HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 475 which was burned charcoal for heating the house. A vent in the roof allowed the gases to escape. This was a method of heating not uncommon in that day. From the records it seems that the erection of this first church building was effected largely in a single day ; that the entire community had come together at an appointed time and that the work was therefore thus speedily accomplished. The special record from which this inference is drawn is in these words: "June 12, 1812—A report being in circulation that Harvey Cowley had been guilty of unchristian conduct on the day that Pisgah Meeting House was built," session thought proper to "take certain action" in the matter. The second house of worship was a frame structure, but the date of its erection cannot be determined ; but the general style of the building was similar to that of the first church. There was but one aisle, through the center of the building, and it had the customary high pulpit, in front of which was the clerk's seat. On communion occasions, tables were spread in the aisle. The communicants, coming in groups, seated themselves at the tables, the elders having previously distributed the tokens to such as were entitled to partake of the communion. The tables were thus filled until all had communed. The church fronted to the east, where the door opened into the graveyard. All trace of Old Pisgah meeting-house is gone, but the burial grounds remain on the farm of the late Jacob Slagle. In 1855 the third church building was erected and the location changed to the present site, Andrew Ross, an old member of the society, being largely influential in bringing this about. On December 8, 1854, Mr. Ross and Robinson Smith donated the acre of land which comprised the site of the church and its grounds, the building being completed in the fall of 1855. Like the former edifice, it faced the east, but had two entrances and two aisles. The pulpit was in the east end between the doors, with steps leading up on either side, and the pews faced the doors so that those who arrived late were disgraced before the entire congregation. Says an "old member of Pisgah : "We can yet see certain of the fathers of the church upon entering remove their hats in which were carried their red bandanna handkerchiefs, and after depositing their hats on the pulpit steps, take their seats. We have also a distinct recollection of the deacons, who took up the collection, passing through the seats a long staff on the end of which was a poke in which the collection was placed." The third church building of Pisgah stood for twenty-five years, or until 1880, when it was decided to tear it down and make place for a more modern structure. In November of that year it was ready for occupancy, and was then considered a large and convenient country meeting house. 476 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY During the past 105 years, Pisgah has had eight pastors : Rev. James H. Dickey, 1811-18; Rev. William Dickey, half-brother to the former, 1818-29; Rev. Nicholas Pittenger, 1829-31; Rev. William Gage, 1832-55 ; Rev. A. R. Naylor, 1855-63 ; Rev. John Barrett, 186398 ; Rev. Smith G. Dunning, 1899-1904; Rev. J. R. Collier, 1904-10 ; and Rev. T. S. Huggart, present incumbent. It is quite evident, from a consideration of the brief history of the village given, that there is something about South Salem which favors faithfulness and continuity of intellectual and religious work. JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP AND RICHMONDALE Jefferson Township, in the southeast corner of the county, was reduced to its present small size when Liberty Township, to the north of it, was created, in 1832-33. East and west, it lies between the Scioto River and Jackson and Vinton counties; is bounded south by Pike County, and north by Liberty Township. Its surface is generally hilly, or rolling, and away from the Scioto Valley the land is chiefly watered by Salt Creek. Pilot Knob, a hill of considerable elevation, is near the Jackson County line. Salt Creek, which divides the township nearly in halves, with a general east-and-west course, is a considerable stream, affording abundant waterpower at Richmond, to which place it was formerly navigated by flatboats from the Scioto, into which it flows. It derives its name from the characteristic of its water, from which, near the sources of the stream, in Jackson County, much salt was taken in earlier days, and along which were numerous "deer licks." Two branches, the Pigeon Roost and another, enter it from the south, within the bounds of this township. Another, but quite insignificant stream, the Walnut Creek, intersects the northwest part. The northern and northeastern sections of the township arc cut by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Baltimore & Ohio railroads, and ever since the days of the old Chillicothe and Richmond turnpike the lowlands of the Scioto Valley, to the west, have had, on the whole, roads above the average. The only railway station is the old village of Richmondale, near Salt Creek on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton. The locality mentioned was the original settlement of the township, which was formed about 1798 by colonists from North Carolina, among whom the Coxes, Hinsons and Moffitts were conspicuous. By members of the family last named a large grist-mill was built on the west side of Salt Creek in the first decade of this century. This led, in 1811, to the laying off of a village plat including it, by John and Joshua Moffitt (to whom Jeremiah Moffitt HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 477 seems afterwards to have been joined in proprietorship). The first deeds conveying property in it name the place as "New Richmond." The record of the town plat, October 31, 1812, has "Moffitt's Town" upon the margin. Subsequent instruments, late maps and other documents carry the name as "Richmond," and when a postoffice was established there in 1816 it was obliged, by the existence of another Richmond in the state, to take the title "Richmondale," which it bears to this day. Long ere the latter year the valleys of the Salt Creek and the Scioto were filling with pioneers. The Meekers, Minears, Strattons and others had come in from Connecticut, and on the fertile tracts north of the present Richmond were Anthony Rittenour, who came with a numerous family from Frederick County, Virginia, and settled in 1803; Dexter Higby, who dates his coming from 1812; Capt. James Hampsen, who kept the first tavern on the Chillicothe and Richmond turnpike, and whose stone dwelling, built in 1807, fell in ruin seventy years afterward ; Ned Dawson, and Leonard, his son, who settled at the present county bridge ; and two young men, Adam Sell and Jacob Aid, who came with Rittenour and became permanent settlers. Among those who located south and east of Salt Creek may be named Jacob Sigler and his son George, from Frederick County, Virginia; Daniel Boyer, first settler of the Dawson place ; Elisha Carpenter; John Boots, one of the first blacksmiths, if not the first, in the township ; Joshua, John and Richard O'Dell; the Rays, Graveses, Wards, Pepperses and other families. John Griffith, builder and proprietor, in 1825, of the tannery which he managed until about 1880 near Richmond, became a settler in 1815. John Ratcliff qualified for the office of justice of the peace for Jefferson Township April 1, 1811, to serve three years, and John Graves, April 6, 1812, for the same period. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP Formed in 1806 from what was then Scioto and Pee Pee townships, of Ross County, Franklin is in the southern tier of townships, and has the general form of a pyramid, the northern apex of which is formed by the convergence of the Scioto River and the boundaries of Huntington and Scioto townships. The Pee Pee Township of those days is now a part of Pike County, to the south. In 1814 Franklin was reduced to its present area by the county commissioners, who ordered that "so much of Franklin township east of the Scioto river and not included in Beaver township, be attached to Jefferson township." The eastern sections of the township, which are included in the 478 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Valley of the Scioto, were originally traversed by numerous Indian trails, and later by the Columbus and Portsmouth, and Chillicothe and Waverly turnpikes, as well as the Ohio & Erie Canal. A notable work upon the last named was the state dam, 100 yards in length, thrown across the Scioto at a large expense in 1832, to serve as a feeder to the main canal. Many years later, with the advent of the old Scioto Valley & New England Railroad, a station was established at that point, known either as the State Dam, or Three Locks. Stony Creek and Higby's stations were also established at about the same time, and all three were continued when the Norfolk & Western absorbed the old lines. Three Locks, however, has been condensed to Locks. Franklin has some of the finest and some of the worst soil in the Valley, owing its best characteristics to the fertile bottom and terrace lands that lie in the shape of an enormous wedge, several miles broad at the base and extending along the river, which is here exceedingly tortuous in its course, well to the northward. Back of this tract, the surface is hilly and broken, and the land rather poor. Three streams of some local importance, Stony Creek, Pittenger's Run and Wilson's Run, cross portions of the township in a. generally east and west direction and fall into the Scioto. The first white settlement made within the limits of Franklin Township was in 1798, by two brothers, Thomas and the Rev. John Foster, the latter a local preacher of the Methodist Church, and both sons of John Foster, Sr., an emigrant from Maryland, who also settled during that year in the present neighborhood of Piketon, Pike County. Others of the family came afterwards, or grew up to settle on places of their own. John, one of the sons of the Rev. John Foster, was a captain in the War of 1812. The first election in the township was ordered to be held at the house of Benjamin Foster. Soon after the Foster arrivals, probably about 1800, two brothers from Virginia, John and George Johnston, arrived and settled near. The former is noted as having served as justice of the peace for twenty-three years. Charles Davis came in 1812, and cleared the fine farm afterward occupied by Sylvester N. Higby, his son-in-law, near the station which bears the latter's name. John and James Davis, brothers of Charles, came later. All the earlier settlements were in this vicinity, on the fertile lands of the valley. Rev. John Foster was the first preacher in the township ; James Greearly, the first school teacher ; Thomas Tomlinson was the first lock-tender at the State dam, and his brother, Richard, the first grocer at the settlement there; and Samuel Wilson built and operated the first mill in the township. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 479 THE HERMIT OF THE SCIOTO The most remarkable character ever identified with the history of Franklin Township was one William Hewitt, who had in his day much local celebrity as "the hermit of the Scioto." He was a native, and, probably, during most of his life a resident, of Botetourt County, Virginia, coming of a family said by some to be respectable in position and circumstances, but by others, better informed—among them a visitor to his cave in 1837, who had known him in the Old Dominion—to be low, illiterate, idle and quarrelsome. Long after he had grown to manhood, but while still unmarried, probably about the year 1816, a fierce family quarrel, according to the visitor of 1837, resulted in his shouldering his rifle and bidding farewell to his parents, telling them that they should see his face no more—a prediction which he verified to the last. He haunted for several years the wild regions about the headwaters of the Kanawha, where he is supposed to have begun his hermit career, occasionally however, taking a boatload of deerskins, bear-skins, bear's oil, and other products of the chase, down the rivers to Cincinnati and Louisville, where they were exchanged for ammunition and other simple supplies for his solitary hunter's life. No details of his adventures in Ross County are known, as he was invariably reticent concerning his record before coming to Ohio. About the year 1823 Hewitt made his appearance in the Scioto Valley, the lower part of which, back from the fertile bottom and terrace lands, was still mostly in a state of nature. There were, however, many settlements along the river. Unmindful of this or the proximity of Chillicothe, already a good-sized town, the migratory hermit, after looking about a little, fixed his residence at a cave in Franklin Township, situated in the dense forest at the southwestern foot of the dividing ridge, on the west side of the Scioto, and some miles from the river. It furnished but a poor shelter, being simply a low, shallow den under a shelving rock, which supplied back-wall and roof. The sides and front were rudely walled up by the occupant, thus completing a room in which he could not stand upright, but which was sufficient for his purposes. In this he carried on his simple culinary operations, dressed the skins taken in hunting, and slept on a rude couch of skins and blankets. The locality was the Columbus & Portsmouth turnpike, eleven miles south of Chillicothe, and about one mile from the Alma postoffice. While this highway was in course of construction, the turnpike company, learning the interesting associations of the spot, ordered the erection of a stone monument on the rocky shelf just above the cave, bearing the inscription : "William Hewitt, 480 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY the hermit, occupied this cave fourteen years, while all was a wilderness around him. He died in 1834, aged seventy years." Hewitt passed his days chiefly in hunting, by which he subsisted. He was naturally an object of great curiosity to the settlers of that region, and had many visitors. These he received not courteously or graciously, but patiently, as he was of mild, inoffensive disposition, and conversed with them freely upon the commonplace topics that came within his range. He asserted without hesitancy that he was not a married man, but could not be induced, even when questioned in the most direct manner, to reveal anything about his parentage or early home, or the circumstances of his leaving it. He recognized Mr. Brownlee, however,—the visitor from Virginia before mentioned,---and when told that his father was dead and had left him a small property, remarked that he thought he should return to Botetourt County to claim it. He occasionally visited Chillicothe to trade his skins, and was the observed of all observers whenever there. The children of the place would follow him in troops, as many of them, when venerable citizens of the ancient town, often testified. An uncouth, unshaven figure, "tall as an Indian," as one of the former "Academy boys," who used to see him, says, and clad rudely, but rather neatly, in buckskin and furs, he made a truly unique figure, even for pioneer days. In the later years of his life he was induced to relax in a measure his penchant for solitude, and spent a few weeks of every summer at the fine residence on "Fruit Hill," then occupied by Gov. Duncan McArthur, and in more recent years by his son-in-law, Gov. William Allen. Here he occupied his time mainly in shooting obnoxious birds from the numerous fruit trees on the farm. But he always returned gladly to his wretched haunt among the hills; and thence, in 1839, not four years previously, as the inscription puts it—at an age, it is believed, of about seventy years—he wandered to the village of Waverly, in Pike County, five miles from his cave, where he was stricken with mortal illness, the result of an attempt to eat three dinners in prompt succession, at as many places as they were offered. He was cared for without delay by the poor authorities, of whom James Emmitt was one, lingered for a few days, carefully tended throughout his illness, and then peacefully passed away, leaving no other legacy to mankind than his almost profitless memory as "The Hermit of the Scioto." His remains were buried in the old cemetery at Waverly. HUNTINGTON TOWNSHIP Huntington is one of the large and hilly townships of the county. Pike County lies to the south and Scioto and Franklin townships, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 481 Ross County, to the east, while its northern boundary, and most of its western, are Paint Creek and its branches. The surface of the townsite is very rough. The valleys are narrow, and the hillsides steep and often rocky. Of the land which might be called level, a greater portion is highland or plateau. Huntington is rich in scenery. From the plateaus and knobs one may see well over the entirc county. The streams of water are short, and hence are for the most part in continual ripples and cascades. In many places they have cut for themselves deep and narrow channels in the sandstone, down which one might leap from shelf to shelf as on a huge stairway. The highest portions of the township are formed in pinnacles, and bald knobs near the central portion. They stand between 450 and 500 feet above the Scioto River. From them and the high lands to the southwestward flows Ralston Run to the north, into Paint Crcek, and Indian Creek and Crooked Creek to the southeast, into the Scioto. Good springs are abundant in the northern and western portions. The Alum cliffs are on Paint Creek in the northwestern part of the township. They derive their name from abundant deposits of alum. The alum is nearly a pure article, and was formerly gathered in large quantities by dyers. Saltpetre is also found to some extent along these cliffs, and an attempt once was made to manufacture it for market. Paint Creek has here cut a very remarkable channel through solid slate to the depth of three hundred feet, while its width at the base is scarcely so great. The cliffs are crowded with spruce and pine, and, taking it all in all, a more delightful summer resort is scarcely to be found. The soil in the valleys is good and productive. On the uplands it is thin, and, to a considerable extent, stony. The hillsides, sloping northward, are covered with a rich deposit of black sandy loam, and are much more productive than those sloping southward. The whole township is excellently adapted to grazing and the raising of sheep and other stock. Orchards—apple and peach—succeed finely, and the small fruits can be grown in any desired quantity. Huntington Township once had a settlement which was called the village of Farmersville, although it never seems to have got much beyond the development of a store, a blacksmith shop and a church. It was in the southern part of the township at about the present location of the station of Denver on the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad. Summit and Harris are the other railway stations in the township. HARRISON TOWNSHIP Harrison Township, which was created in 1812 from a portion of Jefferson, lies in the eastern part of the county and still retains Vol. I-31 482 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY much of the reputation which it bore in the early times of being wild and inaccessible. It has no railroads and few good roads. The only considerable settlement which has ever materialized in the township was near its western border and was called Mooresville. The surface of Harrison Township is uneven, except along the bottom lands of the principal streams. East of Walnut Creek, trending to the northeast and southwest, is a range of hills which might be called mountains. Between the Walnut and the Little Walnut creeks a range of hills rises to the northward, of the same nature. Nearly in the center of section 8 is a rounded hill, called Rattlesnake Knob, which lies 500 feet above the valleys on either side. The hilly nature of the township made it, in early days, a great resort for wild beasts. These were so numerous and so fierce that the land was called by the Indians "Bad lands—the habitation of bad spirits"—and it was considered unsafe to pass through them unarmed. Blacksnakes, racers and rattlesnakes were very abundant and very large. The hills of this township were favorite hunting grounds for those Indians and daring whites who roamed the wilderness before 1800. Wolves and wildcats, bears and panthers, foxes, deer and wild turkey could be started on short notice. Later, after the valleys were settled to some extent, and the wild game became less abundant, the densely-wooded hills and narrow-thicketed valleys became the resort of horse-thieves. Horses from the neighborhood could be so securely hidden as usually to baffle discovery. After a time they would be taken to the East, into Virginia, perhaps, and sold. On their return the thieves would steal other horses, and sell them to the settlers of the Scioto. This dishonest business was carried on quite extensively for many years. The forests are very dense, and the timber valuable. On the hills grow the oak, hickory, and maple ; spruce and cedar, in small numbers; beech, ash, and many others. In the valleys are found the walnut, butternut, sycamore, elm, buckeye and willow. The earliest houses were built of gum or pepperage. Harrison Township probably has a greater abundance of water power, for at least six months of the year, than any other township in Ross County. The creeks—Little Walnut, Walnut, Sugar Run, and Poe's Run—are all of them rapid streams, which require but little dam. ming to convert into excellent power. John Emerich built the first mill on the Walnut, near where the Stanhopes afterward lived. Adam Yeryan had a small grist-mill on Sugar Run, in the southern part of the township, about 1820. In connection with his mill he worked at gun-making some eight or ten years, furnishing many of the guns used in those days. In 1830 HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 483 he sold his property, and the mill was allowed to go to decay. The number of mills increased quite rapidly, till at one time there were on Walnut, in Harrison and the townships to the south, not less than a dozen mills. They have for the most part disappeared, having had their day. The water power of the streams, though abundant while it lasted, became less and less each year, as the forests were cut away and the ditches and drains opened, until at length it became cheaper to use steam than to depend on the water power. Accordingly, about 1842 Samuel Wheeland built a steam sawmill and corn-cracker on the upper Walnut, at Charleston. In 1852 Greenbrry Hanson purchased the mill and put in a good run of stone, and thus completed the first modern grist-mill in the township. Excellent flour has been made there since. Probably the earliest permanent white settler of the township was Benjamin Hanson. In 1798 he built a log cabin on a knoll in the western part of section 20, within a few rods of the present schoolhouse, in subdistrict No. 2. It was built of gum trees. In 1796 Samuel Hanson, the father of Benjamin Hanson, before mentioned, entered a section of land in the plains of Pickaway County. The land proved to be wet and heavy, and the climate sickly. In 1798, having sold his land to his brother, he moved to Liberty township, Ross County, near the state dam in the Scioto River. Here he was nicely established, till a great flood carried off nearly all his stock and damaged his crops. His stock consisted of six or seven horses, and as many cattle and sheep. It was with great difficulty that the family escaped to the high lands in canoes and after the family were safe, a sucking calf was found entangled in a loom. This calf was saved. Mr. Hanson then, in 1800, moved to Harrison Township and entered section 20. He built a cabin 100 rods to the north of his son Benjamin's cabin. Mr. Hanson was originally from Maryland. He moved to Kentucky when a young man. While on a visit to Virginia, he married a Miss Trimble, and returned with her to Kentucky. By her he had seven children. The three boys, Benjamin, Samuel and Hollas, served in the War of 1812, from which Hollas returned a lieutenant. Mr. Hanson's wife having died he married Rebecca Waterman. By her he had ten children. Of these John and James were born in Kentucky, and the remainder in Ohio. Greenberry, born in 1814, resided on the land first settled by his father and brother. Samuel Hanson (the father) died February 14, 1835, at the age of eighty-three years. Robert Corken came from Ireland to America, selling himself to the ship's company for his passage. He worked for an old Quaker by the name of Mason, in Maryland, for a time ; that is, until he obtained his freedom. He then married a daughter of Mr. Mason, 484 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY and the two set out together, on horseback, for Ohio. They settled on the "high bank prairie" in 1798, and remained there two years. After the land sales they removed to Harrison Township, near Mooresville. Mr. Corken lived there till old age, when he moved to Londonderry and died at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. Jones. Mr. Corken assisted in taking the census of 1800, and was well known in the early settlement of Harrison. Thomas Hanks was a settler of 1800 and Joseph Van Gundy of 1801. Stewart Little, John Emerich, James Carruthers and Abner Ezra, came in 1804. In 1805 a large number found a home in this wilderness. Among them were Robert Simpson, William Johnson, Andrew Thompson, John Ortman, William Lockard and James Robuck. A little later (1806-8) came George Stanhope, "Larry" Russell, John Russell, Philip Feirbaugh and Anthony Raypholtz. James Armsey and Joseph Moore came about 1810. Quite a number of these early settlers served in the War of 1812, so many of them, indeed, that it was commonly reported that scarcely an able-bodied man remained. William Johnson was a colonel, Abraham Moore a captain, and Abraham Lewis a major. The bottom lands of the streams and the more level of the uplands in Harrison Township are fertile and have been made productive. Until about 1840 little land had been placed in cultivation outside the valleys. After that year quite a large number of Dutch and Irish gardeners settled in the hill country of the east and south, bought small tracts of from thirty to fifty acres and began the cultivation of vegetables, berries and small fruits. They were generally known as "hillicans," and their descendants are still living their simple lives. They manage to support themselves and families and get considerable produce to the markets of the Scioto Valley, despite their lack of railway and good roads. A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development. Under the Editorial Supervision of LYLE S. EVANS ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1917 History of Ross County REV. ROBERT C. GALBRAITH. A man of strong character, earnest convictions, and deep consecration, Rev. Robert C. Galbraith, of Chillicothe, who died November 18, 1916, was for upwards of forty years an active worker in the Presbyterian denomination, holding pastorates in different parts of Ohio. A son of Robert C. Galbraith, Sr., he was born in Frankfort, Ross County, Ohio, November 30, 1833, and there spent the earlier years of his life. Robert C. Galbraith, Sr., was born, March 17, 1790, in Gortin, County Tyrone, Ireland, where his father, Andrew Galbraith, who was of Scotch descent, spent his entire life, being engaged in agricultural pursuits. Growing to manhood in Ireland, he was employed as a clerk in a mercantile establishment in County Tyrone until 1819, when he came to America, making his way directly to Chillicothe, Ohio. Soon after his arrival, he secured a position as clerk in the store of William Carson, with whom he subsequently formed a partnership, and operated a store in Frankfort for some time. At that time there were neither railroads or canals in the state, and all goods were transported from the rivers or lakes with teams. Giving up his connection with the general store in 1839, he located on a near-by farm that had been improved by his father-in-law, Elijah Johnson, and thenceforth was engaged in tilling the soil until his death, May 11, 1862. The maiden name of the wife of Robert C. Galbraith, Sr., was Martha Johnson. She was born February 16, 1801, in Louisa County, Virginia, a daughter of Elijah and Betsey (Watkins) Johnson, natives, it is thought, of the same county. Coming with his family to Ohio in 1809, Elijah Johnson bought 1,000 acres of land in Concord Township, Ross County, and immediately bcgan the pioneer task of improving a homestead. He succeeded well in his undertakings, and in the course of a few years erected a substantial brick house, which is still used for residential purposes, burning the bricks used in its construction on his own farm. Late in life both he and his wife moved to Montgomery County, and there lived with a son. Mrs. Robert C. Galbraith, Sr., survived her husband, passing away March 5, 1875. She reared two children, namely : Robert C., the special subject of this sketch ; and Elijah J., who became a physician, and was actively engaged in the practice of his profession at Chillicothe until his death, in 1907. Acquiring his preliminary education in the district schools, Robert C. - 487 - 488 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Galbraith was fitted for college in the academy at South Salem, Ross County, after which he continued his studies for a year at Hanover College, in Madison, Indiana. Going then to Oxford, Ohio, he was graduated from Miami University in 1853, and the following year studied theology at Princeton University. Wishing then to further advance his knowledge of theological subjects, he attended the Theological Seminary at New Albany, Indiana, which is now the McCormick Theological Seminary of Chicago, Illinois. In 1856 Mr. Galbraith was licensed to preach by the Chillicothe Presbytery, and in 1857 was ordained as' a minister by the Presbytery of Columbus. He soon after became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Lancaster, Ohio, and continued active in the ministry for forty-two years, holding pastorates in Concord, Frankfort, and Chillicothe, filling the pulpit of the Third Presbyterian Church in the latter named city for seventeen years. Early in 1861, Mr. Galbraith was appointed chaplain of the Third Brigade, Ohio Volunteers, with rank of captain, and was in the service four months, being with his command in West Virginia. While pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Lancaster he was for four years chaplain at the Ohio Reform Farm. On June 11, 1856, Mr. Galbraith was united in marriage with Margaret Lapham Pugsley, who was born in Dutchess County, New York, and died in Chillicothe, Ohio, July 24, 1912. Her parents, Jacob and Mary (Ketcham) Pugsley, natives of the same county, came with their family to Ohio, locating first in Fayette County, later settling in Dayton, from there moving to Hamilton County. Three children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Galbraith, namely : Jacob R., an attorney; Helen K., also engaged in the practice of law ; and Elijah Johnson, a dentist. All are residents of Chillicothe. Mr. Galbraith was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He is the author of a very interesting history of the Chillicothe Presbytery, which was published in 1889. ALEXANDER RENICK. A wide-awake, brainy man, possessing a natural aptitude for dealing with matters of finance, Alexander Renick, a prominent business man of Chillicothe, holds a conspicuous position among the leading financiers of Ross County, his official connection with numerous moneyed institutions bearing testimony not only to his ability and sound judgment, but to his integrity and honesty of purpose. He was born in Chillicothe, a son of the late Alexander Renick, Sr., and grandson of George Renick, a pioneer settler of this section of Ohio. There is a well-established tradition in the family that the early ancestors of the Renicks lived in Scotland, where the name was spelled "Renwick." Moving to Holland and finally settling in Ireland, the family name assumed its present spelling. The emigrant ancestor of Mr. Renick was George Renick, who came to America in about 1720, from Enniskillen, County of Fermanagh, Ireland. In 1738, -he located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. From there a. part of his family went to Augusta County, Virginia, and a part to Hardy County, Virginia, on the south branch of the Potomac. George Renick, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 489 born in Hardy County, Virginia, July 7, 1776. Attracted by the glowing descriptions of his brother, Felix Renick, who had made several visits to the western country, he came in early manhood to the Northwest Territory, on a prospecting tour, and after spending some time seeking a suitable location, he returned to Virginia. He was married in 1802 to Dorothy Harness, and came with his bride to Ohio, journeying on horseback to Chillicothe, where he started in business as a merchant. He bought a tract of land west of the city, and having erected a stone house thereon, assumed its occupancy in 1807. He subsequently devoted his energies entirely to the improvement of his property, and in addition to carrying on a general farming business, he made a specialty of raising blooded stock, being among the first to introduce Shorthorned cattle into this part of the state. He was the owner of the noted Shorthorn cow, Rose of Sharon, which, with her calf, he sold to Abram Renick, of Kentucky, who thus started his famous herd of Shorthorns. George Renick, with the exception of two years spent in Kentucky, remained on his home farm until his death, which occurred in September, 1863. His wife, Dorothy Harness, also a native of Hardy County, Virginia, died in September, 1820, leaving nine children, namely : William, Josiah, Harness, Mortimer, Elizabeth Ann, Alexander, Lavina. George and Dorothy. Subsequently Mr. Renick married Mrs. Sarah Boggs, who survived him. Alexander Renick, Sr., was born at the homestead, one mile west of Chillicothe, February 11, 1815, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. Being presented, soon after attaining his majority, by his father, with a tract of land lying two miles southeast of Chillicothe, he was there successfully engaged in farming and stock raising until 1864, when he removed to Chillicothe. Previous to that time, in November, 1863, the First National Bank was organized, and he was made a director. After taking up his residence in Chillicothe, he devoted his entire time to the bank and his own private affairs, remaining here until his death, in September, 1875. The maiden name of the wife of Alexander Renick, Sr., was Jane Osborn. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1817. Her father, Ralph Osborn, whose emigrant ancestor came to New 'England in the good ship Speedwell, which followed the Mayflower, was a pioneer settler of Chillicothe, and when the State of Ohio was organized, he was elected state auditor, and held the position many years, spending his last days in Columbus. Mr. Osborn married Catherine Renick, a daughter of John Renick, who was a brother of William Renick, of Hardy County, Virginia. Mrs. Jane (Osborn) Renick died in October, 1886, leaving four children, namely : Ralph Osborn, Dorothy Harness, Henry Turner, and Alexander, one son, George, having died a few years previous. Having acquired his rudimentary education in the Chillicothe schools, Alexander Renick attended the military school at West Chester, Pennsylvania, and in 1865 entered the scientific department of Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1868. Returning home, Mr. Renick operated the home farm until the death of his father, in 1875, 490 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY when he succeeded to his father's position as a director of the First National Bank. In 1887 Mr. Renick was made vice president of that institution, and since 1892 has served ably and faithfully as its president. In 1888, Mr. Renick assisted in organizing the Mutual Loan and Savings Association, of which he has ever since been one of the directors, and the president. In 1907, with George Hunter Smith and John H. Blacker, he organized the Valley Savings Bank and Trust Company, which he has since served as a director and vice president. Mr. Renick still owns and operates the old home farm, which was improved by his father, and takes an active and intelligent interest in agriculture and stock raising. Mr. Renick has always been a republican and takes an active part in politics, but has never sought or held any political office, except that of trustee for the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics, located at Gallipolis, Ohio, having been appointed to this positon by Governor Herrick in 1904, holding it until 1911, when the boards of trustees of all benevolent institutions of the state were legislated out of office. Mr. Renick married, December 29, 1874, Elizabeth Waddle, a daughter of Dr. William and Jane S. Waddle, of whom further account may be found on another page of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Renick have one son, Alexander Mortimer Renick, who married Edyth Henrietta, daughter of Charles A. Smith, and has two sons, Charles Alexander and Ralph Osborn. Mr. and Mrs. Renick are true to the religious faith in which they were reared, their parents having been consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. WILLIAM WADDLE, M. D. Prominent among the skillful physicians and surgeons who were successfully engaged in the practice of their profession in Chillicothe a half century and more ago, was the late William Waddle, M. D., who was especially skillful in his treatment of the various diseases which human flesh is heir to. He was born in Chillicothe, September 19, 1811, in the family residence which then stood on the southeast corner of Paint and Second streets. Alexander Waddle, the doctor's grandfather, was born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, and was there reared and married. In 1784, accompanied by his wife and children, he came to America, and having purchased land. in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, was there engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth McCormick, was also born in Ireland, of Scotch lineage. She survived him, and spent the later years of her life in Portsmouth, Ohio. She was the mother of five children, Mary, Alexander, John, Joseph, and William. John Waddle was born in 1783, in Belfast, County Tyrone, Ireland, and was little more than an infant when brought by his parents to this country. Brought up in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, he was apprenticed at the age of fifteen years to Alexander McLaughlin, a prosperous merchant in Pittsburgh. In 1803 he was sent by his employer to Chillicothe with a stock of merchandise, which he disposed of at an HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 491 advantage. After his return to Pittsburgh, he formed a partnership with John Carlisle, in Chillicothe, with whom he was associated for a short time, later having as partners Thomas Worthington and Amaziah Davidson. During the War of 1812 he was associated in business with General Denney, supplying the Government with provisions. In 1822 he retired from mercantile pursuits, and in 1830 removed to Clark County, Ohio, where he had acquired title to considerable land, in Clark and Greene counties, which he intended to improve. In 1831 he again visited Chillicothe, and having been suddenly taken ill with pneumonia, died in this city. John Waddle married, in 1806, Nancy Mann, who was born in Kentucky. Her father, William Mann, a native of Augusta County, Virginia, married Eleanor Raeburn, and soon after moved to Kentucky, locating in the Blue Grass region, between Lexington and Georgetown. Mr. Mann died leaving three daughters, Elizabeth, Nancy and Mary. His widow subsequently married Captain Lamb, and in 1797 came with him and her children to Chillicothe. Mrs. John Waddle survived her husband forty-three years, dying in 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. She reared eight children, six of whom were living at the time of her death. They were Alexander, William, John, Eleanor, Lucy Ann, and Angus Laugham. Having laid a good foundation for his future education at the Chillicothe Academy, William Waddle continued his studies for two years in the Ohio State University, at Athens, leaving that institution at thc age of eighteen years. Returning to his home in Clark County he worked on the farm for a year, and then began the study of medicine in Chillicothe, under the preceptorship of Doctor Fullerton. Subsequently entering the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, he was there graduated in 1836, and during the ensuing year traveled in the South. In 1838 Doctor Waddle located in Chillicothe, where his skill and ability found recognition. He built up a large and highly remunerative practice, and continued a resident of this city until his death on August 23, 1895. In 1863 the doctor was appointed trustee of the Ohio University, and in 1868 was made a trustee of the Athens Insane Asylum, and for ten years filled the office, resigning in 1878. In 1880 he was appointed a trustee of the Central Insanc Asylum at Columbus. Doctor Waddle married, in 1845, Jane S. McCoy, a native of Chillicothe. Her father, John McCoy, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a son of Alexander McCoy, coming on both sides of the house of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Migrating to Ohio, he was for many years engaged in mercantile business in Chillicothe, as a merchant meeting with excellent success. The maiden name of the wife of Mr. McCoy was Janet McCracken, who was born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and of honored Revolutionary stock. Nine children were born of the union of Doctor and Mrs. Waddle, namely : John McCoy, Elizabeth, William, Eleanor, Jane, Lucy, Edward F., Nancy, and Charles C. Doctor Waddle's was pre-eminently a pioneer spirit. In all that related to the betterment of mankind, he was ever foremost. Especially 492 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY was this true of the profession he loved, and of his native town, which he had seen grow from such small beginnings, and for which he entertained such an enthusiastic devotion. He served for many years on the school board, and when the question of making a public library of the small school library arose, he threw himself with ardor into the project, using both his influence and his means to secure for the town so desirable an improvement. When the question of reclaiming the swamp of the "old riverbed" for a park was mooted by Mr. Bovey, he carried his plan to Doctor Waddle, who gave enthusiastic approval to the scheme. Being at that time a trustee of the Athens Asylum, he invited Mr. Haerlein, who was landscape gardener there, to visit Chillicothe as his guest, to decide whether the scheme was feasible, and when his report was favorable, the doctor used every energy, every influence, to make possible the park of which all Chillicotheans are now so justly proud. Major Poland, Doctor Waddle, and Mr. Meggenhofen were the original park board, each one of them having a deep interest in the park which was born under their auspices. The words of his friend, Judge Milton L. Clark, delivered in the Constitutional Convention of 1873-1874, will most fittingly close this imperfect sketch : "Of my townsman, Dr. William Waddle, no words of mine can exaggerate his merits. Eminent in his profession, second to few, if any in the state, a gentleman of large mind and superior mental abilities, a native of the 'Ancient Metropolis' and foremost in every good work, his humanity and philanthropy know no bounds!" CLARK W. STORY. Inheriting in no small measure the habits of industry and thrift, and the integrity and ability, characteristic of a long line of sturdy New England ancestors, Clark W. Story, of Chillicothe, is amply fitted for the responsible position he is holding as president of the Ross County National Bank. He was born in Cuttingsville, Rutland County, Vermont, a son of Jonathan B. Story, and grandson of David Story, a life-long resident of New England. Born, October 7, 1804, in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Jonathan B. Story was there brought up and educated. Learning the carriage maker's trade, he established a factory at Cuttingsville, Vermont, where he made a specialty of building Concord wagons, a popular vehicle in that section of the country. He continued in business there for half a century, remaining a resident of the place until his death, at the very advanced age of ninety-seven years. The maiden name of his first wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, was Ann Jane Hill Putnam. She was born in Craydon, New Hampshire, a daughter of Samuel and Susan (Gibson) Putnam. She died in middle life, leaving five children, as follows: Susan M., who married John A. Poole ; Austin P. ; Emma I., who married Henry Jones; Lucy J., who became the wife of J. Manley Snyder; and Clark W. The father subsequently married, for his second wife, Mrs. Nancy Todd, who survived him a short time. Receiving a practical education in the public schools of Cuttingsville, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 493 Vermont, Clark W. Story came to Chillicothe when but fifteen years old to enter the dry goods establishment of his brother Austin P., with whom he remained until thoroughly mastering the details of the business. Then, in 1875, he formed a partnership with E. P. Smith, and as head of the firm of Story & Smith, carried on a satisfactory mercantile business until 1901, more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Smith withdrew from the firm in that year, and Mr. Story's second son, Otis Jewett Story, and John G. Brandle were admitted to partnership, and the business has since been successfully carried on under its present firm name, "Story, Brandle & Story." In 1888 Mr. Story was made a director of the Ross County National Bank, and the following January was elected vice presidcnt, and with this institution he has ever since been officially connected, having been elected its president upon the death of Major Poland, in 1908. He is much interested in agriculture and horticulture, and has a fine estate, known as "Grand View Farm," situated near Chillicothe. For several years he served faithfully and intelligently as president of the Scioto Valley Agricultural Society. Mr. Story married, on June 16, 1874, Mary A. Campbell, who was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of Samuel D. and Mary Anne Campbell, natives of Pcnnsylvania.. Five children have been born of the union of Air. and Mrs. Story, namely : Samuel C.; Otis Jewett, who married Ruth Pattison, of Easton, Maryland ; John Burnham, who married Gertrude Sunnyfrank, and has one child, Elizabeth; Clark W., Jr.; and Mary, wife of T. Somerville Pattison. Mr. and Mrs. Story belong to the Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, in which he has served as vestryman many years. JOHN P. PHILLIPS. Identified with a profession dcmanding a veritable measure of talent, and a vast amount of close rcsearch and hard work, John P. Phillips has won distinction as a member of the Ross County bar, and as one of the leading citizens of Chillicothe is eminently worthy of representation in a work of this character. He was born March 12, 1864, in Frankfort, Ross County, of Virginia ancestry, his father, John A. Phillips, and his grandfather, Vincent Phillips, having been natives of Raleigh County, Virginia. His great-grandfather on the paternal side, James Phillips, an Englishman by birth and breeding, came to America as a British soldier during the Revolutionary war, but it is supposed that his sympathies were with the Colonists, as he never returned to England. Sending for his fiancee, Nancy Piper, to join him in this country, they married, and settled in Raleigh County, Virginia, where they lived happily ever after. Brought up on the homestead in Virginia, Vincent Phillips selected for his life work the occupation to which he was reared, his farm being located in Raleigh County, about twelve miles from Hinton. He belonged to a long-lived family, and he, himself, attained the venerable age of ninety-five years, dying in 1890. He married Mary Ball, a lifelong resident of Virginia, and they reared eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. 494 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Born in 1822, John A. Phillips became familiar with the various branches of agriculture while young, and was engaged in farming in Virginia until 1862, being at that time a Union man in a Confederate state. The neighborhood in which he lived was subject to invasion by both armies, cattle being taken, and crops and fences destroyed, first by one army, and then by the other, and he was financially ruined. In September, 1862, his land being laid waste, he came to Ross County, locating in Frankfort, where he continued his farming operations until his death, in 1882. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary E. Hoback, was born, May 17, 1838, in Floyd County, Virginia, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Gray) Hoback, and maternal granddaughter of Joscph and Mary (Howard) Gray. Joseph Gray was born in England, but came to America in colonial days, locating in Staunton, Virginia, where he married Mary Howard, a native of Montgomery County, Virginia. Mrs. Mary E. (Hoback) Phillips died April 13, 1872, when but thirty-three years of age, leaving four children, namely : John P., the special subject of this sketch ; Milton G. ; Belle ; and Joseph Elmer. The father had one daughter, Mary, by a former marriage. Having acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of Frankfort, John P. Phillips continued his studies in Lebanon, at the National Normal School, under the instruction of Professor Holbrook a noted educator of that time. Subsequently teaching school near Frankfort for a time, he devoted his leisure to the study of law, and in 1888 was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. Mr. Phillips immediately opened an office in Chillicothe, and in the practice of his chosen profession has met with unquestioned success, his patronage being large and remunerative. On April 25, 1893, Mr. Phillips married Miss Cora E. Ewing, who was born in Chillicothe, which was likewise the birthplace of her father, Capt. Samuel H. Ewing, and of her grandfather, John Ewing, whose birth occurred in 1816. John Ewing was a son of Samuel Ewing, and grandson of Alexander Ewing. During his early life he was engaged in the saddlery and harness business, but later had a general store at the corner of Main and Hickory streets. He died at Chillicothe, in 1893. The maiden name of John Ewing's wife was Evelyn Huffnagel. She was born January 26, 1820, in Ross County, a daughter of Josiah Huffnagel. Capt. Samuel H. Ewing, born in 1839, was reared and educated in Chillicothe. Patriotic and public-spirited, he enlisted June 5, 1861, in Company B, Twenty-sixth Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, and was elected first lieutenant of the company. On November 8, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of captain, and was then presented by the citizens of Chillicothe with a very handsome sword. He was acting major at the Battle of Chickamauga, where his horse was shot from under him, and he was captured, and subsequently confined in Libby Prison until exchanged March 15, 1864. Immediately rejoining his regiment, he remained with his command until honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment, July 25, 1864. Captain Ewing then HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 495 resumed work as a clerk in his father's store, later becoming a clerk in the Revenue office, under the United States Civil Service. He' died in. 1891. Capt. Samuel H. Ewing married Alice Maria Thompson, who was born in Chillicothe, September 4, 1840, a daughter of Daniel Thompson. Her paternal grandfather, John Thompson, who married Mary Wood, came with his family from Virginia to Ross County, Ohio, about 1810, and having bought a tract of heavily timbered land in Union Township, hewed a farm from the wilderness, and was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death. Born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, April 11, 1809, Daniel Thompson was scarce a year old when brought by his parents to Ross County. He was reared on the farm, but as a young man found a situation in the wood-working department of a carriage factory in Chillicothe. Learning the trade, he returned to Union Township, and having there established a shop of his own was engaged in the carriage business a few years. Removing to Chillicothe, he embarked in the livery business, and was here a resident until his death, in 1898. He married Louisa Howard, who was born in. Chillicothe March 12, 1812, a daughter of James and Sarah (Haynes) Howard. James Howard was born January 11, 1786, in Martinsburg, Virginia. Coming to Ross County in pioneer days, he erected a home in Chillicothe, at what is now 139 East Second Street, and in one room of his house he manufactured spinning wheels, which ,found a ready sale. He also carried on general farming to some extent, raising corn and other crops, and grazing his cattle and sheep on land now covered with brick buildings. The house which he built, and which is still owned by the Howard family, has been added to, and has given shelter to seven generations. Sarah Haynes, whom he married, was born July 13, 1788, at Antietam, Maryland, and as a child came with her parents to Huntington Township, Ross County. Mrs. Phillips's mother, Mrs. Alice Maria (Thompson) Ewing, still occupies the old Howard homestead on Second Street, the house in which she lives having been built about 1818. Mrs. Ewing reared two children, Carrie and Cora E., twins. Carrie, who married Edward Mabury, died in 1911, leaving one daughter, Cora. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have two children, John P., Jr., and Gordon. John P. Phillips, Jr., married Esther M. Scott, a daughter of Milton J. and Mary Alice (Johnson) Scott, and they have one son, John Scott Phillips, and one daughter, Jane Phillips. Active and prominent in legal circles, Mr. Phillips is district counsel for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; for the Southwestern Railroad; and also for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway. He is interested in financial matters, being vice president of the Citizens National Bank of Chillicothe, and of the Merchants and Farmers Bank of Frankfort. He is now serving as vice president of the Chillicothe Electric Railroad, Light & Power Company, and is president of the Chillicothe Hospital, and a director of the Masonic Temple Company. Fraternally Mr. Phillips is a member of Frankfort Lodge, No. 309, 496 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Chillicothe Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters ; of Chillicothe Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar ; and of the Scottish Rite at Columbus. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Phillips is superintendent of its Sunday school. ISAAC SCOTT COOK. A homestead with many interesting family associations is the Willow Branch Farm in Union Township. It has been owned by members of the Cook family for more than a century. It has responded to their care and management, and is not only a landmark but for generations has becn a center for some of the most productive farm and stock raising operations in the county. Its present owner is Isaac Scott Cook, who was born there, and who since an early age has been identified with its active managements. Mr. Cook is a descendant of the Connecticut branch of the Cook family. His first American ancestor was Henry Cook, who came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, before 1640, from Kent, England. Two of Henry Cook's sons, Henry and Samuel, settled at Wallingford, Connecticut, and became the ancestors of most of the Connecticut branch of the family. In the next generation was Samuel Cook, who was born in March, 16—, and married Hope Parker. Isaac, a son of Samuel, was born January 10. 1681, and died at Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1712. He was married in 1705 to Sarah Curtis. One of their children was also named Isaac and was born July 22, 1710, at Wallingford, and died March 16, 1780. He married Jerusha Sexton, of Wallingford. A son of Isaac and Jerusha was Colonel Isaac, who was born July 28, 1739, and died in 1810. He served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. His wife's name was Martha. They were the great-grandparents of Isaac S. Cook, of Ross County. The founder of the family in Ohio was Judge Isaac Cook, who was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1768. Soon after his marriage he started with his wife and household goods in wagons to find a home in the great unclaimed. West. They went as far as Pittsburgh, and leaving his wife there, Isaac Cook continued on a prospecting trip to the Northwest Territory in 1795, going as far as Greenville. He was present there when General Wayne made his treaty with the Indians. After seeing peace secured with the Indians he returned, and in the following year settled in the rich and beautiful valley of the Scioto. He had taken with him from Pittsburgh a commission from General Neville to sell the latter's land grant in the Virginia Military District. This trust he performed with such satisfaction to his employer that the latter presented him with 400 acres of land which had been unsold. Judge Cook added to his nucleus by purchase, and developed a splendid estate before his death. He named the old farm the Willow Branch Farm and by that name it is still called. Under his energetic management the soil yielded of its fruits and the log cabin home was soon supplanted by a two-story frame house. Judge Cook was one of the very able men in the early HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 497 life of Ross County. He was appointed associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1803, and filled that position with splendid dignity for twenty-seven consecutive years. He was also elected several times as a member of the State Legislature, and while in the Legislature was a member of the committee on legislation and introduced the bill for the establishment of a public school system in Ohio. Another fact of interest concerning him is that he was a pioneer advocate of temperance at a time when little thought was given to such a cause. He drew up a pledge for his own children and that pledge contained the names of all his grandchildren, their respective parents vouching for them. Judge Isaac Cook was a resident of Ross County upwards of half a century, and died in 1842. In 1792 he married Margaret Scott of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Capt. Mathew and Elizabeth (Thompson) Scott. Mathew Scott was first lieutenant in Miles Pennsylvania Regiment in 1776, and a captain in the Pennsylvania State Regiment in 1777. Judge Isaac Cook and his wife, Margaret, reared eight children : Isaac, Mathew Scott, Elizabeth, William, Joseph, Lucy, Maria and Margaret. The oldest daughter, Maria, married Dr. James Webb, of Kentucky, and was the mother of Lucy Webb, who subsequently became the wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, afterwards President of the United States. After the death of Doctor Webb, his widow and her three children lived at the old homestead, Willow Branch Farm, in Ross County. On the Willow Branch Farm, William Cook, father of Isaac S., was born in 1807. He grew up on that farm, and eventually succeeded to its ownership. He was a man of fine character, of great industry, and his tastes and inclinations led him to spend his years in the quiet pursuits of agriculture. Very successful as a farmer, he at one time owned 1,500 acres. A desire for public office never came to him, and he was content to do his duty as a private citizen. He was first a whig and afterwards a republican. His death occurred September 4, 1892, at the age of eighty-five years. Many years ago he erected a substantial brick house on the Willow Branch Farm and it is still the residence of his son, Isaac S. William Cook married Mary G. Hough. She was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1811, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine (Carrell) Hough, both of whom were natives of England. William Cook and wife reared five children, Ellen Hough, Isaac Scott, Ada, Margaret Scott and Catherine. The daughter Margaret S. is now deceased. On the farm where he was born and reared, Isaac Scott Cook has worked out his own individual destiny in life. He attended the public schools in the country district and also at Chillicothe. His youth was spent in the dark and forbidding years of the Civil war, and on August 13, 1862, he responded to the call of patriotism and enlisted in Company D of the Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with this regiment in its various movements until September, 1863, when, being taken ill, he was placed in a hospital, first at Nashville and afterwards at Louisville, and from there was sent to Cincinnati, and in November, 1863, was granted an honorable discharge from the hospital and the 498 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY army and then returned home. As soon as sufficiently recovered, he went to Pennsylvania and entered the Pennsylvania Military Academy, then located at Westchester, but now at Chester. He remained there until completing a two years' course. He then returned to his father's farm, and was its responsible manager for a number of years. Later he succeeded to its ownership, and has done much to make it both a profitable and attractive homestead. Some years ago he formed a corporation, whose members were himself and his sons and daughters, and this corporation now owns the "Willow Brook Stock Farm," so named by his grandfather. Since 1891 Mr. Cook has been a director of the Chillicothe First National Bank. He married Rowena Nye. Mrs. Cook, who died in 1911, was a daughter of Spencer and Martha (Jacobs) Nye, both of whom were of early Connccticut ancestry. Mr. Cook has five children : William Hough, Spencer Nye, Margaret Scott, Isaac Scott, Jr., and Edward Tiffin. All these children received the best advantages of local schools and higher institutions. William H. graduated from the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is now a successful mining engineer. Spencer Nye is also a mining engineer and a graduate of the Ohio State University. Margaret Scott graduated from Wheaton Seminary at Norton, Massachusetts. Isaac S., Jr., is a graduate of the agricultural department of the Ohio State University. Edward Tiffin is a graduate of Cornell University, made a record as an athlete while in school, and is now manager of the Willow Brook Stock Farm. The oldest son, William H., married Clara Tandy, and their two children are Margaret Scott and William Hough. Edward Tiffin married Mary Virginia Wilson, who was born near Winchester, Virginia, of colonial ancestry. They have a son, Edward Tiffin, Jr., making the fifth generation on that farm. EDWARD R. McKEE For nearly three score years closely associated with the banking interests of Chillicothe, Edward R. McKee possesses to an eminent degree the business ability and acumen that inspire confidence in his integrity and honesty of purpose, while his long record of service with one of the leading financial institutions of Ross County bears speaking evidence of his trustworthiness in positions of responsibility. A son of David McKee, he was born, January 28, 1843, in Chillicothe, of colonial ancestry, being a lineal descendant, according to a well-preserved tradition, of one of eleven brothers named McKee that emigrated, in 1769, from Scotland to America, and settled, nearly all of them, in Pennsylvania. Hugh McKee, Mr. McKee's paternal grandfather, was a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, and an active member of the Society of Friends. Born and educated in Philadelphia, David McKee came to Ohio in early manhood, locating in Chillicothe, where he was subsequently engaged in the wholesale and retail confectionery business until his death, in 1854, at the early age of forty-three years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Reister, was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 499 Adam Reister, and to them four children were born, as follows : Estelle Eloise, Edward R., George W. and Harry. Adam Reister, Mr. McKee's maternal grandfather, was born in Maryland, in Reisterstown, a village established by his father, who spent his entire life in that locality. Having served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade when young, Mr. Reister followed his occupation in Chillicothe until 1840, carrying on a good, business as a contractor for several years. Seized with the wanderlust in 1840, he migrated, with teams, to the Territory of Iowa, which was then in its pristine wildness, the greater part of the land being owned by the Government. There were no railroads in the state, the modes of travel and transportation, and the ways of living being very primitive. Taking up a tract of wild land near Iowa City, he cleared and improved a homestead, and there he and his wife spent their remaining days. Adam Reister married Rebecca Haynes, who was born in Shepherds-town, Virginia, a daughter of George Haynes, who came with his family from Virginia to the Northwest Territory in the spring of 1798, making the removal with teams, his wife, however, coming on horseback, and bringing her infant daughter, the future Mrs. Reister, in her arms. Mr. Haynes was a blacksmith by trade, and he and Joseph Yates, a millwright, of Shepherdstown, had assumed a contract to erect for a Mr. Worthington a mill on the north fork of Paint Creek. Locating in Chillicothe, Mr. Haynes moved into a log cabin situated at what is now the corner of Second and Mulberry streets, and after the completion of the mill resumed work at his trade. He made the spikes and bolts used in the construction of the old bridge, and when that was finally destroyed by fire, it was found that it was put together so strongly that the timbers could not be taken apart. Many of the spikes were saved, and are now kept as souvenirs. He lived to the venerable age of ninety-seven years, his wife attaining the age of ninety-four years. In 1858, having acquired a practical education in the public schools, Edward R. McKee secured a situation as collector for the Valley Bank, of Chillicothe, and has since been connected with that bank and its successor, the First National Bank, until the present time. Proving himself very capable in his first position, he was made bookkeeper in 1859, and upon the organization, in 1863, of the First National Bank was elected teller. In 1882 Mr. McKee was made cashier of the bank, and since 1905 has been its vice president.' As a young man, Mr. McKee joined Company A, Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, which responded to the call to arms at the time of the Kirby Smith raid, in 1863, and later in the year when Gen. John H. Morgan made his famous raid north of thc Ohio River. In May, 1864, Mr. McKee enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned lieutenant. After remaining with his command in Baltimore six weeks, he went with his regiment to the Shenandoah Valley, and there took an active part in all of its marches and campaigns, including several encounters with the enemy, during the time, the captain being on detailed