned to his home.  As soon as able, however, he began the organization of the Twenty-eighth Regiment of the Ohio National Guards, and when it was formed was elected colonel.  On the 2d of May, 1875, this regiment was ordered out for one hundred days' service and went direct to Camp Dennison.  Two companies from Clark county were added to the eight companies of the regiment, making a full command, which was mustered into the United States service as the One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Infantry.  They were ordered to New Creek, Virginia, and thence to Martinsburg.  They left there on the 4th of June, with a supply train of two hundred and forty-nine wagons, and orders to reach General Hunter, who was then in the neighborhood of Staunton, Virginia.  They were joined by five companies of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Second Maryland, one company of the Fifteenth New York Cavalry and a section of Lowery's Battery, all under command of Colonel Putman.  They were annoyed each day by small bands of the enemy and lost the captain and five men of the New York Cavalry.  They overtook the rear of Hunter's army on the 10th, at Midway, and the main body of the army next day at Lexington.  Here under Hunter's command the famous mills and military institutions of Lexington were destroyed by fire.  At the latter was found a life-size statue of George Washington erected in 1788, which was turned over to Colonel Putman with special instructions to deliver it to the governor of West Virginia, at Wheeling.  These instructions were faithfully executed.
     On the 17th of June General Hunter turned over his prisoners, his sick and wounded and one hundred and fifty wagons to the command of Colonel Putman and for ten days they were on the retreat, arriving at Beverley on the 27th of June and at Cumberland, Maryland, on the 2d of July.  They there remained until the 25th of August, were next at Camp Dennison, and on the 2d of September they were honorably discharged, and upon the return home the regiment was transferred back to the late service as the Twenty-eighth Ohio National Guard, so commissioned until the close of the war.
     On his return home Colonel Putman began the study of law under the direction of Judge A. R. Calderwood, at Greenville, and was admitted to the bar in 1866.  He immediately began practice and gave his attention to bounty pensions.  In 1870 he was elected justice of the peace to serve for three years and has been a notary public for forty-seven years.  He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, with which he has been identified since its organization.  He was the first commander of Reed Post, No. 572, and is the present commander.  He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity.  In politics he is a Republican, has been active in support of the party since its formation in 1854, and was a delegate to the state convention at Columbus, in 1856.  In 1897 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 24th January, after a long and happy married life of fifty-four years, two months and nine days.  They had celebrated their golden wedding in the house where the first wedding party had been held and one hundred and seven guests were invited to the dinner.  The photographs from which the portraits that appear in this work were made were taken on their fiftieth anniversary.  Almost eighty years Colonel Putnam has resided in Darke county.  He is probably the oldest native resident within its borders, and has been a witness to its wonderful growth and development, has aided in its progress and has withheld his support from no movement or measure which he believed would prove of public good.  In all life's relations he has been true and faithful, in public office has been fair and impartial, in business strictly honorable and in social life has been a trusted friend and esteemed neighbor.  He certainly deserves mention among the honored pioneers of Darke county.
Source: A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 542