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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Noble
County, Ohio
with portraits and biographical sketches of some of
its pioneers and prominent men.
Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co.,
1887
For Reference: Noble County was formed in 1851
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B. F. Penn
Martha Penn |
Stock Twp. -
-- BENNY
PENN, the father of Benjamin F. Penn,
the subject and writer of this sketch, was born in the State
of Maryland, Oct. 13, 1774. He was twice married, his
first wife being a Miss Redmond, by whom he
had seven children; Celeb, Reason R., Charles K.,
Greenbury V., Nancy, Ellen and Ann.
His wife died about 1820. In 1822 he married Miss
Rhoda Anderson, born Aug. 31, 1791. By this marriage
he had two children: George W., born
Nov. 8, 1825, and Benjamin F., born June 8,
1832, in the County of Anne Arundel, Md. In the year
1832, my parents emigrated west, and settled near the town
of Fairview, Guernsey County, Ohio. There they lived a
happy family till my father died, Apr. 17, 1840, leaving the
family without a home. All our effects did not amount
to more than $150 in value. On account of our scanty
means, my mother was unable to keep house. My brother
George went to Middletown to learn the
saddle and harness trade under his brother Greenbury,
and mother and I became dependent upon relatives and
friends. In this way we lived in Guernsey and Belmont
Counties till 1843, when we went on a visit to relatives in
Knox County. The same year my brother left Middletown
and came to Carlisle, Noble County, to clerk for
Moses C. Morton, who had a store here. I
lived with an uncle in Knox County, working on a farm in
summer, doing chores and going to school in winter.
Prior to this time I had labored under many disadvantages in
my efforts to obtain an education, one of which was my
frequent removals from one school district to another.
I have, in my school years, from eight to thirteen, attended
all kinds of country schools, good, bad and indifferent,
held in all kinds of houses, from a log cabin with greased
paper for windows and split saplings for seats, with other
corresponding accommodations, to a brick building for small
dimensions and planed boards for desks. Though a
diligent student, it is not to be wondered at that I left
school with but a small stock of scientific lore.
"In 1845 I went to Middletown, to live with my half-brother
and go to school. Soon after my arrival I determined
to visit my brother at Carlisle, and on the 9th of November,
on Sunday, I started on foot, arriving the same evening
about dusk, having traveled twenty-six miles, tired, hungry
and with six and a quarter cents in my pocket, this being my
entire capital. My brother wished me to remain near
him, and the following Tuesday succeeded in getting me a
situation as clerk and errand boy in J. E. & C. A.
Boyd's store, for which I received my board
and clothes. I remained with them till the fall of
1846, when my brother procured me a situation with
William McPherson of Carlisle, as clerk and errand
boy, for which I received $40 per year; at the close of the
year I had due me of this salary $25. In the winter of
1846-7 my brother caught a severe cold, which resulted in
quick consumption, and he left Carlisle about the first of
April and went to his half brother's at Middletown, where he
lingered on till July 7, 1847, when he died and was buried
beside his father in the cemetery at Fairview. He had
been a father to me while in Carlisle, and his loss was more
than that of a brother. I was left a boy of fifteen,
without a protector, without a guide; but, thanks to the
early training of a religious mother, I was enabled to shun
the vices and resist the temptations of which Carlisle had
an abundant stock. After leaving William
McPherson I clerked for J. E. &
C. A. Boyd eight months, then for
John R. Wharton for one month. I then
left Carlisle and joined my mother, at my uncle's, near
Somerton, Belmont County. My mother and I now made
arrangements to take a house in Fairview, where we were to
reside. It was my intention at this time to study
medicine with James Warfield. We
accordingly moved to Fairview in June, 1848, and I commenced
going to school preparatory to entering upon my medical
studies. In a few months we found it impossible, with
our limited means, to carry out our design, so we gave up
our house and returned to Knox County again. We
visited among relatives two months, when, becoming tired of
doing nothing, I set about looking for work. I
succeeded in getting a clerkship in the store of
William Reed, of Mt. Vernon, who sold out two
months after, leaving me again in the cold. I returned
to my relatives and staid with them during the winter,
having no permanent home, going to school with the children
of the relative with whom I was staying, and changing my
place of abode frequently. In the spring of 1849,
being anxious to obtain employment, I wrote to B. L.
Mott, of Carlisle, asking for a clerkship in his
store; receiving a favorable reply, I started at once.
After clerking for him three months, I engaged with
Elias Ayles to learn the tinner's
trade, thinking I should like to be a tinner.
After six months he failed, and I was again out of
employment. In a few days I entered John R.
Warton's store again, in which I remained four
months; then, to accommodate a friend in want of a place, I
gave up my situation to him, and found employment with
B. L. Mott once more. This was in the
spring of 1850. After staying with him three months I
engaged with C. A. Boyd, who in the fall of
1850 left Carlisle and went to Macksburg, Washington County,
I going with him as partner. We staid out about nine
months, when, for want of a store-room, Mr. Boyd
went to Beverly, buying out my interest. In remained
with him as clerk. A month after his removal to
Beverly I was sent to Carlisle on a collecting tour , and
while there was solicited by S. J. Boyd to
come and clerk for him. More on account of some other
attractions than the salary offered, I engaged with him,
going back to Beverly to report proceedings. In a few
days I returned and entered upon my duties as clerk for
S. J. Boyd, with whom I remained till the
fall of 1853. I never received any big pay for
clerking - never more than $12.50 per month. In the
fall of 1853, having accumulated by wages and trading the
sum of $600, I entered into partnership with Mr.
Boyd in the mercantile business.
"On the 16th of October, 1853, I married Martha
Enochs, daughter of Abraham and Mary Enochs,
Abraham being the son of Elisha
Enochs, one of the pioneers of the East Fork of
Duck Creek. HIs wife's maiden name was Nancy Archer.
They had eleven children, eight boys and three girls.
The boys were Henry, Abijah, Abraham, Simon, Cornelius,
Samuel, Isaac and John; the girls were Cynthia, Susan and
Nancy. Abraham married Mary McBride, whose father,
John McBride, was one of the old pioneers, and whose mother
was one of the Crow girls who were attacked by teh Indians
on Wheeling Creek, as related elsewhere in this work, and
her two sisters slain. The children of John
McBride were William, John, Martin, Jacob,
Michael, George, Susan, Nancy, Christine, Mary and
Elizabeth. Abraham and Mary Enochs
had nine children: John, Richmond, Benjamin
and Edward; Martha (wife of the subject of
this sketch), Mary, Christine,
Nancy and Margaret. Martha
was born near Carlisle, Jan. 28, 1834, where she resided
until her marriage. She, like myself, had labored
under many difficulties in obtaining but a limited
education. She has been a faithful member of the
Methodist Episcopal church since she was eleven years of
age. Soon after our marriage we settled in Carlisle,
and in August, 1854, I purchased S. J. Boyd's
interest in the store, thereby contracting a large debt, one
that staid with us for ten or twelve years. I bought
considerable tobacco, had many ups and downs in my
mercantile career, sometimes suffering losses I feared I
could never recover from; but by being hard to discourage,
diligent in my business, and having in S. J. Boyd
a constant and untiring friend, I finally succeeded in
ridding myself of my debts. While I continued in the
mercantile business, twenty years in all, I prospered.
I had at one time a branch store at Cameron, W. Va. In
the time I was in active business I have had five partners -
Leonard Orme, I. C. Phillips, P. C. McGovern, A. R.
Phillips and J. S. Prettyman, and nine clerks - I. C.
Phillips, John Penn, David Gordon, R. F. Phillips, P. C.
McGovern, George Neiswanger, Israel Archer, J. S. Prettyman
and Jesse Lanam. We have
been blessed with three children: Rilla A.,
born July 28, 1854; Sadie E., Nov. 1, 1858,
and Ella, born Feb. 10, 1864.
"My
mother came from Knox County in 1854, and made my house her
home until she died, Mar. 7, 1861. Her remains lie in the
cemetery at Fairview.
"Nov. 14,
1872, Rilla A. was married to J. S.
Prettyman. She and her husband resided in
Carlisle. Two children were born to them -
Franklin L. and Willie P.
Apr. 29, 1881, Rilla A. died, leaving her
husband with two small children, and on the 10th day of the
following September the youngest child, Willie P., followed
his mother to the angel land. Both mother and son were
buried in Carlisle cemetery. Sept. 6, 1882,
Ella was married to R. W. Smith.
They have two children: one boy, Frank P.,
and one girl, Grace. On the 25th of
February, 1883, Sadie E. was married to
A. W. Barnes. She died June 24, 1883.
She was buried in the cemetery at Carlisle.
"I have been associated with a company organized to test the
territory in the vicinity of Carlisle for oil. The
company was organized some two years ago. We leased
several thousand acres of land, and put down four test
wells, all of which were failure.
"I own seven hundred acres of land besides the fifteen acres
belonging to my town residence. I have been school
director for some twenty years; postmaster for four years;
and treasurer of the township more than twenty years.
With one exception, I have always voted the Republican
ticket."
It is but justice to
Mr. Penn, and to those who know him best, to add
that but few men stand higher in the public esteem in all
that is essential to good citizenship. Commencing life
at the bottom round of the ladder, he has won success solely
through his own personal efforts in all the departments of
life. He is one of those gentlemen whose
identification with any community is always productive of
good.
Source: History of Noble County, Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co., 1887~ Page 457 (Photos of Mr. and
Mrs. Penn available) |
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Jackson Twp. -
-- REV. JEREMIAH PHILLIPS, the oldest
Methodist preacher in Ohio, is of New England ancestry.
His parents, Ananias and Abigail (Pitcher) Phillips,
removed from New Hampshire to Saratoga County, N. Y., where
Jeremiah was born May 3, 1799. the family
removed to Washington County, N. Y., and in 1823 decided to
go further west, and the subject of this notice went in
quest of location. He selected and purchased a small
farm near Meadville, Pa., and thither the family removed.
There Mr. Phillips had for his neighbor John Brown,
afterward famous in our history, and formed a strong
friendship for him. In 1830, Mr. Phillips
entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, in
which he has been a faithful, earnest, successful worker.
He had a deep and powerful voice and was an effective
sermonizer, probably among the best of the pioneer preachers
in western Pennsylvania. His first circuit labors
required him to travel about 280 miles every four weeks,
through a rough, mountainous country, the bridle path
leading through unbridged streams and miles of uninhabited
woodland. His circuit was that of Connellsville,
Pa., and his salary $100 per year. He preached
thirty-three times every four weeks, and rarely missed an
appointment. He studied books of theology as he rode
from one place to another. He soon gained the
sobriquet of "The Abolition Preacher," and never ceased
to labor for the freedom and elevation of the colored race.
From Connellsville he was sent to Parkersburg, in western
Virginia, and there, in the slaveholders' own country,
continued with unabated energy fearlessly to denounce the
"institution." while on the Harrison circuit, in
Virginia, in 1834, he married Arah Courtney, of Irish
descent. Her womanly courage and Christian patience
cheered him in his dangerous and difficult work; and with
him she shared the joys and sorrows of life until called
peacefully away, Oct. 14, 1883. She was the mother of
ten children, who reached mature years.
Mr. Phillips continued to labor in the Master's
vineyard in Virginia and Pennsylvania until 1844, when he
came to Cambridge, Ohio. The unpopularity of his
opinions and utterances on the slavery question were among
the causes that brought him to this State. After
laboring at Cambridge, Mr. Phillips was assigned to
Sharon. In 1846 the family removed to Summerfield;
and, in 1847, to a farm in the wild and then sparsely
settled country near Mount Tabor church in Stock Township,
Noble County. In 1873 he sold the farm and removed to
his present residence near Dexter City. since 1864 he
has held a superannuated relation to the church, but has
continued to preach at intervals. His mental faculties
are still clear, and in all respects he is a remarkably
well-preserved old man. He has probably ridden 125,000
miles on horseback, preached 14,000 sermons, and the
influence of his work has added to the church between 10,000
and 12,000 members. To him belong all the "honor,
reverence and good repute" that follow faithful service.Source: History of Noble County, Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co., 1887~
Page 559 |
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