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| WILLIAM
DAVIS, Marengo; son of Nathaniel and Martha
(Doty) Davis; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, Sept. 30, 1822; he
remained with his father until he died, which was Aug. 6, 1839.
His schooling was very limited, consisting of but two or three
terms of winter school; the school house he remembers as a log
cabin, with a portion of one of the logs sawed out for a window,
and oiled paper served in the stead of window glass. In
this poorly constructed concern he received only the rudiments
of an education; since that time and out of school he has
acquired quite a good knowledge of books and sufficient to pass
a teacher's examination. When Mr. Davis first
attended school, children that could read, write and cipher were
considered graduates. William remained with his
mother after his father's death, until she married John Lash.
On the 30th of Nov., 1844. he was married to Lovina Vining,
daughter of John and Abigail (Ganong) Vining. No
family has ever been born to this union. They have raised two
orphan children from infancy and partly raised two others.
James Rice and Juliet Davis were brought up by
Mr. and Mrs. Davis. These children now are married and
occupy responsible positions in the neighborhood in which they
live. Mr. Davis started in life with scarcely a
shilling, but by industry, frugality and hard labor, he has
amassed quite a fortune. His place is nicely situated on
teh Mt. Vernon road, one mile east of Marengo, and consists of
269 acres of good land. He has acquired this by farming
and stock-dealing, and is said to be one of the most extensive
stock-dealers in Morrow Co. Though successful in business,
Mr. Davis has been unfortunate in having met with severe
accidents by flood and field. Once, when only a child, he
fell in a deep spring, and was only rescued from drowning by the
timely arrival of his sister. At another time he was on a
steamboat in Lake Erie when it collided with a lumber-laden
brig, and only escaped drowning by a miracle. HE was also
in the great railroad horror that occurred in Iowa in 1877.
In this wreck there was over thirty killed, and a great number
wounded. In this accident Mr. Davis received severe
injuries, the Iowa State Register to the contrary.
His last accident occurred the latter part of June, 1880.
While riding in his carriage the horse took fright and ran away,
throwing Mr. Davis out and kicking on the him so severely
that the thigh bone was broken about two inches from the
hip-socket. Though an old man, the vigorous constitution
he possesses will carry him through, so that he may again assume
his usual prominent position in society. He is a staunch
Republican in politics, but has steadily declined positions of
honor and trust tendered him. He is one of the most
prominent and upright men in Bennington Tp. and south-eastern
Morrow Co. |
| WILLIAM
DENMAN, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; was born July 7,
1812, in New Jersey; his father, Jonathan, was also born in Morris
Co., New Jersey; his father, Jonathan, was also born in
Morris Co., New Jersey. His mother, Elizabeth Butler,
was born in the state of New York. They were married in
Sussex Co., New Jersey, and there settled on 500 acres, which his
father owned. They came to Ohio about 1837 or 1838.
Their children were: Caroline, William Electa, James B.,
Jonathan, John and Martha. The father joined the
church when twelve years old, and the mother when twenty-seven.
William remained with his parents until married, and
endured the labors that fell to the lot of the pioneer; he
has missed but three harvests since he was sixteen years old, and
made a full hand from that time. He was married Feb. 18,
1841, to Sarah, daughter of William E. and Mary Larison
Davison. She was born June 7, 1822, and is the mother of
thirteen children: Mary, Martha, Jonathan B.,
enlisted in Co. F, 136th O. N. G.; William, Sylvester, Clarissa
L., Samantha, Cyntha, Electa C., Phoebe, Joel B., Sarah and
Ida M. In 1850, Mr. Denman bought seventy-five
acres, a portion of his present farm of 240 and finely improved
land, obtained entirely by his own labors. He had but $30
when he married, but by careful management he has accumulated a
nice little fortune, and is classed among the well-to-do farmers
of this township. He makes a specialty of fine sheep.
He and his wife are members of the Baptist church at Chesterville;
he has held the office of assessor for four years in Knox Co.; he
cast his first vote for Democratic party up to the time of the
Douglas campaign, and since that time has been an active
Republican. |
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Harmony Twp. -
SAMUEL DITWILER, farmer; P. O., Chesterville; was born Sept. 7, 1821, in Franklin Co.,
Penn., and was married in Dec.
1841, to Jane, daughter of
James and Margaret Riddle. Her parents emigrated from
richland Co., this State at an early day, and
were the parents of Joseph, Ibbie,
Samuel, Polly, Margaret, Lettie, John, Jane, William. Mr. Ditwiler by his second
marriage has the following children –
Wilson, Margaret, James, Fannie, Ella, Lettie and
Edgar; Mrs. Ditwiler died Oct. 17, 1870; she was a member of the Methodist Church; he was again married in 1876 to
Mrs. Mary George, whose maiden name
was Pierce; she had nine children,
three of whom survive – Curtis E., Lilly
A. and Abbie
L. Her first husband died May 13, 1858.
Mr. Ditwiler owns 66 acres of well improved land, all of which has been attained by his
own labors. He is now located on 97
acres, which belong to William George’s
heirs. He paid out a portion of the
township draft; has served in township offices.
He nad wife are Methodists; he votes the Republican ticket. His father,
Jacob, was born in Washington Co., Penn., May 9, 1792; his mother, Apr. 9, 1793;
the father died there, and the mother and her sons,
Samuel and John, came to Richland Co.
and began anew in the green woods.
The sons were young, but helped their industrious mother to improve it and now
have a nice little farm. The mother
died in 1879; she and her husband were Luterans.
Source #1: History of Morrow County and Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880 - Page 705
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Harmony Twp. -
JOSEPH DOTY, farmer, P. O. Cardington; was born July
4, 1816, in Newark, N. J.; at the age of sixteen he began carpentering, at which
he continued the most of his life; he came on foot to Pa., and then to Ohio in
1836, settling at Chesterville, joining his father's family at that place; he
soon after returned to Pa., and subsequently came again to this county, and
thence back to Pa., where he was married in 1837 to Cecelia, daughter of James
and Jane Green; she was born April 25, 1814, in Butler Co., Pa.; by her he had
nine children – Joanna married
Daniel Beach; Sarah married
Jacob Miller, W. D., Joseph S.,
deceased; James L., deceased;
Catharine, deceased;
Agnes, married D. R. Hilliard; Mary E., D. G. married Mary McDonald. The family settled on the
present farm of 98 acres in 1865; it is owned by the subject and his son,
W. D.; it is finely improved and
watered by spring, and has orchard and buildings.
There are perhaps but few who have experienced the trials of life
encountered by Mr. Doty and wife.
W. D.
was seriously crippled by cutting his knees while raising a building,
which has disabled him for life; he is successfully breeding the English Punch
horses, being scarcely able to do anything else; he gives his entire attention
to this business, and, of course, is very successful; he was engaged in the coal
oil business for ten years in Pa.
Joseph’s wife can remember when her
parents were compelled to bar the doors of their house to keep the wolves from
entering.
Joseph’s father was once very
wealthy, and once owned 200 acres of land, where now stands the present city of Newark, N. J.
Source #1: History of Morrow County and Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880 - Page 704
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Bennington Twp. -
LYDIA A. (DWINNELL) ROGERS - farmer; P. O.,
Pagetown. This lady is the daughter of Allen and Lydia
(Harris) Dwinnell, who were among the earliest settlers in the
township. Father Allen was the projector of
Bennington Tp., and the one who named it. He was born in
1785, and his wife in 1783; and they were married in 1804.
To them was born the following family - Sally, 1809;
Clark H., 1812; Phillip P., 1814; Hannah O.,
1815, and Lydia Ann, 1821. The father died in 1836,
and the mother in 1855. Much of Mr. Dwinnell's
life will be found in the history of Bennington Tp. He was a
Frenchman, with the native suavity and politeness that
characterize those people. Lydia received the best
education that the common schools afforded, and finished at the
Female Seminary, at Granville in two years. In 1840 she
married Seal S. Rogers, son of William and
Elizabeth (Wyant) Rogers, who had the following
family - Mary and Sarah, who were twins; Uriah,
Robert, Hannah, James, Charlotte,
Seal, John and Caroline. Lydia and
husband have had the following family - Clark D.,
born 1842, and Mary Eugenie, 1844; Mary E.,
died in 1862; Clark was married in 1865 to Polly,
daughter of Elias Wilson; he has no family.
Allen Dwinnell was an old line Whig, and gloried in
that cognomen. Seal Rogers was the same.
Lydia Rogers is a Universalist, while her husband
was a "New Light." The Dwinnells were Methodists.
Lydia owns 125 acres of fine land, and her son Clark
owns 65. The son lives with his mother in the old Rogers
place. The mother received a much better education than
children usually obtained in those early days. Her father
owned large bodies of land, and for the backwoods, was considered
a wealthy man. He was a justice of the peace, a lawyer, and
was a man of distinction in that section. |
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