OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 217 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 217 Today's Topics: #1 History, Hamilton County ; Harriso ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <0f2301bfe3ac$0bf5c740$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: History, Hamilton County ; Harrison Township - pgs 312-318 (1) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by blizzard.columbus.rr.com id SAA20452 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Tina Hursh frog158@juno.com April 15, 2000 Transcribed by Karen Klaene *********************************************************************** Harrison Township - pgs 312-318 *********************************************************************** History of Hamilton County Ohio with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Compiled by Henry A. Ford, A.M. and Mrs. Kate B. Ford, L.A. William & Co.= , Publishers; 1881. pages: 312-319 ~pg 312~ HARRISON HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION This township had its origin in the manifest need of a new municipality f= or the convenience of the increasing population in the northwestern part of the county, which i= n 1855 caused the erection by the county commissioners of Harrison from Crosby and Whitewat= er townships. It is the northernmost township of the county. Its boundary lines are wholly artificial, and begin on the dry fork of Whitewater, at the southeast quarter of section thirty-three, in range one, township three; thence westward three miles to the county and State line; thence north six miles to the Butler county line; thence east three miles to the northeast corne= r of section four; thence south to the place of beginning. Dearborn county, Indiana, lies next to t= he westward; Butler county on the north; four miles of Crosby and two miles of Whitewater townships on the east; and Whitewater township on the south. Harrison lies altogether upon Congress land, in the west half of the thir= d township, range one. It thus contains eighteen sections of land, which cover a little more territ= ory than so many exactly full sections, by reason of some divergence of meridian lines in the easternmost tier, making some of them a little broader than should be. The central and western tie= rs are beautifully regular squares, appropriately exact. The acres of the township number eleven thousand one hundred and forty-seven. Harrison township lies chiefly in the valleys of the Whitewater and Dry f= ork of the Whitewater, giving its surface a generally flat and fertile character. The former str= eam enters from Indiana upon section nineteen, half a mile south of Harrison village, and flows i= n a tortuous course of about three miles through four western and southern sections of the towns= hip to its point of exit nearly half way across the southern township line. The Dry fork skirts th= e southern half of the eastern line, with several ins and outs, and an exceedingly winding cours= e, leaving the township finally almost exactly at the southeast corner. LEE's creek, with two oth= er tributaries flowing into the Dry fork in Crosby township, partly or wholly intersect the northeastern part of Harrison; and some of the headwaters of Whitewater river, flowing to the west of ~pg 313~ Harrison village, have their source in the northwestern part of the township. The southern half of the township is mostly low, belonging to the bottom land of the streams; = the northern half is more elevated, and broken into ridges by the wear of water-courses, and v= ery likely other agencies, through the milleniums of geology. The Whitewater Valley railroad, keeping pretty close to the river whence = it takes its name, enters, like that, the township below Harrison village, and runs for abou= t four miles to a point half a mile east of the river and a little more than a mile from the southeast corner of the township, where it departs into Whitewater township. The Whitewater canal formerly had its course in part through this township, nearly on the same line as the railroad, and also terminating, so far as Hamilton county is concerned, near Harrison villag= e. Its history is recorded in a chapter of part I of this book. The Harrison turnpike also comes in from the direction of Miamitown, near the southeast corner of section twenty-eight= , and runs thence in a nearly straight and due northwest course across the township to the villa= ge of Harrison. ANCIENT REMAINS. The limited tract of Harrison township does not abound in ancient remains= , but still possesses some of interest, as the mounds on BONNELL's hill, in the eastern part of the township, which are understood to be among the burial-places of the long-gone race in the valleys of the Whitewater and the Great Miami. EARLY RELIGION. About 1803 a regular Baptist church, attached to the Miami Baptist association, was organized in what is now the northern part of Harrison township, and took the name = of Dry Fork of Whitewater church, a singular name for a church of immersionists, truly. = In 1836 this society went off with the anti-mission Baptist churches, and is said to have lost its identity altogether in 1853. At this time the majority of the association, in membership and vas= tly so in number of churches, including this one, joined the anti-mission standard. THE MORGAN RAID. The great event in the brief history of this, the youngest township of Hamilton county, was the John MORGAN raid, which occurred ten years after the creation of the township, or in July, 1863. The invading force crossed it on the main roads, but entered k on b= ut one that through Harrison village. The advert of MORGAN and his horde at that place was a thorough surprise. It was known by the people that he was somewhere to the westward in India= na; but his direction of march was unknown, and there was no special reason to expect him at Harrison. MORGAN'S forces were, indeed, considerably scattered in southeastern Indiana, on t= he twelfth of July, and it was exceedingly difficult to divine the leader's intentions; but on that = day and the forepart of the next they moved rapidly by converging roads upon Harrison, at which one point they struck Ohio. About one o'clock in the afternoon of the thirteenth the advance of the rebel command was seen streaming down the hillsides on the west side of the valley, and the alarm was at once given in the streets of Harrison. Citizens hastened at once to secrete valuables and run off their horses; but in a very few moments the enemy was swarming all over the tow= n. The raiders generally behaved pretty well, however, offering few insults to the peopl= e, and maltreating no women or other person. They secured what horses they could, and thronged = the stores, taking whatever they fancied. The eccentric character of the stealing, as descri= bed by Colonel DUKE in our chapter on the MORGAN raid through Ohio, was manifest here. One gentleman who kept a drug and notion store was despoiled of nothing but soap and perfumery. = He had a large stock of albums, which were popular then, and expected to see them go rapidly; = but not one was taken. Similar incidents are related of other shops in the village; and from one and another a large amount of goods in the aggregate was taken. But there was no robbery from house to house, or from the person; and after a very few hours stay, having refreshed themselves and their horses, and gained all desired information, the head of the column began to file = out of the village in the direction of Cincinnati, on the Harrison turnpike. Reaching the junction = of the New Haven road a third of a mile out, part of the force took to that thoroughfare, and proceeded eastward through Crosby township, crossing the Great Miami at New Baltimore. The remainder kept down the Harrison pike, through Whitewater township, crossing the river at Miamito= wn. Their passage on both roads was attended by no special incident, and was of course entirel= y unopposed. That same night found the invading force abreast of Cincinnati, and the next d= ay out of the county, after a tremendous midsummer march of thirty hours. But the thrilling sto= ry has been related elsewhere, and need not be further dwelt upon here. THE OLD SOLDIERS. For the following list of veteran volunteers from Harrison township, in t= he late war, credit is due to the handsome double number of the Harrison News, published Christm= as day, 1879: Bruce KEEN, Jackson WILLIAMS and Alexander WILES, of company C, Fifth Ohi= o cavalry, all reenlisted February 15, 1864, and mustered =B7 in March 16, 1864. Christopher DOERMAN same company and regiment, reenlisted March 31, 1864, mustered in April 25, 1864. Arthur HILL, same command, reenlisted March 29, 1864, mustered in April 25th, same year. Will R. HARTPENCE, company C, Fifty-first Indiana infantry, reenlisted January 1, 1864, mustered in February 12, 1864. William T. CAMPBELL, George W. PIERCE, Francis M. SHOOK, Joseph DAVIS, William GOLD, William ORR, and David H. LAWRENCE, Fifty-second Indiana infantry, enlisted and mustered in February 27, 1864. Frank CRETS and Isaac JACKSON, Seventeenth Indiana battery, reenlisted an= d mustered in January 1, 1864. Patrick HAGGERTY. NOTES OF SETTLEMENT. John ASHBY was born in the territory of Indiana, in 1810, June 2nd. Fourt= een years after that date he went to Cincinnati, Ohio. When he came to Ohio he learned the tanher's and currier's trade, but abandoned it afterward, and, coming to Harrison, entered into partnership with his brother, Hamilton, for the purpose of trading in dry goods. In 1843 he wa= s appointed postmaster of ~pg 314~ Harrison, which position he kept for seven years. In 1851 he was engaged = by William & Samuel FERRIS to superintend their store, where he remained four years. One term= he served as mayor of Harrison, and at several different times he has been elected to the office of justice of the peace, which office he is holding at the present time. He has always been= a Democrat in politics. His first wife, Elizabeth TOOKER was born in 1818, married in 1836, and died in 1854. She had five children: Martin V. B., Olin H. P., George M. D. (marr= ied to Clara ZEUMER), Alice, and Ida. His second wife was Phoebe C. ZEUMER, who died i= n August of 1879, at the age of fifty-eight. Warren TIBBS, born in Prince William county, Virginia, in 1791, emigrated from North Carolina to Ohio in 1807, when he located his home in Harrison. During hi= s early life he was a farmer, but afterward followed the hotel business at the place now owned = by Dr. THOMAS. At one time, while a river trader between New Orleans and Harrison, he was obliged to sell his boat and walk back with no protection excepting his rifle. He was twice chosen to represent Dearborn county, Indiana, in the State legislature. At different times he held the offices of postmaster, justice of the peace, and township trustee. In the Indian war= he had a part under General HARRISON. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He married Elizabeth, a native of Kentucky, in 1815, who was born in 1794. Her death occurred at Williamsport, Indiana, in 1875. Her husband died at the same place in 1872. They had ten children: Alvin G., whose wife was Maria SNYDER, of Harrison; Francis M., married to Tillie McNELBA, and living in Louisiana; Moses, married and living in Nevada; Lo= ria A., married to James CLOUD, and now in Indiana; Louisa, the wife first of Simon SMYTHE a= nd afterward of James TORRENCE, now a resident of Indiana; Loretta, living in the same State; Lydia, the wife of Doctor MILLER, of Indiana; Martha A., married to Isaac ROSEBERRY, and Elizabeth, to Henry JOHNSON, both living in Indiana; and one child that died in infancy before it had been named. Alvin G. TIBBS was born in Indiana, in the year 1816. For three years he attended school at Oxford, Ohio, afterward dividing his time between farming and teaching school. In Indiana he held the office of justice of peace, and was twice elected to the legislature of that State from Dearborn county. He married Maria SNYDER of Pennsylvania in 1838. He was = a member of the Christian church; in politics was always a Democrat. He died in 1856, his wife surviving him. They have had seven children - Theodore, who died while an infant; Fannie, now living in Indiana; Warren, married to Ellma LAYMEN and residing in the same State; George B., of Indiana, also, married to Maria GUNKLE; John H., whose wife is Sarah A. KEEN, now of Hamilton county; Arthur G., now of Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; and James W., married to Emma HILLMAN of the same State. John F., son of Alvin G. TIBBS, was born in Harrison, in 1845, where he gained a common school education to which he added three years at Oyler's college. In 185= 9 he learned the miller's trade which he followed- for a time but finally gave it up and engaged as clerk with W. W. DAVIDSON & Co. In 1870 he began the business of "Men's Furnishing Good= s" which he still follows under the firm name of TIBBS Brothers, the only store of th= e kind in Harrison. He is a member of the Christian church; served one term on the board of education of Harrison. He married Sarah A. KEEN, a native of Indiana, in 1868. They have four children, John, Bertha, James, and Arthur. William F. CONVERSE was born in Randolph, Orange county, Vermont, June 10= , 1812. Attending the Orange County academy, he took the regular course of study. When sixteen years old he went to Rochester to live, where he served an apprenticeship to th= e gunsmith's trade. In 1836 he came to Hamilton county, and at first settled in Cincinnati. Ther= e he entered the employ of Abel COX in the manufacture of guns, on Elm street. After remaining th= ere three years he came to Harrison and opened an establishment for the manufacture of guns. After a short time, owing to ill health, he sold his interest to Henry MINOR. He left his tra= de and followed school teaching for three years; he then engaged as bookkeeper and cashier for William HASSON of Harrison. In 1849 he invented the simultaneous screw cutting machine that came into general use in a short time. In 1861 invented the elastic wire bed bottom, an article generally used throughout the United States. In 1846 he was elected representative from Hamilton county on the Democratic ticket, and afterward reelected. In 1853 he was elected to the State senate, and two years later reelected. In 1863 he was elected on the Union ticket county commissioner. At one time he also held the office of trustee of Harrison township, and was elected the first mayor of Harrison, He is a member of the Christian church; in politics an independent, always voting for whom he may think the best man. He married Margaret J. SNYDER of Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1847. They have eight children: Augusta and Francis, of Hamilton county; Oliver, married to Cora BALL and now in Stark county; William, married to Rebecca WEST and residing also in Stark county; Frederick, living in Harrison; Annie, living in Harrison county; and Edith and Bertha, both of Harrison. He served as president of the school board of Harrison for many years, was always interested in educational matters, and was the first to organize the present school system in Harrison, writing and putting up the first notice to cal= l a meeting over thirty years ago. He was the prime mover, too, in the organization of a cemetery board, and has been president of the Glenhaven cemetery for the past twenty-five years. George ARNOLD was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1784, b= ut emigrated from New Jersey to Ohio, and settled in Elizabethtown, Whitewater township. In 1828 he moved into Indiana, where he remained thirty years. While there, he was representati= ve from Dearborn county two successive terms. He was also elected county commissioner for = the same county. Later in his life he returned to Ohio, where he remained till his death which occurred in 1866, at Lawrenceburgh, Indiana. He was killed by a fall from his carriage. He married ~pg 315~ Mary EADS, of Kentucky, who died in 1856. She had eight children. He then married a lady of Harrison, who had one child. For many years he was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He always took deep interest in all public improvements, and contributed liberally for the support of the church. He was also a leader among the Free Masons, having joined = the order at an early day. The children are: James, married to Mary KISHLER, and living in Hamilton county; Samuel, married to Elizabeth HAND, and now in the State of Illinois; Mary J., the wife of James L. ANDREW, and now in Indiana; George W., married to Hannah B. HERRIN, an= d in Hamilton county; Clinton C., married, and living in Kansas; Richard C., married to Laura WALKER, of Indiana; William M., married to Louisa HUGHS, and now in the same State a= s the preceding; Eveline, the wife of Mr. BRUNSON, and now of the same State; and Martha J= ., now living with the second Mrs. ARNOLD in Pennsylvania. George W. ARNOLD was born in Elizabethtown, Ohio, in 1823, where he began the business of farming and stock raising, in which he is now engaged. When seven years o= f age, he went with his father to Indiana, where he remained till 1855. As a Democrat, he hel= d the office of township trustee several years. In 1855 he returned to Ohio, and settled = on the farm, where he now lives. Since coming to this State, he has held the offices of trustee and school director. In 1844 he was married to Hannah B. HERRIN, of Ohio. They have had eight children: Joanna, Emma, John H., Mary, George W., married to Helen, and living in Hamilton county; Charles A., married to Kittie CALOWAY and also now in Hamilton county; Purley and Kat= ie. Andrew M. WAKEFIELD was born in Hamilton county, January 11, 1819, and di= ed November 10, 1873. He always followed the business of farming, at the same time served several times as trustee of Crosby township. Early in life he was a Presbyterian, but late= r became a Methodist. In politics he was a Democrat. He married Phoebe Alberton, a native of Ohio, and of Welsh descent. W. F. WAKEFIELD was born in 1844, in Crosby township, where he received a common school education. He remained on his father's farm till twenty-one years = of age, when he attended school at Farmer's college at College Hill. From there he went t= o Mr. NELSON's Commercial college at Cincinnati, where he remained but a short time, accepting a place as bookkeeper in the wholesale house of D. B. DUNLEVY & Co. This position wa= s followed by that of soliciting agent for a grain commission house, when, after two ye= ars of service he spent some time in travelling through the Indian territory. Returning to Harris= on, he married Emma SHOOBRIDGE, and has held at different times the offices of corporation cl= erk of Harrison, and assessor. Since his marriage he has been twice in the employ of Mr. G. W. KEEN in the grocery business with John SMALL, in the saw-mill business for himself, and at present, is bookkeeper for James CAMPBELL. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a Democrat in politics. He has two children. Robert CARY was born in Lynn, New Hampshire, January 24, 1787, and moved with his father to the Northwest Territory in 1802, and settled in Cincinnati, but eventually moved to College Hill. A soldier in the war of 1812, he was with General HULL at the surrender of Detroit. His death took place November 13, 1866. He was a quiet, upright man, respecte= d by all who knew him. In 1813, he was married to Eliza JESSUP, of Hamilton county, Ohio, w= ho died July 30, 1835. They had nine children: Rowena, married to Isaac B. CARRIHAN; Susan= , married to Alexander SWIFT; Rhoda, Alice, Asa, whose wife was Leah A. WOODRUFF, of Hamilton county; Phoebe; Warren, whose wives were Martha A. TREMPER and Emma TREMP= ER, of Hamilton county; Lucy; and Elmira, married to Alexander SWIFT. Warren CARY was born in Hamilton county, October 16, 1826, where he recei= ved a common school education and also took a course of study at College Hill. He is a farmer, in which business he has been engaged nearly. all his life. In politics he is a Republican; in religious belief a Universalist. His three. children are Robert, Alexander S., and Clarence W. Robert CARY was born in Hamilton county, in 1850, where he received a com= mon school education and also a two years' course at College Hill. He married Eliza WILSON, of the same county, in 1874. They have two children, Elmira and Martha. He is a farme= r in business, in politics a Republican. Matthew BROWN, a native of Ireland, was born in the year 1753, but emigra= ted to Ohio from South Carolina, and settled, in 1803, on the farm now owned by John Baughman, in Harrison. He was a farmer by occupation, a Democrat in politics. His wife was Jane Jones, a native of South Carolina. She had eight children: Nancy, married to Samuel Harlen, = and living in Indiana; David, married to Susan Gladwell, and also in Indiana; Katie, the wife of George Harlen, and living in Iowa; Robert, married to Katie Cotton, also in Indiana; Samuel, married to Betsey Atherton, and living in Indiana; Sarah, the wife of Thomas Goulding, of Indiana; Betsey, married to Isaac Ferris and residing in Hamilton county; and John, married to Sar= ah HERM, of the same county. -----Continued in Part 2----- -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V00 Issue #217 *******************************************