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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THE RUFFNER FAMILY
pg. 229

     One of the famous old pioneers of Fairfield County was Emanuel Ruffner.  He was born and brought up in Shenandoah County, Va., and there he married Elizabeth Grove.
     He belonged to a very large and highly respected Virginia family - a family more or less distinguished in that state.  One of the Ruffner's was a man of fine education and culture, and an author of some repute and was well known at Richmond.
     One of the family was in early times a proprietor of the great salt works at Charleston, the same where Senator Ewing earned the money to put himself through college.  The descendants of this man still live in Charleston, and two of them are large wholesale grocers of that city.  The principal hotel is called the Ruffner.
     Emanuel Ruffner came with his family to Ohio in 1805 and settled on the land now owned by his grandson and daughter, William Friend and wife, one and one-half miles form West Rushville, Fairfield County.  He came there when the Murpheys, Ijams, Wilsons, Rowles, Teals and Stevensons were his only neighbors - all distinguished as early pioneers of that vicinity.  He was a teamster in the Revolutionary War and his son John drove a team for him in the war of 1812.
     Emanuel Ruffner was a man of force and integrity, a good citizen and a very useful member of society.  He reared a large and interesting family; his daughters were exceptionally fine women and married good men and reared large families.
     His son John married Mary Rhodes and settled on a farm on the south fork of Licking, in Licking

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County, Ohio, where he lived and died.  His sons were farmers.  David has been dead some years; John still resides upon a farm near Hebron, O.  He had but one daughter and she resides in the same vicinity.  John Ruffner's farm contained five hundred acres.
     Jacob Ruffner, son of Emanuel, married Magdalene Bibler.  He lives upon a farm near the Stevenson camp ground.  His son Jonas married Susan Rhodes and they lived upon a portion of the home farm.  His sons were Jacob, Joseph, Levi and Noah.  Jacob was the famous soldier of the 17th Ohio, known to all the old boys as "Kate" Ruffner, a name not soon to be forgotten - not while a 17th veteran lives.  Joseph resides upon the old home farm.
     A daughter of Jonas married A. M. Stewart; Sarah Stuart of Rushcreek township.  His son David married a Miss Harman and they moved to Mercer County, O.  Stewart Ruffner, the teacher, married a daughter of Hiram McNaughton and lives in Richland township, a respected and useful man.  Thomas Ruffner, son of Isaac, is a hopeless invalid.  Edward married Minnie Shaw, daughter of J. W. Shaw, and lives on the old home farm.  Mary, daughter of Isaac, married Caleb Copeland's son.
     Jacob Ruffner, son of Jacob Sr., married a daughter of Caleb Copeland.  Their son Caleb married a daughter of Reuben Phillips.  Maria married in Delaware County, Ohio, George Ruffner married in Perry County, Ohio.  William married a Miss Zink and they live in Sugar Grove, Ohio; Clara married Jacob Biggs,

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and they live in Morrow county, Ohio; Eliza married William Geiger and they live in Licking County, Ohio.  Margaret married Thomas Beery and they live in Pleasant township, Ohio.  Ola married Ira Spitler and they live on the Freed farm in Pleasant.
     Barbara, daughter of Jacob Ruffner, Sr., married David Tussing and they moved to Findlay, Ohio; Magdalene married John Holliday of Rushcreek; Anna married William Cruit of Perry County, Ohio; Rebecca married Samuel Swartz; Mary married John Henthorn; Emily married Jesse Rowles and recently died in Bremen, Ohio.
     Emanuel Ruffner, son of Emanuel, married Barbara Harshbarger.  He was a fine blacksmith and lived many years near New Salem.  His weight was far in excess of 300 pounds.  Late in life he moved with his family to Cumberland County, Ill., near the town of Greenup.
     Colonel Joseph Ruffner, son of Emanuel, Jr., married Rhoda Davis of Licking County, Ohio.  He lived a long life on the old Ruffner farm in Richland.  He was one of a half dozen old Virginia gentlemen who often met in Lancaster and spent a social afternoon.  No one who ever knew him can forget his courtly manners and gentlemanly bearing.  He was every inch a gentleman and a good and useful man.  He reared two daughters.  They married brothers, John and William Friend, who were the sons of another grand old man of Richland, Jonas Friend.  They inherited the old Ruffner homestead and have lived upon it and are prosperous farmers.  An old elm tree is one of the landmarks of this old place; its spreading

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branches cover a space of ground 104 feet in diameter.  The honored dead He in a handsome spot near the elm tree.
     Barbara Ruffner, daughter of Emanuel, Sr., married David Pence in Virginia and came to Ohio in 1807, carrying their infant daughter, the future Mrs. T. P. Ashbrook, resting upon a pillow, they being on horseback.  They spent the winter in a cabin on the Ruffner place, and in the spring moved to their new home, in the woods, where the Peters family now live, on Indian creek.  David Pence was a fine farmer, and he reared a large family.  He was a stanch member of the Baptist church.  On one occasion Rev. George DeBolt, a long-winded preacher, spoke two and one-half hours.  Pence got tired of it and rose to leave the church.
     DeBolt called out: "Brother Pence, can't you listen as long as I can talk?"
     Pence replied: "Enough is enough of anything.  I am going to feed my horses."
     Aaron Pence, the oldest son, married a Miss Hand, near Hebron. O.; Joseph married a sister of Aaron's wife.  Annie married Tunis P. Ashbrook.  Elenor married for her first husband Benjamin Miller; the second was George Shoemaker.  She is the mother of Mrs. J. C Hite of Lancaster and lives with her, now 93 years of age.  Mary married Jacob Staker and they moved to Plancock, where they are now wealthy people.  Rebecca married David Fall and they moved many years since to Jones County, Iowa.  Elizabeth married Abraham Spitler and they have always lived in Pleasant. Seville married S. P. Weaver and moved to Putnam County, where Weaver has

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been a very prominent citizen.  Sophia married George Miller and moved to Iowa.
     David Pence, Jr., married Henrietta Pugh of Walnut township.  David was a teacher when a young man, but since his marriage he has been a farmer.  As a citizen no man stands higher in this county and he has but few equals as a good farmer.  He once took the Fair prize for the best ten acres of corn, running above 100 bushels to the acre.  Mrs. J. S. Sites of this city is his only daughter.  Mr. Pence is a reader and a very intelligent man.  In early life he was a Democrat, but the effort to enslave Kansas made him a Republican.  A physical infirmity prevented his being a soldier, but he has unbounded admiration for the veterans.
     Mary, daughter of Emanuel Ruffner, married William Hill, a prominent citizen of Walnut township.  She died in a year or two after marriage in the year 1829.  Her only child.  John R. Hill, now living in Pleasantville, owns the farm she inherited from her
father, on Indian Creek.  John married an Ashbrook.
     Ann Ruffner married Thomas Kraner and they lived on the farm given them by Emanuel Ruffner.  Their son Joseph married Elizabeth Geiger; Emanuel married Elenor Ashbrook; Susan Kranor married Benjamin Warner, but did not live many years, when Warner married a Miss Miller.  Eli Rowles, a prominent citizen of Pleasantville, married a daughter of Emanuel Kraner.
     Magdalene Ruffner, daughter of Emanuel, married Christian Baker, a remarkable couple in many respects.  Christian Baker represented this county in the Ohio
Legislature two terms.  He was not distinguished for ability beyond good common sense, but a purer or

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more conscientiously honest man never served in any legislature.
     Their daughter Mahala married David Smith, and they moved to Greenup, Ill.  Louisa married William Risler and they moved to the same neighborhood.  Mary Ann married H. B. Eyman, once a very prominent citizen of Richland township.  His sons have become well known business and professional men.  Christian Baker Eyman is a farmer of Walnut and made a good run for commissioner recently.  Lou Eyman is a druggist of Lancaster, Ohio; Dr. Eyman is superintendent of the Cleveland, Ohio, Lunatic Asylum, and enjoys some distinction.
     Susan Baker married Owen McNaghten of Walnut township; Rebecca married Lewis Collins, now a resident of the state of Illinois.
     Samantha married Thomas Clayton.  Samuel Baker, the eldest son, married Miss Rinehart.
     Emanuel Ruffner Pence Baker married Louisa Stoneburner.  He studied law in Lancaster and lived here a few years.  But he did not make a success of the law and abandoned it for the drug business in Thornville, O.  While living there he was elected a
member of the Ohio Legislature and served two terms.  Baker was a very clever man.  He reared a family.  One son is manager of the Peruna Drug Co. owned by the wealthy patent medicine man of Columbus, Dr. Hartman.  Baker's long name gave him annoyance
at times.  It was often the subject of jest.  The bad boys called him many nicknames.
     Susan Ruffner, daughter of Emanuel, married Daniel Keller.  Keller became a very remarkable man, distinguished for his good common sense, rare judgment and fine business qualities.  His integrity was

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never questioned nor his honor smirched.  He represented this county in the Ohio Legislature in 1849 and voted with his party for Chase for Senator and for the repeal of the black laws.  He served as a trustee of the Ohio State University and his vote determined the location on the Neil farm, north of Columbus.  His chief reason for favoring that particular farm was owing to a fine spring on the premises.  This spring was strong enough for farm purposes, but soon became inadequate for a college.
     The late Hon. V. B. Horton, who was one of his associates, is authority for the above statement.
     Daniel Keller owned several farms and all had good springs of good water.  He was the bosom friend of Gov. Medill, by whom he was highly esteemed.  He was a great partisan, a Democrat of the old school.  By the time he became an old man there had been great changes in parties and party principles and his living sons and grandsons were active working Republicans.
     Daniel Keller and wife were the parents of ten children.
     Simon married Ellen Sites of Pleasant township.  He died in the prime of life.  His son married a daughter of John Beery and lives near Bremen, Ohio.
     Joseph married Mary Lamb, daughter of Peter Lamb.  He died in the prime of life.  Mrs. Showalter of Lancaster is a daughter.  Emanuel married a daughter of Reuben Emick, who lived at one time on the farm now owned by David Pence.  Emanuel Keller has been for many years a farmer in Missouri.  David Pence Keller married a McFarland, and moved to Illinois, where he prospered.  He is now a banker and a man of means.  He is a prominent cit-

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izen and a very intelligent man.  He at one time represented his county in the legislature of Illinois
     Augustus Ruffner Keller married a McFarland.  He was a man of many accomplishments and a gentleman highly esteemed for his ability and many good qualities.
     Catharine, daughter of Daniel Keller, married J. R. Shaver; they moved many years ago to LaSalle County, Ill., where Shaver has been a prosperous farmer.
     Sophia married John Caldwell and settled on a farm near the old home.
     Laura married Jonas Kite; they lived on a farm near the Baptist church in Pleasant township.  They were the parents of Levi Hite. the attorney.
     Martha A. married William L. Rigby, a farmer, but late probate judge of Fairfield County.  Susan married William Medill, a nephew of Governor William Medill, of Lancaster, O.  Mr. Medill is the owner of good farms and he understands their management.  He now resides in Lancaster, but his farms are not neglected.
     Emanuel Ruffner, the ancestor of the large family sketched above, lived to be 91 years of age and died June 4. 1848.
     His first wife, Magdalene, died November, 1822, aged 65 years.
     His second wife. Elizabeth, died Dec. 1, 1842, aged 63 years.
     Elizabeth, daughter of Emanuel Ruffner, married M. Garner: she died in Pleasantville in 1860.
     There was a large Ruffner connection in the old neighborhood, all related to Emanuel, but the exact relationship we cannot state.

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     Benjamin Ruffner. Sr., lived on what has since been known as the Augustus R. Keller farm.  He was the father of David.  Benjamin and Noah Ruffner.  Noah lived and died on the old farm.  He married a daughter of Jonas Friend.  David lived near Millersport and was for many years a prominent man.  He married his cousin, a daughter of Daniel Ruffner.  Benjamin married a daughter of William Lamb.  He was a great business man and very prominent sixty years ago.  He ran a large whiskey distillery for several years at Hebron, Ohio.  He finally failed in business, moved west and settled on a farm near Fort Wayne, Ind.

THE ROWLES FAMILY
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     This family was of English and Scotch origin, but the exact date of their coming to America is not known.  William Rowles is the earliest name found upon English records.  He was born July 9, 1682, and died Nov. 17, 1750.  His son Christopher Rowles, was born May 9, 1708.  This record was found in a bible printed in London in 1716.  John Rowles the immediate ancester of the Fairfield family, lived near Baltimore. Md.  He was born Apr. 11, 1734 and died aged 67 years, in 1804.  The name of his wife was Sarah. They had four sons and several daughters. Jesse, Jacob, Nicholas and William were the sons.  Jesse and William came to Ohio in 1803.  William lived a few years with Jesse; then returned to Maryland and married Sarah Chamberlain.  He returned to Ohio and lived until 1838 in Franklin County, when he moved to Missouri, where he died in October, 1854.  His son, Reuben, lives in Missouri and John in California.  His daughters, Mary, Ann, and Eliza, married brothers, named Barbee of

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Grove City, O.  Of this family was ex-Sheriff Barbee, who married Joseph Leib's daughter.
     Jesse Rowles was born in Baltimore county, Md., Nov. 9, 1772.  He married Elizabeth Murphey, daughter of Rev. John Murphey, and Esther, his wife, Mar. 27, 1798.  She was born June 2, 1777, and died in Bremen, Nov. 11, 1843.  Jesse Rowles died May 7, 1835.  Jesse Rowles came to Fairfield County with his family in 1803 and settled on a quarter section of John Murphey's land, since known as the Spence farm.  Here he gave his attention to farming, making an occasional trip to Baltimore with a freight team.  George Clum, an old wagoner, was often in his company. In early life he was a millwright and worked on the big mills at Ellicott's mills, Maryland.
     Jesse Rowles was an Episcopalian, and he never united with any church in this county.  He lived a good life and reared a good family.  Their descendants are very numerous and all Christian people.  Rev. J. F. Kemper, of Seward, Neb., is a Methodist and a grandson, one we hope, worthy to wear the mantle of John Murphey.  There are numerous teachers in the family, good business men, good farmers.

THE DAUGHTERS
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     Arabclla Rowles, was born July 14, 1817.  She married her cousin, Theodore Murphey, Apr. 9, 1842.  She was the mother of a family of children mentioned in the Murphey sketch.
     Lydia Rowles was born in Pennsylvania, Jan. 25, 1799, and died in Bremen at her sister's home, Mrs. King, in 1853.  She never married.
     Charlotte, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Rowles, married Morris Smith, of Thorn township, Perry County, Ohio, Mar. 24, 1844.  Smith came at an 

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early day from Stamford, Conn.  He was a typical Yankee, plain, frugal and intelligent.  He was a good farmer, fond of horticulture and a great reader.  He was thoroughly well informed and while working his farm and rearing a family of eight children, studied medicine for the pure love of learning.  His children inherited his tastes and formed an interesting family.  Their mother was an excellent woman, fond of her children and her home.  Everet, lives in Nebraska, James M., at New Salem, and Mary and sister in Delaware, Ohio.  Mr. Smith was born July 27, 1814, and died July 14, 1893.
     Althea was born August 31.  She married Asa Kemper, Apr. 20, 1843, a most excellent man of near Thornville. Perry County, Ohio.  Mrs. Kemper died Oct. 1, 1861. They educated their family of three children.  Mrs. Abbie Tillotson lives at Table Rock, Neb., and Rev. James F. Kemper at Seward, Nebraska.
     Elizabeth was born Dec. 6, 1806.  She married Thomas King of Rushville.  Mr. King and she were married in 1828.  He died in 1832.  In 1853, the widow married H. Barbee, of Grove City, and moved with him to Prospect, Marion County, where she died May 3, 1887.  Barbee is living in Columbus, 84 years of age.  Mary M. King, of Westerville. is the only living descendant of Elizabeth A. Rowles.
     Mary Ellen Rowles was born December, 1819, and died in 1834.  She was unmarried.  Sarah Louisa, a teacher, never married.  She was born May 7, 1809, and died Nov. 9, 1842.
     John Murphey Rowles was born Sept. 23, 1804, on the Spence farm. —He married Mary Ann Morrow in 1829.  She was born in Mifflin County, Pa., Feb. 15, 1809.  He was a farmer and moved upon

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his farm, north of Bremen in 1830. They reared and educated ten children.  For many years he was a wagoner and drove a six horse team with produce to Baltimore, returning with goods.  The merry music of the bells cheered him on his way.  He died July 10, 1878.  His was a Christian home and his family a happy one.  His children were wont to gather about him before the old fashioned fireplace and hear the story of his trips to old Baltimore.  Death has since made sad inroads upon his once happy circle and those joyous occasions are only a memory to those that are left.
     His daughter, Mrs. Johnson, died Sept. 27, 1882.  Florence died May 30, 1890; Adelia died January, 1898.  Mrs. Ellen Kelsey lives near Bremen; Caroline, who married R. D. Grant, lives in Grove City, Mrs. Jennie Shelhamer in Bremen.
     James R. Rowles lives in Pulaski county, Indiana.
     John Rowles was a member of Company C, Captain John Wiseman's Co., 46th Ohio.  He was 24 years of age when he enlisted.  He was killed early in the morning of the first day, Apr. 6, 1862, in the battle of Shiloh.  Fifteen of his comrades fell upon that fatal field of battle.  "The Southland holds their dreamless dust" and the mocking birds sing their requiem.  Captain and comrades are all together now.

"On fame's eternal camping; ground,
Their silent tents are spread."

     John Rowles was first sergeant and favorite of his company.  He was a fine, manly, generous fellow, and as brave and gallant a soldier as ever carried a musket. 
     His voice is no more heard in the happy homes of Rushcreek, but his memory is fondly cherished by many loving: hearts.

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" Brave boys were they,
Gone at their country's call."

     William, son of Jesse and Elizabeth Rowles, was born Jan. 5, 1802, in the State of Maryland.  He was brought to Ohio in 1803.  He was brought up to farming, and when old enough he was entrusted with his father's team of six horses and carried produce to Baltimore and returned loaded with goods for Rushville merchants.  Just when he ceased to be a wagoner we cannot state.  Jan. 13, 1826, he was married to Maria Stuart of Rushcreek township.
     They settled upon a tract of land, since known as the Kelsey farm, once owned by Daniel Kelsey.  In a short time they moved further down Rushcreek to what is known as the beaver dam, below the present town of Bremen.  There he devoted his time, principally to raising tobacco, then the great staple of Rushcreek
farms.
     The farmers of Rushcreek sold their product to Joseph Ijams & Bros., West Rushville, or to William Coulson of Rushville, then great merchants.  This tobacco was taken east by great wagons, or by the Ohio Canal from Baltimore, Ohio.  Both firms had branches and warehouses at the latter place.
     This tobacco trade was a great boon to the farmers, and enabled hundreds to pay their debts and secure titles to their farms.  In the end many good farmers were heavy losers by the disastrous failure of both firms.
     George Beery and Hedges, in 1835, opened a store in the new village of Bremen, then but recently laid out by Beery.  John Ashbaugh was a merchant later, as were the sons of George Beery, Isaac, Brooks and

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Simon.  The tobacco they purchased was shipped by canal from Lancaster.  John Holliday was kept busy for weeks at a time haulng their hogsheads to Lancaster.
     Conestoga teams came from Baltimore with goods and returned loaded with produce.  The last one seen
in Bremen was driven by a negro slave from Baltimore.  
    His master had agreed to free him at a certain time if he proved faithful and true and give him the team and wagon.  He had but two years to serve when he came to Bremen.  He drove a splendid team of heavy bay horses, six in number.  He rested them for a week in Bremen.  He then put on an extra load— 10,000 pounds of bacon cured by John Ashbaugh. The entire population turned out to see the team pull up Rushcreek hill.  He rested them for a moment at the foot.  Took each horse by the bridle and touched him with his whip, and mounted the saddle horse, pulled the line and they moved like clock work, without a break or stop to the top of the hill.
     William Rowles and wife while living at Beaver Dam, about the year 1832, joined the Presbyterian Society at Bethel, four miles southeast of Bremen, under the pastorate of Rev. Francis Bartlett.  In 1836 he purchased the farm of Ralph Cherry, who married the youngest daughter of Joseph Leib, Sr., the same farm where Thompson Rowles recently lived.  Upon this farm he continued to live up to the date of his death, which event occurred, Sept. 9, 1863.  His wife outlived him thirteen years—dying at the age of 63 years.
     He reared and educated a family of children, an honor to their name and their township.  After the organization of the Bremen Presbyterian church, Octo-

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ber 21, 1844, Wm. Rowles and wife changed their membership from Bethel to Bremen.  Of this new church, Wm. Rowles, John Ashbaugh and Daniel Rodehafer were the first elders.
     William and Elizabeth Rowles were the parents of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters.  Jesse, the eldest, married Emily Ruffner, a sister of Jonas Ruffner and a daughter of Jacob Ruffner.  They lived upon a farm until recently and reared a family of children.  Mrs. Rowles died Feb. 2, 1899, aged 66 years.  A daughter married the late J. J. Elder.  Their son, Jesse A., married a daughter of Dr. Rankin.  Jesse Rowles now lives in Bremen.  A daughter married Dr. Driver.
     John S. Rowles married Elizabeth Larimer, Rushcreek. They lived upon a farm south of Bremen.  John S. died in 1897.  He had a family of nine children.  Wm. Rowles married Rebeccah Larimer, a daughter of Isaac Larimer, once a prominent man of the county.  His first wife was Margaret Orndorf.  They live upon a fine farm in Pleasant.  They are the parents of nine children.  David Rowles married Mary Holliday.  They are both dead.  The wife was a daughter of Zebulon Holliday.  Charles Rowles married Elizabeth Ashbaugh, a daughter of Wm. Ashbaugh.  They live upon a farm near Bremen.  They reared a family of eight children.  Thompson Rowles  married Rebecca Holliday, a daughter of John Holliday.
They spent many years on the old home place.  One of their daughters married a son of John Q. A. Blue.
     Isaac Rowles married Ella Lehman.  The wife died some years since.  Isaac owns a fine farm near Bre-

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men.  His second wife was Rebecca R. Musser, daughter of David Musser.
     Eli Rowles, in 1872, married Ann M. Craner, grand-daughter of Tunis P. Ashbrook.  She died about one year since.  They lived in Pleasantville.  Eli has been for some years a grain merchant.  He received a good big vote for County Clerk.
     Mary Jane Rowles married Edward Thompson.  She has been dead for some years.
     Sarah E. Rowles did not marry.  She died at the age of seventeen.
     Thompson and Jesse Rowles married Baptist wives and they are now of that faith.  Every third Sunday, though living eight miles from the church, finds them with their families in their pews.  The other members of the family are of the faith of their parents, Presbyterians.

RUSH CREEK PRESBYTERIANS
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     Rev. Charles Work and his brother, distinguished Presbyterian clergymen, were brought up at old Bethel.  A plow boy at the head of the first church of Cincinnati is something for Bethel to be proud of.  Distinguished lawyers, distinguished clergymen and merchants honor the names of both Bethel and Rushcreek - Leib, Work, Davis and Beery.
     We must refer more fully to the Presbyterians of Rushcreek.  In 1803 missionary workers of the associate Reform Presbyterians came from Kentucky and held services in a tent.  A church was soon built just over the line of Pleasant, two and one-half miles west of Rushville and south of Maysville pike one-half mile.  In later years this society was known as the United Presbyterians, most of its members were Rushcreek people.  They still sing Psalms, but have introduced modern music on account of their children.
     Rev. John Wright, organized the Rushcreek society in 1806 and in 1870 a two story hewed log house was built in what is now Jockey Hollow on Joseph S. Shaw's farm, two miles south of West Rushville.  This society worshiped here until 1830.  William Larimer and William Trimble were elders, when a brick church was built in West Rushville.  The church (the old log) was abandoned and part of the society went to West Rushville.  Of this society David Y. Davis was an elder, a part to Bethel and a few to the United Presbyterians.  The logs of the old church were used to build a shop in the village.  The Bethel church building was erected in 1828.  Amos Davis, a public spirited man, furnished the lumber and was a liberal contributor.  The subscriptions were mostly in produce.  One man subscribed so much wheat to be delivered at Leib's mill.  Jacob Moyer, father of John and Thomas of Pleasant, and David Miller were the contractors.  Moyer died here; Miller in Iowa.  Jacob Moyer, John Larimer and Amos Davis were the first elders.  Rev. John Wright preached for them once each month.  Rev. Francis Bartlett became the regular pastor in 1832.  Many of the members were Scotch-Irish, they were strict with their children and almost invariably raised good families.
     As previously stated Wm. Rowles married Maria Stuart.  She was the daughter of pioneer parents, William Stuart and Maria Henderson, known as Scotch-Irish.  Stuart's mother was a Thompson.  They were both born in Ireland.  The father came to the United States in 1796 when twenty years of age.  The mother came in 1797.  Their parents settled in Pennsylvania.
     Here they became acquainted and were married Feb. 18, 1801.  A few years after their marriage they came to this county and settled near what is now Bremen.  In a few years they were owners of a half section of land, a part of which is now within the corporation of Bremen.  They built a comfortable home on the bluff just north of the present village, where they spent a peaceful, honorable and useful life, rearing a family of children.  One of their best known sons, Thompson Stuart, highly esteemed and useful man, was born Mar. 20, 1816.  He married Rebecca C. Holliday, daughter of Zebulon Holliday, another sturdy and vigorous man of Rushcreek township.  The wedding occurred Apr. 20, 1845.  He purchased a part of the old Stuart homestead and lived the life of a farmer to the end of his days in sight of Bremen.  They reared a family of seven children.
     Mrs. Charles Perrin of Columbus, Mrs. W. B. Henry of Lancaster, Mrs. N. W. Good of Logan, W. J. Stuart of Springfield, Mrs. W. C. McCandish, Zebulon and Wesley of Bremen.
     Thompson Stuart was an honored member of the Methodist Episcopal church.  The writer has known him to attend a quarterly meeting twelve miles from his home.  Fifty years have come and gone since that occasion.
     The brothers of Thompson Stuart were Charles, William and James Stuart of Lancaster, who married a daughter of Christian Rudolph, is a son of James Stuart.
     Alexander T. Stuart the great merchant of New York is claimed as a cousin of William Stuart the pioneer.  Both were born in the same neighborhood in North Ireland.
     We cannot close without referring to the early schools of Rushcreek.  The first was taught by Christopher Welty and George Beery's kitchen.  The second by Joseph Osborn in the kitchen of Joseph Leib, Sr.  The late David Y. Davis attended the last named.

THE WILSON FAMILY OF RICHLAND
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     In the spring of 1800, William Wilson of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in company with his three sons, James, William and Michael, started for the Ohio country - with a pack horse to carry their camp equipage.  They arrived at Rushcreek on the 16th day of May, and camped near the great spring now owned by Mrs. William Friend.  They spent the summer here, and made some progress in clearing land, but were too late to raise a crop of corn.  In the fall William Wilson left his boys in camp and returned to Pennsylvania for the remainder of his family.  He sold his property and started for Ohio, arriving at his camp on Rushcreek on the 27th of November.
     At Zanesville they crossed the river on a ferry boat with difficulty, as it was covered with ice.  They spent the night on the west bank with a brother of Col. Ebenezer Zane.  After leaving Zanesville they fell in company with George Sanderson, whose hore, on the way, cam near dying with the colic.  He was relieved by a liberal use of bear's oil.  Whether applied externally or given internally we cannot state.  Sanderson

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was then the mail carrier.  Nearly the entire route from Zanesville was through the forest over Zane's trace.
     They found two cabins at the crossing of Rushcreek near Whitmore's or Binckley's in Perry County.  A Mr. Atkinson  and Peter Zarley were living there.
     They reached the camp of the boys at sunset — when the family was united, thirteen in all, without house or home.  But strong hands soon put up a cabin.
     Their nearest neighbor was S. Chaney, who lived near where West Rushville now stands on what is now the Barr farm.  He kept a log cabin tavern, undoubtedly the  first in the county.  Other neighbors lived on the section north of their location, viz.: Fredrick Heck, Ben. Johnson and a man named Smith.
     William Brown, a fine scholar, the Loofberrys, S. Hammel and J. Wilson lived in the neighborhood.  Moses Plumme in 1800, built a small tub mill, as it was called, on Rushcreek where the high bridge now stands.  In two or three years this mill was carried off by a flood and Plummer moved to Muskingum county, Ohio.  There is some question as to who built the first water mill in Fairfield County.  Plummer, Loveland and. Smith, or the Carpenters — all three were built in 1800.  So tradition and history says.
     Tn 1801 William Turner came to the settlement and purchased the section where Rushville now stands.  S. Hammel and James Wilson purchased 30 acres of William Turner and built a small mill and a whiskey distillery, just below the site of the Plummer mill.
     In the fall of 1801, other emigrants came in.  Among them Isaac Thomas and William Ijams, and settled on the land since owned by Mr. Spoon

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About 1803 John Murphy settled on what has since been known as the Lamb section.  His son William, soon after their coming, was killed by the falling of a log while raising the timbers of a school house.  This is the first school house in Fairfield County of which we have any account.
     About this same time Edward Teal, Christly Smith, Robert Chaffin and John Shepler came into the neighborhood, to the north.  Teal purchased 1200 acres of good land, now the Ashbrook neighborhood.  He was the father-in-law of Rev. James Quinn, the first Methodist to preach in Fairfield County.  John Manly and Judge David Swayze came about the year 1803, and settled in the Elm flat.  Emanuel Ruffner, father of the late Col. Jos. Ruffner, settled on a part of the Wilson section in this same year, or near that time.  David Pence came about the same time. Daniel Stevenson, with a large family, settled in or about 1803 on the section north of Wilson.  Edward Murphy came to the neighborhood about this time and courted and married Sarah Murphy, daughter of John Murphy. Edward settled on the section south of Wilson and Ruffner.  He kept tavern — was a farmer, and he also purchased the mill and distillery of Hammel and Wilson and operated them for a while.  He was a good citizen, and he and his wife were hospitable and amiable people.  They reared eighteen orphan children, some of them black.  William Wiseman was a settler of this period.  He lived near West Rushville.  He was the son-in-law of William Ijams; was an old soldier of Gen. St. Clair's army.  Peter Ruffner, another early settler of this period, lived near Edward Murphy on the old State road.  He was a farmer and distiller, but died young.  He left three or four sons, Benjamin

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S., Abraham, Martin and Michael.  Martin was killed by the Indians in what is now Ashland County, Ohio. A full account of this tragedy may be found in Howe's History of Ohio. Michael was a merchant in Rushville, Pleasantville and Baltimore, and lately a doctor in Greenup, Illinois.  Henry Huddle came about 1803 or 1805. He married a daughter of John Murphy.  He was the first man to improve the Foresman mill site on Rushcreek.  He built at an early day a grist mill and a distillery.  In a few years he sold out to Solomon Linville, and in time Linville sold to George Foresman; the section now belongs to his grandson of Circleville.  There is not a vestige of the old mill left, and the exact spot cannot, with certainty, be pointed out.  William Wilson was a prominent man in his township, and very much esteemed.  He was the first justice of the peace elected in Richland township.  Thomas and Isaac Ijams were early justices of the peace, and Thomas Ijams represented Fairfield county in the legislature.
     Wilson reared a large family of children.  Thomas Wilson lived an old bachelor on the old home to a good
old age.  He was a gentleman of the old school, kind and generous, and lived a quiet, happy life.
     David lived many years on a part of the old home section, but before the civil war moved to Tipton, Missouri.  David was a prominent man and would have attracted attention anywhere.  He was a man of fine presence and a good conversationalist.  He was entertaining and agreeable. Isaac Wilson was all his life a farmer of Fairfield County.  At the time of his death he owned the best farm in Greenfield. Isaac was an active, powerful man, a leader in early times, and the man around whom everybody rallied when they wanted

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teams used in his business are still the talk of the old people.  He failed in business in 1841, and moved to Iowa.  One of his sons became a prominent man in the West.
     The first Methodist church built in Fairfield County was Richland chapel.  It was a hewed log structure as plain as plain could be.  It stood near the old graveyard, and in sight of the home of Daniel Stevenson, not far from Wilson's.  Those in the neighborhood who were Methodists or patronized that church prior to 1805, were Daniel Stevenson and wife, Isaac and Thomas Ijams, John J. Jackson, John Sunderland, Edward Teal, Samuel Hammil, David Swayze, William Wilson, Jacob and Philip Sain, William Turner, John Murphey, William Harper, John Manly, Thomas and John Bond and Isaac Wiles and their families.
     Thomas and David Wilson were staunch Methodists.
Jesse Stoneman, James Quinn and Asa Shinn were the first men to preach to these people.  Bishop Asbury preached to them in 1803, and again at a great camp-meeting in 1807, when over 1000 people were in attendance.  Bishop McKendry preached there, James Axly and Peter Cartright, James B. Findlay and Bishop Roberts.
     The writer gleaned most of the facts in this sketch from a manuscript left by the late Thomas Wilson, an authority that will not for a moment be questioned by those who knew him.
 

THE MURPHEY FAMILY
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     The Murphrey Family was quite a large and prominent one in pioneer times in this county.  Edward Murphey examined the country in 1798 and '99 and returned to the East.  In the year 1800 his father,

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William Murphey, and three sons, William, Benjamin and Edward, settled near where Millersport now stands.  Rev. John Murphey, a local Methodist preacher, and a brother of William, came in the same year and purchased a section of land about one and one-half miles west of Rushcreek.  He built a cabin near the spot where a large brick home was afterwards built by his son-in-law, Edward Murphey, which brick house is still standing.  It was in this cabin where Bishop Asbury spent his first night in Fairfield County and where he preached in 1803.  Benjamin Murphey died early and we have no record of him, except that he paid tax in 1806 and moved to Licking County.
     William Murphey, son of the pioneer, became a very prominent and well known man in Walnut township.  In his early years he was a hunter and Indian trader and carried his fur on pack horses to Winchester, Va., and with the proceeds purchased a section of land, on which he in a few years built a brick house.  He was born in Virginia in 1774 and died in the year 1854.  He was a famous fox hunter and up to within a few years of his death kept a large pack of hounds.  He could ride a horse to perfection and clear the best fences.
     His first wife was Hester Whittaker, either a sister or a daughter of Eli Whittaker, one of the early pioneers of Walnut.  Whittaker's wife was a sister of Thomas Cherry. The mother of the late Gen. Jas. M. Comly, editor of the Ohio State Journal, was a Whittaker.  They lived near New Lexington.  Thomas, John and Dakin Whittaker were sons of Eli.  Mrs. Elijah Kemper, Mrs. John S. Manley, Mrs. Geo. B. Wiseman, Mrs. Geo. Haver and Mrs. Asa

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Murphey were his daughters., all well known people of the past. Murphey's second wife was a daughter of Joseph Holmes, a grand old pioneer of Walnut township.
     The family of William Murphey consisted of one son and five daughters.  James Wilson Pearse, who when a boy, was a clerk along with John D. Martin in N. R. Usher's store at Monticello, in 1833 married Eliza Murphey.  They lived upon a farm near Millersport.  Their children were William, living in Newark, and Mrs. Matlack, of Lancaster.  James Ball, for many years a popular justice of the peace, married Belinda.  Ball was a fine looking gentleman and much esteemed.  Their son, James Ball, lives in Fostoria, Ohio, Mrs. R. Morrison in Bowling Green, Ohio, and two daughters, nice maiden ladies, in Newark, Ohio.  Hester married a Mr. White, of Pennsylvania.  She is a well preserved and handsome elderly lady, and lives with her children in Westerville, Ohio.  Dr. Van Metre, of Circlevile, married Nancy, the youngest daughter.  Rachel Murphey married John Pugh. They were the parents of the late Byron M. Pugh.
     William, the son, was born in 1818 and received a good education, besides inheriting 350 acres of land.  Dec. 25, 1849.  He was married to Mary Jane Cherry, daughter of Thomas Cherry, of Walnut.  She was born Aug. 22, 1830.  They were the parents of eight children, one of whom died young.
      Edward Murphey, brother of William (the old hunter ) married his cousin, Sarah, daughter of John Murphey, and a sister of Elizabeth Rowles.  They were married in 1801 by William Trimble, a justice of the peace.  Edward built a cabin on his father-in

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law's farm and in late years a large brick house, which is still standing.  In his log house he kept a frontier tavern for a number of years.   Mrs. Murphey was a famous woman in her time.  She is credited with rearing 32 orphan children, in addition to her own family of five.  Color made no difference to her.  She raised Joseph Blanchard, well known in Lancaster, and Isabelle, the wife of old Perry Cooper.  Edward Murphey died in the fifties.  His wife outlived him several years and became the second wife of Asa Murphey, who at the time lived near Carroll.
     Theodore, the son of Edward and Sarah Murphey, married Arabella Rowles in 1840, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Rowles. They spent their lives upon the old Murphey farm in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture and the rearing of a family.  Arabella Murphey died in 1848 and Theodore married a second wife.
     The sons of Theodore Murphey were Edward N. Murphey, now a guard in the Ohio Penitentiary, Henry, the present postmaster of West Rushville, Pierson E. Murphey, a grain and produce dealer of West Rushville, F. A. Murphey, also a resident of West Rushville. The Murphey family has always been a highly respectable one and allied by marriage to many of the best families of the county.

CHILDREN OF JOHN MURPHEY
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     Elizabeth Murphey, wife of Jesse Rowles and mother of Mrs. Theodore Murphey was born June 2, 1777.  She was married Mar. 27, 1798.  She died in Bremen, Ohio, Nov. 11, 1843.
     Another daughter of Rev. John and Esther Murphey married Edward Teal, Jr. and they moved to Ox-

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ford, Butler County, Ohio.  He was a son of a grand old pioneer and the father of a large family.  Althea Murphey married a Mr. Roland and moved to Ashland County, Ohio.  Achsa Murphey married a Mr. Bailey and moved to eastern Ohio.
     Nelly Murphey married Henry Huddle and they moved to Augusta County, Virginia.  John and his wife, Edward and his wife, Theodore and his wife are buried in or near West Rushville.  When on their way to their new home in the wilderness, Mrs. Murphey learned of the death of her mother, Mrs. Peddicord, in Pennsylvania.  This news almost broke her heart, already full of sorrow.  She could not leave her family and return, and like other brave pioneers, under circumstances of distress and sorrow, she turned her face to the west and bid home and mother adieu forever.
     They followed Zane's trace through an unbroken forest to Rushcreek.  Here in a lonely cabin with her husband and children she spent what was left of life.  The frequent visits of Bishop Asbury and other pioneer Methodist preachers, who preached in their cabin and enjoyed their hospitality, was about all there was to cheer them in their isolated home— no roads then, no churches, no schools, no newspapers, and but few books.  All they learned of what was going on in the world was from an occasional letter from the East, on which the postage was twenty-five cents, or from passing travelers or itinerant preachers.
     We omitted in its proper place the name of Basil Murphey, son of William.  His family moved to Delaware, Ohio.  One of his daughters, Miss Linda, an elderly maiden lady, resides there.

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MURPHEY FAMILY SUPPLEMENT
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     The second wife of Theodore Murphey was Margaret Alford.  Their daughter married Alexander Huston and they live on a farm near the old homestead.  As long as sixty years ago three sisters lived here with their mother, named Murphey.  They lived for a while in the old Peck dwelling, opposite Hotel Martin.  We can not learn the name of the father but he was a relative of John and Edward Murphey.
     In 1842 Lydia married Joel Radebaugh, then in the clerk's office, but later Probate Judge of Fairfield County.  The judge died a year or two since in Tacoma, Washington, leaving a widow and one son, Randolph Foster Radebaugh, named for Bishop Foster.
     Rachel married William Winthrop Sifford, whom John Sherman, in his autobiography, named as one of his school-mates.  They moved to Indianapolis and Sifford died there.
     Elizabeth was a milliner and at one time had a fine store in the Collins' block.  She married a Mr. Key, a gentleman from Wheeling, Va., about 1859.  They in a year or two moved to Wheeling, Va., about 1859.  They in a year or two moved to Wheeling.  Key was one of the famous family of that name, immortalized by the "Star Spangled Banner."  He is said to have inherited a fortune after going to Wheeling.  Their son went to Texas and became a cowboy.  He married the handsome daughter of an Indian chief.  His wife died young and left three children.  These he took to Wheeling and placed them under the care of his mother.  The writer met him on his way returning to Texas, and had this story from his own lips.