Union Twp. -
JAMES HAMILTON, dealer and shipper of grain, London, was born in Livingston County, N. Y. , Feb. 30, 1836.  His father, James Hamilton, Sr., was a native of Scotland. and there reared. He came to America about 1831, locating in Livingston County, N. Y., where he died in 1878.  He was a farmer by occupation, and married Grace Marvin, also a native of Scotland.  They had eight children, six now living.  James being the only one in Ohio.  Mrs. Hamilton departed this life in 1875.  Our subject was reared and educated in New York, and in early life was a school teacher.  He located in Clark County, Ohio, in 1856, and taught school there for seven years.  He was in the mercantile trade one year at Selma, that county, and next engaged in general merchandising at Plattsburg.  He was there in business for nine years. and then sold his stock.  He removed to Newark, Ohio, and resided there two years, being exclusively engaged in the grain trade.  He came to London in the spring of 1876, and at present is probably the largest grain dealer in the county.  He handles about 1,000,000 bushels of grain per year, buying and shipping from London and nine other points in Ohio.  He employs an average force of twenty-five men during the grain season, and has the personal supervision of the entire business.  On June 16, 1879, Mr. Hamilton suffered the loss, by fire, of his warehouse at London, containing 2,000 bushels of wheat, and 400 bushels of corn - total loss, over insurance, about $4,000.  Mr. Hamilton is a regular attendant on the services of the Presbyterian Church, and a Trustee in the official board.  His politics are Republican, but he never aspired to office.  Mr. Hamilton was married, Mar. 8, 1866, to Addie Chamberlain, a native of Ohio.  They have four children - Ralph, Grace, William L. and Mabel.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 882

Pleasant Twp. -
CHRISTIAN H. HANAWALT, Postmaster and Notary Public, Mt. Sterling, was born Apr. 1, 1833, in Ross County, Ohio.  He was a son of John Hanawalt, a native of Pennsylvania, and Mary Hanawalt, a native of Maryland.  At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed at Chillicothe to the harness-making and saddler's trade, where he continued four years.  He then went to Columbus, where he followed his trade, about six months.  From there he went to Harrisburg, where he remained a short time, and where, on Oct. 28, 1852, he married Miss Elizabeth Deyo, by whom he had seven children, two of whom are now living - John W., employed by the Government as Postal Clerk between Toledo and Columbus, and Georgie, married McGill Mitchell, of Mt. Sterling.  In 1852, our subject engaged in harness-making and saddlery at Mt. Sterling, which he continued until 1861.  In 1862, with J. W. Riddle as a partner, he entered into the grocery business, under the firm title of Hanawalt & Riddle.  This firm continued to transact business under the above head until 1864, when a dissolution occurred.  In 1863, he was elected Justice of the Peace for Pleasant Township, the duties of which office he performed faithfully for eighteen successive years.  He also for several years acted as Pension Claim Agent.  In 1870, he was appointed, by the Government, Assistant United States Marshal, in taking the census of Madison County.  In 1871, he was appointed Postmaster of Mt. Sterling, the duties of which office he has faithfully discharged up to the present time.  Politically, he is a Republican, in the ranks of which party he has been an earnest worker for many years.  He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and of the F., & A. M., and of the I. O. O. F. societies.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 1031

Union Twp. -
ROBERT M. HANSON, (deceased), late United States Consul to Bremen, was born in Madison County, Ohio, on the 14th of April, 1837, being the youngest son in a family of four brothers and three sisters.  He was left an orphan at an early age by the death of his parents.  In his boyhood days, he was distinguished among his fellows and playmates as a boy of more than common energy and determination.  On arriving near the years of maturity, and foreseeing the necessity of it, he determined to avail himself of the advantages of a more thorough education than the facilities of his neighborhood supplied.  Having prepared himself, he entered the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio.  The path of knowledge to him was no "flowery path of ease," he being obliged to earn the means to pay for his tuition.  This he accomplished by teaching part of the time, and attending his studies the remainder.  Having accomplished his studies, he chose the profession of law, and began reading in the office of Hon. H. W. Smith, of this place.  Here aging stern necessity held him back, and he returned to teaching to procure means.  This life was a laborious one, for as soon as school hours were over, he was reading Kent and Blackstone.  He was admitted to the bar in the winter of 1860-61.  Before he could locate himself, the distant mutterings of that storm of civil war that for four years deluged our land with blood was heard, and when, on the memorable 14th of April the wires flashed the news to us of the fall of Fort Sumter, and then the immediate call for 75,000 men - the formation of the first company of Madison County's quota - the enlistment of the Madison Guards - their departure for the front - the wild enthusiasm that pervaded the community - all these incidents are still fresh in the memory of most of us.  Capt. Hanson was among the first to enlist under this call.  His feelings and comprehension of the work before him can be better shown by quoting from his own correspondence with the writer, dated at Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio, May 2, 1861.  Referring to some of his comrades who wished to return home, he says: "As for myself, I feel in duty bound, by my oath, to stand by THAT flag, and that only, and I will do so at all hazards and all sacrifices, and as long as there is a pulse in my arm I will be seen under her wide folds."  And again there is a pulse in my arm I will be seen under her wide folds."  And again, when en route for the front, he writes from Parkersburg, Va., June 24, 1861:  "I have been sick for two or three days, but now feel better, and will go on with the regiment, live or die on the way.  This war, my friend, will be no fool's play; thousands are entering the devouring jaws of death."  How well and truly he carried out these assertions, the result lies before you.  The Eagle Guards were mustered in under Capt. Acton as Company C, Seventeenth Regiment, and served their three months in West Virginia, and were discharged from service at the expiration of that time.  The second call for troops were made soon afterward, and the Military Commission of the county appointed him Captain and gave him permission to recruit a company for service for three years.  This was steadily done, and the company was mustered at Camp Chase, by Gov. Tod, on the 19th of August 1862, as Company B, Ninety-fifth Regiment and immediately started for the front.  On the 30th of August, at Richmond, Ky., our army met the rebel forces under Kirby Smith, and the battle of Richmond was fought, resulting disastrously to our forces.  Most of the Ninety-fifth were captured, paroled and sent to Camp Chase.  In December following, they were exchanged, re-equipped and arrived at Memphis, Tenn., about the 20th of January, 1863; from thence, about April 1, to Vicksburg, thence back with other regiments into the interior, and on the 12th of May fought the battle of Jackson Court House.  Here,  Company B, under Capt. Hanson, took an active part and distinguished themselves by capturing three pieces of artillery.  Again they met back to the trenches at Vicksburg, and participated in that long, terrible siege that was followed by the fall of Vicksburg on the 4th of July.  The regiment again went back to Jackson C. H., which had been re-occupied by the rebels and fortified, and after a siege of nine days again captured the town.  From thence, they were sent out on the Charleston & Memphis Railway, to guard against the raids of Forest, and were thus employed from October to the 1st of May, when a raid was made by our forces to a point near Ripley, Miss.  A second raid was started from Memphis the 1st of June, of which the Ninety-fifth was a part, and on the 10th of June of June, near Guntown, Miss., they met Forrest with an overwhelming force; a severe engagement ensued, our army was driven back fighting over the ground, foot by foot.  About 3 o'clock P. M., Capt. Hanson fell, terribly wounded, being struck by a minie ball in the left breast near the heart, the ball lodging under the lower point of the shoulder blade.  He was carried by his own men a mile and placed in an ambulance, and taken about six miles, when the driver, supposing him dead, cut the harness loose from the ambulance and fled, leaving him to be captured.  The next morning about daylight he returned to consciousness, and about 10 o'clock was taken as prisoner a short distance to a cabin.  Here the rebel surgeons removed the ball, and dressed the wounds.  He lay at the cabin some two weeks, and was then taken to Catawba Prison, near Selma, on the Alabama River, where he was nursed by the Sisters of Charity until he was able to be paroled, about the 20th of November.  All this time his friends supposed him dead.  He returned North about the 1st of December, when his wound opened again, and for nearly three months it was very doubtful in the Reserve Corps, and ordered as Judge Advocate to report at Milwaukee, Wis.  Here he remained until his team of enlistment expired, and he was honorably discharged.  Again we quote from his correspondence, dated July 5, 1865.  He says: "on last Thursday I was made a citizen again.  Congratulate me, for I am free to think and act for myself, and truly, my dear friend, after almost four years' service, it is no small gratification to be thus placed in this independent position.  Knowing that I have faithfully labored for my Government, this people and the people yet to come after me, and that I can reflect on the past without scruple and without sorrow, only that I could not have done more."  In the fall of 1865, after his return, he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature, and represented the county in sessions of 1866-67, with credit to himself and the county.  After the election of Gen. Grant as President in 1868, he received the appointment of Consul to Bremen, and arrived there in June, 1869.  His strength had almost returned from the long weakening influence of his wound.  Under the effect of the cool summers he rapidly recuperated, and was much elated, thinking the climate would make his recovery complete.  But the long, northern winter began, and the piercing, chilly winds of the North Sea were more than his weak lungs could endure.  In the spring, hemorrhage set in.  We again quote his own language.  He says: "On May 28, I went to Hanover, to visit some American friends, and to tear myself away from business and relieve the mental exertions under which I had been laboring for weeks.  In the afternoon, he visited Herren Hansen, and other places of sight seeing.  In the afternoon, we visited Herren Hanson, and the other places of sight-seeing.  Having walked several miles, we returned, and feeling fatigued, I retired early and slept soundly all night.  I awoke about 7 o'clock in the morning, and arose, feeling perfectly well and natural.  I was immediately attacked by a hard cough, and the first I knew of anything like hemorrhage, the blood few splattering over the mirror and wash-stand before me.  I was not frightened for I had seen blood before, and from the same source.  It continued for near half an hour, and at first was so rapid that it almost produced strangulation.  What was, and always will be, strange to me, this spell of bleeding was a repetition of Guntown to me, in feeling.  All the horrors of that day were emblazoned before my vision in a burning light, which produced a feeling as if I were again in the midst of the commingled reality.  Artillery deafened my ears - powder burnt in my face - the din and smell of battle filled my nostrils, and oh!  horrible!  the skrieks of the wounded and dying paralyzed my very soul; and all the while I sat 'gulping' out blood.   I shall never be able to account for this strange turning back into the midst of one of the active scenes of my life.  The hemorrhage returned again about 6 P. M., and lasted near forty-minutes.  This attack was followed by a chill and fever, and was the climax of my case, and on my back I laid for thirteen days, and in my room for twenty-one days.  This attack brought me near the valley, where I could look over and see the 'dark shadows,' once beneath the shadow of which you are lost from the sight of all things earthly forever.  The sighs, and love, and friendship of those whom one leaves behind may go out faintly across that vale of immortality and futurity, but the departed never returns, and we close our eyes, enshrouded with his memory around us - that he was once among us, loved, but the still, deep, dead silence which comes back to us from the departed, says - 'never to return'"  From this attack, he never recovered his strength, and fearing to stay another winter in Bremen, he returned in December of the United States.  On the 29th of February following, he was married to Miss Kate Williams, and with renewed hope and energy sailed again for Bremen on the 21st of March.  From this time until his return, it was a gradual wasting away of life.  He was advised by his physician to go to Meran, in the Tyrol Valley, among the Alps.  From there they went to the Island of Sicily, and in early spring returned August, 1873, for New York.  He was then so strong hope of being able to reach home.  A few days after the vessel sailed, the old wound opened while the bright sunshine of calm Sabbath morn was throwing its first rays over the iron steamer, far out on the deep, rolling ocean - there, in the midst of that grand scene of beauty  and holiness, with none but the faithful, grief-stricken wife kneeling by his side - the vail of man's immortal destiny was lifted, and long suffering and sorrow was with him no more.  The officers of the steamer were very kind to the deeply-afflicted widow in her grief and loneliness, and did all they could with the means at hand.  There was nothing aboard the steamer by which the body could be preserved.  The carpenter made a coffin of pine, and it was placed on the upper deck to get the sea breeze, which was fortunately cool.  On Tuesday evening at 6 o'clock P. M. the vessel arrived at her dock in New York.  The remains were brought to this county and interred in Paint Township Cemetery.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 882

Canaan Twp. -
HON. GEORGE FORREST HARRINGTON, son of Alvin and Elizabeth (Beach) Harrington, grandson of Uri and Hannah (Noble) Beach, and great-grandson of Obil Beach, was born on Canaan Township, Madison Co., Ohio, Feb. 4, 1836, raised in Amity, and educated at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio.  Studied law with Hon. Samuel Sullivan Cox, of Columbus, Ohio, and admitted to the bar in 1857.  Practiced law in Rolla, Mo., in Memphis, Tenn.; was in the service of the Juarez Government, Mexico, in 1864, and located in Mobile, Ala., after the surrender of that city to the Federal forces, for the practice of law.  He was, for one term, a member of the Lower House of Representatives of Alabama and was unanimously chosen Speaker of the House.  He was Mayor of Mobile, and died at his homestead, "Bay View," near Mobile, July 18, 1876, aged forty years.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 

Union Twp. -
TIMOTHY HALEY, London, Deputy U. S. Marshal of the Eighth Ohio District, and U. S. Railway Postal Clerk, residence, London, was born in Ireland Apr. 6, 1842.  His father, Michael Haley, was a native of County Killarney, and came to America when our subject was seven years old; he located at Springfield, Ohio, and subsequently went to Mattoon, Ill., where he died.  Mrs. Haley died in Ireland.  Our subject came to London when but nine years of age; he was adopted by Mrs. Mary Freeman, and resided with her till of age; for two or three years, he was engaged in traveling over the Southern States.  In 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Acton, and served the three months' term of the regiment.  He then reenlisted in the One Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment; was in the Army of the Cumberland, and with Sherman marched down to the sea; witnessed the destruction of Raleigh, N. C., and participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C.; mustered out of the army as First Lieutenant of his company. After returning to London, in company with S. E. Freeman, he engaged in the grocery business, under the firm name of Freeman & Haley.  Three years later the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Haley then conducted the business alone; he subsequently went to Paulding County, Ohio, remaining a short time.  In December, 1880, he was appointed Deputy U. S. Marshal of the Eighth Ohio District, by Col. Ullery, of Cincinnati. In September, 1882, he was appointed U. S. Railway Postal Clerk.   Mr. Haley is Adjutant of Lyons Post, G. A. R., of London, a member of the Lodge and Encampment (I. O. O. F.), and Republican in politics.  He was married, Oct. 25, 1880, to Ellen Holland, a native of Louisville, Ky.  They have one daughter—Florence.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 882

Pleasant Twp. -
DAVID HEATH, farmer, P. O. Mt. Sterling.  This venerable old gentleman was born in December, 1800, in Ross County, this State.  His parents were Joseph and Jane Heath.  He was reared amid the scenes of pioneer life, in Ross County, until about fifteen years of age, at which time with his parents he moved to Franklin County, where they located four years.  Thence with them he came to Madison County.  He, like his pioneer sire, has seen and endured many of the vicissitudes and trials of frontier life.  In January, 1829, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Nancy Thomas, who was born Oct. 16, 1810.  She was a daughter of Joseph and Mary Thomas.  With them, when a mere child, she came to Ohio.  By this union there has been an issue of ten children, of whom seven are now living - Joseph, John, William, Emma, Elizabeth, Laura and Margaret.  Shortly after his marriage with his estimable wife, he settled in Pleasant Township, in which township he at present resides.  They are both members of the Christian Church, and honored alike by friends and relatives.  Mr. Heath is the owner of 867 acres of good land, which he has acquired principally by his industry, perseverance and good management.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883  - Page 1032

Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 1092

Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 1093

Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 1093

Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 888

Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 888

Darby Twp. -
L. G. HUFF, farmer, P. O. Plain City, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Oct. 24, 1834.  He is a son of James R. and Lydia (Austin) Huff, natives of New York, the former of German and latter of English descent.  Our subject was educated at the academy in Onondaga County, N. Y., and was brought up to farm life, in which he continued until he reached his majority.  On Apr. 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Seventeenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Haynes, and was discharged in the same year.  On July 31, 1862, he re-enlisted in Company K, Ohio Zouaves, and while in that command passed through some terrible experiences.  He had his right arm torn to pieces by a shot, and endured the agony of his wound nine days before it was dressed; the surgeons then wanted to amputate it, but to this he stoutly objected.  He was married, in 1864, to Ellen M. Baker, daughter of E. Baker, of Delaware County, Ohio.  They have three children - Clara, Nettie and Clayton.  Mr. and Mrs. Huff are members of the Universalist Church, of which he has been Trustee ten years.  He is a Republican in politics.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 ~ Page 971

Union Twp. -
A. A. HUME, ex Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, London, was born in Paint Township, this county, Sept. 30, 1809.  His parents were Robert and Isabella S. (Davis) Hume, natives of Virginia, and pioneers of Madison County.  The subject of this sketch was about two years of age when his parents removed to London, and he has since resided there, with the exception of four or five years in Kentucky.  He enjoyed but limited educational facilities in early life, and when quite young was employed as a clerk.  He soon after established himself in business on the northeast corner of Main and High streets, remaining in mercantile circles about four years.  He subsequently engaged in bringing cattle into Madison County, from the West and in the business of hotel keeping.  In 1841, he was appointed Clerk of the Courts of Madison County, and served in that position the remarkably long period of nearly forty-two years in succession, a case without parallel in the history of the State, and a member of Madison Lodge, No. 70, and London Encampment, No. 36 (I. O. O. F.).  In early life, he was a member of the Whig party, and of late years has been identified with the Republicans.  He has several times served as Councilman in the village of London.  He was united in marriage in June, 1852, to Rachel Groves, a native of this county and a daughter of David Groves.  Two children were sent to bless this union - a daughter and a son; the former is deceased, and the latter is a stock broker at Quincy, Ill.  Mrs. Hume died in 1860, and Mr. Hume's second marriage occurred in 1868, when he was united to Mrs. Matilda (Harpole) Cheney, widow of Jonathan Cheney.  Mr. Hune's first wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the present wife of the Presbyterian denomination.  Mr. Hume's son, James R., enlisted in Company K, Twenty-sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was subsequently appointed Captain of another company in the same regiment.  He was elected First Lieutenant of Company K, and was subsequently made an aid to Brig. Gen. Haskell.  He served about three years altogether.  A. A. Hume has been a resident of Madison County for seventy-three years, and is actions, in both public and social life, are well known to the present generation.  The long term in which he held public office was a high appreciation of his sterling integrity and clerical qualifications.  He is a quiet, unostentatious citizen, and a pioneer of Madison County.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 889

Pike Twp. -
NEWTON HUNT, farmer, P. O. Rosedale.  Lester Hunt, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Connecticut, and when about twenty years of age emigrated to Madison County, Ohio.  He married Aurilla Fenner, by whom he had three children - Newton, Pembroke and Asa.  Shortly after the date of his marriage, he settled near where our subject now resides, and after living a number of years on the homestead farm, he moved to Liverpool, where he located for three years; and from thence moved to Mechanicsburg, where he now resides.  He has served as Trustee and Justice of the Peace in Pike Township.  Newton Hunt, subject of this sketch, was born Jan. 20, 1840, in Madison County; he was reared to manhood on a farm, and received a rudimentary education in a district school.  In May, 1859, he married Adella Lane, born July 31, 1843, by whom he had one child - Fillmore, born Sept. 30, 1860.  She died Feb. 13, 1864.  By his second wife, Mary Ann Burson, born Aug. 23, 1840, he had two children - Walter D., born Sept. 26, 1865, and Capitola B., born Nov. 26, 1867; she died Sept. 21, 1870.  For his third wife he married Sarah King, born June 20, 1832, by whom he had one child, which died in infancy.  Mrs. Hunt's parents were Henry King, born Mr. 15, 1787, and Catharine (Foose) King.  They were married in Pennsylvania and had eleven children, three of whom are now living - Henry J., Hannah and Sarah.  In 1823, they located in Ross County, where they remained until 1827, when they came to Pike township, Madison County, where they remained until their decease, he in November, 1869, and she in December, 1880.  Our subject has always been a resident of Madison County, with the exception of two years, one year spent in Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, and one year in Franklin County.  He is a member of the F. & A. M. Lodge at Mechanicsburg, and at present is serving as Trustee of Pike Township.
Source: History of Madison County, Ohio - Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1883 - Page 1056