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Biographies
Source:
History of Preble County, Ohio
H. Z.
Williams & Bro, Publishers
1881
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John V. Campbell |
JOHN V CAMPBELL,
ESQ. The subject of this sketch, and
of the portrait which elsewhere appears, is a native of Preble
county, and the representative of one of its earliest pioneer
families. His father, William Campbell, originally
of Greenbrier county, Virginia, but reared to manhood and
educated in Kentucky, came to Preble when it was still a portion
of Montgomery county, in 1807. He settled in Lanier
township, then unorganized and unnamed, and known simply as
township five, range three. There he continued to reside
and carried on the tanner’s trade, farming and stock dealing,
the remainder of his days, known throughout the neighborhood and
county as a man of substantial and sterling worth. In the
War of 1812 he was captain of an infantry company. He died
June 16, 1837, and as he was born July 27, 1780, was fifty-six
years, ten months and nineteen days of age. His wife,
Catharine Van Ausdal, whom he married in 1809,
was a native of Berkeley county, Virginia, and sister of Eaton’s
pioneer merchant, Cornelius Van Ausdal. She
outlived her husband many years, dying at the age of
seventy-three years and nineteen days, upon the third of
February, 1859. This worth-y pair of pioneers were the parents
of five children, who attained manhood or womanhood, viz.:
Maria, the widow of Francis A. Cunningham, esq., now
a resident of Eaton and about seventy years of age; James,
the present mayor of West Alexandria; John Isaac,
who died in 1838, and William, who resides upon the
Dayton turnpike. two miles east of West Alexandria.
John V. Campbell, our subject, was born Dec. 27,
1815. In his childhood and early youth he attended the
primitive schools of the neighborhood, held in log cabins, by
poorly paid teachers, who did their best in spite of their lack
of advantages, to give the young minds of the time the rudiments
of an education. The light by which the boys and girls of
sixty years ago conned their lessons did not fall through
transparent glass as now, but struggled into the small, rudely
furnished school-room through weather-stained greased paper
windows, and there was a difference between the quantity and the
quality of the intellectual light of those days and these,
corresponding to the solar luminosity. As he grew older,
young Campbell attended the Eaton school and others, and
attained sufficient knowledge to enable him to hold the position
of teacher when only sixteen years of age, at a school in
Lexington. His brother-in-law, Francis A. Cunningham,
being county clerk, he was, while yet a mere youth, employed as
his deputy, and in that position began to obtain ideas of the
practical affairs of life and of human nature. While in
the county clerk’s office, he began such was his taste for study
and improvement - to read law in the office of Messrs. McNutt
& Hawkins - the same office, by the way, which
Judge Campbell now occupies.
Under the administration of President Tyler,
in 1841 he was appointed postmaster at Eaton, an office which he
held for about ten years. While serving in this capacity,
he also attained to considerable legal business, such as
conveyancing and collecting government claims for soldiers of
1812 and the Mexican war. He was a busy man all through
this period, for he kept a book store, and in addition to this
business and the attention he gave to the mails and to the work
of collecting and preparing legal papers, he had charge of the
first express and first telegraph offices established in the
town. During the Mexican war and the war of the Rebellion
Judge Campbell served in the pay department, for
considerable periods, both alone, and under his brother-in-law,
Francis A. Cunningham. Although prepared to
formally enter the list of attorneys many years, he did not seek
admission to the bar until 1852. Very soon after his
admission, he was elected probate judge - the first ever elected
in the county. After serving one term, he was re-elected
and acquitted himself with the highest credit. Although a
young man for the position, he bought to it marked ability of
exactly the kind that was needed in the place, and he has always
been regarded as one of the best probate judges the county has
had. His first election was in opposition to the regularly
nominated Whig candidats, and at a time when the Whig
vote in the county had a majority of about nine hundred.
Although Mr. Campbell was a Democrat, he not only
overcame the Whig party's surplus of votes but was placed upon
the bench by a majority of three hundred. In 1858 he
accepted the offer of a law partnership with Judge W. J.
Gilmore, but the latter being elected to fill the vacancy in
the common pleas court, Judge Campbell, in the following
November, formed a partnership with J. H. Foos, esq.,
which continued three years, when his association with Judge
Gilmore was renewed, and continued until February, 1867,
when a partnership with Judge James A. Gilmore was
formed, which was terminated by the election of the latter to
the common pleas bench in 1879. During the past
twenty-five years Judge Campbell has followed
without intermission the practice of his profession. In
1873 he was elected county prosecuting attorney, and served one
term in that office. Outside of his strictly professional
capacity Judge Campbell has been almost as active
as within it. He has taken a deep interest in all
movements for the public good, whether material or moral,
educational or religious, and in most of them has been either a
leader or a practical hard worker. Never shirking care or
responsibility where it seemed to be his duty to bear them, yet
never seeking self-advancement or popularity through his
service.
He has been an efficient member of the Eaton school
board for a long term of years; since 1841 secretary and
treasurer of the Preble County Bible society, and always an
active supporter of temperance organizations, and has wielded a
valuable personal influence in the direction of reform of every
nature. He is regarded as the father of Odd Fellowship in
this county, having in 1842 become a member of the order, and in
1844, assisted by four others, organized the first lodge in
Eaton, of which he was the presiding officer. Twelve more
lodges have since come into being in the county, as the issue of
this one. For a number of years the order has been
represented in the grand lodge of Ohio by Judge
Campbell. He has also been a member and earnest
supporter of other benevolent societies, and much of the good he
has accomplished, though by no means all, has been attained
through these orders and organizations. The true
conception of fraternity, the fellowship and brotherhood of man
has been with him one of the main controlling motives of life.
He believes that through the exercise of the spirit of
forbearance, charity, good-will and practical assistance, which
is inculcated by close association, and intimate friendship, the
greatest benefits have been secured and in future will accrue to
humanity. Friendly feeling toward his fellow men, based
upon the broadest kind of a foundation, has ever been a
conspicuous trait in Judge Campbell’s character,
and therein doubtless lies, in a large measure, the secret of
the success he has achieved in life, and of his almost universal
popularity. None who know him could doubt the perfect
sincerity of his attachment to those who surround him, or fail
to see that it was thoroughly spontaneous, general, and free
from taint of selfishness. It is not going beyond the
bounds of what we know to be true, to say that he had rather
have a poor man for a friend than a rich man, and that because
the outcome of his own feeling would be of greater value in the
former than the latter.
Beginning life as a school teacher, Judge
Campbell’s love for children was early formed from practical
knowledge of the purity and pathetic needs of their natures.
He has ever been one of the warmest friends of the little folks,
and in various ways through his official position in connection
with the schools, and by private acts has done much to alleviate
some of the asperities and increase the amenities of their lives
Judge Campbell is a man of broad scholarship and
catholic taste. One of the kind who are ever adding
to their store of knowledge. He is at sixty-five not
content with subsisting upon what he has gained during his many
years of reading and observation, but both in his profession and
out is constantly acquiring that which is fresh and stimulating,
and renewing his interest in the life and spirit of the time.
Never having been confined intellectually to his profession, he
has a strong taste for general literature and belles lettres,
which is the result of many years of varied reading and
thinking. With all of his love for literature and keen
interest in affairs, he has not allowed his professional work to
be slighted, and has never placed himself in such attitude as to
deserve or obtain the reputation of being in any sense
impracticable, as too many professional men do, who have aims to
accomplish or tastes to gratify outside of their profession.
The controlling characteristic of equipoise is very prominent in
Judge Campbell’s mental and moral constitution.
He is in nothing extreme, violent or illiberal, but on the other
hand conservative, careful and thoroughly conscientious.
Such being his mental and moral qualities, he holds the
unqualified respect even of those who may differ with him in
matters of opinion. Politically he has been a life-long
Democrat. Religiously he is a firm adherent of the
Christian faith, and is consistently controlled by it, as the
writer has heard him express himself thus:
"Oh steal not my faith away.
Nor tempt to doubt the trusting mind;
Let all that earth can yield decay,
But leave this heavenly gift behind.
Our life is but a meteor gleam,
Lit up amid surrounding gloom;
A fitful lamp, a dying beam,
Quenched in the cold and silent tomb.
But oh, if as holy men have said,
There lies beyond this dreary bourne,
Some region where the faithful dead
Eternally forget to mourn.
Welcome the sword, the scoff, the chain,
The burning wild, the black abyss;
I shrink not from the path of pain,
That endeth in a world like this."
Judge
Campbell married in 1842 Ann E., daughter of
Robert Martin, then one of the judges of the court of common
pleas in Preble county. The offspring of this union were
three sons and eight daughters, of whom four of the latter are
living, viz: Francis A., Eva Belle, Mary S. and Birdie
Gertrude. The names of the children deceased are
William H., Robert E., John B., Belle Maria, Anna, Emma, and
Sarah M.
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page 148 |
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JOHN P. CHARLES,
the fourth and youngest son of Smith and Nancy (Kercheval)
Charles, was born in Dixon township, June 20, 1815. In
1853 he married Mrs. Sarah E. Jackson, widow of the late
Dr. W. M. Jackson. She was born in New Hampshire,
in 1823. Although raised a farmer by he decided to enter
professional life, and accordingly commenced the study of law
with J. M. U. McNutt in Eaton. After the death of
his legal friend Mr. Charles went to Tennessee, and
finished his course of reading at Pulaski, in that State.
In 1840 he was admitted to the bar. After his admission to
legal practice he entered the office of Brown & Topp,
where he remained only a few months before returning to Preble
county. In 1841 he was licensed to practice in Indiana,
but not liking his profession, gave up all ideas of further
practice.
A few years after quitting the law he entered the
journalistic field, and during the years 1845-7, inclusive, he
was connected with the editorial department of the Eaton
Register, and in 1848 bought the Hamilton Intelligencer,
which in 1849 he sold, in order to go with Secretary C.
K. Smith to St. Paul Minnesota, at the organization of the
territory. Officiating as clerk of the secretary he wrote
up the earliest records of that territory, and called the roll
of the first legislature that ever assembled in that
commonwealth. Returning from Minnesota he was, in 1850,
appointed to a clerkship in the pension office at Washington,
from which office he was removed during the Pierce
administration, at the instance of one Pierce of Preble
county. Subsequently he was engaged in land agency in
Iowa, and later served some twelve years in business connected
with the Pennsylvania railroad. For a time he made his
home in New Paris, but is now a resident of Eaton. In 1880
he again entered the editorial field and assumed editorial
control of the Eaton Reister, which position he
still retains. He has, during his whole life, been a
newspaper man, and when not engaged in editing a Republican
journal ahs always been a faithful contributor to its columns.
He excels as a political writer, and being well informed and
endowed by nature with a forcible and clear style of writing, is
entitled to no mean place among American journalists.
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z.
Williams & Bro, Publishers - 1881 - Page 154 |
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DANIEL CHRISMAN,
the youngest son of Daniel and Mary (Ozias) Chrisman
mention of those family may be found in Gratis township, was
born on the old home place in Gratis township, July 6, 1811.
His grandfather, Rev. Jacob Chrisman, died one year
before Daniel was born. The latter grew up on the
farm of his father, upon which farm he continued to work and
reside until the year 1847. In the days of his boyhood
educational advantages were few. His father, however, was
anxious that his son should receive the full benefit of these
few opportunities, and desired him to go to school as much as
possible. He did go long enough to receive some education,
but at that time he was full of boyish notions, and for him an
unbroken colt had more attraction than a schoolmaster. He
was reared in that strict morality and sobriety which has ever
characterized his life. The hard work on the farm was not
attractive to the spirited boy, but he more than me made up for
the little intervals of leisure which he seized when a boy, by
too hard application in his early manhood. He feels that
he would be a more vigorous man to-day had he been more
economical of his physical powers. Being the youngest
child, he was as the apple of his father's eye, and the hearts
of father and son were knit together in bonds of affection
peculiarly tender. As one by one the father saw his boys
leaving the paternal roof to establish homes of their own, which
were provided by fatherly affection, he could not bear the idea
of giving up his youngest born, and accordingly exacted a
promise from that son that he remain upon the old place with
him. Daniel agreed to this, and after his marriage
to Eliza A. Fudge, Jan. 31, 1839, he continued to live at
his father's house for nine years. His wife is the sixth
daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Fudge, of Lanier
township, the history of whole family is found in another part
of his work. Being of a good and industrious family,
Mrs. Chrisman was eminently fitted to be a helpmeet to her
husband. After living with old Mr. Chrisman for
nine years, he voluntarily released his son from his promise to
remain on the home place, believing that his son's interests
would be best subserved by removing to the farm in Washington
township, which the latter had purchased. Accordingly the
younger Mr. Chrisman removed to his farm, which consisted
of one hundred and sixty acres in section thirty-three of
Washington township. This place, which was known as the
Widow Fall farm, had on it a hewed log house and a log barn,
which at that time were considered very nice buildings.
Here he continued to reside until after the railroad had been
put through the place. It had been his intention to erect
a residence near the old house, but the path of the locomotive
crossed the proposed site, and, consequently, he decided to
build on the quarter of section twenty-eight of Washington
township, which farm had been previously presented to him by his
father. Mr. Chrisman assisted in making the
first "deadening" on this farm, which was cleared in part before
he became its owner. While still in the first place,
Mr. Chrisman's aged father, having for a time made his home
with his other sons, made arrangements to make his permanent
home with his son, Daniel. He continued to live
with the latter until his death, which occurred Feb. 12, 1861.
The old gentleman removed with the family to the new brick house
which was erected on the Richmond pike in 1856, and in that
house there is still a room which bears the sacred name of
"father's room," in which the old man died. In the spring
of 1857, Mr. Crisman erected his commodious barn.
Since he has moved to his present fine residence, he has greatly
improved the farm, which is one of the most productive in the
county. Judicious draining has greatly improved the
quality of the soil. Mr. Chrisman has always been a
very energetic farmer, and by economy and intelligent management
has made a success of his farming, and has accumulated a
handsome property. He has never made a specialty of stock
raising, although he raises none but the best stock.
From time to time he has added to his real estate by
the purchase of farms. In 1872 he bought the Meroney
farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres of land,
adjoining his old place. He presented to his eldest
daughter one hundred and twenty acres of the Meroney
place. In 1876 he purchased sixty acres of land, located
about two miles west of Camden.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Chrisman, two of whom survive. Their eldest daughter,
Elizabeth, was born October 28, 1839, and married James
Banta; their youngest daughter, Mary Catharine, was
born March 15, 1847; an infant son died Mar. 28, 1857, when only
four days old.
Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman and their youngest
daughter united with the Methodist Episcopal church at Eaton,
during the pastorate of Rev. A. Meharry, the eldest
daughter having joined the church several years previous.
Mr. Chrisman was reared in a religious atmosphere, his
grandfather being a minister, and his father a most godly man,
often having religious services in his house, in Gratis
township. The Chrismans have been, first old line
Whigs, and then strong Republicans, in whose faith Mr.
Chrisman is a strong believer.
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page 159 |
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Chrisman Residence
Washington Twp., Preble Co., OH |
DANIEL CHRISMAN
emigrated from Rowan county, North Carolina, in 1803, stopping
until August, 1805, in Warren county. In that year coming
to Preble county he settled in section eleven, of Gratis
township. By his wife, Mary Ozias, he had five
children, four of whom are living, three of whom are in this
county. John, the only one in Gratis township,
married Susannah Hall (deceased). He is about the
last of the early settlers, and is one of the largest land
holders in Preble county.
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page 187 |
John Chrisman
John Chrisman Res. |
JOHN CHRISMAN.
This venerable citizen was born Sept. 13, 1797, in Guilford
county, North Carolina, and is consequently now in his
eighty-fourth year. His grandfather, Jacob Chrisman,
was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and afterwards removed to
Guilford county, North Carolina, where, in 177 5, his son
Daniel was born. Subsequently the Chrisman
family removed to Rowan county, North Carolina. Daniel
Chrisman married about the year 1785, Mary, the
daughter of John and Elizabeth Ozias, who had emigrated
from Pennsylvania to North Carolina some years ago.
As has been stated, the subject of this sketch was born
in Guilford county, North Carolina, where his father, Daniel
Chrisman, continued to reside until the year 1803, when,
in company with his son and his wife’s parents, he decided to
remove to Ohio. The little party was six weeks on the
tedious journey through the mountains, and they were very weary
when at length they arrived at their destination, Warren county,
near Springborough. Grandfather Jacob Chrisman
lived in Warren county during the remainder of his life. The
Ozias, subsequently removed to this county and settled on
Twin creek. The former was an active minister of the
Gospel and a life-long member of the old Presbyterian church.
He commenced preaching many years before his emigration to Ohio.
He travelled extensively, and could speak fluently in both
English and German. As early as 1801 he made a trip to
Ohio, and was undoubtedly one among the first Presbyterian
ministers who preached in Ohio. After his emigration to
this State he frequently preached in this county. Being a
very heavy and not a very strong man, he was often compelled to
sit down while speaking. He died in 1810, aged
sixty-six years, six months and six days.
In August, 1805, Daniel Chrisman, having
decided to settle in Preble county, removed thither with his
family. He had to cut a road part of the way through the
dense forest, which on every side surrounded the spot in Gratis
township where the new home was to be built. The first
three days after their arrival were spent in a tent made of the
wagon cover, while the neighbors gathered from all sides and
assisted in the building of a rude pole shanty, which served as
a house until Mr. Chrisman could find time to
build a more substantial log house, in which he lived for some
years, and afterwards built the one that is still standing on
the old home farm, in which Mr. Chrisman, sr.,
continued to live during most of his life. He entered the
northeast quarter of section eleven, and in the early days of
his residence in this county he undertook the manifold hardships
and discomforts which fall to the lot of the pioneer. He
died Feb. 12, 1861, surviving his wife ten years, the latter
dying Mar. 2, 1851.
They left a family of five children, of whom John
is the oldest. Eliza, the only daughter, is the
widow of John Crouse, and lives in Indiana;
Solomon married Elizabeth Shuey, and both, are
dead; Jacob married Julia A. Riner, and Daniel
married Eliza Ann Fudge.
John Chrisman has been a farmer all of
his life, and in
early boyhood commenced to “make his hand ” in the field. His
school days were brief. He lived on the old home place
with his father until the year 1820, and on the twentieth of
February, of that year, was united in marriage to Mrs. Susan
Hall, the widow of Richard D. Hall, who emigrated
from Newmarket, Maryland, in 1809, the year of his marriage.
Mrs. Chrisman, whose maiden name was Fishbourn,
was born in Frederick county, Maryland, Feb. 8, 1791. When
a little girl she removed with her parents to Baltimore, and
after wards she became a resident of Newmarket, Maryland, whence
she came to Ohio, and settled with her first husband on the farm
where John Chrisman afterwards married her, and
where they lived until her death, which occurred June 10, I877,
at the advanced age of eighty-six years, four months, and two
days.
Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman began life together in the
old log house, which for many years occupied the site of the
present substantial brick residence, which has stood as it now
is for full thirty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman were blessed with two
children - daughters - Elizabeth and Catharine.
Elizabeth married Henry Riner and resides
near her father. She has three children: Charles W.
and Susie, the widow of Edward P. Johnson, and
resides in Cheyenne, Wyoming territory. John C.
resides near his parents’ residence. Mr. Chrisman’s
second, and youngest daughter, Catharine M., married
Jacob F. Stover, by whom she has had one son, John C., who
is living with his parents, at Mr. Chrisman’s.
Although Mr. Chrisman’s father and grandfather
were Presbyterians, he saw fit to connect himself with the
German Baptist or Dunker church, of which for many years he has
been a faithful member. He has never engaged in the
vexatious turmoils of political strife, and has always lived a
quiet and industrious life. Thus he has accumulated not
only a large property but has also won the love and respect of
the whole community. Although having completed the full
measure of his days, his four score years, his bodily and mental
powers are still well preserved. While waiting to join
loved ones on the other shore, how fitting that in this, the
evening of his life, he hand down to his posterity the impress
of his features and the record of his life’s history, which
other wise would be lost to the many loved ones who may survive
him.
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page 200 |
Mr. & Mrs. Elijah Cooper
Mrs. Elizabeth Cooper |
ELIJAH COOPER
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page (betw. 192-193) |
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JUDGE WILLIAM CURRY ok
Source: History of Preble County, Ohio - H. Z. Williams &
Bro, Publishers - 1881 ~Page 147 |
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