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BIOGRAPHIES
(Source: History of Northwestern Ohio & Auglaize County
- by C. W. Williamson - Columbus, Ohio - Press of W. M. Linn &
Sons - 1905)
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THOMAS McKEE was
born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and came to Ohio when he was three
years old. His father was of Irish birth, and one of the
early settlers of Athens county. He son Thomas
labored on the home farm until 1822, when he entered upon
business for himself. In 1827 he married Annis
Reynolds, and in 1833 removed to Auglaize county and settled
in St. Mary's. Here he lived for two years, in which time
he purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land in section
ten, on which he resided until his death, which occurred in
1874.
Mr. McKee was a man of fine social qualities,
genial manners, and benevolent heart. He was prominent and
well known as a pioneer and citizen, and was held in high regard
by the community. For many years, he was an elder in the
Presbyterian Church, and actively engaged in the advancement of
religious interests in this section.
Mr. McKee was twice married; the first time, as
has already been stated, to Miss Annis Reynolds. Of
this marriage seven children were born, of whom three are
living. His second wife of Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, a
daughter of Judge John Armstrong, one of the first
settlers of the county. Five children were born of that
marriage, of whom three are living. |
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JUDGE
JOHN McLEAN was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in
1809. His father was a farmer, in which business young
McLean was reared. His chances for obtaining an education
were very limited, but in after life, by patient application, he
acquired a fair business education. In 1833, he went to
Richland county, Ohio, and obtained employment, as a farm hand,
near Mansfield. In 1837 he married Miss Mary Cobean,
and moved immediately after to Goshen township, Allen, now
Auglaize county. They raised a family of four children,
John G., Melissa, Robert A., and Sarah E.
November 16th, 1836, Mr. McLean entered one
hundred and sixty acres of land in section six, Goshen township.
On this land he erected a house and other buildings, preparatory
to his marriage which took place the next year. Mr.
McLean resided on this farm until his death, which occurred
May 5th, 1875. He was elected associate judge for the
county after its organization, which position he filled until
the new constitution abolished the office.
Judge McLean was of an unassuming and retired
disposition, attentive to his own affairs, taking little part in
the public matters. But no man in his neighborhood was
more highly respected or considered more trustworthy. |
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COLONEL
SAMUEL R. MOTT was born in Knox county, Ohio, Jan. 26,
1818, and was the fifth of a family of six children. The
Motts were French Huguenots, and came to America near the
commencement of the American Revolution. Major John
Mott, grandfather of Colonel Mott, was an
officer in the Continental army, and served during the war.
He received a severe wound in the left shoulder which disabled
him for active service. He was put on detached service,
after that serving as a recruiting officer. At the close
of the war he entered the Baptist ministry, and came to Knox
county, Ohio, where he died at the age of ninety-two years.
Gordon Mott, the father of
Colonel Mott, was born in Hartford, Connecticut.
He was a graduate of Yale College, and came to Ohio in 1806, and
settled in Knox county, where he remained until 1837, when he
came to Auglaize county. In 1837 he returned to Knox
county on business, and died at the home of his brother John,
at the age of sixty years. He served in the War of 1812,
and was taken prisoner at Detroit when General Hull surrendered,
and was held by the enemy until after peace was declared.
Colonel Mott's educational opportunities
were limited to about three months' attendance at a primitive
pioneer log school house that was furnished with slab seats, and
heated by means of an old fashioned fireplace, and lighted by
means of greased paper windows. He was, however, carefully
trained at home by wise and good parents, with whom he came to
Auglaize county when he was fifteen years old. At that age
he began life for himself by learning the trades of bricklayer
and plasterer. In May, 1836, he enlisted in Captain
Charles Colerick's company and went to Texas,
where he took part in the campaigns of that State when it
decided to secede from Mexico. He took part in a number of
skirmishes, but the decisive battle had been fought before he
reached there. In 1838 he returned and resumed his trade
at Dayton. In the fall of the same year he purchased a
farm in Dublin township, Mercer county, and taught school the
following year.
In 1840 he began the study of law in the office of his
brother Gordon N., at Piqua, and in March, 1842, was
admitted to the bar in Cincinnati. In 1846 he was elected
prosecuting attorney for Mercer county. In 1848, when
Auglaize county was organized as a separate county, he was
elected its first prosecuting attorney. He resigned in the
fall of the same year, as the Democratic party had elected him
to represent the district in the State Legislature. After
two terms in that body he was again elected prosecuting attorney
of the county.
Colonel Mott was busily engaged in the
practice of law when the Civil War commenced. In April,
1861, he was elected lieutenant of a company recruited at St.
Mary's Upon reaching Columbus he received a captain's
commission, and was attached to The Twentieth Ohio Regiment.
The company was enlisted for three months, and was mustered out
of service the following September. Upon his return he
recruited another company in October, and was assigned to the
Thirty-first Ohio as captain. In the same month he was
appointed colonel of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio
Regiment. His bravery and ability as a disciplinarian won
the promotion. The following is a list of the battles in
which the Colonel participated: Corinth (Miss), Mill
Springs, Kingston, Mossy Creek, Rocky-faced Ridge, Kenesaw
Mountain, Atlanta, Resaca, and Dallas. He was honorably
discharged from the army in March, 1864.
Upon retiring from the army he returned to St. Mary's
and resumed the practice of law.
Colonel Mott was a genial, jovial man,
possessed of a rare degree of wit and humor, which he was fond
of exercising. He was one of the most highly respected men
of the county.
Colonel Mott was married in 1843, the
Mrs. Caroline Kepner, of St. Mary's township.
Of this union twelve children were born, of whom six are still
living.
Colonel Mott died January 15, 1896. |
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