MIAMI COUNTY OHIO - ANCESTRY AND FAMILY OF JOHN CHAMBERS ARNOLD
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Bruce McCrea
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July 7, 1998
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ANCESTRY AND FAMILY OF JOHN CHAMBERS ARNOLD
Presented by Carl R. Arnold at the Arnold Reunion
Troy, Ohio, July 26, 1964
Many Arnolds came from England to the U. S. back in the early colonial
days of our country. Mary Bales has collected considerable Information
about the Arnolds who migrated to America and also about some of their
ancestors in England. I believe she has found that a William Arnold born
in Leamington, England, in 1587 settled in Rhode Island in 1636. This was
just sixteen years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock., It is
reported that all of the land now included in Providence, Rhode Island, a
city as largo as Dayton, Ohio, at one time belonged to an Arnold family.
This group of Arnolds which settled in those northern colonies is sometimes
referred to as the "Northern" branch of the Arnolds who came to America and
these were the group which included the Benedict Arnold line of ancestry.
Our family ancestry branches off from this group before they left
England.
Almost thirty years ago--in 1936--when Mrs. Arnold and I were in
Europe, I traveled in a train compartment with a 67 year old man and his
eight year old granddaughter for several hours from London to Edinburgh,
Scotland. In conversation with him I told him two different times that I
never saw anyone who looked so much like my father. I was greatly
surprised later when he told me that his name was Arnold. I met his son
and family that evening in Edinburgh, but, of course, we could not
establish any family relationship. They were very high-type people.
About the year 1725, one Arnold--and it is quite probable three
brothers and their families--came to this country and landed on the North
Carolina coast near the South Carolina border. Various stories about their
shipwreck have been passed down through the generations. The most
plausible version seems to indicate that they missed their goal as to where
they had expected to hit the coast. This could have been partly because of
poor navigation, which was quite common, but also because a severe storm
had carried their sailing vessels farther south than they intended and
along an unknown coast. It is likely that they had expected to hit the
Virginia coast.
Either because of the storm or in attempting to land on an unknown
coast, or both, their boats were wrecked upon the rocks. They saved their
livestock and apparently most of their provisions, but lost the ships. I
found no records of any of their families being lost in this shipwreck.
Although first names are rather obscure, one of them was named either
John or George. It is possible these were the names of two of the brothers
who came over together. One of these--either John or George, most probably
John--was our ancestor who would figure out to be my
great-great-great-great-grandfather and the same for many of you folks here
today. Some of you younger folks here would have to add one or two or
three more "greats."
These folks experienced many hardships during their first years in
the new world. One unfortunate experience that is recorded tells of their
horses getting away into the forests and brush. They were unable to
recapture them so the first year they had to dig the holes by hand to plant
their corn.
This John Arnold had seven sons, some of whom probably came from
England with the family in the sailing vessels. If there were any
daughters, their names were not recorded. The sons were Butler; David, who
later moved to Maryland; Benjamin, who went to Pennsylvania; John (the
second), who stayed in North Carolina and who was our ancestor, being my
great, great, great grandfather.
Of the other boys, William went to Pennsylvania; Frederick stayed in
North Carolina; and one other whose name is not recorded also remained in
North Carolina. I have listed these names nearly as possible in the order
of their births--the oldest first.
This John Arnold (called John the second), my great, great, great
grandfather, moved over into South Carolina, into what is now Newberry
County, during the Revolutionary War. He had eight sons but no record is
left of any daughters. These sons were George, Moses, William, John,
Isaac, Jacob, James and the youngest whose name is lost. The five youngest
sons all stayed in either North or South Carolina while the three oldest
sons moved to Ohio.
George, the oldest, came to Warren Co., Ohio, in 1805; William, the
third son, cam to Ohio in 1806; while Moses, the second son and our
ancestor, came to Ohio in 1808. (Orrie told me that one of the brothers
migrated to Kentucky and from there to Ohio and another brother--several
greats grandfather--migrated to Virginia and came to Ohio from there. Mary
Bales, could that have been John or Moses?)
The Arnolds were Quakers and they came to Ohio from the South as a
part of the migration of several hundred Quaker families around the
beginning of the last century. They encountered ridicule and at times some
persecution in some areas of the South because of their disapproval of
slavery and their refusal to keep slaves. Also, they had the pioneer
spirit. There was no slavery north of the Ohio River, but the danger from
Indians had been quite severe.
In the Ordinance of 1787 the Federal Government had set up the
Northwest Territory as a definite territory of the U. S. This included all
the area that is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Victories over the Indians in some sections north of the Ohio River, the
establishment of Fort Greenville in 1794 by Mad Anthony Wayne, and then
the Treaty of Greene Ville in 1795 made this area seem relatively safe
from the Indians. Also, Ohio was nearer to the Carolinas than other parts
of the Northwest Territory and also closer to settlements in Pennsylvania
and Virginia, which made it appear safer and more desirable. The first
permanent settlement in Ohio was at Marietta in 1788 just 20 years before
our ancestors came and Ohio was made a state in 1803, five years before
Moses came. Many people in the area from Greenville south to the Ohio
River can still trace their ancestry back to the Quakers. At one time a
little later the Arnolds, Albrights, Jays, Townsends, and a few others
planned to organize a Quaker meeting house south of Greenville but for
some reason it was never done. Instead they nearly all became Methodists,
Many Quakers, including our ancestors, settled first in Warren Co., Ohio,
since it was considered to be safer from the Indians than places farther
north, such as Darke County, As we know, the old Lebanon College was a
Quaker school established in 1844. A few of the Quakers joined the
"Shakers" and were commonly known as the "Shaking Quakers.'' My father
attended the old Lebanon College, probably in the winter of 1880-81. He
studied Latin, Greek, English History, Biblical History and the Bible. He
was unable to attend for a full term since he could not go in the fall
until the corn was all cut and shucked and he came home early when spring
work started.
Moses Arnold, son of John Arnold the second and my great great
grandfather, was born in North Carolina in 1763 and married Rachel Lynch.
The Lynches wore also Quakers and of Welsh descent. They all came to Ohio
in a wagon drawn by four horses, with their family in 1808 when Moses was
45 years of ago. From Newberry district, they went to Greenville and
Ashville, North Carolina, and Tazewell, Virginia. Then the route was by
the Cumberland Gap to Cincinnatii where they crossed the river on a
ferry.
They had seven children--five sons and two daughters: Isaac, Aaron,
William, Lydia, David, George and Mary.
Isaac was born in 1784 and moved from the Carolinas to Mississippi,
where one of his daughters had gone after marriage. Luke and Martha
Arnold, who always attended the Arnold reunions 50 years ago and whom some
of you remember and who lived in Ansonia, Ohio, wore descendants of Isaac.
Isaac visited Ohio in 1834, coming by way of the Cumberland Gap in a
one-horse wagon. He considered moving to Ohio, but never did. He died in
Mississippi in 1855 at the ago of 71 years.
Aaron was born in 1785 and died near Greenville in 1839 at 54 years
of ago. Ho left three children: William, Rachael and Henry.
William, who was known as "Uncle Billy," was born in 1789, came to
Ohio, and had 13 children--six by his first marriage and seven by his
second wife. His first wife was Elizabeth Townsend and his second wife was
Margaret Folkerth. He purchased 428 acres of land southeast of Greenville
for $2.00 per acre. About the year 1827, he built the two-story brick
house back off the road west of Jaysville, which was among the first brick
houses in the county and is now a part of the Warner farm. He already had
a log cabin near this site. One of his sons was Noah Arnold, who left many
descendants and was well known to old-timers in the Jaysville area.
William died in 1875 at the age of 86 years.
Lydia, the fourth child of Moses Arnold, married a Townsend.
David was the fifth child. I find no record of him.
Mary, the seventh child, married Allen Peareson. They had six
daughters and two sons. Records show that their daughters married an
Albright, a Martin, a Bender, an Eddington, and a Snyder.
George, the sixth child of Moses Arnold, was our ancestor and my
great-grandfather. He was born March 1, 1800, and came to Ohio with his
parents when he was 8 years old. He married Mary Dynes on Sept. 26, 1819.
She was claimed to be ? Cherokee Indian. She also was born in 1800, on
November 4.
Moses Arnold, the father of these seven, built the old "weaning
cabin," a log hut on the State Road about 2 miles southeast of Greenville,
in 1815. My grandfather, my father, my two oldest brothers, and many
children of two generations were born in this cabin. He was described as a
man 5 ft. 11 in. tall with a florid complexion, small eyes and a Roman
nose. He was not too much of a scholar but could read and was an ardent
reader of the Bible. Originally a Quaker, he became a Methodist in later
life. He never married again after his first wife died in 1826 and the
last 20 years of his life were spent living with his youngest son, George,
my great grandfather, who lived on the old Arnold homestead between
Greenville and Jaysville. He died there on April 1, 1860, at the age of 86
years.
George Arnold, Moses? youngest son and my great grandfather, had six
daughters and one son.
Amelia, born April 7, 1821, married George Floyd
Lydia, born Doe. 13, 1822, married Henry Houk
John Chambers, born Aug. 20, 1826, (our grandfather), married
Elizabeth Shepherd
Elizabeth, born July 19, 1828
Rachel, born May 29, 1830, married David Shivedecker, died 1879
Matilda, born Sept. 1, 1832
Mary, born July 25, 1834, married Schlecty, died 1865
John Chambers Arnold, the third child and only son of George Arnold
and his wife, Mary Dynes, was born in the old "weaning" cabin on August 20,
1826. He married Mary Elizabeth Shepherd on January 14, 1847. He was 20
and she lacked one month of being 17. She was born on February 10, 1830.
They had 14 children in 24 years, five of whom died in infancy before the
ago of 1? years. Mary Elizabeth., my grandmother, died July 11, 1888 at
the age of 58 and grandfather remarried three times after she died. John
Chambers, my grandfather, died June 25, 1906, less than two months before
he would have been 80. All nine children who had lived to maturity were at
his funeral and the picture of the group, which is available here today,
was taken that day.
The children of John Chambers Arnold who lived to maturity were as follows:
1. George W., b. 2/8/1849, m. Loretta Picket 8/6/1869, 2 children
Florence and Harry, m-2 Mary Hally, 1 child: Ruth
2. Mary Maria. b. 8/8 1850 (Mary Bales' grandmother), m. Henry
Cassell 10/2/1871 (he died 1879), 3 children: Jennie, b
10/29/1872, m. Harve Foureman 9/3/91,d. 6/29/1933; Barbara Luella
(Ella), b. 1/3/1874, m. Urias Root: George, b. 1876, m. Agnes
Yohe
Mary Maria, m-2 William Delk, 1 child: Orpha
3. John H., b. 8/18/1852, m. Mary Elizabeth Jane Crawford 8/3/1873
4. Rachel Jane, b. 11/26/1853, m. Nelson Batten 3/4/1870, 9
children, 6 boys and 3 girls
5. Amelia Sophia, b. 2/12/1857 m. Oscar Jay, 7/11/1878, 4 children:
Effie, Wilma, Carma, and Otho
6. Anderson Lincoln Winfield, b. 12/21/1860, m. Rebecca Eisele,
10/4/1883, d. 1/21/1928 (age 67), 7 sons, Orrie Orlando b.
7/27/1884, Frank b. 4/4/1886, John b. 1888, Carl b. 4/7/1891,
Hugh b. 7/1/1897, Dwight Lester b. 7/19/1899, Lynn b. 5/20/1905.
7. Amanda Elizabeth (Aunt Bett), b. 6/26/1865, m. Adrian Aten,
no children
8. Martha A. (Ethel Mauk's mother), b. 3/4/1867, m. Arthur Pearson
9. Charles M., b. 1/3/1871, m. Martha Galbreath, 12/30/1891, d.
10/16/1955, 2 sons: Clarence and Douglas, m-2 Aunt Nona?