(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 493 PENN. This is the latest established of all the townships of Highland county, having been erected March 2, 1852, from territory formerly belonging to Fairfield and Union townships. An election was ordered to be held on the first Monday (the fifth day) of April, in that year. So fas as events of general interest are concerned, Penn offers as little diversity as its topography and scenery present. A nearly level, very fertile, and well- watered country its people have led a quiet, but prosperous life, devoted more to material interests than to pursuits involving activity or excitement. One beauty shared by Penn with her sister townships of the county, and, indeed, of the whole Scioto and Miami country, is the multitudinous water courses—principal among which are Hardin's and Face creeks—which gives a pleasing diversity to a landscape otherwise rather tame. The soil of the township is made up of black loam and clay, with some gravel; and a much larger proportionate acreage of wheat is sown than in the eastern townships of Highland, and in Ross county. Here, too, we find sheep-raising becoming more common. These differences are due to two causes. One of these is a difference of soil, favoring wheat, rather than corn-raising, and another is doubtless to be found in the fact that the original settlers were from the higher, wheat-growing regions of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and hereditary habit has led them in the same direction. SETTLEMENT. The main interest in the township is found in the investigation of its pioneer history. Who was absolutely the first bona fide settler upon its soil cannot be ascertained, but we know that little advancement in this direction was made previous to the year 1805. During that year quite a number of settlers arrived. James Johnson came out from North Carolina and settled on the farm afterwards owned by his son, Captain Thomas M. Johnson. His party passed, in their journey, through New Market, and over the present site of Hillsborough, then an unbroken forest, through which they were obliged to cut a way for their wagons. Johnson's settlement was the first in his neighborhood, as the Evans family, on Clear creek, were the nearest neighbors except Salmon Templin_ two miles distant, and also in Paint township. During the same year came a party of men from near Dobsons Cross Roads, North Carolina, and settled in the township. They were all of the Friends' denomination, and from the beginnings made by them may be traced the great influence always since exerted by that sect in Penn. The party was composed of William Williams, James and Jacob Griffin, Jarvis Stafford and his sons, Shadrach, James and Jonas, John Matthews, and Alexander Starr, with their families. All of these persons eventually settled near Mr. Johnson's. Matthews and the Staffords were, at first, uncertain as to their location, and camped for nearly a month at a spring west of and near the present village of Samantha. Later in the year quite a large party of Virginians came to Penn, under the leadership of Col. William Keys, and made a settlement, on Christmas day, on and in the immediate neighborhood of the farm afterward owned by Samuel Reese. Of this party were Colonel Keys, his wife and child, his mother, four sisters; Samuel and Andrew Keys, her brothers, and William and Isaac Sharp. In 1805, too, came Samuel Reese, and settled on Fall creek. He was afterward a member of the legislature from this district. In 1804 Abner Robinson came from North Carolina, and built a cabin on the tract of land afterward known as the Leaverton farm, on the road to Washington Court House. In 1806 he sold the farm to Foster Leaverton, an Englishman by birth, who came to Ohio from his own State. From this settlement has sprung a large and useful family connection, nearly all of whom have clung to the soil in the same neighborhood. About the same time Phineas Hunt settled at the point where the Washington road crosses Hardin's creek, and, soon after, built a small grist-mill, which did, for some years, most of the grinding for the neighborhood. Thomas M. Sanders, his brother, Jonathan, and his widowed mother, were among the early settlers of Penn township. They came from North Carolina, and located upon the farm now owned by David Wright. Thomas Sanders was county surveyor for many years. He died about 1859 or 1860, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Pope, the pioneer of Fairfield township, and they reared a family of four children—Nathaniel P., now a resident of Fairfield township ; Martha, in Penn township; Millie, deceased; and Elizabeth, now in Willetsville. It is related of Thomas M. Sanders that being a Quaker he refused to bear arms during the war of 1812, and that a penalty was exacted of him because of his adherence to the faith and practice of the Friends. Salmon Templin settled near what is known as Carey- town, in Penn township, at the opening of the century. He purchased the farm now known as the Edward Davis 494 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. place, and built what is now a wing of Mr. Davis' house, the oldest building in the township. In 1804 William Stafford and his four sons, Jonas, James, Robert, and John, made a settlement between Fall and Hardin's cteek, and in the immediate neighborhood of Abner Robinson. Two of the sons bought farms and at once built houses for themselves. Their farms embraced much of the land now owned by the members of the Leaverton, Tompkins, Ladd and McNeil families. Nicholas Robinson, a brother of Abner, was a settler in the same neighborhood at about the same date. William Morrow and Joseph Morrow, his son, came from Bourbon county, Kentucky, to what is now Penn township, in the year 1805, and settled on the farm now owned by N. Morrow. Joseph Morrow was elected justice of the peace at the erection of the township, and held the office for fourteen years. He afterward held, in turn, the offices of county auditor and land appraiser. William Morrow had the following children: Jane, widow of Samuel Keys (deceased); William, deceased; Nancy, wife of Samuel Wright; John; Joseph; Susan, wife of Joseph McNeil; Martha, wife of Alexander Watt; Sarah, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of John Keen. Joseph married Elizabeth Watt, by whom he has had the following children: William, James W., Sarah J., wife of Thomas Patton ; Margaret, deceased ; John, Alexander, Joseph D.; Samuel K., deceased. Stephen, Christopher and Joshua Hussey came from Randolph county, North Carolina, the two first named in 18o5 and the last in 1807 and settled in what is now Penn township. With Josiah came Christopher Hussey, sr., father of the three. Josiah Hussey bought the farm where Joseph Hussey now lives; Christopher, sr., bought land near New Vienna, while Stephen settled on a farm now owned by Charles B. Lewis, whose wife was his granddaughter. Martha Hussey, daughter of Stephen, lives with Mr. Lewis, at a very advanced age. James Underwood settled, previous to the year aro, not far from Fallsville. He came from North Carolina, as did nearly all the settlers in the neighborhood. Thomas Bailey came from Virginia to Penn in the year 1808, and settled where Joseph Bailey, his grandson, now lives. He brought out with him a wife and two children, and built a small house on the place. He and his son John were prominent and respected members of the Friend meeting, as are Joseph and David, his grandsons. William Wright, with his two sons, William and John, came to Penn township, from Bourbon county, Kentucky, in the year 1809. William Wright, sr., bought five hundred and thirty acres of land on the line of the present Leesburgh and Hillsborough turnpike, of which he gave about one-half to his son, William. He paid for the land so bought, embracing some of the best in the township, one dollar and a half per acre. William, sr., built his house on his own portion, which is now owned by Paul Campbell. William, jr., lived three-fourths of a mile northwest of there, on the farm now owned by R. P. and James W. Wright, his sons. Daniel Lewis came from Bedford county, Virginia, in the year 1812, in company with his father, and settled on the Miami river. About 1816, the two removed to the Clear Creek neighborhood, and, in 1825, Daniel removed to the farm now owned by his son, Christopher Lewis, on the New Vienna turnpike, a short distance west of the little settlement of Careytown. All three of the Lewises have been prominent Friends. Thomas S. Downs settled in Fairfield, in 1816, and removed to Penn in 1818, purchasing the farm now owned by Rebecca Brown. His daughter was the wife, and is now the widow, of Amos Hiatt. Joseph Wright came to Penn from Columbiana county, to which place he originally emigrated from Virginia, in the year 1816. When he first came he lived, with his father, on the place now owned by Gilbert Holmes. He has, for some years, been a preacher of the orthodox Friends, and has recently removed to New Vienna. Jehu Hiatt came from Virginia to Belmont county, and from that place to Penn township, in the year 1816, settling on the Lexington turnpike, where John Oren now lives. With him came his son, Amos Hiatt. Both belonged to the Friend denomination, and were leading and influential men. Jehu removed to Morgan county, in 1838, and remained there until his death. Amos went to Iowa, in 1857, and there died. Thomas Hiatt, son of Amos, has lived in Penn all his life. Mr. Hiatt built a grist-mill at Samantha, in 1865, which was destroyed by fire, and he now owns and operates a saw-mill near the same spot. Allen H. Johnson, born in Green county, Ohio, in 1822, came to Highland county at an early age. He married Sarah Jane Leaverton in 1844. He has served his township as trustee for four years; is a blacksmith by trade, but a farmer by occupation; is one of the leading men in Penn township, and carries on, at the present time, a large and beautiful farm. He was the father of thirteen children, of whom eleven are living, viz.: Lettie A., John O. (husband of Anna Smith), Rachel E. (wife of Moses Millner), Rebecca M. (wife of Levi B. Banks), Sallie M., James M. (married Sallie Weltie), William A. S., Elizabeth L. (wife of Charles McKinnie), Phebe L., Hannah M., Lydia C., all living in Highland county. Almeda J. and Benjamin F. are dead. Solomon Leaverton, father of John F. Leaverton, born in Maryland, in 1785, came to Ohio in 1806. Went to North Carolina and married Lettie Thompson, and returned to Ohio in 1817, settling on the farm now owned by Joseph N. Morrow, on Fall creek, where he carried on the business of farming. He was the father of eleven children, of whom nine are living, viz.: Rebecca, wife of Robert Denny, lives in Clinton county, Ohio ; Lovina; John F. married Sally Ann Wright, and lives in Highland county; Betsey, wife of Walton Polk, lives in Highland county; Thomas married Maria Polk, and lives in Illinois; Andrew married Rebecca McClure, and lives in Illinois; Sarah, wife of Allen H. Johnson, lives in Highland county; Samuel married Mariam Overman, and lives in Highland county; Hannah, wife of. Levi Johnson, lives in Highland county. Robert and Noah died. John F., son of Solomon Leaverton, was born in Guil- HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 495 ford county, North Carolina, in 1812, came to Ohio with his father when only five years of age, and is one of the leading farmers of Penn township. He is the father of fourteen children, of whom seven are living, viz.: Robert T., married Phebe Hutchins, and lives in Missouri; Lovina A., wife of James M. Crispin—John T., married Mary Lemly—Samuel A.—Moses P., married Alice Creamer—Sallie A., wife of Moses P. Morrow— all live in Highland county ; Etta B. The following are dead: Elizabeth L., wife of Robert McNicol; William, James, William M.; Carey, husband of Emma Ridgeway; Eli C., and Douglas. Robert Edwards, father of Charles B. Edwards, of Penn, removed from Pennsylvania, in the year 1837, and settled near Leesburgh, in Fairfield township, where he rented a farm belonging to the Millner family. Two years later he bought the farm near New Lexington, where he now lives. Robert Edwards has the following children: Susanna (McCoy), Fairfield; Charles B., Penn; Lydia C. (Horseman), New Lexington; John, Marysville. Missouri; William C., Fairfield ; Maria (Brabson), New Lexington; Abigail (Larkin), Fairfield; Jesse, Lees- burgh. John Edwards, brother of Robert, came from Pennsylvania to Penn township in the year 1857. Charles B. Edwards married a daughter of Gilbert Holmes, of Hillsborough, and now lives on the fine farm settled by Stephen Hussey, near Careytown. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are : Anna, Florence, Horace, Cornelia, Edgar, Gilbert, Robert Carl, Lizzie and Henry. John Hustead came from West Virginia to Greenfield, in April, 1865, and from Greenfield to his present residence in Penn in September of the same year. His grandfather, Robert, was a New Yorker, and removed to Pennsylvania many years ago. His brothers removed at the same time Moses to West Virginia, and John to Kentucky. Alexander Hustead, father of the subject of this notice, lived and died in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, but John removed to West Virginia when a poor boy, and has, by hard work, risen to affluence. His wife (nee Mary Dodson), dying soon after he reached Greenfield, he was, on the first of February, 1866, married to Mary E. Williams. He had, by his first wife, four children. One of these, William A. Hustead, lives with his father. The rest are in West Virginia. By his present marriage Mr. Hustead has the following children: Alice M., Charles, Frank, Robert, Birch and Harry Hustead. Dr. Francis Marion Thomas who resides at Samantha, and is the only physician at that place, was born in Adams county, Ohio, July 9, 1838. His family is of Welsh descent tracing its ancestry to Rees Thomas, born in Pembroke, Wales, June 4, 1690. John Thomas, the oldest son of Rees, emigrated to Virginia about 1750, and his son, Abraham, came to Ohio about 1795. Dr. Thomas is a son of Abraham. The doctor received his academic education at North Liberty and Decatur, Ohio, and taught school from 1859 to 1862, when he enlisted in the Sixtieth regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry, and after serving with honor, was mustered out of the service with his regiment. He re-enlisted July 4, 1863, in the Second regiment of Ohio heavy artillery, and, after being commissioned and assigned to post duty at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, was mustered out of the service at the close of the war. After teaching for a short time, he began the study of medicine, and in February, 1869, graduated at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He soon afterward removed to Samantha, where he has since devoted himself to his medicial practice. He married, March 15, 1871, Annette Holmes, daughter of Gilbert Holmes, of Hillsborough. Nicholas Swadley, father of Alfred Swadley, of Penn township, came from Rockbridge county, Virginia, and settled on Rocky fork, early in the century, and about the year 182o, came to Penn township to the farm where his son now lives. Clement Selph came to Penn from Rockbridge county, Virginia, in the year 1828. He first settled not far from the source of Fall creek and, after revisiting Virginia, came to a farm on Hillsborough turnpike in 1829. In 1842 Clement removed to Liberty, where he now lives ; Eli B. Selph, his son, lives on the old farm. John S. Naylor is the son of William and the grandson of Dawson Naylor. The family have been residents of Penn for but seven years past, but for many years have lived in this portion of Ohio. The names and residences of the children of William Naylor are as follows : Sarah J. (Lewis), Penn ; Dawson, Hillsborough ; Phelan P., Penn ; Elizabeth, Adams county ; Mary (Gesling), Penn ; John S., George W., Rachel E., Dorsa (Runk), and Nancy L., all of Penn. Joseph, father of John Tompkins, came to the present township of Penn in the year 1834. He was the father of eight children of whom three are deceased, four living in western States, and one, John, residing in Penn. John married, in the year 1863, Elizabeth Newby, and is the father of five children,—Addie E., William E., Charlie E., Sarah E., and Mary E. Tompkins. William P. Donohoo, of Samantha, is a son of Jacob Donohoo, descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Hamer township. Mr. Donohoo has not been many years in Penn. His wife is a daughter of Samuel Nolder, an early settler of Clinton county. ORTHODOX FRIENDS. This meeting was organized about the year 1808, under the name of the Clear Creek meeting of Friends. Subsequently East Fork (now Vienna) meeting, in Clinton county, was added, and the consolidated organization was known as the Clear Creek Monthly meeting. Ann Lewis, Mary Hodgson and John Davis were quite early preachers at this meeting. They first met in a building erected for a school-house. To this they made an addition, and in the year 1830 erected the present meetinghouse. Among the names of persons early prominent in the church were John and Richard Timberlake, Thomas Bailey, David Kenworthy, Joshua and Elisha his sons, William Williams, Jonathan and Thomas M. Sanders, and William Pike. 496 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. HICKSITE FRIENDS. In 1828 occurred the breach in the denomination of Friends which resulted in a permanent division throughout the world. In the old meeting-house near the present site of Samantha, the war was hot and furious. From old records in the hands of Christopher Lewis we collect the following particulars: In May, 1828, the first meeting was held, of the persons who afterward formed the Hicksite church, to determine if a reconciliation of the breach between the two parties were possible, and whether a distinct organization on their part was advisable. At this meeting Robert Way acted as clerk. After a series of such conferences the former question was answered in the negative, and the latter in the affirmative. Consequently, May 30, 1829, the disaffected members were organized-under the name of the "Clear Creek Preparation meeting," and the new organization was attached to Fall Creek meeting. Prominent in this transaction, and in the new organization were Amasa Baker, John C. Saunders, Abner Chalfant, Enoch Lewis and Thomas Bailey. The first clerk of the meeting was Daniel Lewis, elected in 1829. Their meetings were held for some time in the house formerly occupied by the united order, until—to quote the quaint words of the old record—"On the 19 day of the 5 month, 183o, our house was closed against us by lock and bar." The meetings were then held at the school-house near by, and a committee, consisting of Joshua Woodrow, Robert Way and Thomas Bly, was appointed to enquire the cause of the high-handed proceeding. Evidently the trouble did not end there, for the minutes say that "Our meetings have been twice interrupted by our opposers." Richard Timberlake held the key, and was the agent of the Orthodox party in the lock-out. On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, 183o, a committee was appointed to select a site and build a meeting-house. This consisted of Jehu Lewis, Abner Chalfant, Thomas Bailey and Enoch Lewis, and, when a site just west of Samantha had been agreed upon, Enoch Lewis and Jehu Lewis were appointed to receive the title in trust for the society. A building was erected on this lot, where the worship of the meeting was carried on for many years in greater peace than would have seemed probable from their inauspicious beginning. METHODIST EPISCOPAL. The Samantha church of this denomination was organized about the year 1835, and a log building erected where the present church stands, on Leesburgh turnpike, at the northeastern limit of the village. The meetings of the society, previous to the erection of the first building, were held at the house of Thomas Leaverton. Major John Woolis, John Crumley, and John Larkins were among the other men prominent in the organization, the last named donating the land on which the church building stands. The church now numbers about forty members, and is under charge of the Rev. R. E. Smith. Auburn church, of the same denomination, is situated at the little hamlet known as Fallsville. It was organized as early as 183o, preaching services being held from house to house, and in the year 184o, the present church was built. Among the persons prominent in its organization, may be named Moses Smith, John Holmes, Isaac Woodinansie, and the Brown family. SAMANTHA. David Kinger, about the year 1842, purchased the land where Samantha now stands, and, in the year 1845, laid out the town, filing the plat on the twenty-eighth day of July. The hamlet was first known as Beeson's Cross Roads, and took the name of Samantha after it was formally laid off. John Larkin afterward laid off an addition to the town. Edward Beeson was the first settler at that point, and established there a small store, the first ever opened in Penn. Samantha is unincorporated, and there is little to be said of it historically. As will be seen, it is a new place, in comparison to many in Highland county, and has served simply as a point for the less important neighborhood trading. Its post-office, school, and church, give it a local importance, but do not present any strikingly interesting subjects for research. The following list of the business men of the place, will convey the best idea of its extent: G. M. Conelly, grocer and postmaster; George Elton, blacksmith; John Starr, grocer; Lydia Buzzard, grocer; Elisha Kelley, iron founder; Thomas Hiatt, saw-mill; Arthur Carey, blacksmith; George Runk, wagonmaker; Frank Hadley, wagonmaker; John Kerns, shoemaker; William Massie, carpenter; Daniel Tharp, hotel. HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. CHARLES B. EDWARDS. The Hussey homestead, known as the Sulphur Spring farm, is situated about in the center of Penn township. It was purchased in 1805, by Stephen Hussey, from North Carolina, who settled on it, in the same year, with his family. It is as fine a tract of land as one could wish to see—lying on the headwaters of Clear creek, just north of the ridge which separates the hilly portion of Highland county from the more level part of the State, stretching away toward the north. The farm originally consisted of three hundred acres, but ha's been divided up among the different heirs, so that the part constituting the homestead (now owned by Miss Martha Hussey, a daughter of Stephen), is reduced to eighty acres. The commodious residence, belonging to Miss Hussey, of which, together with the surrounding lands, a fine sketch, by our artist, is presented on another page, was built in 186o, under the supervision of Mr. C. B. Edwards, who now occupies the estate, along with forty acres of his own, adjoining, and seventy- five acres about a mile away. Mr. Edwards married a niece of Miss Hussey, and with him, and his family (an object of affectionate interest to them all), "Aunt Martha" is now spending her declining years. C. B. Edwards was born in Chester county, Londonderry township, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1833, his parents being Robert and Elizabeth (Conard) /dwards. His ancestors, on the father's side, were from Wales; on the mother's from Holland; and they have been exceptionally long-lived, as may be seen from the following facts: His parents are still living in Fairfield township—one at the age of seventy-seven, the other seventy-eight. His mother's parents were Cornelius Conard, who died in 1836, aged nearly seventy-three; and Susanna (Chalfant) Conard, who died in 1817, aged forty-seven. His father's parents were John Edwards, who died in 185o, aged seventy-five; and Abigail (Barnes), who was horn in 1768, and was, consequently, her husband's senior by seven years. She died in 1857, in her eighty-ninth year; and her mother, also named Abigail, the great- grandmother of Mr. Edwards, reached her hundredth year, as we learn from the following notice, taken from the history of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania: "Among the aged persons of Moorland, may be mentioned Mrs. Abigail Barnes, who died the twentieth of August, 0809, in her hundredth year, at the house of Peter Larkins, a mile north of the willow grove, near the old York road. She had but a few days' illness. Age had but little impaired her faculties. She could walk with ease, see to read, thread a needle, and sew without spectacles but a few days before her death. She was remarkable for her cheerfulness of temper and contentment of mind." Robert and Elizabeth (Conard) Edwards, the parents of Charles B., were married in Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1831. They have had eight children, as follows: Susanna, born in 1832; Charles B., 1833; Lydia C., 1834; John, 1836; William C., 1839; Maria, 1841; Abigail, 1843; and Jesse, 1845. The four first named were born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and the last four in Fairfield township, to which the parents came with their family in June, 1837. This was considerably after the early pioneer times, but the journey was nevertheless made in true pioneer fashion, in a two-horse, tent-covered wagon containing their household goods, and constructed with a view to making it a. comfortable home on wheels. The journey consumed a little over three weeks, and the family spent nearly every night in their wagon. They came by the National road as far as Circleville, which road, at that time, furnished luxurious traveling, compared with what the first immigrants experienced. It was before the era of railroads, lint the old Ohio canal had been built, and Charles B., though but four years old, well remembers being taken by his father to see the aqueduct over the Scioto river. The sight of one big stream crossed by another, struck his boyish mind as something very remarkable. One morning charles B. and his elder sister strayed away gathering honeysuckles, and got lost among the hills. It was several hours before they were found, and the anxiety of the mother during that time can be better imagined than described. They came directly to Fairfield township, where (a mile south of Leesburgh) William Chalfant, an uncle of Mrs. Edwards', resided, and where a son of Mr. Chalfant still resides. With this uncle the family remained six months; then rented a cabin, three-quarters of a mile east of Leesburgh, where the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad now passes, on a farm belonging to Asa Ladd, and still in the possession of his family. Here they remained one year, after which they leased a farm of a man by the name of Calhoun, between Leesburgh and Centerfield. After working this farm one season, Mr. Edwards bought a hundred and three acres of Elijah Wilkinson, between Lexington depot and Leesburgh. He moved at once (fall of 1839) into the log house already built on the place. In this his last four children were born, and in this his family lived until 1852, when he erected a large brick residence, where he has lived ever since. He has bought parcels of land at different times since the original purchase, and he now owns three hundred and forty-five acres. The youngest daughter, Abigail, now Mrs. Jesse F. Larkin, lives with her parents, and the land is rented in part to the youngest son, Jesse, and in par; to two sons-in-law, Elwood Brabson and Mr. Larkin. John Edwards, the second son and fourth child of Robert Edwards, was graduated from Miami university, about the year 1858, with the first honors of his class; was principal of the union schools in Hillsborough, and afterwards in Hamilton; studied law in the last named place; practiced for two years as partner with Judges Sloane and Steed, of Hillsborough, and is now doing an extensive business in his profession in Marysville, Missouri. Charles B., the first son and second child, who, on account of his connection with the Hussey homestead, is more immediately concerned in this sketch, was married, in 1857, to Mary Holmes, who is a niece of Miss Hussey, and was brought up with her as her daughter. Immediately after the marriage, Mr. Edwards took charge of the Hussey property, as already stated. They have had nine children, as follows : Anna, born in 1858; Florence, in 186o; Horace D., in 1862; Cornelia, in 1864; Edgar H., in 1866; Gilbert H., in 1869; Robert Carl, in 1871; Elizabeth, in 1874; and Henry C., in 1878. Mr. Edwards learned the carpenter's trade, on arriving at his majority, and worked at it three or four years previous to his marriage. He is a man of a very thoughtful and enquiring turn of mind; and to make up for the lack of a liberal education, which his father did not feel able to give him, he associated himself with several other young men in the vicinity, to establish a circulating library. With their joint means they gradually collected several hundred volumes, comprising the principal standard works in history, natural science, and general literature. In these books young Edwards delved "as for hidden treasures;" often reading or studying at night, during the time he was working at his trade, by the light of a fire made of shavings. The result is a mind unusually well stored with useful information. There were about ten young men united in this praiseworthy enterprise; and the result with all of them was the same in kind, though not, perhaps, with many, the same in degree. Here, surely, is a noble example which all yOung men of limited advantages, remote from public libraries, might imitate with profit to themselves and to the community in which they live. Mr. Edwards, as might naturally be expected, takes a deep interest in popular education, and has often held responsible offices in connection with the management of the public schools. Although not a member of any religious organization, he has an abiding faith in an omnipotent Creator and Governor, which his familiarity with the writings of the modern skeptical scientists has never shaken. His mother is a Quaker of the Hicksite school, and was in the meeting at which the division occurred between that and the orthodox party, at West Grove meeting house, near Philadelphia, fifty years ago. Mr. Edwards was a candidate, two years ago, for election to the Ohio legislature, on the Democratic ticket. He didn't get quite votes enough to elect him; but he consoles himself with the reflection that the defeat was not a very great calamity—or, if it wits, that he has a plenty of worthy unfortunates to sympathize with him. The American citizen who has not been a defeated candidate for something or other, is a rare avis ill orris. CHRISTOPHER LEWIS, the present proprietor of the Lewis homestead, known as Flora Vale, of which a fine view may be found on another page, was born here, September t6, 1831. The farm, consisting of a hundred acres, is located on what is now known as the Careytown pike, in the north western part of Penn township, about three miles and a half southeast of New Vienna, in Clinton county. It is in the southeast corner of the Fitzhugh survey, number two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight, and was purchased of Governor Allen Trimble by Daniel Lewis, the father of Christopher,4n the year 1825. He had moved from Bedford county, Virginia, in 1814, and had taught school for several years, in Warren, Clinton, and Highland counties, before settling on this prop- HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. erty. The land, at the time of the purchase, was covered by an unbroken forest; and if one would see what changes fifty-five years of judicious cultivation can produce, he has only to look over this beautiful farm at the present time. Only eight acres of the original forest remain; and all the rest is not only arable, but kept in a high state of productiveness by skilful management. In the fall of 1825, the year of the purchase, Daniel Lewis built on the place a comfortable, hewed-log house, which stood fourteen years, and then gave place to the present building, which occupies the same site. Several additions and tasteful improvements were made by the present proprietor, in 187o; and, in its present condition, surrounded by choice shade trees and shrubbery, and decorated internally with books, pictures, and other evidences of refinement, this luxurious farmhouse is a standing proof that a residence in the country, no more than one in the city, need be left, as so many country residences are, naked and unattractive. Joel Lewis, the father of Daniel, and grandfathdr of Christopher, moved from Bedford county, Virginia, in 1814, settling first on the Little Miami, near Millgrove, where he remained till 1822; and then removed to Highland county, .purchasing a farm in the southern part of Penn township. He lived here only about seven years, dying November 3o, 1829. After his death, his wife, Sarah (Daniel) Lewis, came to live with her son Daniel. Here she spent a widowhood of eleven years, tenderly cared for by children and grandchildren, and died June 23, 184o, in the eighty-second year of her age. Daniel survived her but seven years-dying November 28, 1847, aged fifty-three. His widow, Priscilla (Hussey) Lewis, is still living with a son and daughter, near Richmond, Indiana, at the ripe age of eighty years. Daniel Lewis had eight children, five of whom were living at the time of his death. Christopher, the second son, purchased the interest of the other heirs at different times between 1851 and '65, obtaining full possession of the estate in the year last named. The Lewises were originally from Wales. The genealogy now in possession of this branch of the family, extends back to about the close of the seventeenth century, when three brothers, William, Evan, and a third, whose name is not recorded, emigrated from the old country. William settled in one of the southern States; and his descendants, if he had any, have been lost sight of. Evan, the great-great-grandfather of Christopher, the present proprietor of Flora Vale, settled in Philadelphia; and the third brother settled somewhere in the more northern States, and disappeared. Evan had a son, Jehu, born in 1723, who settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and remained there until about the year 1800, when he removed to Bedford county, Virginia, from which place, as already stated, his son Joel, grandfather of Christopher, came to Ohio in 1814. Jelin married Alice Mads, daughter of George and Hannah Maris, who was born in the year 1726. He died in 18̊4, and she in 182o; and they were both buried in Friends' graveyard, Goose Creek Meeting House, Bedford county, having died in Grayson city, Virginia. Jehu and Alice Lewis had nine children, named as follows: Jesse, born in 175o; James, in 1751; Elijah, in 1752 (these three died young); Joel, in 1755; Hannah, in 1757; Evan, in 176o; Jesse (named, from the oldest, who died), horn in 1763; George, in 1765; Ann, in 1767. Of these, Evan, Jesse, and Ann, accompanied their brother Joel to Ohio. Joel Lewis, the grandfather of Christopher, was married March 9, 1786, to Sarah Daniel, daughter of William and Esther Daniel, of Loudoun county, Virginia. She was born in 1758, died in 1840, and was buried at Clear creek, in this county. He had died in 1829, and was buried in the same place. Joel and Sarah Lewis had four children, as follows: Jehu, born in 1791, and died in 1875, at State Center, Marshall county, Iowa; Daniel, the father of Christopher, born in 1794, and died in 1847; Sarah, born in 1797; and a second daughter, born in 1802, and died on the day of her birth. Daniel Lewis, the father of Christopher, was married to Priscilla Hussey, about the year 1827. She was the daughter of Christopher and Sarah Hussey, and was born in 1800. They had eight children, whose names are the following: Charles D., born in 1829; Christopher, in 1831; Sarah A., in r835; Albert, in 1836; Alvah, in 1839; Mary B. in 1841; George, in 1843, and Rachel, in 1845. Of these, Albert, Alvah and Rachel died young, and the oldest, Charles D., lost his life by an accident in a railroad car, June 4, 1857. At the time of his death he was professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the eclectic college of medicine, Cincinnati-having received his degree of doctor in medicine, and to his appointment to this professorship, about a year before. When we consider his age, which was only twenty-eight, and the fact that all the schooling he ever received was such as he obtained, during his boyhood, in the Ohio common schools, followed by three or four months in the Beach Grove academy, together with the somewhat desultory instruction of his father (who, it will be remembered, was a teacher), and two courses of medical lectures-when we consider all this, we shall be convinced that Prof. Lewis was a young man of unusual capacity, energy and promise. He was emphatically a self-made man; and in his efforts at self-develOpment he had exhibited a wonderful versatility of talent-having been, previous to receiving his professorship, a farmer, a printer, an editor and a machinist. He had just found his place, and entered upon his mission-regarding his appointment as only a stepping-stone to high attainments in the world of science-and, at the time of the accident which caused his death, he was on his way to visit the best chemical laboratories in the east, with a view to preparation for his second courses of lectures on chemistry. He had just completed his first course, not only to the satisfaction, but to the delight, both of the officers and students of the college. One of the editors of the College journal, who knew him well, thus sums up Prof. Lewis' character: "With a most remarkably modest and reserved deportment, Dr. Lewis combined a strong self-reliance, and a determination to place himself, if possible, in the foremost ranks of his profession. While he seldom gave utterance to his innermost thoughts, he was firm and fixed in his opinions. Though he had made no public profession of religion, his faith in the Redeemer was without a shadow of doubt, and was manifested in his daily walk and conversation. In all his life and acts, he was guided by the faith he possessed; and, even in the unguarded moments of social intercourse, he was never betrayed into a thoughtless remark, or the slightest evidence of irreverence. With hint, life was a serious matter; and his duty to his God and to humanity, an ever present reality." Truly, his early death seems like an irreparable loss to science and to mankind. And such, indeed, it would be, but for the unfailing providence of the Almighty, who has at His disposal all the resources of the universe, moral as well as natural; and who will not suffer any of the great interests of humanity to be put back, for the want of suitable instrumentalities to carry them forward. Christopher Lewis, the second son of Daniel, and the present pro_ prietor of Flora Vale, was married, September 22, 1859, in Philadelphia, to Louisa K. Hallowell, daughter of Joseph and Esther C. Hallowell, of Chester county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are both devoted members of the religious society of Friends. And what was said of Prof. Lewis is equally true of them-that they "retain the peculiar, quiet, unobtrusive self-possession, as well as the industrious habits, and earnest desire for usefulness, characteristic of that people." They have had three children, all living: Eugene C., born June zo, 1860; Walter H., November 17, 1862, and Marion, May 25, 1866. MR. AND MRS. DAVID OCKERMAN.* David Ockerman, one of the pioneer settlers of Highland county, was born December 1, 1800, in North Carolina, near Raleigh. In the year 1812 his father emigrated to Highland county, settled on White Oak, in what i's now Salem township, known then as the Smoky Row settlement. His father was a preacher in the German Baptist, or Dunkard's church. As the first settlers were of a more sociable disposition then than now, he would often go ten or twelve miles to log-rollings or corn-huskings. Preachers often went twenty-five or thirty miles to hold meetings; and in the German Baptist church, services were invariably held in private houses (or log cabins). Taking his son David with him on one of these tours, he held a meeting at one John Kinzer's, about eight miles north of Hillsborough, in what is now Penn township, where his -son became acquainted, and afterward (August 29, 1822) married, Margaret, eldest daughter of John Kinzer. The following spring he bought fifty acres of wood land one and a half 'miles east of what is now New Vienna, where he cleared off a tract of timber and built a cabin fourteen by sixteen feet, covered with clapboards, with weight poles to hold the roof in place. A mud and stick chimney completed the mansion, in which the writer, with some others of the family, were born. Being a man of spirit and energy, and blessed with an almost iron constitution, out of the wilderness he soon made a farm, adding acre to acre until his homestead numbered over three hundred acres, with large and commodious buildings. He remained on this farm about forty-seven years, when, to secure better church privileges, which was his first thought, he moved to near Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, where he ended his earthly career October 14, 1872, being seventy-one years, ten months old. There were ten children in the family, five of whom died in infancy; one preceded him but a short time, and four were living at the time of his death. * Written by his son.