History of Pickaway County
Source:  History of Franklin & Pickaway Counties, Ohio
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
Published by Williams Bros. 1880
 

WALNUT TOWNSHIP
 

WALNUT
* SETTLEMENT
* WATER COURSES AND TIMBER
* EARLY SCHOOLS
* CHURCHES
* FIRST BURYING GROUND
* POST OFFICE
* THE FIRST STORE
* MILLS AND OTHER INDUSTRIES
* PHYSICIANS
* NEBRASKA GRANGE, NO. 64, OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.
* EAST RINGGOLD
* BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
 

BIOGRAPHIES
NOTE:  Some of these are not transcribed.  If you need one transcribed, please email me and state which
township you found the name in. ~ Sharon Wick

JOHN COURTRIGHT was a native of Pennsylvania, and emigrated with his family to Ohio, in 1803 or 1804.  They journeyed over the mountains and through the forests in a three horse wagon, bringing with them such articles of household necessity as they were able to convey.  On their arrival he bought land near Royalton, Fairfield county, and began the labor of making a home in the wilderness.  Progress was necessarily slow at first, but year by year the clearing was enlarged, and as prosperity followed, he added to his possessions, until he was the owner of some two thousand one hundred acres of land, the result of his own exertions, seconded by those of his sons, as they arrived at an age to assist in the smaller and larger duties of the farm.
     His children were: Abraham, who died in 1851, leaving a family; John, who married, raised a family in Walnut township, and died in October, 1878; Jacob, who married, and remained on a part of his father's estate, in Bloom township, Fairfield county, where he died in 1864; Jesse D. Courtright, who was born May 5, 1811, and in August, 1831, was married to Sally Stout, by whom he had nine children.
     The children of Jesse D. are: Mary Jane, who married Thomas Cole, and lives in Amanda township, Fairfield county; Sarah, who married Emanuel Westenhaer, and lives in Walnut township; Elizabeth, who married Ezra F. Beery, and lives in Bloom township; Fairfield county; John, who was born Jan. 28, 1838, married Minerva L. Brobst, at Marcy; Fairfield county, Aug. 16, 1866, by whom he has three children - Alva B., Sally F., and John D.; George S. Courtright, who married Miss M. Cornelia Stevens, and is a physician at Lithopolis; Samuel W., who married Jennie R. Martin, and practiced law in Circleville; in 1875, was elected judge of common pleas, which office he holds at the present time; Alva P., who married Annie Vattier, of Cincinnati, where he practiced medicine several years, after which he removed to Circleville, where he ranks among the highest of the physicians in Pickaway county; Edson B. Olds Courtright, who died in April, 1867; Amanda C., who died in infancy.
     Jesse D. Courtright moved into Walnut township in 1833, two years after his marriage, and here his children were born.  He was a man of strong convictions, and firm in his adherence to the principles of the party to which he belonged - the Democratic party.  His abilities were so well appreciated by the public, that in 1853 he was elected to the State legislature; where he served two years.  He was many times elected to fill township offices, serving as justice of the peace during a period of twenty-five years, and holding the office of township trustee nearly the same length of time.  He was also land appraiser of his township.
     In his religion he was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church for thirty-two years, as was also his wife.
     He was for many years a member of the Masonic fraternity, receiving all the degrees up to and including that of Knight Templar, and was, in every respect, faithful and true to his obligations as a Mason.  Four of his sons followed in his footsteps, and became worthy members of the order.  John D. is a member of Lithopolis lodge No. 169, in which he has served as master for fourteen years.  He is also a member of the Circleville Chapter, No. 20; Tyrian Council, No. 60; and Lancaster Commandery, No. 2.  He was also instrumental in the organization of Nebraska Grange, No. 64, organized June 16, 1863, and has continued its master from that time until the present.  He has served as township trustee some eight years.
     Portraits of John Courtwright and his wife, with a representation of their home in Walnut township, appear in this connection.

JOSHUA DUNNUCK was a native of Maryland, from which State he emigrated to Ohio some time previous to the war of 1812, in which he served for a short time as a member of Captain Ney's light-horse company; he also, in common with every other able bodied man, served in the State militia during the enforcement of the militia law of the State.
     After being a resident of the State a number of years he was married to Miss Diana Tallman by whom he had four children who lived to maturity, besides several who died in infancy.  Of their children, Phebe married who died in infancy.  Of their children, Phebe married Abaslom Ashbrook, and raised a family of children, of whom all but one lived to raise families.  John married Henrietta Scott, in Fayette county, and made a home in Indiana.  Elizabeth married William Peters, and lives near Pleasantville.  Benjamin married Minerva Ashbrook, and died in Walnut township, where his family now live.  Joshua Dunnuck's wife died and he married a second time, his wife being Mrs. Phebe Bell, of Walnut township; their children were Diana, who was married, in Indiana, to Abel Lloyd.  George T. died when nineteen years of age.
     Thomas J. married Ruth Bowman, a daughter of John and Ruth Bowman, of Walnut township. With his wife Mr. Dunnuck received some property, as well as some from his father; his wife also received property from the estate of her brother, William Bowman.  Mrs. Dunnuck was a woman of feeble heath, but of a singularly gentle and loving disposition, and made a willing helpmeet to her husband, and a careful, judicious mother to their children, of whom they had five.  Two of these died in infancy.  Their home was a happy one, but, just as they were about completing his present comfortable dwelling-house, which was designed by Mrs. Dunnuck, and before it was occupied, she died from consumption.  She was born Oct. 12, 1834, and died Sept.12, 1876, aged nearly forty-two years.  Her death left a vacancy in the once happy home that no other can fill.  Their children were: Milton C., who is married, and lives in a house on the same premises as his father; Alma B., who now attends to the household duties in her mother's now attends to the household duties in here mother's place; and Grace B., who also lives at home.  Mr. Dunnuck has the assurance of a comfortable home during the remainder of his life, on the farm he has occupied since his marriage, which, at his death, will become the property of their children.  He was a member of the Natural guard, and was called into duty in the one hundred days' service, but procured a substitute, as his presence was at that time needed at home.
     Joshua Dunnuck, his father, had still another daughter - Sarah Ruth- who married and lsot her first husband, John Louderman.  She remarried, and now lives in Illinois.  Mrs. Joshua Dunnuck died in Fayette county, where they were then living, about 1833 or 1834.  In 1838 Mr. Dunnuck moved, with his family, to Indiana, and, in April of 1839, died there.
     Portraits of Thomas J. Dunnuck, and Mrs. Ruth Dunnuck, his wife, appear in connection with this sketch.