In the Spring of 1795 Captain Nathan ELLIS, together with his four brothers, embarked on flat-boats at Brownsville, on the Monongahela, and floated down past Pittsburg into the Ohio, looking for homes in the mighty forests and fertile lands of the almost unexplored Northwestern Territory. The Ohio was the great highway over which came much of the tide of emigration which has peopled this section of the Union--a mighty stream hemmed in by a continent of gloomy shade and weird solitude, rolling its unbroken length for a thousand miles--a beautiful stretch of restless, heaving water, that realized to the voyager the "Ocean river" of Homeric song. Landing at Limestone (now Maysville), the ELLIS brothers were so charmed with the beauty of the region and the productiveness of the soil that they determined to go no further. At that time, with the exception of a few isolated settlements at Marietta, Gallipolis, and Cinncinati, there were but few settlers on the north bank of the river, while upon the south side the country was swarming with emigrants seeking out and appropriating the best lands and most eligible town sites. Like the Jordon of old, the Ohio was a great boundry line. It stayed the incursions of the Indians, and beyond it the wave of emigration had not yet rolled. The very day--April 27, 1795--that Captain Nathan ELLIS landed at Limestone, Kentucky, five hundred red men were encamped on the river bottom just across the river. Finding that the most valuable lands had been taken up, the ELLIS brothers determined to push over into the Northwestern Territory. Captain Nathan ELLIS laid out Aberdeen, directly opposite Maysville, and his brother Sam the town of Higginsport, eighteen miles below. Each of the five brothers took up large tracts of land, and such has been the staying qualities of the name, that many of the original entries still remain in the possession of the family. As a connection, they have ever been blessed with an abundance of the good things of life, and inherit many of the sterling qualities which distinguished their Quaker ancestors.
Nathan ELLIS and Mary WALKER his wife, had ten children, all of whom have passed away with the exception of their youngest daughter, Mrs. Elender HIGGINS--now in her eighty-eighth year--of Johnson County, Missouri. Jeremiah ELLIS was born in 1779, and in 1803 was married to Miss Anna UNDERWOOD--a daughter of one of the best known and wealthiest families in Virginia. Ten children blessed their union, seven of whom still survive. Washington ELLIS was born in 1804, and in 1832 married Miss Aris PARKER, of Mason County, Kentucky. Jesse ELLIS was born in 1792, and married Sabins, a daughter of Captain William BURKS, of Mason County, Kentucky, a contemporary and warm personal friend of both BOONE and KENTON. He and his brother Thomas were captured at Blue Licks, and were prisoners among the Indians for five years. Major John ELLIS, of an Ohio infantry regiment in the War of 1812, married Kesiah, a daughter of Thomas BURKS. Jesse ELLIS died in 1877, in his ninety-fifth year. His wife died May 14, 1882, in her ninetieth year. Nathan ELLIS died in 1819, and is buried on the hill overlooking Aberdeen. His mother (died in 1799) rests in the Aberdeen cemetery. John died in 1829, Jeremiah in 1858, and Washington in 1873. The last three lie in the family cemetery at Ellis Landing, four miles above Maysville.
The subject of this sketch entered the public schools at Ripley in his twelfth year, where he remained six years. He then entered the freshman class at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he stayed until the breaking out of the Rebellion. Shortly afterwards he went to the front as a volunteer aid-de-camp upon the staff of the late Major-general William NELSON, and remained with him until his death. Subsequently he was for a time attached to the staff of Brigadier-general Jacob AMMEN, commanding the Fourth Division, army of the Ohio. On the 18th of March, 1862, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry, which commission he resigned on the 28th of September, 1863, on account of failing health. Returning home he at once entered Miami University, where he remained one year. In the Spring of 1865 he became a student of medicine in the office of Dr. C. G. GOODRICH, of Oxford, and afterwards he attended medical lectures in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati. At the Berkshire Medical College he was assistant to the chair of chemistry, and graduated with the valedictory. Subsequently the board of trustees of that institution elected him demonstrator of anatomy. In March, 1868, the Ohio Medical College gave him an ad eundum degree.
After some little private practice in Ohio and Kansas, Dr. ELLIS entered the United States regular army as a medical officer, and spent a number of years on the plains and mountains of the South-west. To one who had hitherto known nothing beyond the haunts of civilization the nomadic life of an army officer on the frontier presented many attractions. While in New Mexico the doctor became much interested in the history of the Pueblo Indians--that last remnant of the Aztec population of the days of the Spanish conquest, who present the pathetic spectacle of a civilization perishing without a historian to recount its sufferings, a repetition of the silent death of the Mound Builders. He spent much of his time while off duty in exploring many of those ancient ruins which lie all over that interesting land. After leaving the service he delivered a number of lectures and published several articles on "The Land of the Aztec."
The day of his graduation in medicine the doctor began to cast longing eyes to the superior clinical advantages afforded by the great European hospitals. In 1878 an opportunity was afforded him of realizing this bright day-dream of his life. He went abroad, and spent one year in Heidelberg, Vienna, and London, and besides that made a journey through France and Italy. While absent from the United States he published many letters of his travels and observations. Upon his return home he received the appointment of assistant physician to Longview Asylum, a position which soon proved exceedingly irksome. In February, 1881, Dr. ELLIS came to Hamilton, and already enjoys a fine and growing practice.
Ezekiel B. FISHER was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 12, 1829, and is the son of Robert and Sarah (BALL) FISHER. Robert FISHER was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in the early years of the present century, with his parents. He settled near Middletown, clearing a large tract, now known as the Abraham SIMPSON place. Robert FISHER's wife was the daughter of Judge BALL. She raised a large family of children, thirteen in number, of whom nine are living. By trade Mr. FISHER was a carpenter. He died about 1872. Ezekiel B. FISHER attended the common schools, and was brought up to farming. He was reared by an aunt, Mrs. Mary SQUIERS, near Trenton, and was with her until he was eighteen, when he came to Hamilton. He began an apprenticeship with George W. MCADAMS at the trade of tailoring, and continued with him as a journeyman some two years. He was in Middletown some five years, and in Franklin, Warren County, for fifteen years, as a cutter, and in conducting business. He was also at Tiffin, Ohio, as a cutter in one house for nine years, coming to Hamilton city in February, 1882, and purchasing the business so long carried on by George W. MCADAMS. He has an extensive trade in fine custom clothing. Mr. FISHER was married about 1853 to Miss Lydia, daughter of John WEBSTER, of Liberty Township. They are the parents of eight children, of whom four sons are living. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Henry FRECHTLING, Jr., was born in Cincinnati, June 16, 1850, and is the son of Henry and Wilhelmina (BUCK) FRECHTLING. Mr. FRECHTLING came to Hamilton with his parents in 1853, where he was a pupil at the common schools until he was fourteen. He received a fair education, and was brought up to mercantile pursuits, entering his father's store at the age of ten. In 1875 he was admitted as a partner in the house of H. & W. FRECHTLING & Co., and continued there until beginning his present business in 1879. He now deals extensively in dry goods, groceries, and other articles. It has more than doubled in the short time it has been carried on. Mr. FRECHTLING was married in 1877 to Miss Mary, daughter of Philip HARTMAN. They are the parents of one son and one daughter--P. H. Paul, born January 2, 1879, and Elizabeth Birdie, born January 24, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. FRECHTLING are members of the Lutheran Church. He is doing one of the most extensive mercantile businesses in Hamilton.
R. C. Stockton REED, A. M., M. D., of Fairfield Township, was born in Franklin, Warren County, Ohio, February 2, 1825, and was the third child of Gilbert and Catherine C. REED. His father, Gilbert REED, was born in Delaware, in 1800, and was a member of the REED family of that State that was identified with the Revolutionary movement twenty-four years before his birth. He was but little more than an infant when his parents died, and he was adopted into a Quaker family, living not far from Trenton, New Jersey, where he remained until near his eighteenth year. It was a condition of young Gilbert's adoption that he was to be received into the family as a member, and granted a liberal amount of schooling; but each of these conditions was grossly violated by his guardians, from whom he took his departure, without the formality of an adieu, a short time before the expiration of what was really his servitude.
He went to Philadelphia, and was soon caught up in the general western movement, joined an emigrant party, and made his way over the mountains to Pittsburg, and thence by keel-boat down the Ohio to the city of Cincinnati, arriving at the latter place in 1818. He remained but a short time in Cincinnati, going thence to Trenton, Butler County, and subsequently to near Franklin, Warren County, where, in 1820, he met and married Catherine Cummings STOCKTON, who was born in New Jersey in 1798. She was the eldest daughter of John Robert STOCKTON by his wife, whose maiden name was Jane VANSCHAICK, of New York State. John Robert STOCKTON was the eldest son of Philip and Catherine (nee CUMMINGS) STOCKTON. Philip STOCKTON was a member of the New Jersey family of that name. His brother, Richard STOCKTON, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey. One of his sisters married Dr. Benjamin RUSH, and another became the wife of Elias BOUDINOT, a prominent New Jersey divine. But Philip STOCKTON, being a clergyman of the Established Church of England, was not as loyal to the American interest as were the rest of his family; he identified himself with the Tory party, and was a zealous supporter of the crown. It is believed that at the conclusion of the war he went to England, where he died, but his family remained in America.
This family consisted of John Robert STOCKTON, Lucius Witham STOCKTON, William Tennant STOCKTON, Richard Cummings STOCKTON, and Elias Boudinot STOCKTON. The first named, after his marriage with Miss VANSCHAICK, near Schenectady, moved to Western New York, and lived for a while near Auburn. He thence started West, and arrived in Ohio in 1816, and located temporarily near Franklin, Warren County, but soon removed to and occupied a tract of land still known as the "Stockton section," near Pisgah. It was, however, during his stay at Franklin that his eldest daughter, Catherine C., married Gilbert REED.
A few months after the birth of R. C. S. REED, who was the third son, his father removed to Union Township, Butler County, where he remained until 1832, when, after a few months' sojourn with his father-in-law, he took his family to Montgomery County, Ohio, where he purchased land lying on the National Road and the Dayton and Union Railroad, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1860. At eleven years of age, R. C. S. REED left his parents' home in Montgomery County to live with his grandfather near Pisgah. John R. STOCKTON was a gentleman of the old school, but was a haughty and austere man, who would tolerate no opposition to his authority and allow no dissent to his dictum. It can readily be understood how an example of this kind should, during a period of three years, exert a permanent influence upon a susceptible lad.
During his stay at Pisgah, which lasted until the death of his grandfather, in 1839, young REED enjoyed the advantage of the neighboring schools. He stoutly demurred upon his return home to his father's proposition to put him at a trade. He carried his point, and was given three more years of coveted opportunities at private schools. At the expiration of this time he secured a certificate as teacher, and began that occupation in Preble County, Ohio. During the few succeeding years, he followed the calling of a teacher in the counties of Preble, Butler, Warren, and Hamilton.
The next year he married Miss Nancy CLARK, daughter of John CLARK, of Milford Township, Butler County, Ohio, and began housekeeping at Wolf Lake, Indiana, where in 1854 his first son, now Dr. John G. REED, of Westchester, Ohio, and two years later his second son, now Dr. C. A. Lee REED, of Hamilton, Ohio, were born. On July 14, 1856, his wife died--a loss that for a time threatened to completely crush him. With his dearest ties now severed, he abandoned his prosperous practice in Indiana and spent a period in travel. On his return in 1859, he married Mrs. Susan W. MCCLELLAND at Hamilton, and returned for a time to Wolf Lake, where his third son, Horace Greeley REED, was born. In 1860, he removed to Union Township, and has since been a resident of Butler County. In 1860, he accepted the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, with which institution he soon became closely identified.
In 1862 Dr. REED was elected professor of materia medics and therapeutics in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and held that position continuously for seventeen years, resigning in 1878, but was immediately elected to an Emeritus professorship. In 1882 he was appointed by the board of trustees, of which he was and is a member, to reorganize the faculty, the former one having resigned in consequence of some internal dissentions. In this task, as in two former instances of a similar kind, he was successful, and the institution, through his instrumentality, was again placed upon a career of prosperity. With the reorganization, however, Dr. REED again resumed an active connection with the institution, assuming the duties of his old professorship. As a reward for his services, and in recognition, not only of his long connection with the institution, but of his executive ability, Dr. REED was by his colleagues elected dean of the faculty.
Dr. REED resides at Jones's Station, Butler County, in the easy enjoyment of a comfortable home. He has for several years been out of active practice, and now attends only such of his friends and neighbors as it may suit his convenience to look after. Of his children but two, Kate and William, aged respectively sixteen and thirteen, remain at home. In politics Dr. REED is a staunch Republican, and while very liberal in religion, his tendency is toward Presbyterianism. In 1882 he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Summit College, Kentucky.
William H. MILLIKIN was born in this city, July 26, 1844, being the only son of Samuel and Louisa (HALSTEAD) MILLIKIN. He was a pupil at the public schools in the First Ward until the breaking out of the war, in 1861, when, on the 19th of April, he enlisted in Company F, Third Ohio Volunteers. This was the first company raised in Hamilton for the three years' service. Mr. MILLIKIN participated in the campaigns in West Virginia under MCCLELLAND, taking part at Rich Mountain. He was transferred to the army of the Ohio under Buell, in Kentucky, going overland to Nashville, being at the capture of Bowling Green, and proceeding to Huntsville, Alabama. There he was engaged on guard duty under General O. M. MITCHELL. They went in pursuit of BRAGG, and suffered severly at Perryville. He was at Stone River, on detached duty, and the raid under Colonel STRAIGHT, near Rome, Georgia. The command was captured and taken to Richmond and City Point, being afterwards exchanged. They again went to the front at Chattanooga, and were on garrison duty until the expiration of their term of service.
With the regiment he was mustered out at Camp Dennison on the 23d of June, 1864. Returning home after an interval of some eight months, Mr. MILLIKIN again entered the service for one year, in the Ninth United States Infantry, under General W. S. HANCOCK. He served out this term of enlistment, and was discharged at the end of the war. He was mustered out April 4, 1866. Returning to Hamilton, he entered the employment of the Hamilton Plow Works, with which he has ever since continued, although under different firm names. He first learned the trade of a machinist, which he worked at until 1870. Since then he has been engineer for the company. He was married in 1867, to Miss Amelia JOHNSON, daughter of James M. JOHNSON, a well-known resident of Hamilton. They have been the parents of five children, of whom three are living-- Jessie F., Helen M., and Leah M. He is an active Republican in politics, first voting for General GRANT.
Franklin W. WHITAKER, dealer in groceries, queensware, and country produce, was born in Mason, Warren County, Ohio, December 8, 1849. He is the son of David R. WHITAKER and Mary A. THOMPSON. He was married, in Hamilton, September 3, 1870, to Sowara E. CASSEDY, a native of Mason, where she was born October 15, 1851. She is the daughter of Samuel M. CASSEDY and Elizabeth E. MEIGHAN. Mr. WHITAKER was elected justice of the peace, April 12, 1877, for Lemon Township, and was also assessor for the years 1880 and 1881.
Dr. Alanson SMITH was born August 21, 1806, in the town of Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. When but an infant his father traded his farm for three hundred fifty acres, at the outlet of Cayuga Lake, then removed to Marlborough, Massachusetts, and began teaching. From him the doctor received his primary education. His father died when the boy was about eight years old, and he soon afterwards went to live with his uncle Jabez, a farmer. At fifteen he began living with his step-brother, Lovell HARTWELL. SMITH attended the institute in New Marlborough a part of the time, and read much, seeking to improve himself. He began teaching in 1827 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and then came to Perry City, Ohio, in 1829, teaching school there, and subsequently elsewhere. He began the study of medicine in the last mentioned place, with Dr. WILLARD. Soon after he came to Cincinnati, and introduced at the county fair a corn-sheller, now in common use. He then attended Van Doren's Institute in Lexington, Kentucky, and then traveled extensively on business and pleasure.
In 1831 he came to Hamilton and engaged in teaching. He was elected secretary of the Temperance Society, and a member of the Elocutory Society. He was elected superintendent of the public schools, and held that position for a number of years. January 5, 1833, he was married to Nancy Ann MCNIEL. In the Spring of 1838 he entered into partnership with Governor BEBB in the morus multicaulis speculation, but it failed. The doctor moved on his farm west of the city seventeen miles, in the Spring of 1841, and while living there frequently addressed public meetings on the subject of temperance. After a while he rented his farm, entered the medical college in Cincinnati, and graduated. Since that time he has been nearly continually in practice.
November 26, 1846, he married his present wife, Mahala S. LADD, daughter of Ephraim and Susan LADD, of Newport, Kentucky. He moved to Cambridge City, Indiana, where he was in active practice eight years, at the end of that time coming to Hamilton. Since coming here he has done much speculating in patents. After getting a good trade in the oil and lamp business, he turned it over to his two sons, Julian G. and Edward A. SMITH. He was a member of the Baptist organization, having joined more than fifty years ago. He is a man of excellent character, benevolent, and enterprising, and is in good health and strength. He has had eight children. Louisa Jane was born September 1, 1839; Henry McNeil, December 8, 1841; Ellen Maria, March 5, 1844. By his second wife he had Charles Edmund, born July 7, 1848; Julian Gardner, August 1, 1850; Albert Berry, February 2, 1853; Edward Alanson, July 4, 1855; and Walter Ladd, April 25, 1866. Charles Edmund died April 20, 1865, and Walter Ladd, December 25, 1868. Henry M. SMITH was under SHERMAN four years.
Charles STEWART, one of the early settlers of Butler County, Ohio, was born in New Jersey, December 2, 1781. In his early youth he crossed the mountains with his parents, who settled in the Ligonier Valley, Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood, and married Miss Mary HUNTER, of Laurel Hill, Pennsylvania, emigrating to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1810, where he remained only a short time, moving to Middletown, Ohio, in 1812. He bought of the government 190 acres of land in Reily and Morgan Townships where the town of St. Charles now is. This place was in after years called St. Charles in honor to Mr. STEWART. Here he erected his log-cabin and settled down, with his nearest neighbors more than three miles away. In this place Mr. STEWART lived with his wife (who survived him several years) until his death, which occurred December 24, 1854. He raised a family of ten children to manhood and womanhood.
Mr. STEWART was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving five months under General WINCHESTER, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. Mr. STEWART was of Scotch descent, his forefathers coming to this country in the days of the colonies, making their voyage in the vessel Caledonia. Mr. STEWART was a pioneer of Methodism, and his house was always open for the weary itinerant minister, as he traveled from house to house through the newly settled regions. He lived a life-long devoted Christian, reaching the ripe old age of seventy-three years.
Of ten children who grew to manhood and womanhood but two are now living, Samuel STEWART, of Kingstown, Indiana, and Charles J. STEWART, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Two of their sons, John C. and Charles J., served with distinction in the late war of the Rebellion, both having enlisted at the beginning of the war, and serving over three years--John C. dying while in the service, from the exposure, having been promoted from a private to captain of Company I, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. The only descendants of the family now living in Butler County are Frank P. STEWART, now engaged in the monument business, in Hamilton, and Samuel P. STEWART, monumental draughtsman, both sons of John C. STEWART.
Henry MOUDY was born in Lockland, Hamilton County, February 8, 1830. He is the only son of Othias and Elizabeth (HAZLETON) MOUDY. Othias MOUDY is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, where he was born in 1807. In 1812 he came with his parents to this county, settling two miles south of Hamilton. The grandfather was Henry MOUDY. Othias MOUDY was married in 1826, and reared a family of two children. His daughter, Mrs. Harriet LONGFELLOW, now lives in a place owned by Henry MOUDY, in Fairfield Township. The other child is Henry MOUDY. Othias MOUDY was a successful businessman and farmer. He died February 12, 1877, and his wife died in 1871. She was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Henry MOUDY was brought up to farming, remaining with his parents until their death. Mr. MOUDY was married, in 1872, to Miss Hettie J. MORGAN, who was born in Delaware. Mr. and Mrs. MOUDY are the parents of two daughters. Laura was born June 10, 1874, and Bessie M. May 7, 1876. Mr. MOUDY continued to reside in Fairfield Township till the Spring of 1881, when he removed to Hamilton. He is a member of the Masonic order. He is engaged in cultivating his farm of one hundred and sixty acres.
George KRAMER was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, January 27, 1807, and came out to this county with his parents, George and Barbara KRAMER, in 1817, where he has ever since remained. Both his parents were of German descent, but were born in Maryland. They lived on the Monongahela, and when they made up their minds to come out West, built a flat-boat, the whole family embarking with their household goods. One horse only was brought with him, that being all the live stock he then possessed. When he arrived in Milford Township he bought three hundred acres of as good land as there is in the township, situated north of Darrytown on the pike leading from Hamilton to Richmond. He lived on the farm the remainder of his life, dying at the extreme age of ninety-two years. He was survived by his wife, who lived to see her ninety-seventh birthday.
The present Mr. George KRAMER has been three times married. His first wife was Eliza BROWN, daughter of William and Mary BROWN; the second, Eleanor SWAN, daughter of Robert and Ellen SWAN; and the third is Margaret HOYT, daughter of John and Mary HOYT. By them he has had six children. William was born September 18, 1839; George, October 14, 1840; Andrew, July 15, 1842; Mary Elizabeth, January 22, 1845; Barbara Ann, June 15, 1848, and Elizabeth, September 4, 1855. Andrew KRAMER lives in Centerville, Indiana. Mr. George KRAMER owns over three hundred acres of land in Wayne County, Indiana, and one hundred and sixty in Milford. He has earned all his own property, and has passed through many trials. Although very old, he enjoys himself well. He has been subject to rheumatism lately.
Henry KESSLING was born in Lunbergen, Hanover, May 27, 1819, being the son of Dederick and Anna Mary (BAERLING) KESSLING. He was educated in such schools as offered in the vicinity of his father's home, and was brought up to farming, until coming with his parents to America in the Summer of 1836. The family settled on a farm now owned by J. P. P. PECK, joining the corporation of Hamilton. Dederick KESSLING raised a family of four children to maturity, of whom three survive--Henry, Catherine, now the wife of John TABLER, and Mary Theresa, now Mrs. Joseph JACOBS. Dederick KESSLING was a successful man, and continued to farm until his death, which was about 1860.
Henry KESSLING was married in April, 1841, to Mary Catherine WERRIKE, born in Germany in 1816. They are the parents of six children, of whom only one is living. Four died in infancy. Mary Elizabeth died November 8, 1878, aged thirty-six. Mary Catherine is now the wife of Augustus SOEHNER. Mrs. KESSLING died March 28, 1875. After marriage Mr. KESSLING engaged in farming, in the vicinity of Hamilton, for some ten years, when he began keeping the hotel known as the Kessling House. He kept the Schmidtmann House, now known as the Central House, for some five years, during which time he also conducted the marble business, employing some twenty or twenty-five hands, under the firm name of Horssnyder & Kessling. He sold out to Mr. HORSSNYDER in 1852, and disposed of his city property for a farm two miles west of Hamilton, in Hanover Township, living there some four years. He still owns the same place, which consists of one hundred and fifty acres, well improved. In 1876 he retired from business, and with his daughter made a tour of Europe, being absent four months. He is a member of the Catholic Church. While in the marble business he furnished the stone work of many of the principal buildings of Hamilton.
James L. KIRKPATRICK, M. D., was born in North Liberty, Adams County, Ohio, April 17, 1841, and was educated at the academy in that place. After reading medicine one year at Xenia, Ohio, he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati in 1865, and remained through 1866 and 1867, excepting six months of the latter year. He practiced in Celina, Mercer County, Ohio. After graduating at the Eclectic Medical Institute, he came to Hamilton in the Spring of 1867, where he has since continued, and now has an excellent practice. He was the secretary of the State Medical Society in 1874, 1875, and 1876, and is a member of the Miami Valley Medical Society and of the National Eclectic Medical Association. He was married in 1877 to Lizzie, daughter of Theodore MARSTON, of Middletown, and has by her one son, born in November, 1880. He is a member and an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. As a surgeon he has been very successful, and has had experience in some very complicated cases.
Dr. KIRKPATRICK is a large and intelligent collector of Indian and prehistoric relics and curiosities. In pipes his museum is unsurpassed in the United States. From every portion of Butler County and the neighboring country, he has gathered axes, knives, clubs, fleshers, gorgets, breast-pieces, carved work, and ornaments, till his collection is an honor to the city. He is likewise a well-known numismatologist, having a nearly complete array of coins of the United States, and many foreign and antique pieces. He served in the United States army during the war, and was elected surgeon-general of the Grand Army of the Republic, department of Ohio, in 1869.
John KREBS was born in Bavaria in 1814, and married Elizabeth BACHMAN born in Bavaria about 1826. They had five children: Frank; Clara, wife of Thomas WALTZ of Illinois; Charles, married, lives in Hamilton; Philip, and Elizabeth, wife of August SCHURFRANZ, lives in Hamilton. Mr. KREBS came to Butler County in 1854, and settled in Hamilton. He was a grinder in a machine shop, and was killed by the bursting of a grindstone, November 11, 1856. His son Frank was born in Bavaria in 1844, and was married in 1866 to Ellen M. SMITH, born in Indiana in 1851. They have had five children, three of whom are living: Ernest, Stella, and Daisy.
He enlisted September 25, 1861, in the Thirty-seventh Ohio, Company K, and re-enlisted in January, 1863, in the Marine Cavalry, Company D, and was mustered out March, 1865. He was taken prisoner at Princetown, Virginia, and confined on Belle Isle, Virginia, for five months, when he was exchanged, being one of the first squad exchanged with the Confederate States. He was engaged at Princetown, siege of Vicksburg, Sunnyside, Mississippi, and Rodney, Mississippi. While with the cavalry he was employed mostly in scouting. Since returning he has twice held office in this city. He was on the water-works board and was street commissioner, serving from April, 1877, till April, 1881. He had charge of the works for cutting off the basin from the canal. He is a member of the Knights of Honor and the United Workmen, and is treasurer of the Butler County Democratic Central Committee.
James T. IMLAY was born in Jacksonburg, Wayne Township, October 27, 1825, and is the oldest son of William E. and Helen (TAPSCOTT) IMLAY. His father was a native of New Jersey, where he was born about 1796, coming to Ohio about 1820, in company with his sister, afterward Mrs. James CRAIG. They came from Trenton, New Jersey, to Jacksonburg, Ohio, in a one-horse wagon, He was a cooper by trade, but afterward a merchant in Jacksonburg, and then on a farm. He raised a family of four children, of whom two survive--James T. and Lydia Ann, wife of John ROSS, of Colorado. Mr. IMLAY died in 1846. His son was educated in the common schools in this vicinity, receiving a fair degree of knowledge. He was brought up to farming, and acting as a clerk in a store, and various other occupations at home, until he was of age. He was married, in 1847, to Miss Susannah LOOK, and is the father of five children, of whom four are living, three sons and one daughter.
He removed to Hamilton in 1857, and entered the employment of Tapscott & Schaffer, remaining in that capacity for some time. Mr. IMLAY had conducted a saw-mill for five or six years following 1850. In 1863 he entered into partnership with Mr. TAPSCOTT in a flouring-mill, now CARR's mill, staying until 1868. He was secretary of the gas company from 1867 to 1870, then entering into the grain business in the firm of Weller, Straub & Co. This lasted until 1875, when he acted as clerk in various commercial houses in Hamilton. He was with T. V. Howell & Son and Long, Alstetter & Co., entering into his present position as principal bookkeeper for the Cope & Maxwell Manufacturing Company in September, 1881. He was an officer of the Butler County Agricultural Society for two years, 1875 and 1876, and was also connected with various building associations as secretary, treasurer, and president. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church since 1848. In 1864 Mr. IMLAY enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio National Guards, and took part in the campaign in Western Virginia. He served out his term of enlistment, filling the position of first lieutenant.
At the time George ISAMINGER came to Butler County his brother Philip went to Adams County, where he had three children, Philip and Solomon, and one of whom no record is kept. Philip, the younger, married Hannah HAWK, and had by her seven children, of whom five are living. Sarah, the wife of Frank DEMARRS, lives in Ironton. Rebecca is single, and lives in the same place. Solomon is married, and is in California. George W. is a resident of Hamilton, and Josephine, who is single, lives in Scioto County. George W. ISAMINGER is the only one of this branch of the family that ever came to Butler County. He was born August 22, 1836, and was married in Scioto County to Sarah Ellen ROBINSON, born in Gallia County. They have six children--Georgie A. H., Charles Wilbur, Frank Kynett, Nellie Pearl, Garnett Robinson, and James Edward Campbell.
Mr. ISAMINGER studied for the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was graduated at the Ohio University. After leaving college, he taught school for a time, and in 1859 was admitted to the ministry at Columbus, receiving his appointment in Orange County. He was stationed at Racine when he was appointed chaplain of the One Hundred and Seventy-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in this capacity until the close of the contest. He remained in the traveling connection until 1870, when, in consequence of his health, he resigned, and began the practice of law. He moved to Butler County in that year, and now resides in Hamilton, where he is a practicing lawyer and real estate agent. During part of the day he is in Cincinnati.
Peter JACOBS was born in Germany, April 1, 1826, and received but a limited education. He came to America with his parents in 1834, making his way direct to Hamilton. After getting old enough, he became a clerk in several establishments. He was with MCCLEARY, in his store, and also in Perry G. SMITH's drug store, being connected with the latter establishment till the death of Mr. SMITH. He then entered the employment of John O. BROWN, a prominent druggist, with whom he was in partnership for some time after removing on the east side, when Mr. JACOBS succeeded him in the business. This was in the building now occupied by L. A. BOLI. From there he removed to the store now occupied by John C. SCHWARTZ, where he continued until his death. He was a successful business man, doing the largest trade as a druggist of any one in Hamilton. He was a self-educated man, but had acquired a fine knowledge of chemistry. He was a member of the Masons, and had been their treasurer for more than twenty-five years, and was also an Odd Fellow. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
He was married in October, 1848, to Miss E. C. MEYERS, daughter of Jacob and Sarah MEYERS. Mrs. JACOBS was born in Cincinnati in 1832. They were the parents of the following children: Sarah Alice, who is the wife of Joseph MORRIS, is now a resident of Cincinnati; William H. JACOBS lives in Cincinnati; Kemmey, now Mrs. Edward RATCLIFF, is in Cumminsville; Flora M. is the wife of Zeller SHANKS, of Hamilton; Charles F., Minor M., Jessie B., Edith, and May are at home. Mr. JACOBS died January 4, 1877. Mrs. JACOBS conducted the business successfully for some two years after her husband's death, selling out to John C. SCHWARTZ in November, 1879. She has been a member of the Presbyterian Church since 1848, and is a genial and cultivated lady.
Frederick JACOBS was born in Hamilton, Butler County, November 15, 1835, and is the son of Peter and Catherine (KEMELINE) JACOBS. Peter JACOBS was born in Prussia in 1800, and was married in Germany. He came to America in 1834, settling in Hamilton, and burned lime and engaged in the ice business until 1859. He reared a family of four sons, two of whom are living, Frederick and Conrad, a druggist of Zanesville, Ohio. Peter JACOBS was one of the organizers of St. John's Church, and died in 1873. Mrs. Catherine JACOBS is still living with her son Frederick, and is in fair bodily health at the age of eighty-two. Frederick was educated in the common schools in Hamilton, and assisted his father in conducting the ice business till 1859, when, in company with his brother Conrad, he engaged in the same occupation for himself. They made an artificial ice pond, and were quite successful.
In 1870 Mr. JACOBS began the grocery business at his present location, but closed out after a few years, then leading a retired life for four or five years. In the Fall of 1880 he again began the grocery trade at his old location, doing a nice retail trade. He was married on the 29th of March, 1880, to Elizabeth KIRCHORT, who was born in Darke County, April 6, 1839. They are the parents of eight children, Kemmie K., Carrie M., Louisa A., Wilhelmina F., Frederick C., Emma B., George, and Susie. Mr. JACOBS is a member of St. John's Church, and belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of the Golden Rule, and Knights of Honor.
Mrs. A. J. HUTCHINSON was born in Morgan Township, May 13, 1828. She is the daughter of Joseph and Nancy (BELL) ABBOTT. She was educated in the common schools and Young Ladies' Seminary in Hamilton and elsewhere, receiving a liberal education. Her guardian, Ludwig BETZ, provided her with a home at his residence in Hamilton until her marriage, December 25, 1845, to Edward HUTCHINSON, a native of Virginia, who was born April 17, 1818. He came to Ohio about 1830, and engaged in wagon making and afterwards in the coal business, which he afterwards conducted alone. He was an extensive dealer in Cincinnati and Hamilton. He was an attendant at the Universalist Church, and a liberal contributor to all worthy objects. Mr. and Mrs. HUTCHINSON were the parents of six children, of whom four are living, one daughter and three sons. Mr. HUTCHINSON died July 13, 1866. Mrs. HUTCHINSON occupies the former residence on Dayton Street built by Mr. HUTCHINSON in 1848. She is a member of the Universalist denomination.
Gabriel HUBER was born in Wirtemberg, Germany, March 18, 1820. He is the son of George and Frances HUBER. He learned the trade of weaver, and when sixteen began an apprenticeship of two years at the carpenter's trade. He worked at this until coming to America with his parents in 1842. The family settled in Hanover Township. He was married July 2, 1845, to Mary SEEFERT, born in Germany, August 18, 1820. Mr. and Mrs. HUBER are the parents of six children, of whom five are living. Felix is a resident of Hamilton, Valentine is a carpenter by trade, Mary is the wife of John FISHER, and Elizabeth and Josephine are at home. After marriage he worked as a journeyman. He has been for the past sixteen years in the employment of M. F. Eisel & Co. He is a member of the Catholic Church, and an active Democrat in politics.
Isaac HAGERMAN is a native of this county, having been born in Lemon Township, April 27, 1801. His parents were Michael HAGERMAN and Margaret FREEMAN, who came to this county in 1799. He was married in June, 1835, in Fairfield Township, to Maria REESER, daughter of William REESER and Molly SKEHLEN, who came to this county in 1835, both now being dead. Mrs. HAGERMAN was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1815, and bore her husband nine children. William was born December 26, 1836; Jane, June 25, 1838; Mary, May 17, 1849; Isaac, June 2, 1842; Josiah, November 27, 1852; Aaron, July 20, 1857; Michael, July 20, 1857. Isaac died serving in the Union army in the late war, having contracted camp fever; Josiah died October 15, 1878; and Michael died when eight months old. Mr. HAGERMAN is one of the oldest persons in the county, having lived here over eighty years, always having followed the calling of a farmer. One of his brothers was in the war of 1812. He now has twenty-one grandchildren.
The Rev. Nicholas Fr. HOLTEL, pastor of St. Stephen's Church, was born in Cincinnati, April 9, 1853. He is the son of George Henry HOLTEL and Anna Christine HOLTEL, nee NOLGEL. Mr. HOLTEL was regularly educated for the priesthood by the Franciscans, and fills his charge here acceptably.
James E. HANCOCK was born in Butler County, June 24, 1839, being the son of Henry G. HANCOCK and Ella WATSON. Henry G. HANCOCK was born in Kentucky, coming to Ohio in 1835, and settling in Reily Township. He was a farmer by occupation, and reared a family of ten children, of whom six are living. He removed to Indiana about 1840, where he died in 1876. James E. HANCOCK was educated in the common schools in Indiana, and was brought up to farming. Upon the death of his mother, in his fourteenth year, he left home, and was for five years a resident of Illinois. In 1859 he came to Ohio, located in Oxford, and entering the employment of C. F. BILLINGS, a broom manufacturer. He continued with him some four years. In the Fall of 1863 he came to Hamilton, in the employment of Bennett & Caverly, broom manufacturers, and was with them three years. He began business for himself in the firm of Rump & Hancock, in the same line, in 1866. He also engaged in the livery business the next year, and carried on both at the same time. The latter was discontinued after three years. He then engaged in farming and raising broom-corn. He employs in his manufactory from fifteen to twenty-five hands, supplying a demand that exists in Memphis, Natchez, and New Orleans. Mr. HANCOCK was married in 1865 to Miss Ella, daughter of George W. LOUTHAN. They are the parents of three children, two now being alive, Ida Iola and Lulu May. Mrs. HANCOCK is a member of the Baptist Church.
Jervis HARGITT was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, on the 24th of April, 1833. He is the fourth child of Robert HARGITT and Jane PALMER. At the age of seventeen Mr. HARGITT entered mercantile life, as salesman and bookkeeper for a dry goods firm in Hamilton. In 1856 he became a partner. This occupation engrossed his attention until 1861, when he engaged in farming near Middletown. Mr. HARGITT was elected clerk of the court of common pleas in 1872, entering on its duties in February, 1873. He was re-elected in 1875, filling that position six years. He was a member of the school board for some of these years, and was president of that body. In the Winter of 1880 and 1881 he was elected assistant secretary of the State Board of Equalization, and served during its entire sessions. He is an active Democrat, and has been chairman of the Butler County Democratic Central Committee for five years. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of Honor. He was one of the incorporators, and is now secretary of the American Electric Brush Company, of Cincinnati, a prominent and extensive manufacturing concern. Mr. HARGITT was married October 23, 1855, to Miss Martha A., daughter of John WALDRON, a resident of Lemon Township. They are the parents of two daughters and three sons, all under the parental roof. Thomas PALMER, his grandfather, was a native of Ireland, and was for twenty years recorder of Dearborn County, Indiana.
Robert HARGITT, mayor of Hamilton from 1854 to 1856, was a native of Yorkshire, England, and came to America with his parents, when a boy, settling in Dearborn County, Indiana. He came to Ohio in 1851, and established the first news depot in Hamilton. He was the first mayor of the consolidated villages of Hamilton and Rossville. He was a justice of the peace and postmaster of Rossville previously. He was an elder of the Presbyterian Church. He had a family of eight children, of whom but three survive.
William G. JELLISON was born in Preble County, Ohio, June 17, 1848, being the oldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (CASSELL) JELLISON, the former being a native of Pennsylvania, settling in Preble County about 1825, where he is still living in vigorous health. He reared a family of eight children, of whom six are living. William G. JELLISON was brought up to farming, remaining at home till he was twenty-one. He continued to work at farming until coming to Hamilton, July 12, 1872, when he engaged to drive the omnibus, following this for some two years, for Davis & Maynard. He then purchased the business from them, conducting it till July, 1881, when he sold out to F. R. HUTCHINSON. In October, 1881, he began the livery business, on Front Street, but on the 9th of April, 1882, was burned out, losing severely. His losses exceeded his insurance by more than a thousand dollars. He immediately put up a building opposite his former location, where he now is, and doing an increasing trade.
He was married April 20, 1876, to Susie G., daughter of Asa CAIN. They are the parents of one son, George Earl, who was born October 23, 1880. Mr. JELLISON is a member of the Knights of Honor and of the Knights of the Golden Rule. In his seventeenth year, in 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Ohio National Guards, and with that regiment participated in the campaigns of West Virginia, Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Maryland, and was in a sharp skirmish near Cumberland, Maryland. He served out his term of enlistment, and was mustered out at Camp Dennison.