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BENJAMIN E. HARRISON. In
connection with his ownership of a fine farm of 100 acres in North Township,
Harrison County, Mr. Harrison has in his possession the original patent
or deed to the property, the same having been issued by the Government to
Emanuel Hendricks, bearing date of Dec. 10, 1827, and bearing the signature
of John Quincy Adams, who was then President of the United States.
They ancient document is on old-time sheepskin parchment and is an interesting
historical object.
Benjamin Edgar Harrison was born in the township
that is now his place of residence, and the date of his nativity was Oct. 5,
1869. John Harrison, of Yorkshire, England, was one of the first
English pioneer settlers in North Township, Harrison County, where he
established his home in 1816 and where he secured a tract of Government land.
In 1823, however, he returned to his native land, and there his death occurred
about ten years later, when he was seventy years of age, his wife likewise
having died in England, where he owned an excellent farm of 114 acres, in
Yorkshire. Joseph Harrison, son of John, was sixteen years
of age when he accompanied his father to Harrison County in 1816, and here he
assisted in the reclamation of the frontier farm. He returned to England
in 1823, but in 1826 he again came to Harrison County, where he developed a
productive farm in North Township, and where he continued his residence until
his death, April 13, 1878. He was first a democrat and later a republican
in politics, and his earnest religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He was a man of sterling character and marked ability, and he
contributed his share to the civic and industrial development and progress of
Harrison County. In 1828 he wedded Miss Ellen Hartley, whose
father, Christopher Hartley, came from Carlton, England, and became a
pioneer farmer in Harrison County. He remained in North Township until his
death in 1864, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, and his widow was
seventy-eight years of age at the time of her death in 1867. Their
children were seven in number. Mrs. Harrison died in 1853, at the
age of forty-seven years, and was survived by two sons, John and William C.,
a third son, Joseph, having died in 1847, at the age of seven years.
In 1857, Joseph Harrison married Sarah Heron, who long survived
him and whose death occurred in 1890, when she was seventy-seven years of age.
Mr. Harrison served as township trustee and was otherwise influential in
community affairs, with high place in popular confidence and esteem.
William C. Harrison, son of Joseph and
father of the subject of this review, was born on the old family homestead in
North Township Oct. 29, 1837, and in this township he passed his entire life,
which was marked by continuous and successful association with farm industry.
As a boy and youth he attended school at Richmond, Jefferson County, where for
some time his roommate was Gen. George A. Custer, who met his death in
the historic Indian massacre that perpetuates his name, a personal letter from
General Custer to William C. Harrison being one of the prized
family heirlooms at the present time. In 1863 Mr. Harrison and his
wife established their home on the farm in North Township which continued to be
the stage of his activities until his death, in 1912. He made excellent
improvements on this place of 166 acres, and he was one of the representative
farmers and influential and honored citizens of North Township, where he served
two terms as township trustee. He was affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, was a republican in politics and his widow, who now
resides with her youngest daughter at Dennison, Tuscarawas County, is a devoted
communicant of the Lutheran Church.
In the autumn of the year 1860 Mr. Harrison
married Miss Elizabeth Ann Waddington, who was born in Harrison County,
Dec. 4, 1841, and who is the daughter of William and Ann (Wallace) Waddington,
whose marriage was solemnized in this county in February, 1839. William
Waddington was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1815, and came to America in
1835. His wife was born in Pennsylvania and as before intimated, was a
resident of Harrison County at the time of their marriage. They
subsequently established their home on a farm in Tuscarawas County, where they
passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of ten
children - James, Elizabeth, John, William Henry, Mary Jane, Sarah, Amos,
Isaac, David Fillmore and Elmer. Of the children of Mr. and
Mrs. William C. Harrison the first born was Elmer, who died at the
age of eighteen months; Mary is the wife of C. Melvin Liggett,
a farmer near Leesville, Carroll County; Anna is the wife of Frank
McCullough, of Richmond, Jefferson County; Hannah died in infancy;
Benjamin Edgar, of this review, was the next in order of birth;
Laura is the widow of Homer Porter, and resides at East
Springfield, Ohio; William W. is a resident of Denver, Colorado; Grace
is the wife of Ross Stewart, of Carrollton, Ohio; Joseph is
specifically mentioned in an appending personal sketch; and Florence is
the wife of Chester Adrian of Dennison, Ohio, where he widowed mother
resides with them.
Benjamin Edgar Harrison, who is more familiarly
known by his second personal name, gained his early education in the district
schools of North Township and supplemented this by a commercial course of one
year at Scio College. From his boyhood he has been continuously associated
with farm industry in his native township, and his successful activities include
a well order dairy business. His political allegiance is given to the
republican party, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal
Church at Scio, where he is also affiliated with the lodge of the Knights of
Pythias. He is alert and progressive in his farm enterprises and as a citizen
takes deep interest in all tings touching the welfare of his native county.
On the 6th of November, 1895, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Harrison to Miss Sadie Markley, daughter of
Mathias and Sarah Jane (Shambaugh) Markley of whom adequate mention is
made on other pages of this work, in the personal sketch of Jeremiah J.
Arbough. The personal sketch of Jeremiah J. Arbaugh, The
Markley family was one of the pioneer prominence and influence in
Harrison County, and Mathias Markley, father of Mrs. Harrison,
passed his entire life in this county, his death having occurred on his
old home farm in Rumbley Township Oct. 22, 1887, and his widow having burned him
by a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have five children_
Byron W., Ralph, Eva, Frederick and Edgar. Byron W. Harrison daily
responded to the nation's call for service in connection with the late World
war, but was rejected one week after arriving at Camp Sherman, Ohio, by reason
of impaired vision. HE made a Jan. 5, 1921, Sue Frances Crawford
daughter of Alexander and Nannie (Mitchell)
Crawford, of North Township. Ralph Harrison, in and out of same data
as his brother, this being a double wedding, weeded Vera Mae Easlick, Charles
Easlick of North Township
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JOHN HARRISON. Both by
reason of his sterling character and large and worthy achievement and his status
as a representative of one of the honored and influential pioneer families of
Harrison County, is the late John Harrison entitled to special tribute in
this history. He passed virtually his entire life on the fine old
homestead farm which was the place of his birth in North Township, this county,
and in his civic relations as well as his career as a representative of
agricultural and livestock industry in his native county he was emphatically the
apostle of progress, true and earnest in all of the relations of life and well
worthy of the high esteem in which he was uniformly held. He was born July
10, 1830, on the ancestral farmstead in North Township, and on this place his
death occurred Dec. 2, 1908.
John Harrison was a son of Joseph and Ellen
(Hartley) Harrison, both natives of England. Joseph Harrison
was born on a fine old homestead known as Stubbens Farm, near Otley,
Yorkshire, England, and was a son of John Harrison who first came from
England to the United States in 1814 and who at the time made his way as far to
the west as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After his return to England he there
remained until 1816, when he came again to America and soon afterward became the
first representative of the English pioneer families in North Township, Harrison
County. In 1823 he returned to his native land, and there his death
occurred about ten years later, when he was seventy years of age. He was
a farmer by occupation during his entire active career, and in England was the
owner of an excellent farm of 114 acres of Yorkshire. His wife like wise
passed the closing years of her life in England.
Joseph Harrison was a youth of sixteen years
when he came with his father to the United States in 1816, and the home was
established in a pioneer log cabin on a tract of about eight acres of timbered
land in North Township, Harrison County, where he did well his part in felling
the forest trees and making the tract available for cultivation. In 1823
he returned with his father to England, but in 1826 he came again to the pioneer
farm in North Township, Harrison County. In 1828 he here wedded Miss
Ellen Hartley, daughter of Christopher Hartley, who came from
Carlton, England, and became a pioneer settler in Harrison County, Ohio, where
he secured land in North Township and where his family joined him in 1820.
Here he died in 1864, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, and his wife,
Mary, passed away in 1867, aged seventy-eight years, their children having been
seven in number. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Harrison,
settled on the farm which later became the property of their son John,
subject of this memoir, and in 1835 they here replaced the primitive log house
with a substantial frame building. Here Mrs. Harrison died in the
year 1853, aged forty-seven years, and of their three children John and
William became substantial farmers of North Township, the third son
Joseph, Jr., having died in 1847, at the age of seven years. In 1857
Joseph Harrison contracted a second marriage, when Sarah Heron
became his wife, and he remained on his old home farm until his death, April 13,
1878, his widow having long survived him and having passed away in 1890, at the
age of seventy-seven years. Both were earnest members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, as was also the first wife. Joseph Harrison was a
democrat until the anti-slavery movement led him in 1846 to transfer his
alliance to the free-soil party, from which he withdrew to ally himself with the
republican party at the time of its organization. He had no desire for
public office, but his civic loyalty caused him to give effective service as
township trustee of North Township.
John Harrison gained his early education by
attending winter sessions of the pioneer schools, and during the intervening
summer seasons he found his youthful services in requisition in connection with
the work of the home farm. He became not only the largest landholder in
North Township, with a finely improved farm of 420 acres, but he also owned a
farm of 290 acres in Carroll County. He was one of the foremost and most
successful exponents of livestock industry in this section of the state, was for
a number of years a leader in the raising of sheep in Harrison County, but later
gave his attention largely to dairy farming, in which connection he shipped
large quantities of milk to Pittsburgh and other points, his shipment of milk in
the year 1890 having aggregated nearly 15,000 gallons. Mr. Harrison
was emphatically a man of prescience, enterprise and progressiveness, and in
this connection it is interesting to record that he introduced the first mowing
machine placed in operation in North Township, in 1857, besides which he
manufactured and installed on his farm the first tile drain pipe in the
township, his manufacturing of drain tile having been successfully continued for
eleven years, within which he supplied much of the tiling utilized in his
township. For fully half a century John Harrison rode a mowing
machine in each successive season, and he took great pride and satisfaction in
his successful association with farm industry, in connection with which he was a
leader in progressive movements in this section of the Buckeye State. On
his farm he raised the largest steer ever shipped out of Harrison County, this
animal having been shipped to Pittsburgh and having there tipped the scales at a
weight of 3,250 pounds.
In politics Mr. Harrison became a stalwart
advocate and supporter of the principles of the republican party, and in the
climacteric period leading up to the Civil war he was a staunch abolitionist.
A man of well fortified convictions, he never lacked the courage of the same,
and his wife was guided and governed by the highest principles, so that to him
was justly accorded the respect and confidence of his fellow men. His
widow survived until Aug. 4, 1920. She was a devoted member of the
Presbyterian Church.
On the 22d of April, 1852, was solemnized the marriage
of John Harrison to Miss Euphemia Patterson, who was born and
reared in Carroll County and who was a daughter of John and Isabella
(McMillan) Patterson, the latter of whom died Sept. 13, 1859, and the former
died Nov. 17, 1846. They were married Nov. 25, 1824. The
Patterson family was founded in Carroll County in the early part of the
nineteenth century. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison became the parents
of twelve children, concerning whom brief record is here given: Joseph T.,
who is engaged in the practice of law, as one of the representative members of
the bar in the City of Cincinnati, married Miss Vernelia Smith, and they
have one child, Louis Kerper. James M., who owns and resides
upon a fine ranch in the State of Washington, is, in 1920, serving his
second term as representative of Skagit County in the Legislature of that state.
He married Miss Ora Holmes, and they have three children - George,
Mina and John. John P., born Mar. 31, 1857 died Aug. 2,
1895. Charles S. was a resident of the State of Kansas at the time
of his death on Mar. 21, 1899. He was born Mar. 22, 1858.
Isabella and William were twins, born June 22,1860. Isabella
died Mar. 24, 1896, and William died December 11, 1909. Isabella
became the wife of Nelson Carter and was a resident of Marshall
County, Kansas, at the time of her death. Her twin brother, William
was a resident of California for a number of years prior to his death.
Ella continued to reside in Harrison County until her death, in August, 1909.
Abraham L., who was born Feb. 28, 1864, died at Gunnison, Colorado, in
the year 1882. Thaddeus S. is associated with his brother Milton
B. in the management of the fine old home farm in North Township.
Effie is the wife of Sherman McKlveen, of Scio, this county.
Milton B. is the youngest of the sons. Virginia is the wife of
Harry H. Whittaker, of Stock Township.
Thaddeus S. and Milton . Harrison have,
maintained a partnership alliance in the ownership and operation of the old home
farm since 1909, and the aggregate area of their holdings is 254
acres. They are well upholding the prestige of the family name as
progressive agriculturists and stock-growers and as loyal and public-spirited
citizens. They give special attention to the raising of pure-blood
Aberdeen Angus cattle, and in this department of farm enterprise they have been
successful in their activities during a period of more than a decade.
Thaddeus S. is numbered among the eligible bachelors of his native county.
Milton B. married Miss Alice Viola Haines, daughter of George
D. Haines of whom individual mention is made in the following sketch of this
volume, and the four children of this union are: Wilbur L., Famy Marie,
Delmar S. and Virginia Belle. |
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JOSEPH HARRISON,
younger brother of Benjamin Edgar Harrison, in whose personal sketch
preceding this sketch, is given adequate record concerning the family
history, was born on the farm which is his present place of residence, in
North Township, Harrison County, and the date of his nativity was Mar. 24,
1880. He has remained continuously on the old home farm, and his
youthful education was acquired in the public schools of his native
township. His practical experience in connection with farm activities
has well qualified him for successful enterprise in this important
field of endeavor, and he is one of the representative agriculturists and
stock-raisers of the younger generation in North Township. His
political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he and his wife
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The year 1910 recorded the marriage of Mr. Harrison
to Miss Eva Carpenter, who was born and reared in Guernsey
County, and who is a daughter of Frederick and Mary (McCourt) Carpenter.
The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison is brightened by the
presence of their three children - Charles, Kathryn and Mary
Martha. |
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