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ISRAEL.

The schoolboy indicating the boundaries of this township would stand with his face towards Morning Sun and S0mers township beyond, with Indiana in the west behind him, Dixon township on the north, and Butler county on the south.

In the first days of township history, Israel was known only by the name of the Beech Woods, because of its situation in the heart of that extensive tract of beech wood land which stretches from the White Oak regions south of Hamilton, through and beyond Preble county.

Entering the township at the northeastern corner the traveller soon reaches the dividing ridge between Seven Mile and Four Mile creeks. This ridge, which enters the township just below section twelve and leaves it between sections one and tw0, has secured to Seven Mile only the smallest rivulets of Israel township, while a whole net-work of brooks and branchlets spreads from the western slope and is opposed by a similar net-work from the ridge west of the Indiana line, thus shaping the course of Four Mile creek, which bisects the township from north to south and furnishes one of the richest and most pr0ductive valleys in the county. This creek took its name from the fact that General Wayne, in his march into the Indian country in 1793, crossed it four miles from fort Hamilton. The east branch, rising in the northeastern corner of the township, empties into the main stream near McDill's mill, in section twenty-eight, while Little Four Mile from the west enters farther down in the same section.

The valley proper, especially in the northern part of the township, is quite narrow, and in many places is cut through the blue limestone on either side. The scenery is varied and beautiful, and occasionally wildly picturesque. In this gorge, jagged with rocky sides, and overhung with cooling shades, is found the playground of Fancy, while just beyond the wildness of the place blends into the broad acres of waving corn, so pleasing to the practical eye of the farmer. The broadest areas of bottom land are to be found in the southern part of the township. The several branches of the creek mark out the corners of its many tributary valleys, extending to the right hand and to the left, between successive ridges of good land, and thus the whole surface of the township is rolling, and in many places hilly. Of the twenty-two thousand eight hundred and ninety-one acres of land in the township, there is not a real poor one, and the whole is the most valuable land in Preble county. Of this land sixteen thousand five hundred and forty-five acres are under cultivation, four hundred acres are used for grazing purposes, and the remainder is yet uncleared. The total value of lands in Israel township, with the additional buildings since 1870, is nine hundred and ninety-seven thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. Corn, wheat, oats, flax and hay are the principal agricultural products. Barley is not raised, and tobacco is only grown for home consumption. Of late the cultivation of sorghum has been on the increase, and almost every farm has its patch. Several farmers, prominent among whom is Thomas - McQuiston, have of late become very much interested as to the expediency of entering into the extensive manufacture of sugar from their sorghum.

Stock raising is an important industry. Every possible attempt to improve the breed of their cattle is made; and the success of the farmers as hog raisers has become proverbial. Nearly all of the corn raised is fed to their hogs, and a very small proportion goes directly to market. Not many years ago a man from Israel township was distinguished by the large and well built horses which he drove. At present the horses of the township are not quite so good as of old, though there is beginning to be a gradual improvement.

ORGANIZATION.

The township received its name from Commodore Israel, of the United States navy.

The whole of the first range of which Israel is a part was, prior to March 7, 1809, considered one township. At that time it was ordered that a line be run east and west across the range, eight miles north of the southern boundary of the county, and that the portion north of this line be called Jefferson, and that the southern portion take the name of Israel. The first records show that an election for township officers was held at the house of Benjamin Kurcheville, April 4, 1808, with the following result: Clerk, Caleb Pegg; trustees, John McCormick, Joseph Caldwell, and Paul Larsh; overseers of the poor, James Fleming and Robert McCormick; fence viewers, John Bishop and Benjamin Harris; house appraisers, James Calder and Joseph Chadwick; supervisors, John Caldwell Smyth, James Purviance, and William Neal; constables, James Bennett and Peter

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Ireland; treasurer, Joseph Davis. As will be seen by reference to the above dates and names, this election took place while the whole of the first range was considered a single township. After the division the following was the result of an election held at the house of William Ramsey, in section twenty-three, April 3, 1809: Clerk, Caleb Pegg; trustees, Andrew McQuiston, Caleb Pegg, and Joseph Caldwell; lister and house appraiser, James Caldwell; Bartholomew Burroughs, house appraiser; supervisors, Ebenezer Elliott and James Caldwell ; con. stable, William Davis; fence viewers, David Costo and John Allen; overseers of the poor, William Ramsey and James Ockletree; treasurer, Joseph Davis. These officers were sworn in during the month of April, and immediately proceeded to perform their official duties. John Caldwell is the first justice of the peace mentioned in the records, and at the next election Caleb Pegg also became a justice.

In accordance with the law providing for the appointment by the township trustees of a number of jurors, the following names constituted the list of those first chosen as grand jurors: John Horney, Peter Ridenour, John Bishop, Samuel Patterson, on Four Mile, Caleb Pegg and James Huston. The following were taken for petit juries: Robert and James Boyse, Richard Sloan, James Kurcheville, Joseph Nelson, Samuel Parke, Ebenezer Elliott, John Ramsey, and John Caldwell.

The following names are among the list of early township clerks: Caleb Pegg, William McCreary, John Homey, Samuel Mitchell, who held his place for eight years, John Brown, and James Buck. The present officers are: Trustees, Alexander P. Orr, James Johnson, and John M. Ramsey; clerk, John P. Smith; treasurer, Rev. J. Y. Schouller; justices of the peace, William Borradaile and W. H. Pierson. The township assumed its present dimensions, when it was ordered March 3, 1812, that the line on the north be drawn six instead of eight miles from southern line of the county. The township house is in section twenty-two, at the cross roads, about one mile east of Hopewell meeting-house.

MOUNDS.

Israel township contains three well defined mounds, all in the vicinity of Four Mile valley. Two of them are situated in section twenty-one, a short distance west of the east branch of Four Mile creek, the one on William Bell's place, and the other just below, on the farm of Samuel Graham. The third mound is on the Ridenour place, in section twenty-nine, not far from Little Four Mile. Undoubtedly these mounds were raised by the race, known to us only by the general name, Mound- Builders. They are built in positions whence a view of the valley may be obtained, and it is supposed that they were at times used as places of defence. Excavations prove that they were used as burial places.

The mound on the Graham place is remembered to have been seven or eight feet high, but has been nearly levelled by excavations. The mound in section twenty- nine is the largest. It is about thirty feet high in the most elevated spot, and is about two hundred and fifty feet in circumference. In it have been found bones indicating that their orginal possessor was eight feet high. A very large jaw-bone with a double row of teeth, is another of the monstrosities found in this mound. Besides these bits of skeletons, the usual number of accompanying rings and ornaments of various kinds have been dug up.

PIONEERS AND SETTLERS.

A casual glance down the list of the settlers of Israel township would at once reveal the fact that fully two- thirds of the families came from the south. It will be seen that the earliest pioneers came from old Virginia, and that they were quickly followed and outnumbered by a continuous stream of emigrants from the Carolinas, especially from the State of South Carolina. The vast area of hundreds of square miles in the northern and northwestern parts of South Carolina, was the great source, from which the colonization of Israel township was drawn. Well watered, with rich, productive soil, this territory has always been a most attractive agricultural region. Prior to and about the year 1800 this State, with its sisters of the south, was clouded with the evils of slavery. At this time South Carolina was the stronghold of Presbyterianism in the south, and to many of the freedom, justice and conscience-loving members of that church the sight of slaves and slavery was painful. They were by no means rank Abolitionists, though few of them' held slaves. Their chief anxiety was for their children, whom they dreaded to see growing up in the midst of influences which they thought adverse to Christianity. Seeing no lawful way of doing away with the cause, they resolved to avoid the dreaded effects, by a removal of their families to a free State. No doubt, many were actuated by the promised rewards falling to the settler of new territory, but there is also no doubt that the impetus of this migratory movement was chiefly due to c0nscientious motives.

Whatever the motive, there is now no doubt but that the removal was most fortunate.

It will also be seen that the northeastern part of the township was settled by members of the Friends' society from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is possible that one or two settlements were made as early as 1816. In the spring of 1817, Eli Ganse and his wife, Martha, with their children, emigrated from Redstone, Pennsylvania, and settled in section twelve of Israel township. From this time until 1822, the settlement in this neighborhood gradually increased by constant emigrations from the eastern States. Among the earliest settlers were the Browns, seven brothers of them, who came from New New Jersey. In 1822 Isaac Ballanger, Isaac Wiley, John and Nehemiah Starr and others settled in section twelve. Nehemiah Starr started a tanyard in 1822, but soon moved to Indiana. These pioneers have left as a blessing to their children and their children's children, a land beautiful for situation, and most rich in agricultural resources.

Inasmuch as nearly all of the earliest pioneers are dead, and tomb-stones and memories dim with age are the only available sources of information, it is very diffi-

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cult to determine who was the first settler in Israel township.

The earliest recorded settlement is that of Joseph Kingery, who was a native of Virginia, and in 1803 moved to Ohio, and settled in section thirty-two of Israel township. His wife, Eva Miller, was a Virginian, and died in 1842. They had six children : Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, Mary, Martin and Abraham.

Abraham Kingery, son of Joseph, was born in Israel township in 1807. In 1829 he married Margaret Ridenour, who was born in 1811. Twelve children have been born to them. Mr. Kingery died in 1865. His widow still survives him and lives on the home farm. 

About the time of Joseph Kingery's settlement, two brothers, Samuel and James Huston, emigrated from Virginia, and built cabins in section thirty-four, Samuel settling near where College Corner now stands, and James entering the northern half of the section. The families of both these brothers have become widely separated, and definite information concerning their whereabouts could not be obtained. Samuel and James died more than fifty years ago. Together they lived, and together they died, both being buried on the same day.

Quite a number came to the township in 1805, and among the first of these was William Ramsey and family. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1776. When he was nine years old he emigrated with his parents to Rockbridge county, Virginia, and remained there until 1802, when his parents moved to Kentucky, and after remaining there three years, emigrated to Ohio, settling in Israel township, section twenty-three. William Ramsey married Rebecca Miller, by whom he had seven children: Elizabeth, wife of William Hays, of Mercer county, Ohio; John, living in section twenty-one, Israel township; Rebecca, wife of Robert Mitchell, both dead; Martha, wife of William Reed, of Cedarville, Greene county, Ohio; Jane, wife 0f William Huston, of Fayette county, Indiana; William, who died when nine years old, and Thomas L., living near Cedarville, Greene county.

John Ramsey was born in 1800, in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and afterwards lived in Kentucky, coming to Israel township in 1805. He was raised on the farm in section twenty-three. His father was, by trade, a millwright and built the McDill mill, and the one at Fairhaven. In 1829 John married Miss Mary Brown, daughter of James Brown, sr. She was born in 1802, and is the mother of six children, only two of whom are living, Mary, wife of W. A. Douglass, who lives near his father-in-law's residence, and Martha, who lives at home.

Abraham Miller emigrated from Virginia in 1805, and settled on the farm in section thirty-four, in Israel township, now owned by James McDill He brought with him a blacksmith, Adam Solladay, who built a shop on Mr. Miller's land, about thirty rods from Four Mile creek. About 1814 Robert Miller, an emigrant from South Carolina, bought the farm.

Peter Ridenour came out from Maryland in company with the Browns, Andersons, Lutzs, and others, on packhorses, in 1800. He entered land in section thirty-three, but, the Indians being troublesome, went to Venice, Butler county, where he remained six years. In 1806 he built a cabin upon his land, and with his wife, Margaret, and sons, Samuel, Jonathan, and Isaac, moved in and began life in the woods. He built the first grist- and sawmill in the township, and consequently made the first flour and sawed the first lumber. He built a distillery near the site of the mill, in 1807, and manufactured the first whiskey in the county, it is believed by many. He was born in Maryland, in 1771, and was married to Margaret Darcas, who was born in 1775. They were the parents of sixteen children, only six of whom are now living, viz.: Isaac and Mrs. Margaret Kingery, both of this township; Mrs. Susan Moore, in College Corner; Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, in Wayne county, Indiana; Mrs. Nancy Wilson, in Union county, Indiana; and Mrs. Jesse Doty, in Butler county, Ohio. Isaac was born in 1806, during the temporary residence of his parents in Butler county, Ohio. He married, in 1831, Margaret Doty, and has had a family of four sons and four daughters, two of the daughters being deceased.

In the winter of 1805 Joseph Caldwell, an old Quaker, with his children, emigrated from North Carolina, and settled in section nine, where Fairhaven now stands. Mr. Caldwell was a widower at the time of his emigration. He was the father of six sons—Joseph, who moved to Connersville, Indiana; John, who became a Baptist preacher; Train, who became quite prominent in the township; Manliff; James; and Jonathan, who, in 1832, laid out the town of Fairhaven, and was the husband of Nancy Porter, daughter of Rev. Alexander Porter. Jonathan Caldwell has a son engaged in business in Cincinnati.

William McCreary was born in South Carolina in 1775. His wife, Mary Douglas, was born in 1777, and died in 1845. In the spring of 1806 they emigrated to Ohio, and entered land in section thirty-six of Israel township, where they spent the remainder of their days. To them were born five children, four of whom are living-Sarah, the widow of Henry Marshall, resides in section thirty-four of Israel township; Mary, the widow of E. Pinkerton, lives in Illinois; James lives at Morning Sun; and William lives on the old home place. It was at the house of William McCreary that the first meeting to consider the advisability of organizing Hopewell church was held. He was one of the earliest township officers. In 1822, while returning from Cincinnati with his son, James, he was taken very sick, and died on the way. He was buried in Hopewell township.

William McCreary, jr., was born in 1814, and in 1840 was married to Miss Isabella McDill, daughter of David McDill. To them have been born eight children, of whom six are living—Harriet, Jennie, Sarah, Thomas M., William J., and Charles C.

James McCreary was born in 1806, in section thirty- six of Israel township. His wife, Annie Cook, was born in 1814, and is still living. They have had five children, of whom Mary, Maggie, and James R. are living. Mr. McCreary resides in Morning Sun, this township.

Ebenezer Elliott was born in Chester county, South

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Carolina, in 1771. His wife, Esiher Gaston, also a native of South Carolina, was born in 1770, and died in Israel township, Preble county, 1814. To them were born seven children: Joseph, James, Janet, William, John, Ebenezer, Hugh, Isaiah, and David. Of these, five are living: Janet, the widow of Ebenezer Douglas, lives in Indiana; Ebenezer, Isaiah, James, who settled in Dixon township, and Hugh, who lives on the home place. Ebenezer Elliott emigrated to Ohio the first week of December, 1806, and settled in section twenty-six of Israel township. For two years the family lived in a pole shanty. Then Mr. Elliott built a hewed-log house, and in 186, erected a brick house, which was probably the first brick house in the township. Three or four years after his settlement he was elected justice of the peace, which office he held for several terms. During his official career he performed very many marriage ceremonies. About one year and a half after his settlement, his son, Hugh, was born, and his was among the first, if not the first birth in Israel township. Mr. Elliott died in 1849.

Hugh Elliott, born June 26, 1808, married for his first wife Henrietta Brown, who died in 1849, leaving no children. His second wife, Elizabeth Robertson, was born in 1826. Four of their seven children are living: Henrietta Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Samuel Buck; Sarah Essie, Edwin, and Annis, all living at home.

William Ramsey was born in Ireland in 1749, and when quite young emigrated to the State of Virginia. His wife, Martha Ochletree, was born in 1769, and died about 1850. In 1806 he emigrated to Ohio, and settled in section fourteen of Israel township. To Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey were born seven children: Elizabeth, Jane, Nancy, Martha, Samuel, George, and David, who is the only one still living. Mr. Ramsey entered one hundred and sixty acres of land.

David Ramsey was born in Israel township in 1811, on the old farm in section fourteen. His wife, Mary Marshall, whom he married in 1831, was born in 1813, and died in 1843. Five children were born to them. In 1844 he married Mary C. Gilmore, who was born December 26, 1818, and is still living. She is a sister of Judges W. J. and James Gilmore, and daughter of Dr. Eli Gilmore. There have been no children by this marriage.

Samuel Ramsey was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1799, and emigrated with his father to Ohio in 1806. He died in section fifteen of Israel township in 1836. His wife, Sabina Gilmore, whom he married in 1823, was born in 1799, and is living with her son, Samuel. To them were born five children, of whom Martha A., Thomas L, and Samuel R. are living—all in College Corner.

Samuel R. Ramsey was born in 1833, in Israel township. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Wilson, who was born in 1843. They have two children: Sabina C. and Annie M.

Thomas L Ramsey was born in 1828. He married Miss Grizzella N. McDill in 1861. Samuel G., their only child, was born in April, 1862.

William G. Ramsey was born in 1824, and died in 1871.

In 1859, the then brothers, Samuel, Thomas L, and William G., formed a copartnership in the general store and grain business, and thus continued until the death of William, in 1871. After the death of their brother, Samuel and Thomas continued in the business. The' amount of business done annually by this firm is about fifty thousand dollars.

Samuel Ramsey has been the efficient postmaster at College Corner since 1873.

Hugh Ramsey, sr., was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1779. His wife, Francis Sheppard, was born in 1776, and died in 1835. Mr. Ramsey emigrated with his father to Rockbridge county, Virginia, and after remaining there a short time removed to Woodford county, Kentucky, and in 1807 emigrated to Ohio, settling in section fourteen, of Israel township, Prebke county. To them nine children were born, all of whom are dead except Hugh B., who was born July 4, 1819. He married Martha C. Gilmore in 1844, who was born in 1825. Only two of their seven children are living John, son of Hugh Ramsey, sr., familiarly called "I John," was born in 1804, and in 1807 came with hit father to Israel township, and lived in section fourteen. He died in 1870 on the farm in section twenty-seven, near Morning Sun. His wife, Jane Marshall, who born in 1806, is still living. To them were born twe children: Hugh; Sarah, widow of Samuel Hamilton, living in section twenty; James lives in Montana; Jo A. resides in Morning Sun; William living in Camden; Joseph T. in Texas; Mary E., wife of William Wright, lives in Somers township; David C. and Albert are all living and Isabella H., wife of John Wright, Eliza, Frances, wife of James Wright, are dead.

Hugh Ramsey, jr., was born in 1827, and married for his first wife Miss Mary Ann Gilmore, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Gilmore, who were old pioneers Israel township. Six children were born to them, whom four are living. Mrs. Ramsey died in 1869. In 1870 he married Miss Clarissa Hamilton, who was in 1832. By this marriage have been born three chil but one of whom is now living. Mr. Ramsey owns hundred and sixty acres of land well improved.

David C. Ramsey, Hugh's brother, was born in 1847 His wife, Susan Orebaugh, was also born in 1847. They have had four children. In 1879 Mr. Ramsey engaged in the manufacture of tile near Morning Sun. He manufactures about seventy-five thousand tile per year.

George Ramsey was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1801. He came to Ohio from Kentucky, an settled with his parents, William and Martha, in sec fourteen, of Israel township. His wife, Martha M., born in 1806, in Hamilton county, and died in 1874. They have had nine children born to them, six of wh are now living. Mr. Ramsey was trustee of his to ship several terms. He died in 1858.

Nathan L Ramsey was born in Israel township in 1831. In 1876 he married Mary E. Calderwood, born 1851. She is the daughter of Andrew and Eliza

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(Thornburn) Calderwood, natives of Scotland. Mr. Ramsey has had two children.

John M. Ramsey was born in Israel township in 1832. He married Susan Reeve, who was horn in 1833. They have five children. Mr. Ramsey owns a farm of two hundred and twelve acres in Israel township, and one of forty acres in Paulding county. He was elected trustee of Israel township in the year 1875, which office he now holds.

William A. Ramsey, son of Hugh B., was born in Israel township in 1846, and in 1869 was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Hayes, who was born in Israel township in 1847. Their only child, Charlotte A. Ramsey, was born in 1871. Mr. Ramsey lives on his father, Hugh B. Ramsey's, farm in section four.

In the spring of 1806 a widow by the name of Martha Faris, emigrated from Chester county, South Carolina, with her family of four children. She made the journey in company with William McCreary, and settled in Israel township. Her children were: James. who married Peggy, daughter of David McDill; David, who married Miss McClurkin, and Martha and Mary, who never married.

David Faris, sr., settled in section twenty-five, which he entered about the year 1807. His wife, Catharine McClurkin, emigrated at a very early day with her parents from South Carolina and settled on Indian creek, Indiana

David Faris, jr., was born in Israel township in 1820, and died in 1865. His wife, Martha Gilmore, was born in 1818, and died in 1857. They had five children. James I. Faris was born in 1843, and in 1865 was married to Caroline Wilson, who was born in 1845, They have had three children: Annie M., George I., and Nellie A., all living at home. Mr. Faris owns one hundred and fifty-eight acres of well improved lands.

David McDill, sr., was born in South Carolina. His wife was Isabella McQuiston. To them were born six children: Thomas, David, Peggy, who married James Faris; John, Hugh, Archibald. Mr. McDill was very desirous to remove his children from the influences of slavery, and in the spring of 1806 emigrated to Preble county, and settled in section twenty-six, of Israel township. His son, David, studied for the ministry. He was among the first school teachers in Israel township. He graduated at the Associate Reformed Theological seminary at New York. He commenced preaching at Hamilton, Ohio; removed to Sparta, Illinois, and soon afterwards moved to Monmouth, Illinois, and became the efficient editor of ihe Western United Presbyterian. He had become a giant in the United Presbyterian church, and the great work that he did as a reformer will always be remembered. As an editor Dr. McDill had few equals. Few men who took up the pen, in controversy with him, but were willing to drop it again on as good terms as they could. He died June 15, 1870, and was buried in the cemetery at M0nmouth, Illinois. He was a mighty man and considered a pillar in the United Presbyterian church.

Hugh McDill was born in South Carolina in 1794, and died in Israel township in 1873. His wife was

Grizella Brown, who died in 1879. Of their eight children, James, David, and John B. are living.

James McDill, son of Hugh, was born in Israel township in 1819, and in 1844 was married to Agnes G. Paxton, who was born in 1825. They have had five children, one of whom is dead. Mr. McDill is, at the time of this writing, the Republican nominee for county commissioner. 

James Boyce entered land in this township in 1806, and the following year built a cabin on the farm now occupied by John B. Irwin, and continued to live there until his death in 1842. He was a native of Ireland, born in 1768; emigrated to the United States, and in 1800 was united in marriage to Mary McGaw, of South Carolina. From that State he removed to Preble county in 1807. His wife was born in South Carolina in 1778, and died in 1834. Mr. Boyce was an active and generous supporter of religious and educational interests. He contributed freely to the support of Oxford seminary, in Butler county, educated several young men at his own expense, and was one of the founders of the first Bible society of Preble county. He carried on ihe dry goods business several years in the township, giving his attention at the same time to farming and stock business. Of his four children two are living—a daughter in Illinois and John H. in this township, on land which his father entered. He is the youngest of four children, and was born in 1809. He was married in 1830 to Mary Ann Irwin, who was born in 1811.

Caleb Pegg emigrated from North Carolina with the Caldwells, and settled near them. It is not known what family he had, as the last representative is gone. Reference to the first records of Israel township show that he was one of the most active of the early public men, and at the first election was elected clerk of the township, and it is his hand that penned the rec0rds of the first meeting of township officers. He was also among the first township trustees, and in 1813 he became a justice of the peace.

In the spring of 1805 James Brown, sr., settled below Hamilton, and in 1807 became a resident of Israel township. His wife Elizabeth was born about 1780. Seven children were born to them before their arrival in Israel township—Nathan, living in Iowa; John; Eleanor, widow of Hugh Porter; Grizella, wife of Hugh McDill; Mary, wife of John Ramsey; and Robert, After their removal to this township there were born John, James, and Eliza, the wife of Samuel Bonner. Mr. Brown settled in section twenty-four.

Richard Sloan emigrated from South Carolina in the spring of 1807, and settled in the southeast quarter of section fourteen, on the farm now occupied by his son, Nathan.' John lives in section twenty-two. Dr. Richard Sloan has long been a practicing physician at Morning Sun. James, Peggy, Polly, and Betsey are dead. Betsey was the wife of Squire Thomas Pinkerton.

In 1808 Hugh McQuiston, sr., settled in section twenty-four, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. On this farm he lived until his death, in 1845, and his son Hugh has occupied it after him, so that the place

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has not passed out of the family. Hugh McQuiston, sr., was a native of Ireland, born in 1765, and emigrated at the age of seven years to America, in 1772. He eventually found his wife in South Carolina, in the person of Margaret Gaston, who was born in that State in 2767. She outlived her husband some seven years, dying in 1852. There were six children—William, Joseph, David, Eliza, Archibald and Hugh, all deceased but Hugh. He was born in 1810; married for his first wife Nancy McDill, who died in 1853. There were six children by this marriage, three of whom are deceased, John C. having died in the war of the Rebellion. His second wife was Elizabeth Wilson, by whom he had one child, now deceased.

David McQuiston was born in South Carolina in 1807 and died in 1867. His first wife was Sarah McDill, born in 1808. She died in 1846. By his first wife David McQuiston had seven children, only one of whom is now living, viz.: Jane McQuiston, who resides on the old homestead. For his second wife David McQuiston married Nancy, widow of John Foster. She was born in 1820 and died in 1870.

Mrs. Andrew C. McQuiston, nee Anna Foster, was born in 1849. Her husband was born in 1840 in Israel township, and died in 1879 in section twenty-three of the same township. They had seven children born to them, five of whom are now living

Thomas McQuiston was born in 1829 in Israel township. His first wife was Nancy Paxton. She was born in 1828 and died in 1853. He then married Eliza Bonner, born in 1836. After her death in 1859 he married Tabitha Harper, born in 1842. She died in 1874, when Mr. McQuiston married for his fourth wife Irene . Harper, born in 1853. They now reside in Israel township. Mr. McQuiston has been engaged in the manufactory of sorghum for twenty years, and has realized handsome profits from the business. He manufactures about four thousand gallons of syrup per year. He was the inventor of the elevated axle now used on the two- horse plows throughout the country.

David McQuiston was born in 1802 in South Carolina, from which State he emigrated to Ohio in 1808. His first wife was Jane McDill, born in 1802 and died in 1845. Nine children were born to him by his first wife, eight of whom are living, viz.: Samuel, Hugh, Thomas, Margaret Ann, Martha A., William P., Mary and Sarah R. For his second wife he married Margaret Hamilton, who was born in 1811.

William P. McQuiston, a son of the first marriage, was born in 1838. In 1860 he married Mary Benner, who was born in 1841, and has four children living and two dead. He resides in the house built by his father in 1824.

George R. Brown was born in 1809 in Israel township, section twenty-four, and died in 1873. His wife, Margaret Herron was born in Israel township in 1811, and died in 1877. To them were born six children—James A., Samuel, Mary, widow of John Wallace, who lives in Illinois, Ellen, wife of S. B. Gilmore, Jane, deceased, and Alice, wife of J. B. Johnson, dead

James A. Brown was born in Israel township in 1831.

In 1854 he married Ellen Buck, who was born in 1833. Eleven children have been born to them, nine of whom are still living. Mr. Brown engaged in the dry goods business in 1871, in the village of Morning Sun, in company with I. L McCracken. In 1874 he sold out and engaged in the saw-mill and lumber business with Phillip Murray and Nathan Foster.. He engaged in this business for two years, at the expiration of which time he sold out to S. B. Gilmore and moved back to his farm. 

John Bishop, sr., was born in Maryland, in 1774. He moved into Ohio from North Carolina about 1810, and settled in section four of Israel township. He married Elsie Black, who was born in North Carolina, in 1764. Mr. Bishop was engaged in the War of 1812. Five children were born him, one only of whom survives. John Bishop, jr., was born in Israel township, in 1808. In 1854 he married Ellen Laird. They have had nine children, all of whom are living. Mr. Bishop owns one hundred and thirty-six acres of land, which is under a good state of cultivation.

Thomas C. McDill came into the township with his father in 1821. In 1837 he purchased the Cliff mills of William Ramsey, by whom they were built, and has since operated them. He married Mary J. Paxton, by whom he has had six children.

William McGaw, sr., came into the township and settled in section five, in 1811. He was born in Ireland in 1750, and emigrated to this county from South Carolina. He was married in 1775, to Mary Patterson, who was then twenty years of age. He died in this township in 1831, at the advanced age of eighty-one, and his wife survived him some twelve or thirteen years, reaching the great age of about ninety years. Out of eleven children born to them, all are now deceased but two. These are: Martha, widow of Samuel Smith, living in Illinois; and William McGaw, jr., of this township. He was born in 1801, and has been twice married. His first wife was Rachel Paxton, who died in 1852. He subsequently married Elizabeth Lang. By his first wife he had ten children, and by his second, two. Mr. McGaw was elected justice of the peace of Israel township, in 1842, and held the office, for twenty-seven years.

Washington Ridenour was born in 1810, on Mill creek, in Hamilton county, Ohio, and came to Preble county with his parents about 1812, and settled near College Corner, Israel township. His father, Joseph Ridenour, was a native of Virginia. His wife's maiden name was Annie Trod. They had about sixteen children, of whom only three are living: Washington, Jacob, and Samuel. Washington Ridenour married Elizabeth Fudge, who was born in 1818, and died about fourteen years ago. To them have been born thirteen children, eighth of whom are living: Samuel, two miles east of Eaton; Joseph, north of Eaton, in Washington township; Bird lives east of Eaton, with Luther Cotterman; Mary Petrey, wife of John Petrey, of Monroe township; and Mary Ann Stephens, living in West Manchester—all of Preble county.

James Brown, sr., was born in South Carolina in 1802, and emigrated to Preble county, Ohio, with his father, Nathan Brown, in 1813, and settled on the farm now

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owned by John Brown in section twenty-six. His father died in Dixon township. His mother died a short time previous to the removal of ihe remnant of the family to Ohio. James Brown married Elizabeth Scott, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1804. They have had a family of twelve children—six living.

William Van Skiver settled in Israel in 1816, entering the land now owned by his son, Samuel. He was born in New Jersey in 1758, and died in 1819. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1846, aged seventy-five. There were seven children-five daughters and two sons, two of whom are now living: Elizabeth, widow of William Brown, and Samuel, who resides in the old homestead in section thirteen.

Samuel Van Skiver was born in 1805; was married to Elizabeth Brown in 1827. Mr. Van Skiver was five years the senior of her husband, having been born in 1800. A daughter (Hannah) of Samuel and Eliza Van Skiver is the wife of Mr. H. Morton.

Samuel Bell was born in Ireland in 1780. He moved into Ohio from South Carolina. He died in Israel township in 1866. His wife was Jane Hamilton, born in South Carolina in 1783. She died in the same year with her husband. Six children were born to them, five of whom are living: Andrew, John, James, William and Nathan. Of these Andrew, William and Nathan reside in Israel township. John resides in Iowa, and James in Kansas.

Nathan Bell was born in 1827, in Israel township. He has never been married, but resides on the old homestead.

William Bell was born in 1822. In 1851 he married Sarah McCollum, who was born in 1823. Her parents were James and Mary McCollum. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. William Bell, six of whom are now living.

James H. Brown was born in 1833, and married Caroline Duvall who was born in 1846. They have had three children, all living.

George S. Hamilton was born in South Carolina in 1799, and when eight years of age, removed with his parents, Samuel and Jane Hamilton, to Kentucky. In 1816 they came to Preble county, and located on the tract of land now owned by James and Thomas Johnson, in section twenty-four. Samuel Hamilton was born in 1775, and deceased in 1824. His wife survived him, and died in Indiana in 1856, at the age of eighty-one. Her maiden name was Jane Smith. They had a family of ten 'children: Alexander, Elizabeth (afterwards wife of Thomas Brown), George S., Israel, John, James, Nancy, Jane, Robert and Mary. Of these, George S., Robert and Mary (now Mrs. Adam Peters), are living. George S. was married in 1825 or 1826, to Hannah, daughter of Dr. John Ramsey, who was an early settler in the township.

James Marshall was born in Ireland about 1785. He emigrated from Georgia to Ohio, and settled in section five of Israel township in 1817. His wife was Elizabeth Wilson, also born in Ireland. He died in Israel township. By his marriage he had nine children.

John Marshall, son of the above, was born in 1815.

In 1839 he married Lydia Stephenson, who was born in 1816, and died in 1879. They have had eight children, all but one of whom are still living.

John Marshall was raised on the farm which his father purchased, when he first came to Israel township, and lived there until his marriage in 1839.

Robert Gilmore was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1793, and in 1815 emigrated to Franklin county, Ohio, where he remained two years. In 1817 he came to Preble county, and settled in section twenty, Israel township, where he remained till his death, which occurred in 1873. He was married in 1818 to Martha Paxton, who was born in Virginia in 1802, and emigrated in 1815 to Franklin county, Ohio, with her parents, Jonathan and Nancy Paxton. To Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gilmore were born eight children--Sarah Jane, wife of John Buck, died in 1848; James A., resides on the old homestead in Israel township; Jonathan P. is dead; Nancy lives on the old home place; Annie P. is dead; William M. on the old place; Robert P.; and Samuel B.

Robert P. Gilmore was born in 1834, and in 1857 married Rachel Buck, who was born in 1835. They have two children. Mr. Gilmore resides in section thirty, Israel township, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land.

Joseph Steele emigrated from North Carolina in 1818, and settled in Israel township, section three. By his wife, Jeannette Taylor, he had ten children, four of whom are living—John, Joseph, and Mary N. reside in Indiana, and Samuel Steele lives in section three, Israel township. Samuel was born in 1814, in North Carolina, and came to Ohio in 1818. In 1840 he married Martha Hays, who was born in 1815, and died in 1879. To them were born ten children, four of whom are living. In the fall of 1830 Joseph Steele moved to Clinton county, Indiana, and his son, Samuel, after living with his father seven years, rented a farm in Israel township, and eight years after his marriage bought the farm which he now owns—three hundred and fifty-six acres of land.

John Brown was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1777, and died in Israel township, Preble county, in 1856. In 1806 he married Sarah Moore, who was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1786, and is still living with her children in Israel township. Mrs. Brown is the oldest person living in Israel township, and probably the oldest in the county. She has seen General Washington marching through Trenton at the head of his troops. She has wonderful vitality and still retains her powers of mind, and has not yet ceased to work a little. She is now ninety-five years of age. She has one great-great-grandchild, fifteen great-grandchildren, seven grandchildren, and three children living, viz.: Nathaniel M., Joseph G., and Bathsheba, wife of W. L. Stratton, all living in the same section in Israel township in which they settled. Mr. and Mrs. John Brown emigrated to Ohio in 1815, and remained in Warren county for three years, and in 1819 came to Israel township, and settled in section twelve.

Nathaniel Brown was born in 1807, and in 1829 was married to Sarah Nixon, by whom he has had three chil-

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dren—Mrs. F. A. Beall, living in Israel township; Mrs. John Stephens, in Eaton; and John Brown, in Cincinnati

William Brown was born in New Jersey about 1781. In 186 he moved to Ohio, and about 1819 settled in section two, of Israel township. His wife, who was Elizabeth Van Skiver, was born in 1794, and is still living in Israel township. William Brown emigrated first to Warren county, Ohio, where he stayed for a year, and from there moved to his present farm. He died in 1873, leaving a wife and two children: Barclay, and Sarah Ann, wife of Joseph Borradaile.

Barclay Brown was born in 1822, and in 1849 he married Sarah Mullin, born in 1831. They have had five children, four of whom still survive. Mr. Brown owns 0ne hundred and four acres of land in section one, Israel township.

Thomas Brown was born in South Carolina, in 1792, and emigrated from that State to Ohio in 1816, and about 1819 settled in Israel township, section twenty- seven. His wife was Elizabeth Hamilton, born 1798, and died in 1847. They have had nine children, one of whom (John) is dead: Jane, Andrew, Samuel, William, Eliza, James H., Israel and Margaret are living.

Andrew Brown was born in 1821, and in 1849 married Eliza Smith, born in 1828. They have four children now living. Mr. Brown owns one hundred and forty-two acres of land, which is under good cultivation.

The Smiths were old settlers of Preble county, and natives of Kentucky.

Samuel B. Gilmore, son of William and Martha Gilmore, was born in Virginia in 1801. When but a boy he came with his parents to Preble county, where they settled in Israel township, where Margaret Gilmore now lives. In 1828, Samuel Gilmore married Margaret McMahon, who was born in Ireland in 1806. She was the daughter of David and Sarah McMahon, who settled in Butler county at an early day. To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Gilmore were born four children, three daughters and one son: Sarah is the wife of J. P. Smith; James I. is married and lives at home; Martha J. the

wife of James Ramsey, lives in Tennessee; and Mary is the wife of Hugh Ramsey. Mr. Gilmore died in 1836, and his widow resides in the old place, which consists of one hundred and forty acres of land.

Jonathan Paxton was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1778. In 1817 he emigrated to Franklin county, Ohio, and the next year he moved to Preble county, and settled in section twenty, of Israel township, where he died in 1852. His wife, Agnes Gilmore, who was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1783, died the same year that her husband died. They had seventeen children, all of whom lived to raise families. Five of these are still living: James S. resides in Erie county, Ohio; Jonathan resides in Israel township; Alexander P. resides in Israel township; Mary G., wife of Thomas McDill, lives on Four Mile creek at the old mill; Elizabeth, wife of James Gavin, lives in Missouri.

Alexander P. Paxton was born in 1826. He married Rosanna C. Wilson, who was born in 1828, in Israel township. They have had eight children. Mr. Paxton has been road commissioner of the Fair Haven and College Corner turnpike since 1859.

Jonathan Paxton, jr., was born in Israel township in 1819. In 1852 he married Elizabeth Jane McQuiston, who was born in 1831, and who died in 1879. They have had five children, all of whom are now living. Mr. Paxton owns a farm of sixty acres, which is under a good state of cultivation.

Robert Gilmore Paxton was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1799. His wife, Mary Ann McDill, was born in 1800, and is still living. In 1818 he emigrated to Preble county and settled in section eighteen of Israel township. He was justice of the peace in Israel township, and served during the years 1840-46. Of their children, Agnes, wife of James McDill, lives in Israel township; Samuel M. lives in Israel township; John C. is in Israel; Jane, wife of William Wilson, lives in Iowa; Martha Ann, wife of Alexander Orr, lives in Israel township; Robert G. is in Israel, and Louisa lives with her mother in College corner.

Robert G. Paxton was born in 1838. His wife, Elizabeth Jane Graham, was born in 1847. To them three children have been born. Robert resides on the old home farm in section twenty-nine. 

Samuel M. Paxton was born in 1827, and in 1850 married J. Simpson, who was born in 1831, and died in 1867. Four of their five children are still living. Samuel Paxton resides in section twenty-nine, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land.

John C. Paxton was born in 1829. In 1853 he married Mary Ann Pinkerton, who was born in 1833. She was the daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Pinkerton. Her father, born in 1805, died in 1862; and her mother, who is the daughter of William McCreary, sr., is living in Peoria county, Illinois. She was born in Israel township in 1808, on the McCreary farm.

Benjamin Morton settled in 1819. He was once a native of New Jersey, and was born in 1787. He was married to Hannah Jenney, who was born in 1795. He died in June, 1854, in this township, and his wife in October, 1850. They had a family of thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters. Ten of them are now living, to-wit: John and Samuel (twins), the former in Edgar county, Illinois, and the latter in Dixon township, this county; Sarah, wife of Joseph McDivitt; Ashir, Benjamin, and Israel, all in Edgar county, Illinois; Hezekiah, in this township; Margaret, wife of Nathan Huffman, in Dixon township; Hannah, wife of Simeon Sutten, living , in Harrison county, Missouri; and William, who resides in Gasper township, this county. Samuel Morton was born in 1819, in Warren county, Ohio, and in 1856 married Miss Susan Kinney, who was born in 1832. 

When Benjamin Morton moved into the woods of Israel he and his family camped by the side of a log until he could erect his cabin. In this cabin they lived for about fourteen years, during which the land was cleared of the forest and brought under cultivation. The place is now occupied by Mr. Borradaile.

William Morton, who was born in 1838, was married, in 1874, to Emma Isabel Dooley, daughter of Silas

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Dooley, jr. To them has been born one child, Fanney I., born in 1876. Mr. Morton has owned the farm of one hundred and sixty-seven acres, on which he now resides, since the year of 1862. 

William Asay was born in New Jersey in 1784, and died in 1858. He married Rachel Shaw, born in 1785, and who died in 1862. There were nine children born them, two of whom survive, Joseph and Samuel.

Samuel Asay was born in 1823. In 1845 he married Perthia Cupp, who was born in Kentucky in 1820. They have had two children, one of whom is now living.

Joseph Asay was born in New Jersey in 1812. He came to Ohio with his parents in 1815, and settled in Warren county. After a stay of five years they moved to Preble county and settled in section eleven, of Israel township. In 1837 Joseph Asay married Catharine S. Brown, who was born in Kentucky in 1817. They have had two children-both daughters—born to them, one of whom is living, Susan B., wife of Abraham H. Ballinger.

Mr. Asay owns a farm of four hundred and forty acres in Preble county.

Isaac Ballinger was born in New Jersey in 1776, and died in 1852. His wife, Hannah, was born in 1780, and died in 1862. In 1822 he emigrated with his family to Ohio and settled in Israel township, section twelve. He had seven children.

Abraham Ballinger, sr., was born in New Jersey in 1801; his wife, Beulah Brown, was born in 1805. Abraham Ballinger, jr., was born in Israel township in 1835. His wife, Susan Asay, was born in 1840. They have had four children, all of whom are living.

David T. Wilson was born in Preble county in 1826. His parents, Daniel and Catharine (Rock) Wilson, were among the early settlers of the county, coming from South Carolina. David Wilson married Mary Jane Orr, born in 1835 in Israel township. Six children were born to them, all of whom are living.

Of the nine children born to Daniel and Catharine Wilson, seven are living: John R., Mary A., widow of Henry C. Blake, now residing in Iowa; David S., residing in Israel township; Rosannah C., wife of Alexander P. Paxton; William lives in Iowa; Sarah, wife of John Lee, lives in Nebraska. Thomas D. lives in Iowa; Elizabeth is dead, and James B. died in 1864, while in the war of 1861-5.

Joseph Marshall was born in Ireland in 1801. From Ireland he emigrated to Georgia with his parents, and from there he came to Ohio in 1819. They moved back to Georgia after a short stay in Ohio. In 1837 Joseph Marshall moved again into Ohio and settled in Preble county, where he died in 1861. His wife was Mary Ann Trimble, of Georgia. Six children were born them: John, James, Matthew, Joseph, Daniel, and a child who died in infancy.

William D. Borradaile was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1816. From New Jersey he moved to Ohio, and in 1831 settled in section two, of Israel township. He married Priscilla Brown, who was born in 1821, and died in 1874. Her parents emigrated to Ohio, from New Jersey, in the fall of 1815, and settled in Warren county. In 1818 they moved to Preble county and settled in Israel township, section two. William D. Borradaile's parents emigrated to Ohio, from New Jersey, in 1831, and settled in Preble county. W. B. Borradaile was elected justice of the peace in Israel township in 1860, and has held that position ever since. He has had eight children, five of whom are living.

John Marshall, sr., was the first representative of the family who settled in Preble county. He emigrated with his family from Ireland and settled in Israel township in 1820. His son Robert, born in Ireland in 1810, married Margery M. Sample, who was born in 1815. They had eight .children, as follows: John, David S., Margaret R., deceased, and a child who died in infancy; Mary A., Sarah M., Elizabeth and Rebecca Ellen. John Marshall was a graduate of Miami university, and afterward prepared himself for the ministry, but on account of partial loss of hearing he gave up the ministry and engaged in teaching school. He taught the Morning Sun academy, and was school examiner for a number of years. He married Margaret Swan. He died in 1873 and his wife in 1879.

James Graham was born in Virginia in 1790. From this State he emigrated to Ohio, and in the fall of 1822 settled in section twenty-one, of Israel township. In 1815 he married Margaret Whitman, who was born in 1794, and wild died in 1839. Eleven children were born to them, six of whom survive: Samuel, Andrew, Thomas, William, Harriet and Joseph.

Samuel Graham was born in Virginia in 1822, and came to Ohio with his parents. In 1843 he married Isabel McClanahan, who was born in 1820. They have had six children, three of whom survive.

Dr. Eli Gilmore was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1795, and came to Ohio with his father in 1825, and immediately began the practice of medicine. He lived for many years on the farm in section eleven, now occupied by Samuel Asay. His wife, Clarissa M. Clayton, was born in 1802. They were the parents of eight children who grew to maturity: Mary C., wife of David Ramsey; William J., ex-supreme judge of Ohio, now living in Columbus; Robert M.; Martha C., wife of Hugh B. Ramsey; Elvira, who died near Greencastle, Indiana; Alexander; Esther; and James A., judge of the court of common pleas at Eaton. Dr. Gilmore's professional career is noted in the sketches of physicians.

Thomas Scott emigrated from Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1817, and settled in Gratis township, near the village of Winchester. He entered one hundred and seventy-two acres of land, which is now owned by Samuel S. Scott. Thomas Scott was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1780, and died on the farm in Gratis, where he first settled in 1842. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Smith, was born the same year and in the same place as her husband. She survived him, and died in Israel township in 1853. They had ten children, four living and six deceased. The survivors are: Abner S.; Mrs. Sarah Simmons, of Fair Haven; Daniel, residing in Cass county, Indiana,

228 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

and Samuel, who, as above stated, occupies the old homestead near Winchester.

Abner Scott was born in 1807, in Burlington county, New Jersey, and was a lad of ten years when his parents came to Ohio. He married Esther W. Hunt, who was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1812, and in 1828 came with her mother to Preble county, her father, John Hunt, having died in New Jersey in 1824. Mrs. Hunt died in 1859, in her seventy-fourth year. Mr. Scott is the father of six children, as follows: Mrs. L Gable, of Eaton; John, deceased; Mrs. David Owens, deceased; Mrs. Lewis Gillingham, who resides on a part of the old homestead of George Washington, near Mt. Vernon; Joseph P. in Israel, and Mrs. James. Elliott in Greenville, Darke county.

Joseph P. Scott was born in Israel township, in 1847. In 1872 he married Hannah Maria Dugdale, born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1845. Two of their three children are still living.

John Herron was born in South Carolina in 1806, and died in Israel township, in 1853. His wife Jane Douglas was born in 1807, and died in 1877. They settled in Israel township on the farm in section nineteen. They were the parents of five children, three of whom are living, viz: John C., Martha Hamilton, and. Mary, wife of Samuel Marshall, of Butler county.

John C. Herron was born in 1846. In 1870 he was married to Mary N. Paxton, who was born in 1849. Their four children are living.

Samuel Buck was born in South Carolina in 1801, and died in 1863. His wife, Margaret C., was born in South Carolina in 1805, and died in 1876. Their children are: Thomas M., Mary J., Sarah M., William, Eleanor, Margaret A., John P., Robert A., and a child who died in infancy. John P. Buck was born in Israel township, in 1839. He married Minerva Lane, who was born in Indiana. Four children have been born to them, all of whom are living, viz: Effie, Mary, Samuel, and Arthur. Mr. Buck owns two hundred and eighty-five acres of well improved land.

Matthew Wilson came from Kentucky in 1828, and located in section thirty-four, Israel township. His wife was Jane McQuiston, who bore him eight children, three are now living: Mrs. Hugh McQuiston, Jane, and William. William Wilson, back in 1838, was engaged in the dry goods business at Fair Haven. In 1840 he purchased a farm north of that village, where he resided two years. In 1842 he bought where he now resides in section thirty-three. He was born in 1812, and was married to Jane Brown in 1833, and has had twelve children, six of whom are living.

Robert M. Wilson was born in Kentucky, in 1812, and died in 1871. His wife was Sarah Leech, born in 1799, and died in 1866. They had five children, three of whom are living: Charles A., born in 1856; Robert M., born in 1860; and Sarah L, born in 1865. They own a farm of one hundred and thirty-two acres, which is in a good state of cultivation.

Robert Rock was born in 1808. His wife was Jane Hamilton, who was born about 1815, and who died in 1852. They have had three children—Mary Jane, who married James A. Morrow, living in Washington county, Iowa; Andrew B., living in Israel township ; Nancy R., who died in infancy.

Andrew B. Rock was born in 1837. He married Martha F. Worden, who was born in 1848. Five children have been born to them, all now living. He owns a farm of about eighty acres in Israel township.

_____ Hamilton was born in 1828 in Israel township. His wife was Sarah J. Ramsey, born in 1830. In 1872 he died in Israel township. About 1866 he was elected trustee of the township. Seven children have been born to them, three of whom are living, viz.: Mary, Hannah and Eliza, living at home.

John Hamilton was born in section twenty-four of Israel township in 1831. He married Martha Herron, who was born in 1842. Eight children have been born to them.

Gavin McMillin was born in Ireland in 1789. In 1825 he moved to Ohio from South Carolina, and settled in section thirty-six of Israel township. His wife was Rosanna Ronalds, born in 1806. She now resides in Greene county, Ohio. Thirteen children were born them, four of whom are now alive. John R. McMillin, s0n of the above was born in 1834. In 1872 he married Harriet Louisa McCreary, who was born in 1842. They have had four children, all of whom are now living. Gavin McMillin was for many years pastor of the old Covenanter church near Morning Sun.

William Maddock was born in South Carolina about 1788. From that State he moved to Ohio and settled in Israel township. His first wife was Hannah Stubbs, by whom he had nine children, four of whom are now alive. His second wife was Sarah Huffman, a Kentuckian. They have had seven children, four of whom are now living.

Edward Maddock married M. J. Felton, daughter of Edward Felton, an old settler of Gasper township. They have had six children, four now living. He is giving a good deal of attention to raising of pure stock. His farm contains about two hundred and thirty acres.

James Cook settled in Israel in the year 1831, removing here from Butler county, Ohio. His father died in that county in 1819. His mother came with him to Preble county and lived until 1874, dying at the great age of ninety-six years. Mr. Cook was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1809; was married in 1837 to Mary McDill. She was born in 1817, and died in 1851. They had six children, as follows: Jane E., Thomas M. (deceased in 1868), James M., William C. (died in 1863), and his sons who died in infancy. James Cook, the father, is a prominent member of the United Presbyterian church at Morning Sun, and was elected elder in 1840. His son, James M., resides in this township near Morning Sun. He was born in 1842; married Mary A. Logan in 1871. She was born in Indiana in 1846. They have three children.

John B. Orr was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1811, and died in 1843. In 1832 he moved to Preble county, and settled in section sixteen of Israel township. His

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wife was Jane Porter, born in 1812. She is the daughter of Rev. Alexander Porter, who came to Israel township from South Carolina in 1814. Mrs. Orr is the mother of four children, two of whom are living.

Alexander P. Orr was born in 1832, and in 1853 he married Martha Paxton, who was born in 1835. They have four children. Mr. Orr owns the old homestead farm, on which his grandfather, Rev. Alexander Porter, settled. The big willow tree mentioned hereafter is on their place, near the spring, back of the house.

Israel Brown was born in Israel township, section eighteen, in 1833. In 1866 he married Anna Eliza Mann, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1841. They have a family of three children. Mr. Brown has one hundred acres of land in section twenty-seven, his father's old homestead.

Caleb Shera, a native of Ireland, born in 1805, emigrated with his parents to Franklin county, Indiana, in 1821. In 1835 he removed to Preble county, and settled in this township, in section thirty-one, where he has since resided. In the spring of 1832 he was married to Sally Shaffer, born in Butler county, Ohio, 1812. He has served as township trustee four years. Has a good farm, with excellent improvements. He has a family of six children.

Joseph Marshall was born in Ireland in 1801. Matthew and Sarah (Grimes) Marshall were his parents. The Marshalls emigrated from Ireland to Georgia, and in 1819 to Ohio, where they remained but eighteen months, when they returned to Georgia. To Matthew and Sarah Marshall were born seven children—Joseph, Jane, Elizabeth, William, Sarah, Matthew, and Mary, who lives in section twenty, Israel township, with her nephews.

Joseph Marshall was married to Mary Ann Trimble, a native of Georgia. In 1837 they removed from Georgia to Preble county, and settled in Israel township, where Mr. Marshall died in 1861. To them were six children born, of whom Matthew and Joseph are still living on the home place. The others were John, James, a child that died in infancy, Daniel.

Samuel B. Gilmore was born in Israel township in 1837. His wife, who was Ellen E. Brown, was born in 1840. In 1878 he bought the saw-mill at Morning Sun, owned by Philip Murray and James A. Brown, and has since then been engaged in this business. He has had eight children, six of whom are living.

James A. Magaw was born in Israel township in 1839. His wife was Grizella C. Brown, born in 1848. Mr. Magaw farms about one hundred and sixty-five acres of land in section twenty-three. The family consists of four children, all of whom are living at home.

Edward Hawes was born in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 1815. In 1834 he moved to Boston. After three years he moved to Illinois. From there he moved to Butler county, Ohio, where he lived two years. In 1839 he moved to Indiana, but moved back to Ohio in a year, or two, and settled in Fair Haven. He lived there for thirteen years, and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1854 he closed his business, and moved to Iowa. He afterwards moved back to Fair Haven, and engaged in the general store business which has been his business ever since. He was married to Mary Jane Walden, born in 1828, in Butler county, Ohio. He has had five children, three of whom survive. 

Henry Marshall was born in Georgia in 1804, and died in 1871. His first wife, Martha Ramsey, was born in 1809, and died in 1837. To them were born four children: Eliza (dead), William, who lives in Iowa; James L. in this township, and John P. (dead). James L was married in 18612, to Caroline E. McClanahan, and has had eight children, seven of whom are living. Henry Marshall married for his second wife, Sarah McCreary, who was born in 1805, and is still living. By his second wife he had three children, only one of whom, Mary Jane, is living.

William Hays settled in section three, Israel township, at an early day, and died in 1835. His wife, Elizabeth Ramsey, was born in 1798, and lives in Mercer county, Ohio, with her daughter, Rebecca Wiley. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hays were six-four sons and two daughters: Rebecca, wife of Rev. Preston Wiley, lives in Mercer county; John G. and William R. live in Israel township ; Robert in Iowa; as is also Thomas R.

William Ramsey Hays was born in 1828, and in 1859 married Miss Elizabeth Jane Marshall, who was born in 1840. Eight of their nine children are living, and all at home; Isabella A., Margaret E., Lydia M., Mary E., John Henry, James C., William B. and Walter. Mr. Hays is the possessor of three hundred and fifty-five acres of land in Israel township. He resides in section three, where he is the possessor of two hundred and five acres.

John G. Hays was born in section three of Israel township in 1824. His wife, Mary J. Williamson, was born in 1827. She is one of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Williamson, both of whom died many years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Hays seven children have been born, all of whom are living: Elizabeth, wife of W. A. Ramsey, of Israel township; W. A. living in Iowa; John M. in Fayette county, Indiana; James H. living in Connersville; R. M., Rhoda R. and Mary M. living at home.

James Hamilton was born in 1842, in Israel township. His wife, Sarah D. Newton, was born in 1843, in Somers township. They have four children, all of whom are living.

John B. Johhston was born in 1842, and married Alice E. Brown in 1869. She was the daughter of George and Margaret Brown, and was born in 1850, and died in 1879. Two of their three children are living—Luther R. and Harry E. He owns eighty-two acres of land in section twenty-three.

Joseph Cramer was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1814. From Pennsylvania he emigrated to Ohio in 1845, and settled in Israel township, near Fair Haven. In 1838 he married Mary J. Ramsey, born in 1824. Joseph Cramer's father was a descendant of some Cramers who came from Holland, and were among the first settlers of New Amsterdam—now New York city. Joseph Cramer had seven children, three of whom sur-

230 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

vive. He owns two hundred and twenty acres of land, which is under a good state of cultivation. 

William Douglas, sr., was born in Pennsylvania in 1769, and died in 1854. His wife, Ann Douglas, was born in 1774, and died in 1839. Their five children are dead.

William Douglas, jr., the fourth child of the above, was born in Pennsylvania in 1805. In 1837 he was married to Eliza Coulter, who was born in Ireland in 1814, and came to Pennsylvania when she was eight years old. In 1837, just after their marriage, they removed to Preble county, and settled on the farm in Israel township, where Mrs. Douglas still resides with her sons. To Mr. and Mrs. Douglas have been born nine children, of whom eight are living—Thomas C. married Sophia Hungsinger, and lives in Indiana; Margaret Ann is dead; William A. married Mary Ramsey; James H. married Jane McDivitt, and lives in Somers township; Robert A. had for his first wife Jennie Cr0se, and for his second, Isabella Coulter; Isabella Douglas married Robert Irwin; John C. married Eva Teague; and Benjamin B. and Samuel J. are living at home with their mother. They have charge of the home farm, which is under a good state of cultivation.

Philip Murray was born in Somers township in 1814. His father, Thomas Murray, was born in Ireland in 1779, and his mother, Martha Lewellen, was born in this country in 1788. They were early settlers of Somers township. In 1844 Philip Murray married Elizabeth Bader, who was born in 1823, and died in 1856. Four of the six children by this marriage are living. In 1857 Mr. Murray married Elizabeth T. Moren, who was born in 1820. Two children have been born by this marriage. In 1862 Mr. Murray became township treasurer, which office he held for four years. Until the year 1834 he was a farmer. In that year he took charge of a saw-mill on the Killough farm, in Somers township. He has been connected with the saw-mills located on the Camden and Richmond pike, on the farm of John Mills, then on the farms of John Douglas and Thomas McQuiston. In the year 1858 he quit the milling business and engaged in the dry goods business at Morning Sun until about the year 1866, when he again engaged in the saw-milling business.

Winburn Jenkins was born in North Carolina in 1817. From that State he moved to Ohio, and settled in Israel township, section six, in 1849. He married Sussanah Leviston in 185–, and has had six children, three of whom are living.

James R. Smith was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1810, and died in 1857. His wife was Mary Paxton, who died in 1871. They had ten children, three of whom are still living: Eliza, married and living in Israel township; Mary, married and living in Fair. Haven, and William R., living in Israel township. William R. Smith was born in 1836. In 1857 he married Mary Ann Evans, who was born in 1836. She died in 1874, leaving three children. He married again in the same year, a Miss Grace E. Munns, who was born in Butler county, Ohio. They have had two children. He lives in Fair Haven and owns fifty-four acres of land.

Robert Smith, the second son of James and Ann Smith, was born in Kentucky in the year 1795. In 1815 he was united in marriage to Mary A. Patterson, who was born in South Carolina in 1795. She emigrated to Ohio with her parents and settled in section thirty, of Israel township, where her father entered land in 1806. They had seven children born to them, of these only four survive: John P., Samuel P., Eliza Jane, and Margaret. The two daughters reside in Kansas, but John P. and Samuel P. still reside in this township.

James Smith was one of the earliest pioneers of the county, having settled in Somers township, it is said, in 1802.

John P. Smith was born in 1816 in Somers township. In 1840 he married Nancy Buck, who was born in 1818, and died in 1857. By this marriage he had four children, three of whom survive. In 1858 he married a second time. His wife was Jane Morrow, born in Pennsylvania in 1826. She died the same year of her marriage, leaving one child. His third wife was Margaret McKay, who died in 1862, leaving one child. In 1863 he married Sarah Gilmore, who was born in 1830. By this marriage he has had four children, all living. In 1869 Mr. Smith was elected justice of the peace, which office he held for nine years. In 1866 he was elected to the office of clerk of the township, which position he still holds.

Samuel P. Smith was born in Somers township in 1820. In 1842 he married Mary Ann McGaw, who was born in 1819, and who died in 1852. There were born them four children, three of whom still survive. In 1853 he married for his second wife Matilda McBride, born in South Carolina in 1823. They have had three children.

Alexander M. Smith was born in Dixon township in 1857, and in 1879 was married to Lydia Allen, who was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1857. They have one child, Nora Myrtle Smith. He owns forty-five acres of land given him by his father.

James Harper, the only surviving child of Nathan and Elizabeth Harper, was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1829. In 1850 he moved to Preble county, Ohio, and located on the farm on which he now lives. In the same year he married Margaret A. Paxton, who was born in Israel township, in 1828, and who died in 1876. Ten children were born to them, six of whom are still living. Mr. Harper owns ninety acres of land located in section twenty-one of Israel township. 

Alexander Caldwell was born in Ireland in 1818. In 1846 he emigrated to Pennsylvania, where he lived about five years. He then moved to Virginia and stayed there a year. In the next year, 1852, he moved to Ohio and settled in Israel township, where he has since resided. His wife was Mary Monteith, born in Ireland in 1831. Nine children have been born to them, all of whom are living. Mr. Caldwell owns a farm of eighty acres, one and a half miles northeast of College Corners, Ohio.

Andrew Campbell was born in Ireland in 1791. He emigrated from Ireland to Preble county in 1852. His

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 231

wife was Rachel Weir, who was born Ireland in 1781, and died in 1859.

John Campbell was born in North Ireland, in 1815, and emigrated to Preble county, and settled in section six of Israel township, in 1861. In 1846 he married Martha Scott, born in Ireland, in 1825. They have had seven children, six of whom are now living. Mr. Campbell owns a farm of seventy-eight acres, which is well improved.

Francis A. Beall was born in Somers township, in 1820. His father, Charles Beall, was an early settler in that township, having removed there with his parents from Maryland, in 1816. Francis A. married for his first wife Sarah Moore, of Israel township, born in 1827; she died in 1860. There were two children born of this marriage, one living. In 1866 he married Mary H. Brown, born in Israel township, in 1830, by whom he has had no children, but has taken two to raise.

Jabez Harrison was born in Virginia in 1800, and died in 1845. He emigrated from Virginia to Wayne county, Indiana, and remained there five years, and afterwards lived in Fayette county until his death, which occurred in 1845. His wife, Elizabeth Taylor, born in Virginia in 1800, died in 1847. Three of their eight children are living: Ashbury C., in Washington Territory; James R., near St. Louis; and Wesley H., in Preble county, Israel township, where he owns two hundred and seventy-five acres. He moved from Wayne county, Indiana to Fayette county in 1835, and to Union county in 1847, whence he moved, in 1858, to Israel township. His wife, Lavina Brown, was born in 1829. They have a family of five children.

Charles Hockersmith was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1850. He came to Preble county in i868, and purchased a farm of seventy-nine acres from James A. and William M. Gilmore. In 1874 he married Rachel M. Gilmore, who was born in 1843. They have had two children, one of whom, Robert A., is still living.

INCIDENTS.

The first birth in the township was that of Hugh Elliott, who was born June 26, 1808, and Mr. Elliott is consequently the oldest native resident.

The first death of which there is any remembrance was that of the little daughter of Dr. John Ramsey. She died about the year 1807, and was buried near the family residence, on the farm now occupied by George Hamilton.

Ebenezer Elliott put up the first brick house in 1816, on the farm now owned by his son Hugh. Robert Boyse is supposed to have put up the first house that was roofed with shingles, and James Boyse put up the first frame barn.

It is said that the first orchard in the township was set out on the farm of Robert Bishop, in section five.

The first wheat was sown in the summer of 1807, by Ebenezer Elliott, on his farm, in section twenty-six. In the previous spring he planted five acres of corn. The family tired of corn bread, and longed for a taste of wheat bread, and so the boys persuaded their father to clear two acres and put them in wheat. The crop raised was a big one, and after it was harvested was put in a rail pen covered with clapboards. As soon as possible, the boys cleared a spot of ground near by, and after threshing it with flails and winnowing it in a sheet, they started for the mill at Hamilton, with two bushels and a half. After they returned with the flour they could hardly wait while Mrs. Elliott baked a cake, which as soon as done was eagerly devoured by the boys, Mrs. Elliott, with motherly self-denial only taking a morsel. The cake tasted very good, but had scarcely been swallowed before the whole family became sick, with sickness proportioned to the amount of cake eaten, and the mother received the reward of her self-denial, and was the least sick of all. Mr. Elliott, upon his return, pronounced the wheat "sick" wheat. All of it was of the same nauseating quality, and so ended the visions of a continuous supply of daily bread. The wheat, after being spurned by the cows and hogs, was used for whiskey, and it is not definitely known how sick it made the men who drank it.

When Ebenezer Elliott was justice of the peace he was going to church one Sabbath when he met a man hauling a load of mill-stones. Upon being convinced that this Sunday labor was voluntary he was filled with righteous wrath, and on Monday the constable collected two dollars and a half from the Sabbath breaker.

In 1814 a violent tornado swept through the woods south of Morning Sun, doing great damage. The trees were thrown in every direction, and what few fences there were, were scattered to the four winds. Fortunately no lives were lost, though there was great anxiety among families whose members were supposed to be in the track of the storm. This was the m0st violent storm there has ever been in Israel township.

At the time of the first settlements bears, wolves, wildcats, and foxes were plenty, but it was the smaller game that gave the settlers the most annoyance.

In the spring of a 1810 the country was over run with hordes of mice, mice of all colors, shapes and sizes. They are described as having been a cross between a mole and a common mouse. For awhile they stayed, creating great havoc.

Wild turkeys were very plentiful, and their gobble, gobble, gobble! was a terror to the corn planter, who found that the corn was scratched up nearly as fast as it was put under the ground. Large numbers of these marauders were entrapped.

In the fall of 1809, there was a failure of the beechmast throughout the country, and the consequence was, that the squirrels began to emigrate to the south in armies. Hundreds of them passed through Israel township, jumping along at a lively rate, and swimming, or rather floating, over the streams. Scores of them were killed with clubs while crossing the Miami river.

Many will remember the crust which formed over the snow in 1817, when the deer, breaking through the crust, wete easily captured by improvident hunters, who killed so many that there was a great scarcity of meat afterwards.

232 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

All of the yellow willow trees in this part of the country owe their origin to a very patriarchal old tree that stood on the Colerain dike, between Cumminsville and Cincinnati. As the travelling public passed by that way, it was customary to cut a switch from the old tree, and to plant it when the distant home was reached. More than sixty years ago, Rev. Alexander Porter, upon his arrival from Cincinnati, after a trip on horseback to that city, gave the willow switch which he had cut from the old tree near Cumminsville, to his little daughter, Mary, who thrust it into the moist ground near the spring which was back of the house.

That switch, then so puny, is now without doubt the largest tree in the county. Recent measurements show that the trunk just below the branches is twenty-five feet in circumference. It is about sixty seet high, and, like the golden candlestick of old, has seven branches, the longest of which measures sixty feet. This tree, which is well worth visiting, is still strong and vigorous. It stands just back of the early residence of Mr. Porter, which was situated in section seventeen, on the farm now owned by Alexander Orr, a grandson of Mr. Porter.

Levi Coffin, president of the underground railroad, had one branch of his road through Israel township. Ebenezer Elliott, Nathan Brown, and others along the line are said to have been directors of the road. Whenever the colored refugees touched College Hill, near Cincinnati, they were sure to go to Canada via the Israel township route.

Sometime the parties would miss the "through train," and would be compelled to advance without a conductor. About thirty years ago, a party of this kind was travelling up the pike from Oxford, when a man on horseback overtook them, and tried in every manner to hinder them, and thus assist their masters, who where in close pursuit. The frightened negroes took refuge in the house of a colored man who lived in Claysburgh, and the avaricious watcher, thinking that they were trapped, quietly awaited the arrival of their masters. But the shrewd darkies had escaped from a back window, through the cornfield into the adjoining woods, and were rapidly conducted into Indiana. Their sable conductor was none other than Gabriel Smith, known all over the country as "Old Gabe."

Nearly forty years ago, an emigrant from the South came into Israel township bringing his two slaves with him, but as it was unlawful to hold slaves in Ohio, he settled just across the Indiana line. One of the slaves was old Gabe, who afterwards settled at Claysburgh. He was a fine singer, and the fiddler of the county, and was quite a character.

In 1858, a gentleman by the name of Sloan, who lived on a plantation in Newbury district, South Carolina, feeling that the end of his life was approaching, and desirous of freeing his slaves before his death, decided to make a trip to Ohio. He had probably heard of the Israel township settlement from South Carolina, and it was thought best to make this township the terminus of the jonrney. Accordingly, he started with his fourteen slaves, and proceeded by wagon over the mountains to Ohio, arriving after several weeks of weary journeying. Mr. Sloan purchased a few acres of land adjoining Morning Sun, and after seeing his people comfortably settled, returned to the South, and died almost as soon as he got there, Alfred Sloan is the only survivor of the party of freedmen.

CHURCH HISTORY.

There is no other township in Preble county whose history of every day life is so thoroughly identified with that of the church. It has been well remarked that the history of Israel township is the history of her churches. Her pioneers were her preachers, and her early settlers were her church members. As has already been noticed, the majority of the pioneers of Israel emigrated from the south, and principally from South Carolina, and that most of them were supporters of churches in the south, and for conscience sake took their departure from their native State, and came north into the virgin State of Ohio, to battle with the wilderness and suffer the rigors necessary to settlement and acclimatization; and all this because of their love for God and their abhorrence of evil. Men who would voluntarily leave good homes for such cause must have been made of true metal, and their subsequent history has proved it. . The original stock was Scotch-Irish, and in the rocky fastnesses of Scotland they had imbibed the strongest Presbyterianism. Many of them settled in the Carolinas. In 1743 the Covenanters, and in 1732 the Reformed Presbyterians, seceded from the mother church in Scotland, and it was to these two parties that the Carolina settlers of Israel township belonged. Both churches were well represented in the township from the very first, and as a matter of course the rock-ribbed Christians immediately proceeded to organize their respective churches, and it is not strange that their influence has molded the character of the people.

THE COVENANTER CHURCH.

Prior to the year 1810 the Covenanters, who had made their homes in the township, assembled in private houses in the neighborhood, and it was not long before it was deemed expedient to enter into the organization of a church of their own denomination. They immediately proceeded with the work, and very soon, under the ministration of Rev. Donnelly, a minister of their church, succeeded in effecting an organization with a very considerable number of members. This organiza tion took place in the cabin of James Faris, in section twenty-six, near the spot where the church was afterwards erected. Rev. John Kell was among the first ministers who labored among them. Rev. John Black, of Pittsburgh, preached after Mr. Kell, and he in turn was followed by Rev. Lusk, and soon afterwards by Rev. Gavin McMillan, who was the faithful shepherd of the flock for many years. It was during his pastorate, in the year 1834, that the Covenanters, while in general assembly at Pittsburgh, became divided into two parties, the dissenters taking the name New Party and the remainder calling themselves members of the Old Party. This division, originating in the presbytery, became general

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 233

throughout the Covenanter church, and it soon became necessary for the Morning Sun congregation to declare itself. The shepherd of the flock, Rev. Gavin McMillan, thought best of the New Party, and accordingly announced the fact to his people, who, naturally enough, followed him almost en masse into the new pasture, though a few positively declined to leave the Old Party. At this time they had a commodious brick church, which, until quite recently, stood in the midst of the cemetery where most of the original members lie buried. During the controversy between the two congregations for the possession of the church building, an amusing incident happened which is worthy of record. William Ramsey, one of the conservative party, got possession of the church one Sabbath, and opened the doors to the members of his party. He took his stand beside the high, old fashioned pulpit, and was about to conduct services when Mr. McMillan hurriedly entered the church, and before Mr. Ramsey was aware, had nimbly swung himself over the balustrade of the high pulpit, and the day was his. But Elder Ramsey, though amazed, was not altogether nonplussed, and with ready and keen wit he exclaimed: "He that entereth not in by the door, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Then he, with his followers, withdrew to the school-house opposite the church, and the new party remained the possessors of the house of worship. Mr. McMillan continued to preach to this people until within a short time of his death, which occurred in the winter of 1867, in the fortieth year of his ministry. Rev. J. H. Cooper, while pastor of the church, decided to unite with the United Presbyterian church, and accordingly, with the majority of his people, was received as a member of that church. They continued to worship in "Beechwood" church, and many of the eastern portion of the Hopewell congregation united with them. Several years ago these people, under the name of the Morning Sun congregation, together with one hundred and one members of Hopewell church, organized

THE MORNING SUN CHURCH,

and immediately proceeded to build their present handsome brick church, dt an expense of nearly fourteen thousand dollars. The old church was sold and torn down. Samuel McQuiston used the bricks to build his new house. Only the outline of the old foundation remains in the cemetery as a monument, and together with many of the old members who are buried around it, is it mouldering to dust. Its young successor, the Morning Sun church, is in a flourishing condition. After Mr. Cooper, Rev. H. A. McDonald became the pastor of this congregation. He was followed by the present pastor, Rev. J. M. Johnston. The present eldership is as follows: Hugh McQuiston, sr., Hugh Elliott, Dr. Sloan, Samuel McQuiston, William Wright, Dr. Harris, John Marshall, James Cook and James Fans. There are two hundred and eight members of the church, and about two hundred in the Sabbath-school. John Elliott is superintendent.

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.

In the preliminary remarks upon the early history of Presbyterianism, it was stated that the emigrants from the south belonged either to the Covenanter or Reformed Presbyterian church. The history of the Covenanters of Israel township has been closed, and we see its vigorous life continued in the flourishing Morning Sun United Presbyterian church.

Taking a retrospect of the course of the Reformed Presbyterians who settled in the township, it will be discovered that they hardly waited to build their cabin homes before they proceeded to organize their church. It will be seen that the nucleus of the United Presbyterian church in Israel township was formed by the emigrants from the south.

THE HOPEWELL CHURCH.

In the years 1806 and 1807 several families, members of the Associate Reformed church, emigrated from the States of Kentucky and South Carolina, and settled in Israel township in the midst of the Beech Woods. Rev. Risk, a minister of the Associate Reformed church, preached to them soon after their settlement. In the fall of 1808, at the house of William McCreary, in section thirty-six, they formed themselves into a society, and in conjunction with the people of Concord petitioned the presbytery of Kentucky for supplies. Among those who occasionally supplied them were, Revs. McCord, McGill, Samuel Crothers and Abraham Craig. September, 1808, the people assembled in the double log barn of David McDill's, and Mr. Craig, after preaching, organized the congregation into a church of nearly fifty members. Prominent among these first names on the church roll were the McDills, McQuistons, Boyses, Ramseys and Elliotts. At the time of the organization the following elders were chosen by the congregation: David and Andrew McQuiston, James Boyse, Ebenezer Elliott and John Patterson, all of whom had been ordained previous to their settlement in the township. The church continued to receive supplies from the Kentucky presbytery, and the number of members was increased by immigration, but the prospect of having a settled minister among them did not open until 1814, when Rev. Alexander Porter, the pastor of the Associate Reformed church at Cedar Springs, Abbeville district, South Carolina, being previously released from his charge, came on a visit to the western churches, and to the Israel township congregation preached on two Sabbaths and one week day. By this time the congregation had increased to more than fifty families, and the people were more than ever desirous of securing a pastor and of erecting a house of worship. Accordingly they drew up a call for Mr. Porter, and presented it to the presbytery of Kentucky. A copy of the call is now in possession of the Hopewell session. It is drawn up in the usual form, and prays that Mr. Porter become the shepherd of their souls, and promises him all due respect and support. It was signed by the following persons, who constituted the first membership of the church : David M., Andrew and Hugh McQuiston, William, Moses and James McGaw, David

234 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

and Mary McDill, James and Robert Boyse, Ebenezer and Robert Elliot, John and Samuel Patterson, John, Robert, David, Joseph and Samuel Pressly, James and Thomas McDill, Nathan Brown, John Brown, Hugh Ramsey, Richard Sloan, George and James Brown, Gavin Mitchell, William McCreary, Robert, Joseph and John Douglas, William Morris, John Foster, Alexander Hamilton, David Fares, John sand James Hathorne, William, John and Robert Buck, William Pinkerton, David and Samuel Hathorne, William Allen, William Morris, John and Samuel Wiley, John and James Baine, Reuben C. and Andrew Weed, James Giles, John Wilson, John and James Alton, Andrew and Mary Martin, Robert Gamble, Joseph and William Steel, Richard and James Scott, Matthew and James McClurken, John Caldwell, Alexander Young, William Robison, Gilbert Marshall, David Bonner and Andrew Baird. Mr. Porter was promised three hundred and thirty-three dollars. and thirty-three cents yearly salary for two-thirds of his time. For the other third of his ministerial labors the congregations of Hamilton and Concord were to pay one hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents, with the understanding that as soon as these churches could be provided with a settled pastor, Hopewell would receive the whole of Mr. Porter's labors.

Prior to this call the first church building had been erected just west of the present house. It was a log structure thirty feet square, and afterwards, to accommodate the growing congregation, received an addition of thirty feet. The pulpit was in the middle of the west side, with two small windows just back of it. The seats were made of slabs hewed from logs. They were provided with stiff, upright backs. The present church building is a commodious frame, and is kept in good repair

In October, 1814, Mr. Porter, having accepted the call, came to his new pastoral charge at Hopewell, and settled with his family on the farm in section sixteen, now occupied by Alexander Orr. In the following July he was solemnly installed by Rev. John Steele. Shortly afterwards the congregation was much enlarged by emigrations from Mr. Porter's old parish, in South Carolina, and six members were added to the session who had been elders of the church in South Carolina. In 1816 the congregations of Hamilton and Concord having the prospect of a pastor, Mr. Porter discontinued his labors among them and devoted all of his time to Hopewell, which continued to increase in numbers and influence. In 1833 Mr. Porter was attacked by a severe sickness, and it was thought that his days were about numbered, and he resigned his charge, though he rallied and lived three years after his resignation. In 1834 presbytery granted the petition for the moderation tit the call, which was accepted by Rev. A. Bower in October, 1834, and on the third Wednesday of December, of the same year, he was installed as pastor by Rev. David McDill, D. D. The congregation soon became too large for the house, and also too large for the pastoral care of one minister. Consequently, in the spring of 1834, arrangements were made for the building of a meeting-house at Fair Haven, and in the following summer a church was built there, and in the fall a petition was presented to presbytery that the portion of the congregation of Hopewell, contiguous to Fair Haven, be struck off from the main church, and, if considered expedient, to grant the moderation of a call for a pastor. This petition was granted and the history of the Fair Haven church tells the rest.

John Pinkerton had been session clerk until this time, when he joined the new church at Fair Haven, and John Caldwell was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by his removal. Owing to difficulties that arose in the congregation the pastor, Rev. A. Bower, resigned in June, 1837. The church was supplied until September 19, by Rev. S. W. McCracken, who was installed pastor on the last Tuesday of December, 1839. It was just prior to this time that a number of the congregation, living near Oxford, joined the United Presbyterian church at that place. Mr. McCracken labored for twenty years, during which time the congregation gradually increased, and although another swarm left the hive to form the Unity church at College Corner in the winter of 1849-50, and a very considerable number emigrated to the west, the church was as strong, numerically, at the close of the pastor's labors, as it was at the beginning. He died September 10, 1859, loved and lamented by all. August 7, 1860, Rev. J. McHatten was called, and soon afterwards installed.

As has already been stated the Morning Sun congregation became a separate organization of the United Presbyterian church, and on December 28, 1877, one hundred and one of the members of Hopewell were dismissed to that church.

In October, 1877, Rev. J. C. Campbell, the present pastor, began his labors among the people of Hopewell. The church, at present, is in a flourishing condition. The records show that since the establishment of the church there have been eight hundred and sixty-four baptisms and one hundred and forty-two deaths in the Hopewell church proper. There have been fifty ruling elders, as follows: Alexander Hamilton, William Mc. Gaw, John Pressly, John Patterson, Ebenezer Elliott, James Boyse, David McQuiston, Nathaniel Brown, John Foster, Andrew McQuiston, John Pinkerton, John Giles, William Gilmore, John Douglas, Samuel McDill, James Brown, sr., John Caldwell, Thomas Pinkerton, David Robertson, William McCaw, Archibald McDill, James Br0wn, jr., Hugh McDill, David McDill, John Ramsey, George Ramsey, Andrew Hamilton, John McDill, John Buck, Robert Marshall, Robert Simpson, Richard Sloan, Hugh McQuiston, James McCracken, James Davidson, John Simpson, Hugh Elliott, Thomas Buck, Samuel B. McQuiston, William Caskey, Hugh Ramsey, James A. Brown, William Bell, and A. B. Rock. The Sabbath school has about one hundred scholars, with James A. Brown superintendent.

A remarkable coincidence is the fact that the first of the original members of Hopewell, who was called away by death, was Thomas McDill, and that the last of these first members was his wife, who died in 1867, at the advanced age of ninety-five years.

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 235

THE FAIR HAVEN CHURCH.

As soon as that portion of the Hopewell congregati0n living in the vicinity of Fair Haven had been stricken off, the petition to moderate a call had been granted by presbytery, a call was made out and moderated by Rev. Alexander Porter, and accepted by Rev. Jeremiah Morrow, son of ex-Governor Morrow. He was installed in the following spring. The congregation consisted of about fifty families, and the new church immediately commenced its career of prosperity. The following were the first elders of the church:

John and Thomas Pinkerton, John Foster, William MaGaw, and William McCaw. The present elders are William MaGaw, Morton Gordon, William A. Pinkerton, David Ramsey, William Simpson, and Robert Beckett. Mr. Morrow preached seven or eight years, and was obliged to resign on account of failing health. He died soon afterwards in Chillicothe.

In the spring of 1845 Rev. John Reynolds became pastor, but he died in about a year, and was the first person buried in the Fair Haven cemetery.

June 20, 1847, Rev. John Y. Schouller, a graduate of the Alleghany Theological seminary, took charge of the church, and still continues in this his first and only pastorate.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The organization of the Fair Haven Methodist Episcopal church was effected at a comparatively recent date. For a number of years before any house of worship was erected by this society, its members held class meetings in the neighborhood. A few years after the organization of the United Presbyterian church at Fair Haven, a building was put up by the citizens of the place and vicinity to be used for public purposes. The members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was thei1 right, held services in their house from time to time, and today they hold undisputed possession of the building, and have a thriving though comparatively small society. United with the Sugar Valley church, the Fair Haven Methodist Episcopal church is strengthened, and is influential for much good.

FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE.

Like the United Presbyterians and Covenanters, the colony of Friends emigrating from New Jersey to Ohio, and finally to Israel township, brought their religion with them, and together with the first dwelling house was the house of the Lord erected. The church is situated in the extreme northeast corner of section twelve. The first building was of frame, and was erected in 1821. The second, of brick, was put up about 1850. The society was organized with a goodly number of members, and for many years the congregation was large. Of late years, owing to repeated emigrations of members to the west, and the death of many of the old and influential members, the congregation has been diminished considerably. The peculiar institutions of the Friends discourage the employment of regular ministers, and in general their meetings have been conducted by their own members. However, they occasionally have a regular sermon, and among the earliest preachers who labored to firmly found their church, are found John Stubbs and Samuel Edgerton. In 1827 there was a division among the Society of Friends at large, and the two parties were known as Orthodox, and Hicksites, after Elias Hicks, the founder of the new party. The Israel township congregation joined the ranks of the Hicksites. The oldest member of the church is Mrs. Sarah Brown, widow of the late John Brown. She is undoubtedly the oldest woman in the township, having been born in Trenton, New Jersey, June 29, 1786. She is now in her ninety-fifth year. Her parents were Presbyterians, but after her emigration to Ohio she went with her. husband into the Friends' society. Many of the old members of the church are buried in the graveyard adjoining the church.

THE BEECH-WOOD BIBLE SOCIETY

was organized about the year 1820, under the leadership of Rev. Gavin McMillan. Among the first members were: Rev. Gavin McMillian, president; Ebenezer Elliott, librarian; James Elliott, corresponding secretary ; Squire John Caldwell, recording secretary and treasurer. It is an undenominational society, and since its organization, has contributed large sums to the bible cause, and is now in the first ranks.

It might not be uninteresting to name in this connection, the ministers who have arisen in Israel township. The following is the list: David McDill, James Worth, John Pinkerton, John Reynolds, Martin Bennett, Andrew Foster, John Milligan, James Brown, James Orr, David McDill, John M. Graham, Ebenezer Elliott, Samuel Ramsey, E. C. Simpson, Samuel McGaw, Nathaniel Weed, William Boyse, John Reynolds, James Porter, John McDill, William M. Graham, Mitchell Brown, Nathan McDill, James H. Ramsey, James B. Foster, Samuel Pinkerton, John N. Pressly, R. C. Hamilton and Samuel Buck, in all twenty-nine.

SCHOOLS.

Always intelligent, the people of Israel township believed in education, and they have never neglected an opportunity to get wisdom. The first settlement of the township had its school-house. The earliest one, in the memory of the oldest inhabitants, was situated about one half a mile east of Morning Sun, on the farm now occupied by Robert Joe Brown. This house was put up prior to the yea1 1809.

David McDill, who afterwards became such an eminent preacher, was probably the first teacher.

Samuel P., son of John Pressly, was among the first teachers of this scho0l. He graduated at a South Carolina college; taught a few years there; taught some in Ohio, but was compelled to seek the south in search of health. He died on the way back to the home of his childhood.

About 1809 Thomas Gamble taught a school on the farm now owned by Samuel Ridenour in section twenty- nine. Both these schools were afterwards supplanted by district schools, which are in the immediate vicinity.

Section sixteen, in accordance with the law, was leased, the money to be used for educational purposes. The

236 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

original lessees were Rev. Alexander Porter, James Foster, Adam Solladay, Hugh Leslie and John Foster.

March 7, 1825, the township was divided into eight school districts.

During the prosperity of Miami university at Oxford, many of the young men of Israel township went there, and received a liberal education. Preparation for the freshman and sophomore classes was made at

THE MORNING SUN ACADEMY,

which, as near as can be ascertained, was established about 1850. Several years before this, Rev. John McCracken, while teaching in the district school on the same lot whereon the academy was afterwards built, taught ambitious students some of the more advanced branches, and gave them a classical taste. He was followed by Rev. James Brown, who, in turn, was succeeded by Samuel Elliott.

In a short time, through the efforts of Mr. Elliott and others, the organization of a stock company was effected, and about four thousand two hundred d0llars contributed for the establishment of a classical academy in Morning Sun. The house, two-story and commodious brick, was soon put up, the brick having been made on the farm of Hugh Elliott. Samuel Elliott, after teaching about ten years, was compelled to resign on account of poor health. At this time the attendance- was about fifty. After Mr. Elliott the teachers have been: Rev. John Wilson, Rev. J. A. Reynolds, William Sloan, James S. Wilson, John Marshall, R. J. Miller, O. V. Stewart, T. H. Wiley, Homer Sheely and R. E. Sloan. For about two years the academy has been closed. Edward Paxton, a graduate of Monmouth college, is now attempting to resuscitate it.

THE FAIR HAVEN LODGE,

No. 425, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted at Fair Haven in 1870. Though not strong in membership, it is in a prosperous condition, with hopes of increase. The officers of the lodge are: James H. Douglas, N. G.; Thomas Newton, V. G.; Robert C. McMillan, recording secretary; Philip Murray, permanent secretary, and John M. Ramsey, treasurer. There are at present thirty-four members of the Fair Haven lodge.

GRAVEYARDS.

In this as in most townships, the first burials were lonely, near the scene of death. A number of the earliest settlers were buried on the farms they settled. The first resident buried in the township was the little daughter of Dr. John Ramsey. She died about 1807, and was buried near the family residence. About this time a man by the name of Baird, a stranger in the neighborhood, was killed in the woods just north of William Ramsey's house, in section twenty-two, on the farm now owned by Nathan Ramsey, where the orchard now stands. His was probably the second burial in the township. There was a small burial place on the hill north of the south part of Fair Haven. Here among others were buried Joseph Caldwell and members of his family, and some of the McDivitts.

HOPEWELL CEMETERY

was the first public burying ground in Israel township. As one family circle after another came within the confines of the township, each one, sooner or later, found its central and dearest spot in this country church-yard the church, life's fountain; the yard, death's treasury, and scarcely a step between. Than this God's first acre, there is none other in the township so rich with precious dust. Throughout the township are the cheerful results of pioneer work, but there are no individual monuments to the sturdy workers, save in the graveyard, where

“Each in his narrow cell forever laid,

The rude forefathers of the township sleep."

The first tree felled where Hopewell cemetery now stands, yielded to the axe of Thomas McDill, sr., about the year 1812-13, and the first man who was buried there was none other than Mr. McDill. He went into the War of 1812, aid returned with impaired health, and soon after died, thus becoming the pioneer of the silent city. June 13, 1813, he was buried, aged thirty- seven. He and his wife Mary, were among the original members of Hopewell church. He was the first member called away by death, and strange to say, his wife, who died August 2, 1872, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years, was the last survivor of the original members. A plain block of marble in the center of the graveyard marks their last resting place. Around them lie more than a thousand. Most of the graves are marked, though a few have sunk almost out of sight, and entirely out of mem0ry. Though there are quite a number of lowly grass-grown headstones, indicative of children's graves, it is noticeable that most of the dead lived out the full measure of their days, and entered the graveyard in the winter of life.

Approaching from the east, the first group of graves is that of a number of ministers of the Gospel. The first inscription is "To the memory of the Rev. John Steele, died January 11, 1837, aged sixty-four. A preacher mighty in the Scriptures, a scribe well instructed in the law." His monument almost touches one "Sacred to the memory of Rev. Alexander Porter, died march 29, 1836, aged sixty-six years. Born in 1770, in South Carolina, received the rudiments of a classical education in the south, and finished at-Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Licensed to preach the Gospel of the grace of God in the Associate Reformed church, October 18, 1796; ordained in 1797, and labored in the Lord's vineyard nearly forty years." Near by, Rev. James B. Foster, who died February 27, 1873, though dead, yet speaks from his tomb-stone, "We shall rise again." Mr. Foster was born in Israel township, and became a United Presbyterian minister, afterwards joining the Presbyterian church. His last charge was at Cumminsville, near Cincinnati. Just beyond is the grave of Rev. Samuel W. McCracken, who died September 18, '1859, aged fifty-nine. Mr. Porter and Mr. McCracken were faithful pastors of Hopewell church. Mr. Steele presided at the installation of Father Porter, and it was at his earnest wish that he was buried beside Mr. Porter, whom he especially esteemed. Mrs. Porter died

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 237

in 1850, aged eight-two, and Mrs. McCracken died in ---, they rest beside their husbands. A hurried review of the various inscriptions shows that the following prominent settlers are here buried: William Ramsey died 1838, aged ninety-one, and wife, Martha, 1842, aged seventy-one; David McQuiston, jr., 1870, sixty-eight; John Caldwell, 1838, forty-seven; William Gilmore, 1837, forty; Robert Gilmore, 1839, fifty-three; Hugh Ramsey, 1865, eighty-six; William Douglas, 1854, eighty-five ; Samuel McDill, 1851, eighty-five; Thomas McDill, 1813, thirty-seven; David McQuiston, sr., 1823, eighty-eight; Hugh McQuiston, sr., 1845, eighty; Richard Sloan, 1848, eighty; Samuel Hamilton, 1822, forty-nine; David Bonner, 1844, seventy-five; John Pinkerton, 1852, eighty-four ; John Patterson, 1857, seventy-five ; James Brown, sr., 1834, fifty-five; James Paxton, sr., 1830, forty-eight; William McCreary, 1822, forty-seven ; William MaGaw, 1836, eighty-six; John Buck, 1871, eighty- six; William Buck, 1857, sixty-nine; John McClanahan, 1860, eighty-five; George Simpson, 1859, eighty-four; David Boyse, 1 8 2 7, sixty-four; David Gary, 1840, seventy-one; Robert Boyse, 1820, forty; James Marshall, sr., 1861, eighty-five; John Marshall, 1828, fifty-five; Ebenezer Elliott, 1849, seventy-eight; Ralph Brown, 1880, eighty-three; Alexander Waugh, 1840, seventy; John Douglas, 1840, sixty-four; William Pinkerton, 1848, fifty-four; George Pinkerton, 1854, fifty-one; Andrew McQuiston, 1821, sixty; James Boyse, 1842, seventy-three; Henry Bell, 1851, sixty-two; David Robertson, 5879, eighty-three; Rebecca Whilman, 1877, ninety-one; Thomas Harper, 1814, seventy-three; James Brown, 1824, fifty-five; Samuel Paxton, 1854, seventy-six; George R. Brown, 1845, seventy-one; John Milligan, 1823, forty- four; and Samuel Bell, 1867, aged eighty-six.

It is estimated that more than a thousand people are buried in this place. The original ground comprised about an acre of land, but recently the cemetery was formally handed over to the township trustees, who have enlarged it, and otherwise improved it. Hopewell cemetery has for many years been the principal burying- ground in the township.

THE COVENANTER GRAVEYARD

which surrounded the old church in section twenty-five, was one of the earliest burying-grounds, and in it are buried many of the first settlers. This was the sacred ground of the Covenanters, as Hopewell is of the United Presbyterians. Here, too, is their preacher buried; and here, too, sleep the ancestors of many of the township. At present, however, the burying-ground is but little used. The tombstones tell best who were the fathers of the church, which stood near.by. The following is a partial list of those buried in this cemetery, though there are very many graves marked only with unhewn headstones: Rev. Gavin McMillan, born in Antrim county, Ireland, February, 1787, died in January, 1867, aged eighty years, and in the fortieth year of his ministry; Rev. Samuel Robinson, born in Ireland in 1783, and died in 1845; Matthew McClurken, 1847, ninety; John Robinson, 1850, eighty-five; Archibald Johnston, 1828, sixty-three; Alexander McMillan, 1820, fifty; William Milligan, 1839, sixty-four; John Wright, 1854, sixty-six; William Ramsey, 1861, eighty-four; J0hn McClure, 1837, eighty; William Taylor, 1836, eighty-nine; John K. Steele, 1836, eighty-two; Robert Douglas, 1853, aged fifty-six, and many others. The earliest recorded death is that of Nancy Wright, who died February 20, 1819, aged twenty- one.

THE FAIR HAVEN CEMETERY

is situated on the hill on the east bank of Four Mile creek, a short distance from Fair Haven. This cemetery was not opened until 1846. The first burial was that of Rev. John Reynolds, pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Fair Haven. Since then many of the residents of Fair Haven and vicinity have passed away, and been buried on the hill. However, most of the earlier settlers are buried at Hopewell. The cemetery has a good situation, but is not easily accessible. There has long been a talk of making a more convenient entrance.

THE FRIENDS' BURYING-GROUND

adjoins their meeting-house in section twelve, and in it are buried nearly all of ihe New Jersey settlers, who belonged to the Friends' society. It is now impossible to ascertain the first burial. A large number of the graves are nameless. Burials still take place in it. .It is used now as a general burying-ground, and others besides the Friends here find their last resting place.

THE KINGERY BURYING-GROUND

is situated in section thirty-two, on the farm upon which Joseph Kingery settled. It has always been used as a private cemetery, and almost exclusively by the Kingery family. Here is buried Joseph Kingery, the first settler, his son Abraham, and others of the early residents of that section of the country.

MILLS.

William Ramsey, who emigrated in 1806, was the first millwright in the township.

The first mill he constructed was what is known as a "corn cracker." It was built on the stream that runs past J0hn Sloan's. It was constructed somehow thus: A dam was made by felling a tree across the stream, thus affording a waterfall; a buckeye log was then pivoted to an upright support so that it worked vertically; in the lighter end of this beam a trough-like cavity was scouped out for the reception of the water, so that the weight of the water would overcome the weight of the other end, to which an inverted wedge was attached by means of a pin and ring. As soon as the water-trough approached the ground, the water would run out, and the heavier end come down with considerable force, crushing the corn in a mortar made of a hollow stump. It was a slow but sure way of grinding.

About 1811, Peter Ridenour built a grist-mill on the west branch of Four Mile, often called Ridenour's creek. Afterwards he had a saw-mill in connection with it. Joseph Ridenour, a brother of Peter, afterwards built a mill further up the creek, but it did not do well.

Jonathan Ridenour ran a grist-mill west of Fair Haven for a short time.

238 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Soon after this, William Ramsey built the grist-mill now known as McDill's mill. He traded it to Mr. Mc- Dill for the farm on which his son, John Ramsey, now lives.

Dr. Sloan built a mill just west of this, soon afterwards. Both mills are still running.

Alexander Gray owns the mill near Fair Haven. It was built by Peter Coon, and remodelled by William Ramsey.

There are but two stationary saw-mills in the township now, one at Fair Haven and the other at Morning Sun.

For many years there have been no distilleries in Israel township, and a saloon is not tolerated.

In early times almost every farm was provided with a still, and it would be well nigh impossible to name the first distillers or to locate the stills.

VILLAGES.

There are but two villages wholly situated in Israel township, Fair Haven and Morning Sun, the one in section nine, and the other in section twenty-six. Fair Haven, the principal town in the township, was laid out in 1832 by Jonathan Caldwell, and the place was recorded April l0th, of that same year. There were originally thirty-two lots. It has since become a thriving village of two hundred inhabitants. Captain Bonny of Hamilton, called the village Fair Haven, because of its lovely situation in the Four Mile valley, in the midst of one of the richest agricultural regions in the township. The Caldwell residence was the first house. About the time that the town was laid out Jonathan Caldwell built the first tavern in the southwest part of town. At this time the travel between Richmond, Indiana, and Cincinuati was very extensive. Often in those early times did forty or fifty teamsters stop at the little log tavern. A store was soon put up near it by Captain Bonny, of Oxford. The present store is kept by J. C. Henry. The post offrce was established December 28, 1833, with Richard Sloan, jr., postmaster. Since then the postmasters have been Hiram Evans, Charles Pierce, James Caldwell, T. P. Simmons, I. N. Sliver, John Scott, and the present incumbent, J. C. Henry.

Charles Pierce and son have a broom factory; Joseph Brown runs a saw-mill, and has a tile factory; Dr. J. M. Logan and A. M. Howe are the practicing physicians; Dr. Gilmore resides in the village, but does not practice, on account of poor health. There is a daily hack to and from Hamilton and Richmond, making communication with these cities easy. There are two churches, the United

Presbyterian and Methodist.

Morning Sun, situated on the northwest corner of section twenty-six, is a village of about one hundred and seventy-five inhabitants. The original plat of seventeen in-lots and one out-lot was recorded April 13, 1833, by James McQuiston, and an addition of out-lots two and three was made by James McQuiston, March 30, 1837. The first house in the town is the one now occupied by Alfred Sloan, colored. In this same house the first store was kept by James Pressly, before and after the village was laid out. Israel Hamilton opened his blacksmith shop about the same time that the store was opened. Thomas Little became the first postmaster, May 26, 1836. E. O. Coleman is the present postmaster. The store is kept by Isaiah Brown and E. O. Coleman. The Morning Sun United Presbyterian church is situated in the village. The classical academy is near by. There is a tile factory and a saw-mill close to the village.

The portion of College Corner located in Israel township was laid out and recorded February 18, 1868, by Frank, Mary Francis, William, David, and Ellis Shidler. Part of the town is in Union county, Indiana, part in Butler county, Ohio, and the rest in the southwest corner of section thirty-one, Israel township.

March 26, 1833, the hamlet of Claysburgh was laid out by Robert Boyse, William Nickol, Samuel B. Gilmore, and Samuel C. Foster, and the plat was recorded April 13th. The town was to be on the corner of sections nine, ten, fifteen, and sixteen. The only house is that of James Kelly.

EARLY PHYSICIANS.

The first physician in the township was Dr. John Ramsey, a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, who emigrated at an early day to Woodford county, Kentucky, and in 1806 came to Ohio, and settled in Israel township, where he remained until the time of his death, which occurred in 1826.

Soon after settling, impelled by necessity and a sense of duty toward the pioneers so far from medical aid, he undertook the practice of medicine in his neighborhood. Intellectually he was noted for the common sense bent of his mind, and on this base, by close private reading, he soon acquired a vast fund of practical knowledge concerning the science of medicine. He was highly esteemed for his sound judgment, honest intentions, and devotion to his patients,

Dr. Ramsey performed the first surgical operation in the township when he amputated the leg of William Allenwith, using for the operation a case of instruments that would make the modern surgeon shudder. Notwithstanding, the patient 1apidly recovered, and hopped about for many years, an unceasing source of close observation to the boys of the neighborhood, who had been told by their superiors in knowledge, that the old gentleman would be all right when his leg grew again.

Dr. Ramsey, though he never attended a medical college, was not a quack, and though never at a school of pharmacy, was not a "yarb doctor." After practicing for twenty years, he was called away by that same grim foe he had been so successfully opposing for so many years. He died in 1826.

Dr. Samuel Pressly, a native of Abbeville, district of South Carolina, located at an early day in Israel township, near the present site of Fair Haven. He remained here but a short time, when he returned to the South, where he afterwards became a distinguished physician. Of his career in the county, it is learned that his professional and social standing was high. He was a skilful and fearless equestrian, and always visited his patients ma the "bee line," regardless of intervening forests, with their brush, logs, bogs, gullies, and stones. An old gentle-

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 239

man of Dixon township informed the writer, that when he was a boy he was sent to call Dr. Pressly to see a patient near what is now Concord. The ground was covered with ice, and travel on horse-back was very dangerous. But the doctor fearlessly responded to the call, and after advising the boy to ride home carefully, jumped into the saddle, and was like a wild Indian. The boy followed in mortal terror, momentarily expecting to find the crushed remains of the doctor, but upon his arrival home, found him already mounted for the return trip.

In 1825 Dr. Eli Gilmore emigrated from Rockbridge county, Virginia, and settled in the central part of Israel township. He immediately commenced the practice of medicine, and continued it for about thirty years.

Physically, while in his prime, he was a splendid specimen of robust manhood—tall, erect, active, tidy in dress, with an air of quiet dignity about him, that always made his presence felt and respected. In later years he became quiet corpulent, and never, until disabled by a slight paralysis, did he lose his characteristic elasticity of step. He paced a floor more lightly than other men of half his weight.

Intellectually, he far surpassed the ordinary standard. He had an exceedingly fine legal mind, and as a barrister would have been a giant. The dull routine of country practice, as neighborhood physician, did not give his fine powers of mind room for that activity of which they were capable. As a physician he felt the responsibilities of his position, and was quick to detect, and quicker to acknowledge merit wherever found. Jealous of the honor of his profession, he was terrible to quacks. Correct in his judgement, and honest in his opinions, he succeeded as a physician. He died in 1857, and to-day sleeps with his fathers in Hopewell cemetery.

Dr. S. C. Foster, of whom, but little information can be gathered, commenced to practice about 1830, and after remaining in Israel township for a few years, removed to Indiana, and died there about 1850. He is buried in Richland cemetery.

Dr. A. W. Pinkerton, of Dixon township, commenced to practice in Fair Haven in 1845. During the war he served as surgeon in the Army of the Potomac. He was a young man of acknowledged ability, but was smitten in the flush of manhood by a fearful and sudden death at Liberty, Indiana, where he was buried.

Dr. Alexander Porter, son of Rev. Alexander Porter, the pioneer preacher, came with his father to Israel township in 1815. He grew up with the country; commenced the practice of medicine prior to 1830, and continued to practice for more than forty years, with his office on the farm near Fair Haven, where he resided for so many years. He was apparently never robust, but he was gifted with the power of endurance, and as tough as a wild-cat. He worked and even slept in the saddle.

As a physician he was greatly esteemed, was conscientious in the discharge of every duty, and as a citizen he had no equal. Now he is a feeble old man living at Oxford with his son, Dr. J. B. Porter, and is only watching and waiting for his release from life.

Dr. Richard Sloan located in Morning Sun about thirty-five years ago, and continued in business until recently, when he became completely exhausted. Few men held more fully than he the confidence of his patrons. His business was varied and extensive, and to-day we find him confined to his home, not by old age, but by prostration resultant from exposure and over-work.

Dr. A. C. McDill, who was in an extensive practice for many years, sold out in 1855, and removed to Monmouth, Illinois, where he is living in retirement. His field of practice was in the vicinity of Fair Haven, which field has since been held by Drs. W. G. Gilmore, Fouts, Robison, Beverly, J. B. Porter, and at present by H. M. Logan and A. M. Howe.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

THE McQUISTON FAMILY.

As the name suggests, the McQuist0n family originated in Ireland. The first record of this family shows that in 1765, in county Antrim, there was born to David McQuiston and 'wife a son who was named Hugh.

In 1772 David McQuiston and family, together with his two brothers, set sail from their native land, and in due time arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, and immediately settled in Abbeville district.

In 1796 Hugh McQuiston married Margaret Gaston, who was born in Abbeville district in 1767. Her parents, who were natives of Ireland, suffered all the horrors of a famine on ship-board while crossing the Atlantic. The Gastons were well represented in the Revolutionary war. They were all men of splendid physique, not one of Whom was below six feet in stature, and being excellent marksmen, were often chosen for hazardous undertakings. Old Mr. Gaston was one of those valiant men, and Margaret, together with her mother and little sister, were compelled to do the farm work.

The McQuistons remained in their South Carolina home until the spring of 1807, when it was decided to remove from the rich agricultural region in which they lived to the free soil of the then new State of Ohio.

In the above named year the journey to the north was undertaken. The McQuiston family journeyed in company with the family of James McDill. The whole journey, which occupied six weeks, was made in wagons. While crossing the mountains the McDill wagon was upset and one of the little girls severely injured by the fall.

Preble county had been fixed upon as the terminus of the journey.

The little party arrived within the confines of their adopted State, and inasmuch as their was no cleared land ready for them in Preble county, Hugh McQuiston rented a patch of ground in Butler county, on the

240 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Miami river, near what is now known as Old River about three miles above Hamilton. While here the children some times went to school, and on their way to and fro were accustomed to cross the present bed of the Miami river on a slab which spanned the mill-race, which at that time was some distance from the river, but to-day is the bed of that self same stream.

During the summer they raised a crop of corn which was their sole dependence for the winter's food. They remained all winter in a miserable little hut, and suffered much from the inclemencies of the weather.

In the spring of 1808 they arrived at their new place in Preble county, which was immediately made homelike by the familiar faces and hearty welcomes of their old neighbors, the Elliotts, McCrearys, the McDills, Douglas, and others. Hugh McQuiston bought the southwest quarter of section twenty-four, of Israel township, and soon cleared a space of about two acres, in the midst of which he erected a hewed log cabin, covered with clapboards held down by weight poles.

To Mr. and Mrs. McQuiston were born five boys and one daughter. The little girl, Eliza, was burned to death while watching a gap near some burning brush piles. William, Joseph, David and Archibald lived to a ripe old age. Hugh, the only survivor, is in his seventy-first year. The latter is now known as Hugh McQuiston, sr. He was born in Preble county, September 26, 1810. His father died June 21, 1845, in his eightieth year, and his mother died July 17, 1852, in her eighty-fourth year. Ode by one have his brothers dropped into the tomb, and to-day he is the last of his generation. His youth was spent on the farm with his father. Though schools were poor at that early day, he managed by close application to acquire a practical knowledge of "the three R's," which added to native good sense, made him a man of rare common sense. October 9, 1833, he was married to Nancy, the daughter of Samuel McDill. Four children blessed this union: Samuel G., born August 13, 1834, lives nea1 Paxton, Illinois. Their second son, John C., who was born November 29, 1838, was quick to answer the call of his imperilled country, and in July, 1861, enlisted and was sent to the front. After serving about ten months he died of typhoid fever at Meadow Bluff, West Virginia. Eliza Jane, born October 19, 1843, is the wife of Henry Pinkerton, of Union county, Indiana. Their youngest child, Maggie, who was born June 3, 1853, is the wife of David Stephenson, of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Mrs. McQuiston died June 28, 1853, and on August 7, 1856, Mr. McQuiston was married to Elizabeth Wilson, who was born October 3, 186, and whose parents, Matthew and Jenny Wilson, came from Kentucky to Israel township about fifty years ago. Mr. McQuiston lives on the same spot on which he was born. The primitive cabin gave way to a two-story log house, which Mr. McQuiston's father erected not long after his settlement. In 1849 Mr. McQuiston erected the present commodious two-story frame residence.

On the farm, not more than twenty rods from the barn, is a little spot of ground in which are buried Mr. McQuiston's sister, Eliza, who died in 1810, and the three daughters of David Faris.

Mr. McQuiston's farm is well improved, about one hundred acres being under cultivation. Though not a stock man, in a professional sense, he raises good stock, and deals largely in fine hogs. First a Whig, then a Republican, he has always been a faithful supporter of the principles of his party. He has never pushed himself into office, and is simply an honored and valued citizen.

When about seventeen years of age he joined the United Presbyterian church at Hopewell, of which his father was one of the original members. For more than thirty years he has been a ruling elder in the church, first at Hopewell and of late at Morning Sun.

Any one who has seen Hugh McQuiston will not soon forget his tall and erect figure and sprightly activity, which, for a man of his age, is extraordinary. He is one of the very few citizens of Israel township who is living on the place on which he was born. Like a sturdy oak which the blasts of succeeding winters have deprived 0f its companions, this venerable old gentleman is the sole survivor of a past generation of the McQuiston family.

SAMUEL B. McQUISTON,

the eldest son of David and Jane McQuiston, was born in Israel township June 16, 1825. The general history of his family has been narrated above. His father, David McQuiston, the brother of Hugh McQuiston, sr., was born in Abbeville district, South Carolina, January 15, 1802. He was six years old when his parents settled in Preble county. Whenever he could be spared from the farm work he attended the pioneer school—mention of which is made elsewhere. However, he spent the most of his time assisting his father in the arduous labor of clearing away the heavy timber which covered the farm.

In 1824 he married Jane, daughte1 of Samuel and Janet McDill, who were neighbors of the McQuistons in South Carolina.

David and his wife settled on a farm of seventy-seven and one-half acres of land, given him by his father, and located in section twenty-one of this township. The ten acres belonging to the old Hopewell church adjoin this farm on the east. When he came into the possession of this farm, Mr. McQuiston found the timber so thick that it was necessary to cut away the trees to make room for his cabin, twenty feet square, which he located where the present house stands. The log house is still standing, and is used as the kitchen of the present residence. In this rude cabin David McQuiston and wife commenced house-keeping, and in this place they lived and died— Mrs. McQuiston dying in 1845, and her husband in 1870.

Mr. McQuiston was prominent in the church, and was tenacious of his principles almost to obstinacy.

The children are: Samuel, Hugh, Thomas, Elizabeth, Margaret, Martha, William, Mary and Sarah.

Res of S. B. McQuiston, Isreal Tp., Presble Co., O.

Res. of Hezekiah Morton, Isreal Tp., Preble Co., O.

HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 241

Samuel B. McQuiston may well be proud of such a lineage as that of which he can with propriety boast. Being the firstborn, he was as the right hand of his father. As soon as he could lift a stick he helped his father clear the land, and still remembers many a hard day's work mid the brush piles. As work was almost his first lesson he learned it well, and to-day no man in the community is a greater or more successful worker. Work has become his loved profession, and he has become not its slave but its master.

At the tender age of fourteen an event occurred which, in one day, as it were, changed the boy into a man. His widowed aunt, Martha Caldwell, having no children of her own, urgently requested that her nephew come and live with her. His parents reluctantly gave him up, and from that day until this he has lived on what is known as the Caldwell farm.

Manfully did the boy farmer go to work to earn the fortune which he saw in the farm thus consigned to his care, all of which he now owns, and not one acre of which did he receive by inheritance.

The place first consisted of about three hundred and twenty acres of land, situated in the southern halves of sections thirty-five and thirty-six of this township. In all probability it was entered by a man named Latta, though there is no record of the original purchase. William Caldwell bought the place in 1828, and divided it between his sons, John and Nathan. John immediately settled on the northern half, and Nathan sold his half and remained in Butler county. John and Martha Caldwell went to house-keeping in the log cabin built by Mr. Latta, which cabin is still a part of the McQuiston house. The Caldwells added a one-story brick, and about twenty- two years ago a second story was built. In 1878, Mr. McQuiston made a two-story brick addition to the rear of the old residence. The brick used in the building of the addition was taken from the walls of the old

Covenanter church.

Mr. McQuiston was married October 4, 1848, to Martha, the youngest daughter of John and Martha (Chestnut) Douglass, who came from Chester county, South Carolina, in 1834, and settled in Oxford township, Butler county, not more than half a mile south of the McQuiston residence. Mr. and Mrs. McQuiston have had no children.

Upon the death of his aunt, which occurred in 1874, Mr. McQuiston bought, at public sale, the place which he had tended for so many years. Besides this farm he owns one hundred and fifty-eight acres of land adjoining the Caldwell place, and also owns land in Butler county. These farms are well improved and, consequently, very productive. He pays considerable attention to the raising of stock of excellent quality.

He is a Republican, and has from time to time held important offices in the township. For many years he was an elder in the Hopewell church, and is now an elder in the Morning Sun church, of which he is a liberal supporter.

HEZEKIAH MORTON.

The subject of this brief sketch is among the most substantial farmers of Israel township, and no man in the country is more universally known and respected than "Ki" Morton, as he is familiarly called by his neighbors. He is the sixth son and eighth child of Benjamin and Hannah Morton, and was born August 27, 1827, on the homestead farm in section two of Israel township. The Morton family is of English descent. Benjamin Morton, the father of Hezekiah, was born in New Jersey in 1787. He was of poor but honest parents, and in early life realized the necessity 0f hard work as the basis of his fortune. He was young, vigorous, and brave, and with a keen insight into futurity foresaw that his future success was beyond the western horizon. Soon after, determining to go west he secured the position of teamster of an emigrant wagon en route for distant Ohio, and after several weeks' tedious journeying the big wagon, or "Jersey ship," as it was called, stopped in Ohio, and Benjamin Morton found himself in a strange and new country, far from the home of his childhood. By dint of industry he obtained enough money to purchase a horse and saddle, and thus obtained the means of returning to New Jersey, and his parents. He sold his horse and saddle in New Jersey, and walked back to Warren county, Ohio, which he had adopted as his new home. At two other times he made similar trips to the home of his childhood. He bought a little property in Warren county, and on the twenty-seventh day of March, 1817, he married Miss Hannah Janney, who was born in New Jersey, October 21, 1795, and whose parents emigrated to Ohio, and settled in Warren county at an early day. In the year 1819 Mr. Morton purchased the northeast quarter of section two of Israel township, Preble county, and immediately set to work to make ready a home f0r his family. He sold the western half of his land to 0ne Benjamin Indicot, and the eastern half is still known as the M0rton farm, and is occupied by Clayton Borradaile, the son-in-law of Hezekiah Morton, who owns the place. When Benjamin Morton bought his farm he owned no team, and was obliged to walk from Warren to Preble county whenever he wished to put in a day on the new place. While engaged in clearing a space for the little cabin and adjoining corn patch, he camped by the side of a log, against which he was wont to build his fire. On the days when he intended to return to Warren county he was accustomed to work until nearly dark, and then start out on the long and lonely walk to his distant family, which he would greet sometimes in the wee small hours of the early day. After journeying back and forth in this way for several times, he removed his family and what little of this world's goods he possessed to the new abode in Preble county. Then and there did the Morton family struggle with every obstacle .incident to pioneer life. The native forest offered a vigorous resistance t0 the stroke of the woodman's axe, and the work of clearing the farm proceeded slowly.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Morton consisted of thirteen children, five girls and eight boys. Ten of this

242 - HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

large family are living, and three brothers and one sister reside in Preble county. Hezekiah was the first child born in the old brick house which is still standing on the homestead farm Hezekiah Morton's whole life has been spent on the farm, and in early boyhood he learned how to work, and to this day he remembers these early lessons. His education, though not extensive, was not neglected, and to-day he possesses a practical education, valuable because the lessons were learned in the school of experience. His boyhood days were spent upon the home farm, where he assisted his father.

On the fifteenth of May, 1851, when he was twenty-four years of age, he was married to Hannah J. Van Skiver, who was born April 21, 1831, in Israel township. Her parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Van Skiver, emigrated from New Jersey to Warren county, Ohio, and soon after removed to Preble county, and settled in Israel township, not far from the Morton farm.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Morton commenced housekeeping across the line in Dixon township, on the farm in section thirty-five, then owned by Benjamin Morton. After living on this place for about three years Mr. Morton found that the net result of years of toil was enough hard cash to enable him to purchase a farm of his own, and accordingly he bought one hundred and seventeen acres of land located in section thirty-six of Dixon township. The spring before his father's death found Hezekiah in possession of a home of his own, and the subsequent death of his father severed the tie that had in his boyhood days bound him to the parent tree, and he henceforth became the head of a distinct family.

In 1859 he bought the homestead farm of eighty acres, and soon after removed from Dixon township to his old home in Israel. About this time he added one hundred acres to his farm in Dixon township. Mr. Morton's family consists of his wife and four children, of whom there are three daughters and one son. The eldest child, Elizabeth Amelie, was born June 13, 1853, and married Clayton Borradaile, who now occupies the Morton homestead farm. Sarah Juliette, their second child, was born May 12, 1856, and is the wife of Levi Brown of Dixon township. Samuel Elmer, their only son, was born February 2, 1859, and their youngest daughter, Mary Alice, was born June 21, 1865. The two latter are living at home with their parents.

In the spring of 1874 Mr. Morton purchased one hundred and ten acres of land in section twelve of Israel township, and in the fall of that same year removed to the handsome residence which adds so much to the attractiveness of the farm, which undoubtedly is one of the best in the county.

During the time occupied in the accumulation of valuable property Mr. Morton was rapidly earning the esteem of his fellow citizens, by his upright conduct and genial manners. He realized that "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches," and acting on that principle secured first the unsullied reputation and then the handsome property, which together made him one of the substantial and leading citizens of his community. He now owns in all about four hundred acres of productive land, and has his farms in a good state of cultivation He is known as a stock man, and takes an active interest in stock raising. His cattle and hogs are always of the best. For eight years he has been a prominent and zealous member of the Preble County Agricultural board.

Inasmuch as a substantial citizen of the township is the best material for civil office, Mr. Morton has from time to time filled various township offices. Though not obtrusive he has always taken an active interest in political affairs He always has been a thorough Republican, and is always ready to give an intelligent reason for his political belief. He is not a member of the visible church, but has the greatest respect for it. His liberal ideas upon the subject of religion have kept him from embracing a denominational creed. Mr. Morton will always be remembered as a man of sterling worth.

JOHN McCRISTIE, M.D.,

is the son of Joel and Ruth (Hornaday) McCristie, and was born in the year 1827, in Wayne county, Indiana. His boyhood was spent in Preble county, Ohio, and he gained the rudiments of his education in the schools of the vicinity; but deciding to lead a professional life, he went in 1847, to Cincinnati, where he attended the Eclectic Medical college, during the year mentioned and also 1848, 1849 and 1850, graduating in the latter year. He first located at Huntsville, Randolph county, Indiana, where he remained two years in the practice of medicine, gaining the practical knowledge of experience which he needed to supplement his college education. Leaving Indiana, Dr. McCristie went to Camden, Preble county, and there practiced until the breaking out of the war in 1861. He then enlisted in the Twentieth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and served as hospital steward for fou1 months. Returning home, he was engaged in the recruiting service until September, 1863, and then entering the Ninth Indiana cavalry in the capacity of surgeon, remained in the service until the close of the war, being mustered out August 9, 1865. Returning to Ohio, the doctor located at College Corners, where he has resided ever since, and followed very successfully his profession. Dr. McCristie married in 1850, Lovina C. Loop, who was born in 1825, and died in 1859. Two children were the offspring of this marriage : Endora, born March 9, 1851, and died December 18, 1862, and Wilbur Everett, born March 26, 1858, now residing at Camden. His second wife, Amanada Tucker, born in 1846, in Union county, Indiana, and who is still living, Dr. McCristie married March 10, 1870.