For Reference: Noble County was formed in 1851

PLEASE NOTE:  If you see a name that you would like to see on here,
please contact me and I will put it on here ahead of others.
Sharon Wick

<BACK TO BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX> HON. ISAAC PARRISH, son of Edward Parrish, who settled in Sharon Township in 1819, was not only the first lawyer who resided in Noble County, but he was also the first and only resident of the county who ever held a seat in Congress.  He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was a shrewd politician.  He was considered a good speaker, and during his public life delivered many public addresses in this and neighboring counties.  He was an enterprising and ambitious, somewhat visionary, and often impractical, but always thoroughly in earnest in whatever he undertook.  He was an early merchant in the village of Sharon and afterwards was engaged in milling business at the same place.  He projected a railroad which ultimately merged into the old "Calico" railroad scheme, by which he and others were heavy losers.  He did not devote himself closely to law practice for any long period, but bore a good reputation in his profession throughout southeastern Ohio.      Isaac Parrish was born in Belmont County in March, 1804.  He was mainly self-educated.  He read law in St. Clairsville and was probably admitted to the bar there.  He practiced in Guernsey, Belmont and Morgan Counties; was elected prosecuting attorney at Cambridge and rose to prominence.  In 1838 he was elected to Congress from the Eleventh district, Guernsey County.  He was a candidate for re-election but was defeated by Hon. Benjamin S. Cowen, of Belmont.  He then removed to Morgan County and in 1844 was elected to Congress over Dr. Perley B. Johnson, the Whig nominee, after a close and exciting contest.  He was active in organizing Noble County, hoping Sharon might secure the county seat.  After his second term in Congress, he devoted himself mainly to milling business in Morgan and Noble Counties.  In 1854 he removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where he practiced law for a time.  He then went to Harrison County, Iowa, where he died in 1860.  He was a Democrat, an earnest partisan and very popular with his party.  He was genial and agreeable and readily made friends among all classes.  He was married in Belmont County to Rachel Haines, and had a family of four sons and two daughters that grew to maturity.     "BENNY PENN, the father of Benjamin F. Penn, the subject and writer of this sketch, was born in the State of Maryland, Oct. 13, 1774.  He was twice married, his first wife being a Miss Redmond, by whom he had seven children; Celeb, Reason R., Charles K., Greenbury V., Nancy, Ellen and Ann.  His wife died about 1820.  In 1822 he married Miss Rhoda Anderson, born Aug. 31, 1791.  By this marriage he had two children:  George W., born Nov. 8, 1825, and Benjamin F., born June 8, 1832, in the County of Anne Arundel, Md.  In the year 1832, my parents emigrated west, and settled near the town of Fairview, Guernsey County, Ohio.  There they lived a happy family till my father died, Apr. 17, 1840, leaving the family without a home.  All our effects did not amount to more than $150 in value.  On account of our scanty means, my mother was unable to keep house.  My brother George went to Middletown to learn the saddle and harness trade under his brother Greenbury, and mother and I became dependent upon relatives and friends.  In this way we lived in Guernsey and Belmont Counties till 1843, when we went on a visit to relatives in Knox County.  The same year my brother left Middletown and came to Carlisle, Noble County, to clerk for Moses C. Morton, who had a store here.  I lived with an uncle in Knox County, working on a farm in summer, doing chores and going to school in winter.  Prior to this time I had labored under many disadvantages in my efforts to obtain an education, one of which was my frequent removals from one school district to another.  I have, in my school years, from eight to thirteen, attended all kinds of country schools, good, bad and indifferent, held in all kinds of houses, from a log cabin with greased paper for windows and split saplings for seats, with other corresponding accommodations, to a brick building for small dimensions and planed boards for desks.  Though a diligent student, it is not to be wondered at that I left school with but a small stock of scientific lore.      "In 1845 I went to Middletown, to live with my half-brother and go to school.  Soon after my arrival I determined to visit my brother at Carlisle, and on the 9th of November, on Sunday, I started on foot, arriving the same evening about dusk, having traveled twenty-six miles, tired, hungry and with six and a quarter cents in my pocket, this being my entire capital.  My brother wished me to remain near him, and the following Tuesday succeeded in getting me a situation as clerk and errand boy in J. E. & C. A. Boyd's store, for which I received my board and clothes.  I remained with them till the fall of 1846, when my brother procured me a situation with William McPherson of Carlisle, as clerk and errand boy, for which I received $40 per year; at the close of the year I had due me of this salary $25.  In the winter of 1846-7 my brother caught a severe cold, which resulted in quick consumption, and he left Carlisle about the first of April and went to his half brother's at Middletown, where he lingered on till July 7, 1847, when he died and was buried beside his father in the cemetery at Fairview.  He had been a father to me while in Carlisle, and his loss was more than that of a brother.  I was left a boy of fifteen, without a protector, without a guide; but, thanks to the early training of a religious mother, I was enabled to shun the vices and resist the temptations of which Carlisle had an abundant stock.  After leaving William McPherson I clerked for J. E. & C. A. Boyd eight months, then  for John R. Wharton for one month.  I then left Carlisle and joined my mother, at my uncle's, near Somerton, Belmont County.  My mother and I now made arrangements to take a house in Fairview, where we were to reside.  It was my intention at this time to study medicine with James Warfield.  We accordingly moved to Fairview in June, 1848, and I commenced going to school preparatory to entering upon my medical studies.  In a few months we found it impossible, with our limited means, to carry out our design, so we gave up our house and returned to Knox County again.  We visited among relatives two months, when, becoming tired of doing nothing, I set about looking for work.  I succeeded in getting a clerkship in the store of William Reed, of Mt. Vernon, who sold out two months after, leaving me again in the cold.  I returned to my relatives and staid with them during the winter, having no permanent home, going to school with the children of the relative with whom I was staying, and changing my place of abode frequently.  In the spring of 1849, being anxious to obtain employment, I wrote to B. L. Mott, of Carlisle, asking for a clerkship in his store; receiving a favorable reply, I started at once.  After clerking for him three months, I engaged with Elias Ayles to learn the tinner's trade, thinking I should like to be a tinner.      After six months he failed, and I was again out of employment.  In a few days I entered John R. Warton's store again, in which I remained four months; then, to accommodate a friend in want of a place, I gave up my situation to him, and found employment with B. L. Mott once more.  This was in the spring of 1850.  After staying with him three months I engaged with C. A. Boyd, who in the fall of 1850 left Carlisle and went to Macksburg, Washington County, I going with him as partner.  We staid out about nine months, when, for want of a store-room, Mr. Boyd went to Beverly, buying out my interest.  In remained with him as clerk.  A month after his removal to Beverly I was sent to Carlisle on a collecting tour , and while there was solicited by S. J. Boyd to come and clerk for him.  More on account of some other attractions than the salary offered, I engaged with him, going back to Beverly to report proceedings.  In a few days I returned and entered upon my duties as clerk for S. J. Boyd, with whom I remained till the fall of 1853.  I never received any big pay for clerking - never more than $12.50 per month.  In the fall of 1853, having accumulated by wages and trading the sum of $600, I entered into partnership with Mr. Boyd in the mercantile business.      "On the 16th of October, 1853, I married Martha Enochs, daughter of Abraham and Mary Enochs, Abraham being the son of Elisha Enochs, one of the pioneers of the East Fork of Duck Creek.  HIs wife's maiden name was Nancy Archer.  They had eleven children, eight boys and three girls.  The boys were Henry, Abijah, Abraham, Simon, Cornelius, Samuel, Isaac and John; the girls were Cynthia, Susan and Nancy.  Abraham married Mary McBride, whose father, John McBride, was one of the old pioneers, and whose mother was one of the Crow girls who were attacked by teh Indians on Wheeling Creek, as related elsewhere in this work, and her two sisters slain.  The children of John McBride were William, John, Martin, Jacob, Michael, George, Susan, Nancy, Christine, Mary and Elizabeth.  Abraham and Mary Enochs had nine children: John, Richmond, Benjamin and Edward; Martha (wife of the subject of this sketch), Mary, Christine, Nancy and Margaret.  Martha was born near Carlisle, Jan. 28, 1834, where she resided until her marriage.  She, like myself, had labored under many difficulties in obtaining but a limited education.  She has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church since she was eleven years of age.  Soon after our marriage we settled in Carlisle, and in August, 1854, I purchased S. J. Boyd's interest in the store, thereby contracting a large debt, one that staid with us for ten or twelve years.  I bought considerable tobacco, had many ups and downs in my mercantile career, sometimes suffering losses I feared I could never recover from; but by being hard to discourage, diligent in my business, and having in S. J. Boyd a constant and untiring friend, I finally succeeded in ridding myself of my debts.  While I continued in the mercantile business, twenty years in all, I prospered.  I had at one time a branch store at Cameron, W. Va.  In the time I was in active business I have had five partners - Leonard Orme, I. C. Phillips, P. C. McGovern, A. R. Phillips and J. S. Prettyman, and nine clerks - I. C. Phillips, John Penn, David Gordon, R. F. Phillips, P. C. McGovern, George Neiswanger, Israel Archer, J. S. Prettyman and Jesse Lanam.  We have been blessed with three children: Rilla A., born July 28, 1854; Sadie E., Nov. 1, 1858, and Ella, born Feb. 10, 1864.      "My mother came from Knox County in 1854, and made my house her home until she died, Mar. 7, 1861.  Her remains lie in the cemetery at Fairview.      "Nov. 14, 1872, Rilla A. was married to J. S. Prettyman.  She and her husband resided in Carlisle.  Two children were born to them - Franklin L. and Willie P.  Apr. 29, 1881, Rilla A. died, leaving her husband with two small children, and on the 10th day of the following September the youngest child, Willie P., followed his mother to the angel land.  Both mother and son were buried in Carlisle cemetery.  Sept. 6, 1882, Ella was married to R. W. Smith.  They have two children: one boy, Frank P., and one girl, Grace.  On the 25th of February, 1883, Sadie E. was married to A. W. Barnes.  She died June 24, 1883.  She was buried in the cemetery at Carlisle.      "I have been associated with a company organized to test the territory in the vicinity of Carlisle for oil.  The company was organized some two years ago.  We leased several thousand acres of land, and put down four test wells, all of which were failure.      "I own seven hundred acres of land besides the fifteen acres belonging to my town residence.  I have been school director for some twenty years; postmaster for four years; and treasurer of the township more than twenty years.  With one exception, I have always voted the Republican ticket."      It is but justice to Mr. Penn, and to those who know him best, to add that but few men stand higher in the public esteem in all that is essential to good citizenship.  Commencing life at the bottom round of the ladder, he has won success solely through his own personal efforts in all the departments of life.  He is one of those gentlemen whose identification with any community is always productive of good. ~ Page 457 (Photos of Mr. and Mrs. Penn available) DANIEL PETTAY, who had been a Methodist preacher, was elected justice of the peace, and after some years in that office, was admitted to the bar.  He had but little legal business.  He was a man of good sense and fair ability.   WILLIAM PRIESTLY read law in Sarahsville in the office of E. A. Bratton and began practice in that town.  He removed to Caldwell after the latter became the county seat, and remained until 1862, when he entered the Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant.  He served through the war and in 1864 was offered a captaincy, but declined the commission.  He did not return to Caldwell to practice law after the war.  Mr. Priestly was a sound, well-posted man - a good office lawyer, but not a fluent speaker.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: