Clinton -
THE FIELD FAMILY.     Walter Field and wife (formerly Mary Ranney), emigrated from the headwaters of the Allegheny river, in Pennsylvania, to Athens county, Ohio, in 1819, where Mr. Field bought fifty acres of land, which eh cleared and improved.  He first came to Ohio in 1818, and selected his land.  His father and mother, John Field and wife, came to Ohio the same year - 1818 - and settled in Athens county, where they remained until 1826, when they removed to Clinton township, Franklin county, where Walter Field and family had removed in 1825.  Here John Field died in March, 1864, at the age of one hundred years, one month, and seventeen days.  His wife died in 1846.
     Walter Field bought one hundred acres of land in the northeast corner of Clinton township, in 1825, on which he built a cabin and made a home.  The land was then in its native state, covered with a heavy growth of timber, which took years of labor to remove and leave the soil fit for cultivation.  After improving this land, he purchased one hundred and fifty-five acres west of his home, on which he moved in 1867.  He died in 1877, aged eighty years.  His wife died in 1875, aged seventy-five years.
     The children of Walter and Mary Ranney Field were:  Elizabeth, John, Frederick, and Artamissa, who were born in Athens county; and  Zenas C., Louisa A., Jason B., Albert, and Andrew W., who were born after their removal to Clinton township.  Elizabeth married Robert Barnes, and now lives in Wakeman, Huron county, this State; John married Mary Wood, in Cattaraugus county, New York, and settled in Indiana, whence he removed to Illinois, where he now lives; Frederick lives with his brother Albert, on the old homestead; Artamissa married John Fry, and lives in Franklin township, this county; Zenas went to the West, and became a pioneer in Oregon, where he endured greatr hardships, and took part in many campaigns against the Indians, and while engaged in this duty he took a severe cold, which settled on his lungs and threw him into consumption, from which he died in 1859; Louisa A. married George Sunderland, and lives in Sharon township, this county; Jason B. went to the West, in 1855, and has not been heard from since 1857; Andrew went to Kansas, in 1858, and in the spring of 1859 was overtaken on the plains in a severe storm, and perished.
     Albert Field was born in Clinton township, Aug. 3, 1835.  In October, 1859, he married Elizabeth Harter, whose father was an early settler in Licking county, and afterwards settled in Clinton township, Franklin county, where he made a home.  Mr. and Mrs. Field have had three children - daughters - named Linda J., Huldah R., and Carrie A.  Huldah, the second daughter, was married, Dec. 24, 1878, to Taylor W. Smith.  All live at home.
     Mr. Field enlisted in company C, One Hundred and Thirteenth regiment Ohio infantry, Aug. 20, 1862.  He was with his regiment in the battles of Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863; Wilson Creek, Nov. 26, 1863; Buzzard's Roost, May 8, 1864; Resaca, May 14, 18864; Rome, May 17, 1864; and Kenesaw Mountain, June 22, 1864; all these battles being in the State of Georgia.  During the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 22, 1864, he was struck in the left leg by a shell, and the next morning suffered amputation of the limb.  He was taken to Chattanooga, where he remained in hospital until August 19, when he was taken to Nashville, from there to Louisville, and to Camp Chase, Columbus, September 1st.  He was in the hospital fourteen months before his leg became entirely healed and his health good.  On Aug. 17, 1865, he was discharged from the service, at Tripler United States military hospital, Columbus.  Since his discharge he has been engaged in farming, a part of the time in Kansas, but most of the time in Clinton township, this county, on the place he now owns.  During a great part of the time, for ten years previous to his mother's death, he devoted his time to caring for her.  At the same time his wife was engaged in the same duty toward her mother in the adjoining township of Sharon.
     Mr. and Mrs. Field, with their children, now own and occupy the old homestead of one hundred and forty-two acres, in the northeast quarter of Clinton townships.
Page 409 - Source: History of Franklin & Pickaway Counties, Ohio - Published by Williams Bros. - 1880

JOSEPH FOOS was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1767.  He moved with his parents, first to Tennessee and then to Kentucky, where, in 1797, he married Lydia Nelson, and where their first son - Nelson Foos - was born.  In 1798 he came, with his wife and infant son to Franklinton, where he became proprietor of a ferry across the Scioto river.  He also established, and for several years carried on, the first hotel at that place.  His early opportunities for securing an education were very limited, and his principal schooling was obtained from an Irish schoolmaster who came to his tavern in want, and spent several months with him.  But with such advantages as these, by his own persistent efforts, he obtained a wide knowledge of men and things, taking an active interest in all public affairs, and corresponding with such men as Clay, Ewing, Corwin, and Harrison.  He was a member of the first Ohio legislature, serving, in all, during twenty-five sessions in the house and senate.  He became an effective speaker and writer.  The State capital having been secured to Columbus largely by his efforts, the original proprietors of the town presented him with a square in an eligible part of the city.
     He served with distinction in the war of 1812, being promoted, for meritorious conduct, from the rank of captain to that of brigadier general.  His ferry and hotel, in those stirring times, were extensively patronized, and brought him in "a mint o' money," although he was too liberal to acquire a very extensive fortune.  His house was the headquarters of all the politicians, who came not only "hungry for office,' but also for the meals which were furnished at his table without stint or charge.  To them his latch-string was always out, and his purse always open.  He ran for congress, after his career in the legislature was over, but in that campaign he met with unaccustomed defeat.  soon after this he removed to Madison county, and commenced the business of farming.  In 1825 he was made major general of militia, an office which he held till his death, in 1832.
     From the interest which he felt in the canal system of Ohio, his attention was directed to the feasibility of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien.  His views upon this subject, embodied in a pamphlet, achieved the distinction of being called "Foos' Folly."  But the project as the public are aware, has recently been taken hold of again, by parties who may yet show that the original conception was nobody's folly. 
     General Foos' first wife died in 1810, leaving two sons adn two daughters, the eldest of whom Nelson Foos still lives, in a hale and ripe old age, in the city of Columbus, where he has accumulated a comfortable property as a contractor in the erection of public and private buildings.
Page 583-584 - Source: History of Franklin & Pickaway Counties, Ohio - Published by Williams Bros. - 1880