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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Preble
County,
Ohio
Genealogy & History |
Biographies
(Source: History of Preble County,
Ohio - H. Z. Williams & Bro, Publishers - 1881)
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LEONARD BROCK
moved from Virginia and settled in Harrison township about 1850.
His wife, Mary Ann (Voze), died in Union county about
1843. They had five children, four of whom are dead.
Joseph, the sole survivor of the family, was
born in 1833. He married Susan Vay, born in 1835,
and has had eight children, six of whom survive: William,
married, lives in Darke county; the remaining five,
Joseph, Augustus, Noah, Perry, and Elmer, live at
home. |
JOHN BROWN was
born about 1795, in Georgia, from which State he emigrated to
Ohio, and settled in Gratis township in 1804. His father,
Richard, entered a three-quarter section, one hundred and
twenty-seven acres of which is now in the possession of his
grandson, Joseph Brown. He paid a dollar and fifty
cents per acre for the land. John Brown's wife was
Mary, daughter of Jonas Randall, who died in 1867.
They had seven children born to them: Jonas,
(deceased); Sarah, (deceased); John R., residing
in Iowa; Jonathan, in Kansas; Richard, (deceased);
Joseph and Rebecca, (deceased. Joseph
Brown was married three times. By his first wife,
Elizabeth Stanley, he had two children (both deceased).
His second wife, Mary Hasley, who died of small-p0ox in
1875, left two children: Ellie and Milo A.
His third wife is Maria Stubbs. They have had one
child, Samuel (deceased). Mr. Brown has been
a director on the school board for twenty-four years.
John Brown and Mary Randall moved into
their log hut the day after their marriage, carrying their
effects upon a horse. At the time they moved in there was
no floor to their dwelling. The house was finished after
they had moved in. |
WILLIAM BRUCE, The
Founder of Eaton.
A high type of pioneer life and character was
exemplified in William Bruce, the founder of Eaton.
He was of Scotch descent, and in him were preserved many of the
distinguishing and admirable traits of the people to whom he
belonged. His father and five brothers Highlanders, came
to America during the Scottish rebellion of 1746, and located
upon the waters of the Potomac in Virginia. Here the
subject of our sketch was born on the twentieth of September,
1762. When he was nine years of age his father removed to
Redstone, Pennsylvania, near Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg).
Young William Bruce sought employment and was engaged
while a mere boy as packer of goods across the mountains.
In this vigorous and perilous occupation he developed that
physical vigor and fearlessness as well ad the sturdiness of
character which fitted him for the life he was to lead.
When of age Bruce abandoned the toilsome vocation at
which he had for several years labored, and, with a
brother-in-law, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in the
famous Cane Ridge locality, included in the civil division of
territory now known as Bourbon county. In Kentucky
William Bruce married, about 1791, Francis Lewis,
born in 1771. They emigrated in 1793 to Warren county,
Ohio, and for six years lived near Shakertown. They then
moved into Butler county, and from there to Montgomery county,
from which locality they moved to Eaton, their permanent place
of residence, in June, 1806. Prior to this time Mr.
Bruce had prospected for lands along Seven Mile, and,
doubtless, had then conceived the idea of founding a town, for
he purchased three sections, or nearly two thousand acres of
land, including the site of Eaton, the "Old Garrison," and all
of the ground between, being led to this measure, very likely,
because of the general attractions of the lands and the
particularly fine mill site which the falls of the creek
afforded.
Mr. Bruce built a cabin on the hill south of the
site of Eaton, laid out the town, and built a saw- and
grist-mill, which proved of great convenience to the settlers in
the surrounding country. The village fast gained
population under the proprietor's generous scheme of management,
and, in a few years, almost entirely through his influence, it
excelled in good morals and in true prosperity many of its young
rivals which had better natural advantages. Mr. Bruce
made liberal donations of land for public buildings, churches,
and schools, and also gave lots to a number of settlers, besides
encouraging the worthy poor by various other methods. It
is related of him that he seldom took any "toll" for grinding
the poor man's grist, and that he frequently gave outright to
those who needed it, quantities of flour, meal, and the
other simple provisions which were in use among the pioneers and
early settlers. He was a very humane man, kind-hearted
and, if such thing is possible, generous to a fault. His
life was a long and constant exercise of a very unusual energy,
and his labors redounded as much to the good of the general
public as to himself or immediate family. With all his
earnestness of purpose, his unswerving devotion to the right and
scrupulous regard for morality, he was original in his ideas,
and refused to be governed by popular opinion- a trait of
independence which gained for him in some quarters the
reputation of being eccentric, and in others created positive
ill-will.
He was once a member of the Christian or "New Light"
church, and a very consistent one indeed, with the exception
that he could not be persuaded from the idea that it was not
wrong to grind corn on Sunday for the poor, and in some cases
absolutely destitute settlers. Being remonstrated with by
some members of the church he withdrew from their fellowship.
His creed was that the great practical good to be obtained was
superior to the harm of nominally infringing a law of the
church, and he continued to run his mill down by Seven Mile on
Sundays as well as week days, when there was necessity for so
doing, and the water was high enough. This circumstance
served well as an illustration of the character of William
Bruce. He was a plain matter-of-fact man, a
utilitarian, very decided in his views, and direct in giving
them expression. He wished to infringe upon the rights of
now man, and would allow no man of infringe upon his. He
preferred to do good in his own way, and always
unostentatiously. His donations were usually accompanied
by some provision enjoining the recipient to perform to some
work for himself, and thus he secured to the community and
individuals and the fullest benefit, both directly and
indirectly of his benevolence.
Mr. Bruce's sterling traits of character gained
and maintained for him the universal and unqualified respect of
the people, a fact that was evidenced when he was made the first
treasurer of Preble county, and in later years by the number of
private trusts reposed in him.
The subject of our sketch was a jovial man, of high
spirits, enjoyed life, and was very fond of association with his
fellow-men. He was good humored, fond of conversation, and
a man of far more than ordinary mind.
His personal appearance was prepossessing, at once
commanding and benign.
Mr. Bruce died in 1832, and was buried in Mound
cemetery, where an appropriate monument, formed in part of the
grinding stones of the old mill, marks his resting place.
Mrs. Bruce's death occurred prior to that of her
husband, in 1827.
This pair of pioneers were the parents of nine
children, nearly all of whom grew to maturity and reared
families, whose members have, as a precious legacy, the good
name and fame of the patriarch William Bruce. All
but three are now deceased, viz: George, who for
the past fifty-three years has lived in Indianapolis;
Washington and James, residents of Preble county.
The eldest of the family, Hannah, married Jacob Spacht;
Charles, the second child, born January 15, 1796,
married Eliza Lease; Hardin was born July 1, 1798.
He married for his first wife Jane Cook, and for his
second Susannah Danforth (Swihort). Mary
(familiarly called Polly) was first married to James
Holliday, and after his death, to Levin T. McCabe; George,
born July 27, 1802, married Dove Regan; John L., born
November 4, 1804, died unmarried; Washington, born in
1809, married Sarah Redmond; James and
Alexander, twins, were born April 15, 1815. The latter
died in infancy, and the former is now living in Washington
township.
Charles Bruce was the father of nine children:
George, a physician, in Winchester, Indiana; Jerusha
(Morgan) in Eaton; William, deceased; William C.,
in Eaton; Melvina (Avery) in Indiana; Mary (Danford)
in Eaton; Josephine (Williams) in Indiana; Julia
(Minor) deceased; and John H., physician in Eaton.
Hardin Bruce had several children by his first
wife, of whom Margaret A. (Redmond) in Cincinnati,
is the only one living. By his second wife his children
were: John, Ervin, Mary (Deem), Frances (Deem),
Catharine, Emma and Laura, all resident in Eaton.
Mary Bruce, wife of James Holliday, had
four children by her first husband, viz: Sarah, deceased;
Caroline, wife of the late W. H. H. B. Minor,
M. D.; and Frances, wife of Alfred Denny, both
resident of Eaton; and James P., deceased.
George Bruce had three sons: William,
deceased; John W., and James, in Indiana.
Washington had one son, Charles W. |
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ELIAS BUNGER was born in
Greenbriar county, Virginia, in the year 1809, and came to
Preble county with his father in 1817. In 1840 he married
Nancy Utz, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia,
in 1812. Eleven children ahve been born to them.
Mr. Bunger has been an elder in the Lutheran church for
several years. His sons Samuel, William and
Andrew were in the war of the Rebellion. At the time
he commenced life for himself he had only fifty cents, which was
all that remained after paying the marriage fee; but by dint of
hard labor and economy he accumulated a farm of two hundred
acres. |
| WILLIAM
T. BURK was born in 1799. He came to Ohio from
Tennessee and settled where W. W. Burk now lies, a short
distance north of Sonora. In 1823 he married Elizabeth,
daughter of Richard Ballard. Twelve children were
born them, nine of whom are now living. W. W. Burke
was born in 1838. In 1861 he married Locetta Odell,
born in 1840. Two children have been born to them.
Mr. Burk owns a farm of about fifty acres about a mile
north of Sonora, on the pike. |
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