A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio
Pages 459 - 462
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WADE (Ross Twp., p. 459)
Nehemiah WADE was born in Cincinnati, OH, in the year 1793. He was the s/o David E. WADE, one of the first settlers of Cincinnati, a man of vast wealth, in addition to about 2,000 acres of land which he owned at the mouth of Indian Creek, in Butler Co. Nehemiah WADE was elected a justice of the peace for Ross Twp. in 1818, an office he held for 6 years. In 1841, he was chosen by the Legislature of OH as an associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Butler Co., and again chosen at the session of 1847 & 1848, holding the office until the organization of the courts under the new constitution---a term of 11 years. In addition to these trusts, Mr. WADE held various other important offices & posts of usefulness. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church for about half a century; a superintendent of the Sunday-school for about 40 years, & always a liberal supporter of Christian institutions. He died Jul 24, 1879, in the 86th year of his age, leaving behind him a large & admirable posterity, many of whom still live in the vicinity of Venice, Ross Twp.

BUTTERFIELD, SPENCER, CAMPBELL, RIDDLE, LUDLOW, RADCLIFFE, MAYNARD, BROWN, KLEINFELDER, KNOX (Ross Twp. pp. 459-460)
Jeremiah BUTTERFIELD was born on the 4th of Mar 1776 in Chelmsford, MA. When he was 12 years old his father removed to the State of NY. In 1797 young BUTTERFIELD left his home to seek his fortune in the West. He traveled to Pittsburg, where he embarked on a flat-boat & descended the OH River to Marietta. Here he remained in the family of Dr. SPENCER for the Winter. In the following Spring he started on board a flat-boat to Cincinnati, (Hamilton Co., OH). The place was then only an inconsiderable village, containing not more than 1,000 inhabitants. The boat's crew proceeded on their voyage down the OH to Louisville (KY), & from thence to Fort Massac, on the north bank of the OH, 36 miles above its mouth. BUTTERFIELD remained at the fort only a short time. He purchased a pirogue, and, in the company with a Kentuckian, set out for St. Louis, (MO). The trip to St. Louis was made by taking the river. From St. Louis he went to St. Charles, a small village on the north side of the Missouri River, 18 miles above its mouth, where he remained one year. Mr. BUTTERFIELD, not liking the manners and customs of the people, returned to St. Louis, & from there crossed the country to Vincennes, (IN) on the Wabash (River). While crossing the prairie he encountered vast herds of buffalo. From Vincennes he went into the interior of KY, where he remained for three months & then set out for the East. He arrived at his father's house in NY in the Winter of 1799. He was now 23 years old, & determined to take unto himself a wife, a Miss Polly CAMPBELL, whom he married in 1800. He now began to look for some place to live. After some delay, he again took the flat-boat for Cincinnati. The company, of which BUTTERFIELD was a part, made arrangements to work at harvesting for Col. John RIDDLE, who, at that time, lived two miles north of Cincinnati, on the Hamilton Road. One corner of his land was where the Brighton House used to stand. Israel LUDLOW, who was at that time employed by the government to run the boundary line between the U.S. & the Indian nations, employed BUTTERFIELD to act as one of his chain carriers. On this expedition they were three months without seeing a dwelling-house, & at one time came near starving, being five days without food.

Early in the ensuing Spring he (BUTTERFIELD) visited & explored the valley of the Great Miami (River), the bottom lands of which pleased him very much. He, with a company of others, in the Spring of 1801, made a purchase of two full & as many fractional sections, beginning at the mouth of Indian Creek & extending down the river for about two miles. The land was divided, & BUTTERFIELD became the owner of about 800 acres, near where Venice now is. His friends, who had come on with him, returned to NY, & he remained to make a home for his young wife. After some work, he returned for his wife & sister, & when returning, brought with him the seeds of various fruit trees, from which he afterwards raised fine fruit.

About the year 1805 or 1806, the neighborhood where Mr. BUTTERFIELD resided became infested with a band of outlaws, marauders, & horse-thieves. There was no law that could be carried into execution effectually but lynch-law, which was resorted to successfully. He was active in this undertaking & did much in ridding the country of the band.

In the Winter of 1819 Mr. BUTTERFIELD drove a large number of hogs through the woods from the neighborhood where he lived to Detroit, (MI), a distance of more than 280 miles. For most of the distance on the route that he chose there were no roads, & what rendered the trip more difficult, a severe snowstorm set in. Some of his men became disheartened & returned, but he pushed forward, breaking a path in the snow with his horse for his hogs to follow. After many days of hardship he arrived safely, sold out to a good advantage, & returned home with his saddle-bags full of silver. Three times he shipped his hogs from his own door down the river to New Orleans, going with them himself each instance. From New Orleans he shipped his hogs to Cuba, & in 1828 was shipwrecked. When the vessel neared the shore she struck a rock, & the captain & the crew took to the long-boat. Mr. BUTTERFIELD would not leave until he had cut open the pens containing the hogs, which were on deck, & let them into the sea. They nearly all swam to the shore, so that he lost but a few, and in selling them received $12.00 per hundred weight, weighing them alive, so that, notwithstanding he was shipwrecked, & had to pay $3.00 duty on each hog, he made a profitable voyage.

He died at his home, near Venice, on the 27th day of Jun 1853, aged 77 years. All his children but one are yet living. Sherebiah, the oldest son, lives on a part of the land purchased by his father in Hamilton County. John, the 2nd son, & Jeremiah, the 3rd son, live in the same neighborhood, in Hamilton County. Nathaniel lived to raise a family but died several years ago. Elijah, another son, lives in this township. Mary, a daughter, married James RADCLIFFE, & lives near New Baltimore in Hamilton Co., OH. Elizabeth, another daughter, married Mr. MAYNARD. All the children are in comfortable circumstances & are much respected by the community. John C. was born in 1808, & was married in 1845 to Caroline BROWN, born in Butler Co. in 1818. They had 7 children. Mary Elizabeth, wife of John KLEINFELDER, lives in Venice; Elijah lives in Ross Twp.; Jesse is married & lives in Ross; Rachel is the wife of John KNOX, & the others are John W.; Sarah E.; & Susan C. He is a farmer, & owns 105 acres, part of which belongs to the original 200 acres his father purchased. He lives in the old homestead built by his father.

ANDERSON, MORGAN, GATES, BURGOYNE, WASHINGTON, CLARK, SHANNON, MOOREHEAD, ST. CLAIR, BUNNEL, MILLER, DICK, WADE, MOORE, BOAL, PERRINE, MORRIS, GILCHRIST, MILLIKIN, JACKSON, TAYLOR (Ross Twp., pp. 460-462)
Isaac ANDERSON was long & favorably known in Butler Co., having been a resident for more than 40 years. He was born in Donegal Co., Ireland, Sep 15, 1758, & was the youngest of 13 children. When he was about 12 years of age his parents died within a short time of each other, & there being no legal guardian appointed for him, he was left pretty much to his own control, & in after life was often heard to say that until he was 14 years old he was a self-willed & very rude boy. At that time he resolved to reform, & at once became industrious & steady. He soon became ready in mathematics, & especially so in surveying, for which he had a natural gift. At the age of 16 he determined to seek his fortune in America. He sailed from Donegal, in the north of Ireland, & landed in Philadelphia in the early part of the year 1774. During his passage he kept up his mathematical studies by learning navigation under the tuition of the captain.

Several of his brothers & sisters had come to America some years previous, & settled in VA, where many of their descendants are yet residing. Isaac stopped in PA until the Spring of 1776, when the war with Great Britain commenced, & he entered the service. He was enrolled in Col., MORGAN's rifle regiment, & from that time to the end of the war bore an honored & distinguished part. The first, or about the first, active service in which ANDERSON engaged was at Bemis Heights, between the American army under General GATES, & the British army under General BURGOYNE. Col. MORGAN's regiment was detached to observe the movements of the enemy & to harass them as they advanced. The battle was long & bloody, & a dozen times in the day the result was doubtful. Darkness terminated the battle, & the Americans withdrew, but the defeat was equal to a victory. The 2nd battle in which Mr. ANDERSON participated was fought on the 7th of Oct following. This battle was also a long & sanguinary conflict, & the result was entirely favorable to the Americans. Isaac ANDERSON was also present at the surrender of the British army under Gen. BURGOYNE at Saratoga, which took place Oct 16, 1777. In Dec 1777, during the time the British occupied Philadelphia, & while Congress held their sessions at Yorktown, the regiment to which Mr. ANDERSON belonged happened to be on a scouting expedition, when, on the 10th of the month, they fell in with a British regiment on a similar service. A skirmish ensued, during which Mr. ANDERSON was severely wounded by a musket-ball, which passed in at one cheek & out the opposite side, carrying away some of his teeth & a part of his jaw-bone. The wound injured the sight of one of his eyes, & made a scar which he carried through life. Mr. ANDERSON was supposed to be dead, & was left on the field. In the morning the British found him & carried him to the hospital, where he finally recovered.

When the British evacuated Philadelphia, on the morning of the 18th of Jun 1778, Mr. ANDERSON feigned himself extremely ill, & was left behind in his berth in the hospital, by the connivance of a friend, who was the assistant surgeon. As soon as the army had gone, he jumped from his bed & set out for the American camp, where he arrived the same evening.

The British, after leaving Philadelphia, followed by General WASHINGTON, fought a severe battle on th 28th of Jun 1778 at Monmouth Court-house. Mr. ANDERSON often stated that in this battle he discharged his rifle with aim 32 times. In 1781 we find him engaged with General George Rogers CLARK on his expedition to the Falls of Ohio. In this command he held the office of lieutenant in Captain SHANNON's regiment. Many hair-breadth escapes occurred on this expedition. During his journey he kept a diary, which is still preserved in the family & contains much authentic information.

In Nov 17778, Isaac ANDERSON was married to Euphemia MOOREHEAD, eldest dau/o Fergus MOOREHEAD, who had also been a soldier in the Revolution. Fergus MOOREHEAD was the father of Joseph MOOREHEAD, who received an ensign's commission, & marched to the West with the army under General ST. CLAIR. In 1791 Mr. ANDERSON was offered a position as commander of a company fitting out to march against the Indians in the North-west, under the command of Gen. ST. CLAIR, but, being previously engaged by the Holland Land Company to make surveys in Western Pennsylvania, declined.

In the Winter of 1795-6, he, with his family, emigrated to the West, settling in Cincinnati, then a small village of log cabins, including about 50 rough, unfinished frame housed with stone chimneys.

In 1801 the United States first offered for sale the lands west of the Great Miami. Mr. ANDERSON remembered the beautiful rich bottoms of the Miami, which he had previously seen when on his way to Detroit (MI), & resolved to make a purchase. He accordingly purchased a section of land above the mouth of Indian Creek, on which he commenced a clearing, & in 1812 removed with his family from Cincinnati, & settled on a farm, where he remained until his death, on th 18th of December, 1839, aged 81 years & 9 months. His wife died at the old homestead Aug 26, 1851, aged 80 years & 11 months. Both lie in the Venice burying-ground.

They had born to them 11 children, 6 sons & 5 daughters. All but one grew up, married, & raised large families. Robert was born in Westmoreland Co., PA, Sep 14, 1789. He married Rachel BUNNEL, Jun 16, 1811, & settled on a farm of his father's. In Mar 1828, when engaged in locating the Hamilton basin, he was attacked with bilious fever & died on the 19th of Jun of the same year. For his second wife he married Clarissa MILLER, Sep 16, 1816.

Jane, the eldest daughter of Isaac ANDERSON, was born in Westmoreland Co., PA, on the 6th of Aug 1791, & on the 30th of Apr 1812 intermarried with George DICK, a son of an old pioneer of the country. Her husband died on the 2nd of Sep 1828, leaving a widow & 7 children, who all grew up to maturity & are respectably settled in this neighborhood. The widow of George DICK married again to Judge Nehemiah WADE, a gentleman residing in the vicinity. Margaret ANDERSON, the 3rd daughter, was born in Westmoreland Co., PA, Jan 17, 1795, & on the 29th of Jul 1817 married William MOORE, a carpenter & joiner by trade, & a master workman. Mr. MOORE died at Hamilton, (OH), on the 2nd of Jan 1835. Fergus ANDERSON, the 2nd oldest son, was born in Cincinnati, (Hamilton Co.), OH, Jun 14, 1797.

Susan ANDERSON, the 2nd daughter, was born in Westmoreland Co., PA, Jun 10, 1793, & on the 18th of Aug 1814, was married to James BOAL, a hatter by trade, who opened shop & carried on his business in Hamilton. Mrs. BOAL was killed by a stroke of lightning, as also were two of her children & Mrs. PERRINE, on the 5th of Apr 1826. James BOAL died near Reading, Hamilton Co., OH of cholera in 1883.

Isaac ANDERSON, Jr. was born on the 29th of Aug 1799, & was married to Margaret MORRIS on the 23rd of Aug 1825. A daughter, Euphemia ANDERSON, (dau/o Isaac, Sr) was born on the 18th of Apr 1802 in Cincinnati & died Jun 30, 1803. Joseph ANDERSON (s/o Isaac, Sr.) was born in Cincinnati, OH on the 10th of Jul 1804, & was married to Jane GILCHRIST on 9th of Dec 1829. William ANDERSON (s/o Isaac, Sr.) was born in Cincinnati, OH, Sep 26, 1808, & was married to Miss Hannah MILLIKIN, dau/o Samuel MILLIKIN, Mar 26, 1833. Mrs. (Hannah) ANDERSON died soon afterward, & he (William) married again, to Miss Mary JACKSON, Oct 30, 1838. He (William) died on the 5th of Aug 1845.

James ANDERSON, the youngest son, was born in Cincinnati, on the 12th of Dec 1810, & on the 14th of Oct 1841, was married to Hannah Margaret TAYLOR. The youngest child (of Isaac, Sr.) was a daughter, Euphemia ANDERSON (the second). She was born in Ross Twp., Dec 18, 1813, & was married to J. Parks GILCHRIST on the 12th of Apr 1837.