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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Ashland County, Ohio
BIOGRAPHIES
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JAMES
ALBERSON was born in Harrison county, Ohio, July 7, 1822,
and moved with his parents, Thomas Alberson and
wife, to Orange township the fourth of April, and landed
April 7, 1837. He attended school at eight square, district five,
until seventeen years of age. His father died about 1856, aged
about fifty-nine years. His mother died in November, 1870, aged
seventy-six years. Her name before marriage was Fanny Campbell.
There were four boys and three girls—Mary, James,
Sarah, Anne, William C, Elizabeth, Robert W.,
and T. C. They are all living except Elizabeth
Somers, wife of Jacob. Mr. Alberson was married
to Rachel Andrews, December 10, 1844. She died June
4, 1853. He again married, January 10,1854, Miss Susan C.
Bowlby. His first wife had W. T. Alberson and A.
N. Kelso; his second wife, Alice C. and J. K.,
son and daughter. Mr. Alberson is serving on his eighth
term as justice of the peace, having been elected in October,
1854, and again in October, 1861, and continuously since then. His
term will expire in 1882. He also served as constable several
terms. He now resides within one mile of where he settled in 1837.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 254) |
W. T.
ALBERSON, was born in Orange township, Ashland
county, Ohio, Sept. 17, 1846. He entered the auditor's
office as clerk, March 14, 1870; was elected auditor in October,
1874, by eight hundred and thirty majority, and re-elected in
Oct., 1876, by seven hundred and sixty-one majority. He and
W. G. Heltman purchased the Ashland Press, July 17, 1879,
of which paper Mr. Alberson is editory
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 265) |
Perry Twp. -
JAMES ALLISON emigrated from Jefferson
County, Ohio, to Perry Township during March, 1818. His
wife and six children, namely, John, Alexander, Mary, Ann,
Jane, and Catherine, constituted his family at that
date. Of the sons and daughters mentioned, Alexander
is the only survivor in Perry. Mrs. Jane, wife of
Daniel Ellenbarger, and Miss Catherine Allison,
reside in Mohican Township.
Mr. Allison died May 2d, 1839, at the age of
sixty-four years. His wife had died in April of the
previous year at the age of sixty-two years. Mr.
Allison and wife died upon the place he originally purchased
of David Smith, being fifty acres in section 2.
Death of Arthur Campbell, Sen.
Alexander Allison was an
eye-witness of this event, which is mentioned in another place.
It was on the premises of Mr. Allison's uncle, John
Pittinger, whose land was in process of being cleared.
Messrs. Campbell and Pittinger were sitting upon
the ground near a tree, engaged in conversation, when an oak
tree, which had been several hours burning at its base,
commenced falling in the direction of where the men were
stationed. Mr. Allison, who was near, but outside
the range of the falling tree, happened to discover the danger,
and instantly notified the men. Mr. Pittinger
escaped by seeking refuge behind a tree near which they were
sitting; but Mr. Campbell, being less active, was struck,
while in the act of rising, upon the back by a heavy limb,
crushing the bones and producing instant death.
Source: History of Ashland Co., Ohio - Publ. 1863. - Page 439 |
Perry Twp. -
JOHN ALLISON, an emigrant from
Pennsylvania. He settled in Congress Township, Wayne
County, in January, 1820. That township had been but
recently organized. Under the laws then in force it
required fifteen legal voters to accomplish an organization.
There were about that number in the township at that time, being
one family to 2˝ square
miles.
Source: History of Ashland Co., Ohio - Publ. 1863. - Page 435 |
Vermillion Twp. -
HENRY ANDRESS,
an emigrant from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, removed with
his family to Montgomery Township, in September, 1826. He
is now a resident of Vermillion. As incidents of public
importance which occurred within his knowledge are related by
others, his reminiscences are omitted.
Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio - publ. 1863 |
ALANSON
ANDREWS. Mr. Andrews was born in Massachusetts
in 1784. He emigrated to Ohio in the spring of 1817, and
located in the village of Uniontown, now Ashland. His cabin
stood near the spring west of Center street, in the rear of the
present residence of David Whiting. Mr. Andrews
resided there but a short time, and then completed a new cabin
about where the Whiting blacksmith-shop now stands, and moved into
it. He resided in that locality two or three years, and
carried on a distillery just below and present residence of
David Whiting, in company with a Mr. Palmer.
During his residence in this cabin, Lorin Andrews, the
second male child of Ashland, was born. This event took
place April 1, 1819. A short time after, Mr. Andrews
purchased the farm of David Markley adjoining Ashland on
the southwest, and moved upon it. Mr. Andrews was a
good farmer, and soon had an abundance of this world's goods to
reward him for his toil. He put up a fine residence, barn,
and other out-buildings at an early day, and his orchard, fields,
fences, and improvements indicated thrift, good judgment, and
industry.
He was a man of fair education, close observation and
of strict habits. Lie all New England people, he was the friend of
educational institutions, and took a deep interest in the
establishment of advanced schools in the village of Ashland.
He was one of the founders and props of the old academy, where so
many young men commenced a career of usefulness and honor.
He was a warm patron of the school from its commencement, and
every member of his family passed through its various grades of
classification. Mr. Andrews stood high among his
neighbors for his truthfulness, integrity and personal worth.
It has often been remarked in the presence of the
writer of these sketches, that belong one of the best judges of
the value of personal and really estate, that he had, perhaps,
assisted in the appraisement of more estates than any other
citizen in the township.
In politics he was a Whig, and always cast his
influence in favor of the prevalence of the principles of that
party. He never sought office of any kind, although his
fitness was admitted by his neighbors.
He was tall and well formed; his face, though not
handsome, impressed itself upon the recollection. In the
general way he was reticent, and rarely revealed his plans.
In temper, he was decidedly firm and resolute. All in all,
in his intercourse with his neighbors, he was pleasant, and noted
for his hospitality, and kindness to the poor. He died after
a brief illness, May 11, 1850, and sleeps in the cemetery west of
Ashland. His widow and numerous family reside in the west.
But three of his sons reached manhood - Lorin, Lyman, and
Levi. Lorin is deceased, Lyman resides
in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Levi in California. His
widow, at an advanced age, resides with a daughter in Geneseo,
Illinois.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 205) |
Milton Twp. -
JAMES ANDREWS immigrated to the eastern
division of the territory of the United States, within the
limits of what is now Columbiana County, about the year 1800.
In 1816 he purchased and removed to the farm upon the year 1800.
In 1816 he purchased and removed to the farm upon which he now
resides. Mr. Andrews served in the war of 1812, as
captain in a company of the 2d Regiment, 2d Brigade, Ohio
Militia, and subsequently as brigade inspector. He served
twenty-seven years as justice of the peace in Milton Township.
Source: History of Ashland Co., Ohio - Publ. 1863. - Page 537 |
JAMES
ANDREWS was another leading citizen of Milton township.
He was a Pennsylvania by birth, and in 1800 emigrated to
Columbiana county, Ohio, where he resided until 1816, when he
entered a farm in the south part of Milton township, and removed
to it with his family. He served in the war of 1812, as a
captain in the Second regiment, Second brigade of Ohio militia,
and was promoted, during his service, to brigade inspector, and
obtained a warrant for his services in 1854. After the
organization of Milton township, he served as trustee, constable,
supervisor, and justice of the peace, and acquitted himself to the
satisfaction of the electors of his township* He died in the
fall of 1863, and was buried in the cemetery in the south part of
the township. He was about eighty-five years old at his
decease. He left several members of his family, none of
whom, we are informed, remain in the township. Mr.
Andrews, like his pioneer neighbors, passed through many
hardships in preparing his farm for culture. He lived to
surround himself with many comforts, and was highly respected.
The settlers of his day have nearly all disappeared, and soon
there will be none left to tell the story of pioneer life amid the
wilds of this region.
* Mr. Andrews was, for many years, a member of the Seceder
church. Like his Scotch-Irish ancestors, he accepted, in
good faith, the doctrines and discipline of that church.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 203) |
| |
LORIN
ANDREWS, LL. D. Lorin Andrews was born in
Uniontown, now Ashland, April 1, 1819, and was the second male
child born within the present limits of the town. Alanson
Andrews, his father, resided in a small log cabin, about
thirty-five or forty feet south of Main street, on the lot on
which the office of M. H. Mansfield is now located.
Here it was that Lorin Andrews first saw the light, learned
to lisp the name of his parents, and began to give evidence of
that talent for which he became, in after years, so noted.
When quite young, his father purchased of David Markley,
the farm adjoining Ashland on the southwest, and located thereon.
Lorin attended the district schools of the village, and
made rapid progress in the branches taught at that period.
He was much beloved by his schoolmates, because of his amiable
disposition, sprightliness of manner and acuteness.
When he was about seventeen years of age, he was
regarded as one of the foremost youths of the village. In
the year 1836, the patriotic fires of the Revolution were still
kept blazing on the altars of the country. It was resolved
to celebrate the natal day of our freedom in a becoming manner.
To this end, after several village meetings, it was agreed that
the people would assemble in Carter's grove, about one and
a half miles east of Ashland, on the fourth of July, for that
purpose; and that Michael Ritter, who kept a hotel on the
premises a dinner; and that Lorin Andrews be requested to
prepare and deliver the oration. When the time for
assembling arrived, the procession was formed at Ashland, with
Alexander Miller as marshal of the day; and the people were
escorted to the grove, headed by a band, composed of Jacob
Grubb as drummer, Pierce Robinson fifer, Joshua H.
Ruth and John K. Billings with flutes. Young
Andrews delivered the oration with a coolness and
self-possession that astonished the assemblage. His address
had been carefully prepared, well studied, and delivered with an
ease of manner and grace of gesticulation that was pronounced
admirable. The dinner and toasts followed. And the
festivities of the occasion are yet referred to by many of the
pioneers with much pride.
A copy of the address of young Andrews was
published in the Ohio Globe, a little paper, then
edited by our late townsman, Joshua H. Ruth.
A bright future was predicted for the young orator;
and his father was induced to send him where his ambition, as a
student, could have a better field and be more fully gratified.
He at once entered the grammar school of Gambier college, where he
commenced a thorough course of instruction. He remained in
the grammar school about two years, and entered college, but
during his junior year, in 1840, owning to financial
embarrassment, was withdrawn from college. He returned to
Ashland, and after a few months, by invitation of the trustees,
took charge of the Ashland academy as principal, aided by several
able assistants, in the male and female departments. Under
his superintendence the school was in a most flourishing
condition; students from every part of the State, and from distant
States, came in by the hundred and enrolled their names. Not
having completed this collegiate course, Professor Andrews
was compelled to continue his studies in private, to keep in
advance of his students. He applied himself with uncommon
industry, and distanced the most advanced classes; he evinced a
knowledge of the branches taught, and a readiness in recitation
that was really surprising. His manner, as an instructor,
was agreeable and well calculated to win the esteem of the
student. He had a peculiar faculty of enlisting the
sympathy, respect and confidence of all with whom he was brought
in contact. He was frank and pleasing in his address, and a
student met but to love and honor him. When compelled to
enforce, with apparent severity, the rules governing the academy,
it was done in such a way that the student respected him for his
impartiality and evident intention to do justice. The writer
of this sketch has been Professor Andrews, scores of
times, after reprimanding a hot-headed student for some gross
violation of the rules, while yet smarting under the reproof, and
blinded by rage and resentment, approach him at the black-board in
the most friendly manner, take the chalk and give him a statement,
and frequently solve the problem. Such treatment would
soften the resentment of any young man of reflection, and secure
his respect. In this Professor Andrews evinced his
deep insight into human nature, and often succeeded in taming the
ferocity of the worst students, and changed the whole current of
their lives. With him "kind words could never die."
Professor Andrews was a fluent
conversationalist, was very kind and gentlemanly in his manner;
and egotism was n element that could not be detected in his
intercourse with his students or society. In fact, he was
the least selfish public man I ever knew. The result was
that while he always had a flourishing school, and was popular
among the students and the people, he was always financially
distressed. If he found a student struggling to obtain an
education, teaching in the winter and attending the academy in the
summer, he would not exact tuition, but insist that his pupil
should go ahead, and pay him when he could. This was often
equivalent to no pay.
As a speaker, Professor Andrews was not an
orator unless we define oratory to be the ability to please and
hold an audience. His addresses at school institutes, and
lectures before his classes, were all delivered in conversational
style. He talked remarkably well, and could hold an audience
or an institute for hours. There was a fascination about his
manner that invariably made his audience feel friendly toward him,
while the lucidness of his ideas enlisted their whole attention.
As a lecturer before institutes, he was widely known throughout
the State, and he exercised as much or more influence, perhaps,
that any other teachers in the west.
In consequence of his success as a teacher, in 1846,
the honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Kenyon
college.
In 1850 the union school system was adopted in many
parts of the State. The trustees of the schools at Massillon
solicited Professor Andrews to become superintendent.
In an unfortunate hour the people of Ashland permitted him to
retire from the academy, an institution which had been an ornament
to the town, and a source of profit to our people. The
academy speedily passed away, and the buildings were merged into
the union schools.
Professor Andrews remained at the head of the
Massillon schools about three years, during which time he was
nominated by the Whig Party, under the new constitution, for
commissioner of common schools for the State. He failed, by
a small vote, to secure his election. Under his management
the schools of Massillon were very efficient and popular.
In December, 1854, he was invited to accept the
presidency of Kenyon college, with which request he complied.
He was the first lay member of the Episcopal church who had been
invited to fill that position. To be selected to preside
over such an institution was indeed a flattering compliment.
His high educational attainments, added to his purity as a man,
made him the worthy recipient of such an honor. His presence
in the college acted like magic - his friends from every part of
the State began to look toward Kenyon as an appropriate place to
educate the young men of the country. The college received
new life; and energy and prosperity were diffused through every
department. Students began to fill the classes, and
everything betokened a prosperous future for the institution.
Some months after Professor Andrews had been
inaugurated president of Kenyon college, the honorary degree of
LL. D. was conferred upon him by Princeton college, New Jersey.
This was a high distinction and well deserved, because of his
remarkable success as an educator.
In 1861, in the midst of his success as president of
Kenyon, the rumbling sounds of discontent were borne from the
south, and a sanguinary civil war seemed to be imminent. In
February, believing the war to be inevitable, President Andrews
offered his services to the governor of Ohio. In April he
raised a company in Knox county, which reported to the governor,
and he was appointed colonel of the Fourth Ohio regiment.
Soon after his regiment was ordered into West Virginia, where it
remained on duty during the summer. In September Colonel
Andrews in consequence of exposure, was attacked by a
malignant form of typhoid fever, that fell destroyer of so many
northern soldiers, and, although able to reach his home in Ohio,
was so much prostrated that the friendly efforts of the physician,
and all human aid, failed to avert his impending end. The
sentiment -
Our life is a dream,
Our time like a stream
Glides swiftly away,
was fully illustrated. He died September 18,
1861. Just prior to his departure with his regiment to
Virginia, fearing some disaster might overtake him, he,
accompanied by his wife, went into the cemetery at Gambier, and
selected the spot where he desired to be buried in case of his
death in the army. His wishes were complied with, and his
honored remains now rest in sght of the institution he loved so
well during his active and useful life.
Much surprise and manifested among many of his old
friends when it was learned that he had abandoned the presidency
of Kenyon college to accept a place in the army. It was
believed that his true field was that of letters,,,,,,,, and that
his tastes in that direction. When a student under this
instruction in the old Ashland academy, years prior to the war,
while translating Homer, Virginia, Xenophon, Livy, Cicero, and the
orations of Demosthenes, and military spirit could be plainlet
detected in his comments upon the strategy of the heroes of that
age. At the mention of Achilles, "swift of foot" - "Peleus'
godlike son" " Mighty Agamemnon, king of men" - The venerable "nestor"
- the achievements of the Scipios, Alexander, Caesor, Hannibal and
Pomery, his enthusiasms exhibited itself in a forcible manner.
There can be but little doubt if Colonel Andrews had
survived the war he would have reached an elevated position as a
military man, and acquitted himself as bravely as a Morgan, a
McPherson, and a Sheridan. He was a very ambitious to excel
in everything he undertook, and his spirit, like -
"An eagle soared
On restless plumes to meet the imperial sun."
His motto was "Conquer, never cower at, opposition."
Hence he was always making progress in the line of his
profession. His theory was -
"Rest not! Life is sweeping by;
Go and dare before you die.
Something mighty and sublime
Leave behind to conquer time."
Right well he performed
his part in the drama of the world. He was only about
forty-two years old at his deceased. Few men heave
accomplished more. From a cabin, by the force of his
genius, he elevated himself to the presidency of one of hte best
colleges in the west before he was thirty-five years of age, and
proved himself one of the first educators of the times.
In person President Andrews was about five feet
eight inches high, would weigh about one hundred and thirty-five
pounds, hair inclined to be curly and sandy, a broad forehead, a
clear gray eye, a manly face full of benevolence; in his
manners, courteous and gentlemanly; in his gait, very erect and
quite sprightly in his movements. Such was President
Andrews, one of the noblest sons Ashland ever sent forth,
and whose career is worthy the emulation of all her future sons.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 210) |
MRS.
SARAH H. ANDREWS was born in Massachusetts in August, 1796.
She was the daughter of Levi Gates, one of the early
families of that State. She married Mr. Andrews,
having lost a former husband, when quite young. She accompanied
her husband to Ohio in 1817, and located in Union-town, now
Ashland, in the spring of that year. When they arrived the present
site of Ashland was nearly covered with the primitive forest,
there being but about five houses in the town. It is remembered
that the owners or occupants of these residences were Joseph
Sheets, nearly opposite the present hardware store of
Isaac Stull, on Main street; William
Montgomery, near where Mrs. Wages resides;
David Markley, where the town hall now stands, and
John Croft, a tanner, who resided just south of that
point. These constituted the population of Uniontown. Mrs.
Joseph Sheets, we believe, is the only person of
this number known to be alive, and present at the funeral of her
old and esteemed friend, on the fourteenth of February, who was
brought to Ashland to be interred beside her husband, Alanson
Andrews, who died May 20,1850.
During the lifetime of Mr. Andrews, he
and his family resided on what was formerly known as the David
Markley farm, bounding Ashland on the southwest, having
purchased the same from Mr. Markley. Some time in 1830,
Mr. Levi Gates, father of Mrs. Andrews, became a
citizen of Ashland, residing with his daughter, and died September
6, 1837, aged about seventy-two years. Her mother died in
Massachusetts, some years prior to his decease. Mrs.
Andrews was the mother of the gifted and scholarly Lorin
Andrews, who died president of Kenyon college, and is
believed to have been the second child born in Ashland, in 1819.
Some years since Mrs. Andrews removed to Geneseo,
Illinois, to reside with a relative, all her children having
sought homes in the west.
It has been about sixty-two years since Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews landed in the wilds of this region, very few
suspecting, at that time, that the little village in the woods
might in the future become a large town and county-seat. How great
the change. In lieu of the rugged settlers who cleared the
forests, erected cabins, and constructed our highways, and caused
the country to blossom as the rose, a new people now cultivate our
fields and possess the homes of the hardy pioneers who have been
gathered to the tomb. Here and there may be found a surviving
pioneer, with tottering gait and trembling hand, frosted with
years, to remind us that all must bid adieu to the scenes of time
sooner or later.
Mrs. Andrews died at Geneseo, Illinois,
February 9, 1879. She had many friends in Ashland, and their
sympathies are extended to those who have been bereaved in her
death. She was an exemplary member of the Presbyterian church for
many years, and evinced due preparation and fitness for another
and better world. Her death brings to remembrance many
reminiscences of the past. The remaining pioneers in this region,
in her departure, call to recollection the scenes of other days,
and their early experiences in the forests of this county. In her
decease they are reminded of the certainty of death, and
preparation that fits all mankind for another and better world,
where all pain and trouble shall cease.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 263) |
JOHN
AREHART, born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1815, came
to Ashland county in 1840, and settled on the farm on which he now
lives. In 1838 he married Elizabeth Senett; has
followed farming all his life; is a generous, kind-hearted and
strictly honest man, highly respected by all who know him; is a
member of the Lutheran church; in politics he is a Democrat. He is
the father of six children, viz: Sarah, wife of John
Oswalt, of Perrysville; Columbus, who married Emeline
Yates, and lives in Richland county; Susan, wife of
Alfred Chew, of Ashland county; Jane, wife of
Andrew Underwood, of Perrysville; Arsulia,
wife or Martin Robinson, of Richland county; and
John W., who married Olive Chew, and lives in
Richland county, Ohio.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 277) |
ABRAHAM
ARMENTROUT was born near Harrisonburg, Rockingham county,
Virginia, December 15, 1797. In his youth he attended a
subscription school and studied the elementary branches. In
1812 he volunteered, and served three months in the company of
Captain William Harrison, under Coloney Spangler, at
Richmond and Camp Bottom's bridge. After the expiration of
his service he was apprenticed and learned the trade of a
carpenter and house joiner. About the year 1817 his brother
George, and family, removed to Washington township,
Richland county, and located near the present site of Newville.
He was also a carpenter.
In December, 1818, Abraham Armentrout, then a
single young man, journeyed on foot from Rockingham county,
Virginia, through Cumberland, Maryland, along the pike which had
been completed to Wheeling, where he crossed the Ohio river, and
continued along Zane's trace to Zanesville, thence up the Licking
to Newark, and thence to Mount Vernon, and, by the path leading
through Clinton, to Lewis' block-house, on the Clear fork,
where he fond his brother. He married Miss Priscilla
Wade, and worked at his trade until about 1821, when he became
a farmer, and continued at that occupation until 1840, when he
located at Hayesville, in what is now Ashland count. After
his arrival in this county he kept a hotel about fourteen years,
and, in 1854, became postmaster, and retained the office to the
close of administration of President Buchanan.
In September, 1863, Mrs. Armentrout, deceased,
since which period he has resided in the family of his son,
Wade Armentrout, of Hayesville. He is in fair health,
and possesses a good deal of physical vigor for a man of his age.
The ancestors of Mr. Armentrout were English and German -
on his father's side German, and on his mother's English.
They settled in Rockingham county about the year 1690. His
grandfather, Henry Armentrout, died there in 1792, at an
advanced age. His father died in the same county in 1804.
George Armentrout located in Worthington
township, Richland county, in 1817, and Philip Armentrout,
another brother, in Knox county, near Mount Vernon, and Jacob
in Cedar county, Iowa. The descendants of these brothers are
quite numerous. The family retain a number of relics of the
olden times. Abraham Armentrout has in his possession
a copper tea-kettle, highly finished, which was imported by the
family, on the mother's side, from England, about one hundred and
fifty years ago. It is in good state of preservation, and
quite a curiosity.
The family of Mr. Armentrout consisted of seven
children, three sons and four daughters. Four yet survive -
Mrs. Amanda Glass, wife of the late Dr. Samuel Glass,
of Ashland, who was born in a little log cabin, twelve by twelve
feet, in Worthington township, Richland county, and rocked in an
humble cradle; Alpheus, of Windsor, Richland county;
Anselville, wife of Judge John J. Gurley, of Mt.
Gilead, Morrow county, and Wade, who resides in Hayesville.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 237) |
CAPTAIN ARMSTRONG,
of Greentown, whose Indian name was Pamoxet, is first
mentioned in the treaty of Fort Industry, on the Maumee river,
July 4, 1805. The object of the treaty was the final
relinquishment of all Indian title to the lands of the Western
Reserve. We are inclined to the opinion that he was a chief
of the Turtle tribe, and that he located at Greentown fifteen or
sixteen years before Pipe made his residence near the village of
Mohican Johnstown. He was there when the first settlers of
Green township commenced the erection of their cabins, in 1808-9;
and seemed to exercise a very controlling influence over the
Indians of that village, among whom were Delawares, Mingoes,
Mohawks, and a few Shawnees.
From the year 1800, up to 1812, Knox county furnished a
favorite resort for Armstrong and his tribe, in the fall of
the year, as a site for hunting. Mr. Banning, in
his history of Knox county, says the Indians congregated at
Greentown, at the periods mentioned above, numbering from three to
five hundred. During the summer seasons, various acts of
hostility were attributed to Armstrong's band, of which
they were doubtless innocent. Collisions, therefore, between
the white settlers of Knox county and Greentown Indians, became
frequent. The major part of the tribe, on the rumor of the
approaching war, voluntarily left Greentown; but Armstrong
and many others were loth to leave the hunting grounds of their
youth - the graves of their fathers - the homes of their race.
So Major Kratzer determined that Armstrong and his
people should be removed to Urbana, as before described.
At the time James Copus, John Coulter, and
Ebenezer Rice, first met Armstrong, he appeared to be
about sixty-five years of age; was a small man, slightly stopped,
rather dignified and reticent; dressed in full Indian costume, and
appeared to advantage. He had two wives; one an old squaw,
by whom he had James and Silas, and probably other
children. He married a young squaw about 1808, by whom he
had children. He frequently visited the first spring after
his arrival.
James and Silas often shot
at a mark, with bows and arrows, with James and Wesley
Copus, in the sugar camp. They also amused themselves by
hopping, wrestling and other boyish sports. Armstrong
had two Indian servants or slaves, both deaf. They were of
some other tribe. Armstrong appeared to be a harmless
old chief, and treated his pioneer neighbors very kindly. At
his request, James Copus preached a number of times to the
Greentown Indians. After Douglas removed the Indians,
Captain Armstrong settled with the Delawares in the
Upper Sandusky region, and never returned to Greentown. The
boys, James and Silas, frequently came back.
The old chief was a good Indian doctor, and could talk very good
English.
His descendants - the Armstrongs - intermarried
with the Delawares and Wyandots, and finally
removed, in 1828 - 29, west of the Mississippi.
It is believed that Captain Armstrong was born
in Pennsylvania, of white parents, and was captured, when quite
young, and adopted by the Delawares, and becoming a leading
warrior, was promoted to the office of chief.
There is a current legend among the pioneers of Green
township, that Armstrong received his name, when a young
man, from a successful contest with a black bear, just prior to
his promotion to the chiefship. It runs thus: "Pamoxet
was in the forest, hunting. He met and wounded a large black
bear. The ferocity of the animal was aroused. It
rushed upon him, and, in an erect posture, seized his left arm and
commenced to lacerate it. His gun being emptied, he seized
the bowlder, and when the bear began to gnaw his arm, he used the
bowlder upon its head. He soon compelled it to desist, and
it fell dead at his feet. The Indians immediately recognized
his heroic conduct, and called him Captain Strong Arm, or
Armstrong."
He died about the close of the war of 1812-15, on the
Delaware reserve.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 130) |
DR. DAVID
ARMSTRONG, graduated in Jefferson Medical college,
Philadelphia, in 1850, and was a physician of much promise.
He deceased in 1852, much lamented by his friends and the
profession. The late Doctor Armstrong was large,
finely developed gentleman, ruddy, and of imposing appearance.
He possessed many of the characteristics of his ancestry, both in
sense, wit and honor, and enjoyed a little fun and a hearty laugh.
As a physician and business man he stood deservedly high among his
fellows, and was noted for frankness and directness in all his
dealings with men. In politics, he was an old line Whig, and
more recently a member of the Republican party.
For one or two years prior to his last illness he had
been in feeble health. His last sickness was the result of
heart disease. For three or four months prior to his
decease, he was constantly distressed by the growing malady, all
of which he bore with exemplary fortitude and patience. His
sufferings were brought to a close on the morning of December 14,
1876, and his remains were deposited in the cemetery at
Hayesville.
The usual resolutions of the Ashland county Historical
and Pioneer society, of which he was a member, were adopted,
concerning his decease.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 171) |
DR.
HARRISON ARMSTRONG was born near Wellsville, Columbiana
county, Ohio, November 15, 1809. He was of Scotch-Irish
descent, his grandfather having emigrated from the north of
Ireland, and served as a soldier in the American Revolution.
He removed with his father's family to Canaan township, Wayne
county, in the year 1815. Here he attended the common
schools of the neighborhood, and grew to manhood. He
studied medicine under the instruction of the late Dr. L. F.
Day, of Wooster, in 1828, and attended lectures in
Cincinnati, at the Ohio Medical college, in the years 1830-1,
and graduated. He practiced medicine in 1831 in company
with Dr. Irvine, of Millersburgh, Holmes county, and in
the spring of 1832 located in the village of Hayesville, in
Ashland county, being the first regular physician who resided in
that place. He soon won public confidence, and for a
period of twenty years had a large and lucrative practice in
Vermillion, Mohican Green and Mifflin townships. In 1853
he retired from practice, and devoted his time partly to the
mercantile business, but chiefly to agriculture.
He owned a valuable farm in the vicinity of Hayesville,
to which he removed, and brought to a high state of culture.
He took great pride in the pursuits of scientific farmer.
He married in Hayesville, in 1837, Miss Margaret Cox,
daughter of the late Rev. John Cox, of Mansfield, one of
the pioneers of Vermillion township. His family consisted
of nine children - six sons and three daughters. Two of
his sons are dead.
(Source: History of Ashland County, Ohio with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches,
by George William Hill, M.D. - Published by Williams Bros. 1880. -
Page 170) |
Clearcreek Twp.
JOHN ATON removed to the northwest quarter
of section 26, Clearcreek Township, in April, 1821. He was
a native of, and had, up to the time named, resided in Alleghany
County, Pennsylvania. When he removed to his land, he was
unmarried, and while making his improvements during the first
two years after his arrival, he boarded at the house of John
McWilliams, who occupied the northeast quarter of the same
section, being the same land now owned by Andrew Ekey.
In April, 1823, having in the mean time married Miss Margaret
Ferguson, and erected a cabin, he removed upon his own land.
This Mr. McWilliams referred to was the first
settler of section 26, having removed to the country a year or
two after Abram Huffman; and, having resided upon this
land about eighteen years, removed to Illinois, where he died.
On the second Sabbath after his removal into his cabin, Mr.
McWilliams received a call from a band of about seventy
Indians, which so frightened him and family that they fled to
the house of their neighbor, Mr. Burns - leaving their
visitors in possession of their home and premises. The
Indians, however, disturbed nothing, and had no intention of
doing so, and were evidently much grieved at the fear their
presence had created.
A few months after this affair, an Indian, aged about
sixty years, named Isaac George, called one mooring upon
Mr. McWilliams, and met there, among others, a visitor at
the house from Pennsylvania, named Charles Russell, who,
with Mr. McWilliams, had just concluded preparations for
a trip to Mansfield. After they had started on their
journey, this Indian informed Mr. Aton and the family
that some thirty years previous, he, with another Indian,
captured, at his home in Washington County, Pennsylvania, this
identical Mr. Russell, then a boy of about twelve years
of age; and at the close of a hard day's travel, they made a
supper on a turkey roasted in Indian style, with its feathers
and entrails. To secure their prisoner at night, the
Indians placed withs over the boy, and planted themselves one on
each side of him, their bodies resting upon the ends of the
withs. The boy, however, was sleepless; and during the
night his captors rolled their bodies off the ends of the withs,
which released their prisoner, and afforded him an opportunity
of making good his escape. On the return of Mr. Russell,
the statement of Isaac George, the Indian, was repeated
to him, and he confirmed its truth in every particular - adding,
however, that had he recognized in the Indian one of his
captors, he would have cast his body into the flames. The
mysterious part of the matter was, in the almost instant
recognition by the Indian, in the mature man of gray hairs, of
the boy he had more than a quarter of a century before so deeply
wronged.
(
Source *2: History of Ashland County, Ohio - publ. 1863 - Page
118) |
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