B - Benninghof

WILLIAM A. BACHELDER (Mifflin) p. 319(1)

Was born in Mifflin township, Ashland county, November 22,1855, and has always lived in the township. During life he has paid the most of his attention to hunting and trapping, together with farming; but for the past few years, he has turned all of his attention to the timber business. Now he is general dealer in all kinds of timber, such as walnut, cherry and oak. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JACOB BACORN (Green) p.277(1)

Jacob Bacorn, father of Mrs. Joseph Jones, was born in New Jersey, in 1785, and came to Ashland county in 1829, and settled on the farm now owned by Anderson Byers. He is a member of the Baptist church, and in politics is a Democrat. He married Phebe Harris, and is the father of eleven children, Elizabeth, deceased, Mary, Sarah, deceased, Phebe, Hannah, Nancy, Alcinda, wife of Joseph Jones, Jacob, deceased, Rebecca, William and John. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

ABEL BAILEY (Clearcreek) p. 154(1)

ABEL BAILEY was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1799. In 1806, his father, in company with other emigrants, came down the Youghiogheny on a small flatboat to Pittsburg. The family of Mrs. Bryte, mother of John and the late David Bryte, were also in the company. On departing from Pittsburg, they attached the flatboat to one of the river boats, and descended the Ohio to Steubenville, and located about eight miles northwest of the village, where they remained until 1809, when John Bailey and family located near New Lisbon and remained until 1816, and removed to Green township, Richland county, and settled near Honey creek. Here the family remained until 1818, when John Bailey, father of Abel, purchased the southwest quarter of section fourteen, in Clearcreek township, and located upon it. John Bailey and his son, Abel, visited and selected the quarter in 1817, one year prior to the removal. John Bailey, sr., father of John Bailey, jr., who was the father of Abel Bailey, was of English descent, and served during the Revolutionary war, from Rhode Island, and located with his family in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he deceased. John Bailey, father of Abel, died in Richland county, whither he had removed, about 1850. Mrs. Bailey died in Clearcreek at an advanced age. Abel married Miss Acsah, daughter of John Murphy, of Green township, in 1812, and in 1830 purchased the homestead in Clearcreek township of his father, and still resides thereon. When the Baileys removed to Clearcreek in 1818, they found the following pioneers in the township; Nathanial Baily, a brother of John who located in 1817, Abraham Huffman, John McWilliams, David Barnes, Isaac Vanmeter, Peter Vanostrand, Robert McBeth, James Haney and his sons, Richard, John and Thomas, Richard and John Freeborn, Thomas Munholland, Patrick Elliott, Jacob Foulk, Thomas Ford and his sons, Elijah, Elias, Thomas and John, and John Bryte. These settlers were much scattered. The roads were mere paths, ill worked, and, in wet seasons, difficult to travel. There were no churches or schoolhouses. There were a few Baptists and Methodists. Their meetings were held in the cabins of the pioneers for several years.

The forests of Clearcreek were very dense, and the timber very tall and of unusual size. The first settlers performed a prodigy of labor in its removal. Mr. Bailey says,” the tasks was absolutely disheartening.” By perseverance, however, fine farms were prepared, and many of the pioneers, now well advanced in age, are living in comfort and plenty. He remembers vividly the scenes, ludicrous and otherwise, that occurred at the early cabin raisings, log rollings, and making roads. Fired by corn whisky, and an exuberance of animal spirits, the rugged pioneers were ambitious to excel in all that tested physical endurance and courage. Very few of the first settlers remain. Many of them have long since been gathered and garnered by the remorseless reaper. Mr. Bailey as long been a member of the Baptist denomination, and assisted in the erection of the first church in Savannah, in 1840. It is a neat frame, and in a good state of preservation. Upon the introduction of the reform of Alexander Campbell, the church was greatly weakened, many of the members having connected with the new church. The Baptist have no regular minister at present. The members number about thirty. The family of Mr. Bailey consists of Eli, of VanWert, Ohio, and John, of Savannah. The daughters are Jane, wife of David Andrews, Ellen, wife of John Smith, and Aletha, wife of Simon Stentz. Mrs. Bailey died in 1873. Mr. Bailey resides on the homestead. He is in good health, and his memory unimpaired.

Mr. Bailey relates that when he came to the township in 1818, deer were very plenty, and the hunters could easily procure and abundance of wild meat. The most noted hunters of what is now Ashland county were Edward Wheeler, Elias Ford, James Kuykendall, Christopher Mykrants, Solomon Urie, John McConnel, and Jacob Young, most of whom are now deceased. They hunted along the Vermillion River, The Black River, and on the Fire Lands of the Reserve. At that time, large encampments of Wyandots and Delaware’s hunted annually along those streams, and frequently met and conversed with the white hunters. The last deer was killed as late as 1845, within the present limits of Troy township. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

N.H. BAILEY (Hanover) p. 294(1)

N.H. BAILEY was born in Orange county New Jersey, in 1823, and married Henrietta Meade in 1846. They came to Ohio in 1863, and in 1865 settled in Ashland county. At one time he lived in Crestline, Ohio, and while there had charge of the office of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. In Politics he is a Republican. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and the father of two children, both deceased, Georgiana and Ida V. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JOHN BAKER (Mifflin) p. 318(1)

John Baker was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1830; when about seven years of age his parents removed to Ohio and located in Wayne county, where they remained about eighteen months, when they came to this county. He was married April 18, 1852, to Margaret Conn, who was born December 9, 1832. The fruits of this union are ten children, eight of whom are still living. They are Elizabeth, who was born July 6, 1852; Lorenda, born May 6, 1854; Flora, born December 27, 1855; Samuel S., born August 10, 1858; John D., born July 16, 1862; Sherman G., born September 2, 1866; Robert G., born August 28, 1868; and Semildia, born August 9, 1873. The ones deceased were Tula B., born in May, 1868, and died at about seventeen months old; and Alfreta, who died in March, 1861, aged five weeks. Mr. Baker is by trade a blacksmith. He now carries on a shop in this place, and has his share of public patronage. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

N.H. BARKER (Hanover) p. 291(1)

N.H. Barker was born in Caledonia county, Vermont, in 1814; came to Ohio in 1836 and in the same year married Roxanna Price. He is a Methodist minister, and in 1840 became a member of the North Ohio conference; was first stationed at Mansfield, and was agent of the Mansfield Female college one year, and was afterward stationed at the following places: Roscoe, East Union, Chesterville, Kenton, New London, Mt. Vernon, Shelby, Clyde, Fredricktown, Orange, Congress, Wadsworth, Ontario, West Salem, and Loudonville. His health failing, he was obliged to abandon the ministry, and for the past five years has been engaged in the boot and shoe business in Loudonville. He is a Republican in politics, and the father of four children, only one of whom is living, Ella M., now the wife of Jacob L. Quick, of Loudonville. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

CHARLES E. BARNHILL (Orange) p. 344(1)

Charles E. Barnhill, third child of Robert and Eliza Barnhill was born in Carroll county, Ohio October 10, 1850 and moved to Ashland county in 1853 where he has resided ever since. October 26, 1876 he was married to Helen M. Wallace daughter of William and Christiana Wallace. They have one child Mary E. They are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

GEORGE W. BARNHILL (Orange) p. 344(1)

George W. Barnhill, second child of Robert and Eliza Barnhill, was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, July 30, 1843. The family came to Ashland county in the year 1853, and he has since been a resident of the county. His wife was Alice Fluke, daughter of Samuel and Catharine Fluke, to whom he was married January 27, 1869. They have had four children, as follows: Leffie E., Thomas Y., Gertrude, and one who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Barnhill are both earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are among its most liberal supporters. Mr. Barnhill is a class leader and fills the office of trustee, also in his church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

ROBERT BARNHILL (Orange) p. 344(1)

Robert Barnhill, fourth child of Robert, sr., and Elizabeth Barnhill was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, March 3, 1813. The family moved from Jefferson to Carroll county and remained nine years; then moved to Ashland in the spring of 1853, since which time he has been a resident of the county. March 4, 1841, he was married to Eliza Jackman daughter of George and Margaret Jackman, who was born in Jefferson county, August 6, 1819. They have three children: Mary E., George W., and Charles C. They now live with their son, George. Both are members of the United Brethren church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

ABRAHAM BARR (Mifflin) p. 321(1)

Abraham Barr was born in Richland county, this state, August 13, 1845, where he resided until the year 1861, when he removed to this township [Mifflin], where he has since lived. He has been twice married; first, June 21, 1855, to Carlina Baum. She died March 2, 1873. He was married to his second wife, Miss Martha A. Gochnauer, March 18, 1880. She was born in Wayne county, December 9, 1841. Mr. Barr has one child, Benjamin F. He has always paid his attention to farming, which avocation he still follows on the farm he now owns in Mifflin township. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

STEPHEN BARRICK (Orange) p. 343(1)

Stephen Barrick, the eldest son of George and Sarah Barrick was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in the year 1826. He came to Ashland county in company with his parents in the year 1834, and with them made his home until the time of his marriage, in the year 1850 to Miss Catharine Chilcote. She died in the year 1866. Mr. Barrick was married again in the year 1868 to Miss Martha A. Chilcote. To them have been born one son George W. Mr. Barrick is one of the most substantial and enterprising farmers in Orange township. At the age of nineteen he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner which occupation he industriously and successfully pursued for more than twenty-five years. He was elected to the office of assessor three successive times, 1871-2 and ‘73. He was elected as commissioner of his county in the fall of 1875, and re-elected in 1878, thus bespeaking for him the full confidence of his people. Himself and wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JAMES P. BARRON (Hanover) p.296(1)

James P. Barron was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, and settled in Ashland county in 1859. He attended the Vermillion institute, in Hayesville, four years, and went from there to Jefferson college, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1864, after which he taught in Canaan academy, Wayne county, Ohio, and, afterwards, in Buckhannon, West Virginia, and while there organized the first union school in that place, of which he was superintendent for three years. He first married Libbie Mullins, of Buckhannon, who died in 1869. In 1869 he was admitted to the bar at Harrisonville, Missouri, and practiced in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, nine years. Mr. Barron came to Loudonville in 1878, where he is building up a good practice. In 1870 he married Mary A., daughter of Thomas H. Galloway, and is the father of one child — Francis J. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

WILLIAM BARRON (Hanover) p. 297(1)

William Barron was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1817. When eighteen years of age he went to Knox county, Ohio, and in 1863 went to Ashland county, Ohio, and settled on a farm near Loudonville, which he now owns. At present he is proprietor of the American house, in Loudonville, Ohio, having bought out John Stockman in 1878. He is a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church, and is a Republican in politics. In 1844 he married Mary A. Hall and seven children have been born to them, viz.: James, who was killed at the battle of Chickamauga in 1863; Randolph, who married Margaret Sigler; Libbie, wife of Herman Bauscher; Ella, Carrie and William. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

CLARK A. BARTON (Vermillion) p. 308(1)

Clark A. Barton was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 16, 1844. In 1854 he came to Ashland county with his parents, and located in Milton township, about three miles southwest of Ashland, December 20, 1866. He was married to Miss Maggie E. Christy, daughter of Robert Christy, an old pioneer of Chester township, Wayne county, Ohio. They have two children, one son and one daughter, Grace M., born October 12, 1873, and Charles W., born August 19, 1877. Mr. Barton was infirmary director six years. He gives his undivided attention to his farm, which in appearance ranks second to none in Vermillion township. Mr. Barton is a genial, companionable friend, and a man highly esteemed by his neighbors. In 1867 they moved on the farm in Vermillion township, where they now reside, and commenced life in earnest for themselves. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

ADAM BAUN (Vermillion) p. 301(1)

Adam Baun was born in York county, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1819, and came to Ohio before he was married, about the year 1839, and worked in the grist mill for Mr. Daniel Smith, by the year; here he worked six years and a half, and purchased a tract of land of Hugh Finley; he then worked for Andrew Newman and Joseph Boyd a period of ten years, in the mill still owned by Mr. Boyd, but not now in operation. In the fall of 1843 he returned to Pennsylvania and married Miss Rebecca Lechman, of York county. She died June 28, 1857. They had two children, one son and one daughter. The son, Adam, jr., was a soldier in the late war, in the One Hundred and Second Ohio volunteer infantry, company B, and after a service as a soldier almost three years, and a prisoner six months at Castle Thunder, at Cahoba, Alabama, while on his way home at the close of the war, April 25th he was lost on the boat Sultana, near Memphis, Tennessee. This came with crushing weight on father and sister, and many who knew him well in the neighborhood where he was raised. February 25, 1859 Mr. Baun was married again, this time to Miss Ruby Ann Snyder, whose parents lived in Crawford county, Ohio. She died April 7, 1878. By this union there were three sons–Allen C., the oldest, is in the west; Lewis A. and Edward I. Are at home; they are all single. Sarah J., born April 14, 1845, is at home, filling the place that only daughter and sister can. She takes entire management of the household cares and duties. Mr. Baun has a fine farm and manages it to good advantage, as the appearance about his farm is proof. He has bought and sold stock for many years, having many times driven over the mountains. When he first came to Ohio he had but twenty dollars, since which, by hard work and good management, with a small amount he received from his father’s estate, he has a competence. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Baun is not a member of any church, but is a liberal supporter of all such institutions. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

DANIEL BEACH (Ruggles) p. 178(1)

Was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, March 16, 1785. In 1805 he came on foot to Canfield, Mahoning county, Ohio, and worked one year, then returned and married Lorinda Sacket, January 1, 1810. He purchased two hundred acres of wild land in what is now Summit county, Ohio, to which he removed in 1811, coming the entire route with a yoke of oxen and one horse. In 1812 he was drafted in the military service and served near Fort Croghan six months. In 1823 he disposed of his farm and accompanied Bradford Sturtevant in search of a new home to Ruggles township, Huron, now Ashland county, and purchased, of Jessup & Wakeman, of Connecticut, one mile square of land in section three, he taking the west and smallest part. He returned, and in July 1823, removed with his wife and five children–Cyrus, Reuben, Cordelia, Harriet, and Daniel, to his new home in the forest, about one mile west of what is now known as the corners. The paths in the forest were narrow, and required quite an effort to get over by teams. He had two yoke of oxen to haul his goods. He encamped one night in Medina county, and one night at Sullivan center. A man–Mr. John Soles–piloted him thence by way of New London. He encamped one night on the route in what is now Troy, and again at New London, and was just one week in reaching his forest home. Their first supper was cooked at the fire of a deserted Indian camp on the premises. The forest was dense, and it required years of unremitting toil to prepare the lands for culture. Mr. Beach was accompanied in his removal by Eleazer Sacket, a brother-in-law. He built a pole cabin, ten by fifteen feet, in which he resided until he built a log cabin. By fall he had cleared five acres, which he put in wheat. Other pioneers began to select lands, and Mr. Beach’s cabin was frequently visited. In the winter of 1824 he hired hands, and cleared the timber from one hundred acres. In the spring he and Bradford Sturtevant returned to Tallmadge and purchased apple-trees for new orchards, some of which yet bear fruit. Mr. Beach, by industry and economy, accumulated a handsome property. In 1854 he divided his homestead between his two sons, Wakeman and William, and removed to Kent county, Michigan. Mrs. Beach died on a visit to Ruggles, at the residence of her son, Cyrus Beach, in November, 1856. Mr. Beach subsequently married Mrs. Frances Peck, widow of Tylor Peck. He died at his residence in Ruggles in May, 1862. He was remarkable for his habits of industry and enterprise. He was exact and careful in all his business transactions, and his integrity was never questioned. His children were Cyrus S., Reuben K., Harriet I., married to Rollin Curtiss, Daniel, deceased, Wakeman J., and Cordelia M., married to Isaac Cowell. Most of the family reside within Ruggles township, and are noted as farmers and stock growers. Wakeman Beach, born January 11, 1825, is believed to have been the first child born within the township. He resides on the old homestead west of the corners. I am indebted to him for the foregoing sketch. (transcribed by Penny Hanes PHanes1368@aol.com) (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

GENERAL REASIN BEALL (Montgomery) p. 142(1)

A sketch of his life was originally published in the Wooster Democrat, March 9, 1843, and which gives a good many interesting items of history. We republish it entire.

“To render the tribute of approbation to the merit and worth of departed friends, and indulge in expressions of regret at the bereavement we experience in their death, has, in some form or other, been a custom from the earliest ages. Independent of the incentive to noble actions which such a practice holds forth to the minds of youth, there is, on the part of those who may be called to the performance of the service, a kind of pleasing melancholy, which almost seems for the time to bring them again into the society of the friend whose final exit it is their misfortune to deplore.

“General Reasin Beall, who died at Wooster, Ohio, on the tenth day of February 1843, was born in Montgomery county, in the State of Maryland, on the third of December 1769, and a few years thereafter accompanied his parents to Washington county, in the State of Pennsylvania, where they made a permanent settlement. The exact time of this settlement is not known, but it must have been some years before 1782, for in that year the father, Major Zephaniah Beall, was an officer in the unfortunate campaign made by a body of volunteer militia from western Pennsylvania, under the command of Colonel Crawford, against the Indians of Upper Sandusky.

“At the age of fourteen years, Mr. Beall entered the office of the Hon. Thomas Scott, at one time a member of Congress, a gentleman of considerable note in the public affairs of Pennsylvania, and then prothonotary of Washington county. With that gentleman he remained until he was twenty-one years of age, and on quitting his employ, received the most flattering testimonials of good conduct.

“The privations and sufferings which were experienced by the hardy and intrepid pioneers who first undertook to tame the forest west of the Allegheny mountains, has no parallel in anything of the kind that has ever existed. Favored with no government aid or protection, and without roads, other than such as they opened by their individual efforts, they had to scale a rugged mountain wilderness, of more than miles in extent; and when arrived on the western waters they, for a long time, had to subsist mainly by the chase. But this was not all; the treaty of peace, which acknowledged American independence, brought no peace to them. The Indian nations, who exposed the cause of the British during the war, were not content to desist from their depredations upon the western settlements, and such was the inefficiency of the government under the confederation, that it was not until the new organization under the present constitution, that measures were taken to repel their incursions. In 1790 an expedition was fitted out, and marched against the Indians on the heads of the two Miamis. The command of this corps was given to General Harmar. Mr. Beall served in the expedition as an officer in the quartermaster’s department, and was with the army when a severe action was fought between a detachment under Colonel Harden and the Indians near Fort Wayne, in 1791. That expedition having failed in its object, the troops returned to the Ohio river, near to where the city of Cincinnati now stands, and Mr. Beall returned to his friends in Pennsylvania.

“Subsequently to this, General St. Clair marched a second force on the same route, and unfortunately met with an entire defeat. These repeated disasters determined the government to put forth all its energies in order to secure peace by the chastisement of the savages. On General Wayne’s being appointed to the command of the northwestern army, Mr. Beall received a commission as ensign; and after some time spent in the recruiting service, repaired to headquarters, then at Legionville, on the north bank of the Ohio, near the site of the present town of Economy, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. It was in the campaign which succeeded that Mr. Beall became acquainted with General, then Captain, Harrison, the late lamented President of the United States; an acquaintance in which the mutual friendship of the parties seemed to be increased rather than diminished by a separation and time.

“Mr. Beall remained with the army until some time in the year 1793, when he resigned and returned to his friends in Pennsylvania to consummate a matrimonial engagement of long standing. Soon after his return, he married his late wife, then Miss Rebecca Johnston, and with whom he continued to live in the enjoyment of the greatest connubial happiness, until her death, which happened in the latter part of 1840. To the many excellent qualities and Christian virtues of that estimable lady he was, no doubt, much indebted for those Christian impressions which softened the death-bed pillow, and served as an effectual solace to his mind when looking to an eternal separation from all things here below.

“Like many enterprising men of his age, Mr. Beall fell in with the current of emigration, which has constantly set to the west, and, consequently, several times changed his place of residence. In 1801 he removed with his family from Pennsylvania and settled for a short time in Steubenville, from which place he removed, in the fall of 1803, to New Lisbon, where he remained until 1815, in which year he removed to his late residence near Wooster.

“On his settlement at New Lisbon he received the appointment of clerk of the supreme and common pleas courts, which offices he held nearly the whole time he remained in the county. Although Mr. Beall had served but a few years in the regular army, it was sufficient to give his mind a military bias, and, previous to the late war, he took much pains to infuse into the militia of his county a military spirit, confidently anticipating that the difficulties then existing between this country and England would ultimately end in war. Soon after his settlement at New Lisbon he was chosen colonel of a regiment (being at that time the entire militia of the county), and, in a few years thereafter, a brigadier general. The war of 1812 found him in that capacity. On the surrender of General Hull at Detroit, a general panic seized upon the people of the sparsely settled counties to the west of Columbiana, and many were inclined to abandon their homes and seek places of greater safety. In this state of things all eyes were turned to General Beall for relief, and, to his great honor be it said, they were not in the least disappointed. Immediately on the receipt of the unwelcome news, which was communicated to him by express from Canton, he set about the organization of a detachment, and in a very few days put himself at the head of several hundred men, and marched to the support of the frontier inhabitants of Wayne and Richland counties, and ultimately, continued his route to Camp Huron, where he joined the troops from the Western Reserve, under General Wadsworth and General Perkins. At that place General Harrison, the commander-in-chief, who attended in person to the reorganization of the corps, visited them and, as the whole was not more than sufficient for a brigade, the command devolved on General Perkins as the senior officer. After this General Beall returned home, with the consolation of having done a good service by the promptitude of his march, which was a means of inspiring confidence among the people almost ready to surrender all hope of protection. Those who have never witnessed scenes like these can form a very imperfect idea of the difficulties which surround those who undertake to ward off such evils as were then impending. A frontier of more than a hundred miles was perfectly defenseless, abounding with all the facilities for an attack by a savage foe. Not a single company of government troops in the State; and no means either in money, provisions, or munitions of war within the reach or control of any officer who was called to the field.

“In the spring of 1813, President Madison issued his proclamation for a special session of Congress, and the seat for the northern district being vacant by the death of Mr. Edwards, the member elect, General Beall was, at a special election, chosen to fill the vacancy. He served in Congress during that and the succeeding session, assisting to the full extent of his abilities, in providing ways and means for a vigorous prosecution of the war, then rendered extremely difficult by the prevalence of a reckless party spirit in various portions of the country.

“But a congressional life did not suit his taste. He was naturally of a domestic turn of mind, and he longed to rid himself of a trust which compelled him to a separation, for so large a portion of his time, from his family.

“The office of register of land office for the Wooster land district becoming vacant in 1814, General Beall was appointed, and resigned his seat in Congress, and in the following year removed to his late residence in the vicinity of Wooster. The office of register he resigned in 1824, when he retired from all public employment. But he was not permitted so to remain. At the great Whig mass convention at Columbus on the twenty-second of February, 1840, he was chosen to preside over its deliberations, and was afterwards chosen one of the electors of President and Vice-President, and had the honor as well as the pleasure of casting his vote in that capacity, for his old friend and military associate, General Harrison. No incident of his life seemed to give him so much pleasure as this; and with an ardent hope that in the performance of this last trust, confided to him by his fellow citizens, a foundation was laid for the lasting prosperity of his country, he considered his account closed with the public forever. How illusory are all earthly prospects and how vain are all human hopes.” (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

GEORGE BECK (Troy) p. 338(1)

George Beck, son of Leonard Beck, was born in the province of New Brunswick, February 24, 1815, and emigrated to Harrison county, Ohio, with his mother, five sisters, and two brothers, about the year 1830, and in 1847, removed to Sullivan township, Ashland county, Ohio where he remained until 1865, when he removed to the farm where he now lives, in Troy township, He married Delilah Miller in December 26, 1839, she being the daughter of Peter and Catharine Miller, who was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1817. To them were born eight children: Martha J., William H., Titus F., David, George, Mary E., Eliza C., Ollie S., and Enoch G., but five of whom are now living. William, the oldest son, died in the service of his country, having been a member of company K, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. Mr. And Mrs. Beck are members of the United Brethren church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JACOB BECK (Vermillion) p. 305(1)

Jacob Beck was born in Germany, December 4, 1808, and came to America in 1835, making the trip from Amsterdam to New York in a sailing vessel in seventy days. It was a discouraging voyage, and the hearts of the passengers would sometimes sink; and when they were at last permitted to set foot on land in this free America, their hearts went up in thankfulness to the good being for His preserving care. Mr. Beck remained about five years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and on the twenty-fourth day of January, 1841, he was married to Barbara Schilling, of that city, and in September of the same year, with all his earthly effects, consisting of a bed and what they could pack in two chests, they started for the west with a covered wagon and one horse; and soon after arriving in what is now Vermillion township, he purchased a tract of land, on which was a log cabin, and went to work in earnest to improve his land. Many a giant oak fell to the ground from the heavy strokes of the axe swung by his strong arm. Those were times that tried men’s souls, and Mr. Beck and his good wife endured their hardships and privations as only the sturdy pioneers could. Mr. Beck has the satisfaction, in his old days, of seeing good improvements about him, where once was a howling wilderness, and his children in good circumstances. He is a man highly esteemed by his neighbors as a trustworthy Christian man, who has done well his part to make Vermillion township what it is–one of the finest townships in the State. He now owns over three hundred acres of excellent land, in a good community, with excellent school and church privileges. Ever since he came to this county, he has been a member of the German Lutheran church. On the ninth day of April, 1880, his wife died, and his three sons are all married; and he is alone in the home in which he has seen many pleasant days and some sorrows. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JOHN BECK (Vermillion) p. 304(1)

John Beck, son of Jacob Beck, one of Ashland county’s pioneers, and a sketch of whose life will be found elsewhere in this work, was born May 11, 1850. February 15, 1870 he married Miss Amanda Aby, of Mifflin township. They have four children, all daughters, Nettie Celesta, Rella May, Alice Arvilla, and Catharine, an infant. Mr. Beck is a Democrat in politics. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

WILLIAM BECK (Vermillion) p. 304(1)

William Beck, son of Jacob Beck, one of the prominent pioneers of Vermillion, was born November 9, 1846, and was brought up to hard work on the farm, where he learned industry and perseverance. August 18, 1870, he was married to Miss Mary Ann Helbert, daughter of Jacob and Catharine Helbert, of Vermillion township. They have four children, three sons and one daughter–William Sylvester, Lewis David, Arabella, and Jacob, who is but one year old. Mr. Beck is a Democrat in politics. He gives his whole time to farming. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

REV. THOMAS BEER (Montgomery) p. 221(1)

THOMAS BEER was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1807. His father removed to Allegheny county the same year, and settled on a farm on the north side, of the Ohio River, on which the flourishing town of Sewickley now stands, twelve miles below the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, until his twenty third year. He enjoyed the advantages of a common school education, such as it was. In 1823 he commenced a classical course of study at an academy in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. In 1825 he entered the Western university of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1827, with a class composed of seven, all of whom afterward became ministers of the gospel. In the fall of the same year he, with three other young men, entered the Western Theological seminary of the Presbyterian church, located in Allegheny City. Mr. Beer’s name stands at the head of the roll, and he is the only survivor of the class. Leaving the seminary in the fall of 1830, under the auspices of the Home Missionary society of the Presbyterian church, he took charge of four small churches in the northwestern portion of Wayne county, Ohio. A few years later his labors were given to the two churches, Congress and Mr. Hope. From the spring of 1834 until 1859 he resided at Mt. Hope, Wayne county, now Ashland county. In the fall of 1859 he located on a farm three miles southwest of Ashland, where he still resides. In 1861 he took charge of the Presbyterian church in Jeromeville, where he labored until near the close of 1871, since which time, on account of the infirmities of age, he has had no parochial charge.

His family consisted of thirteen children, two of whom died in infancy–eleven lived to maturity. Dr. John Cameron, deceased 1865, Rev. Robert, of Valparaiso, Indiana, Judge Thomas, of Bucyrus, Ohio, Adeline, and invalid, Ashbel G. who lost a leg in the battle of Stone River, and for several years post-master at Ashland, and at this writing engaged as hardware merchant in Ashland, Henry M., lieutenant, and now physician at Valparaiso, Indiana, James A. died at Cumberland Gap, William N., captain, attorney at law, Iowa deceased in 1874, Charles E., deceased 1864, Richard C. and Mary L.

Feeling that his own education had been deferred too long, Mr. Beer has been assiduous in educating his family. The result is very gratifying. His children, upon arriving at the age of maturity, have entered upon the business of life with energy, and have attracted the good opinion of the public because of their integrity, efficiency and manhood. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JOHN BELL (Vermillion) p. 303(1)

John Bell was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 1827, and settled in Ashland county in April, 1836. He was married June 12, 1849, to Eleanor McCrary, daughter of J.D.S. McCrary, of Ashland county, Ohio. Their children were: Sarah A., born March 10, 1850; William H., born January 17, 1852; D.W., born November 9, 1853; Mary I., born September 3, 1855; G.W., born July 12, 1857; Nancy J., born July 7, 1859; Emma I., born June 22, 1863; Elizabeth M., born July 4, 1865; Flora, born September 23, 1867; Hatty M., born August 18, 1869; Lilly, born August 22, 1874; an infant born June 27, 1861; In politics Mr. Bell is a Republican. Both himself and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

GEORGE BENDER (Lake) p. 287(1)

George Bender was born near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1775. He came to Ohio in 1828, and first settled on the farm now owned by Martin Bender. He was a carpenter, but gave up his trade, and during the latter part of his life was engaged in farming. He was a member of the Reformed church, and in politics was a Democrat. He married Catharine Warens, of Pennsylvania, who died in 1847. He died in 1857. He was the father of seven children, of whom four are living, viz: John, who married Margaret Hauntz, Martin, who married Barbara Hauntz, Catharine, and George, who married Lydia Dillier, and lives in Illinois. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

JOHN BENDER (Lake) p. 287(1)

John Bender was born in Pennsylvania, in 1806. He came to Ohio with his father, and in 1839 married Margaret Hauntz, of Ashland county. In 1840 he settled on the farm on which he now lives. He has held the office of supervisor several years, and is a respected member of society. He is a member of the Reformed church, and has held the office of deacon and elder ever since St. Jacob’s church was built. He is the father of eight children, of whom only five are living, viz: Martin, who married Lydia Durk, and lives in Kansas; Elizabeth, wife of Alonzo Workman, of Holmes county, Ohio; David, John, and Francena. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

MARTIN BENDER (Lake) p.287(1)

Martin Bender was born near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and came to Ohio with his father, and settled on the farm on which he now lives. He is a farmer–a member of the Reformed church, in which he has been an elder seven years. He married Barbara Hauntz, and is the father of twelve children: Matthias, who married Horretta Everhart; Eliza, who married Philip Snyder; Catharine, Sabina, who married Michael Snyder; Barbara A., Clementine, Caroline, Mary, deceased, and four others who died in infancy. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

MATTHIAS BENDER (Mohican) p. 363(1)

Matthias Bender is a son of Martin and Caroline Bender, and was born September 8, 1847. His wife was Harriet Eberhart, of Wayne county, Ohio who has born him three children: Viola, born September 20, 1869; Harriet, born March 8, 1875; and Ruth B., born November 11, 1876. Mr. Bender engaged in the undertaking and cabinet-making business at the age of twenty-two, and has built up an extensive trade. The water from a spring near by runs the machinery in his shop, which is located at Mohicanville, and is known as the Bender works. In addition to his business, he makes Bender’s cough balsam and Bender’s life liniment, which have a considerable reputation as medicines where they are used. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

DAVID S. BENNIGHOF (Mifflin) p. 316(1)

David Bennighof was born in Mifflin township, this county [Ashland], Ohio, March 22, 1856. By occupation he is a schoolteacher; and he also carries on a farm. He is the seventh child of Jacob and Mary L. Bennighof, who came to this county about forty-four years ago. They came from the old country in 1832 and located in Wayne county, then came to this county. Mr. Bennighof’s father died April 2, 1877, aged seventy-two years and some months. His mother is still living. There were eight children in the family–John, Jacob, Elizabeth, Lucilla, Charlotte, Peter, David and Benjamin who are all living. Only two are living at home—David and Benjamin. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)

J.F. BENNINGHOF (Mifflin) p. 321(1)

J. F. Bennighof was born in Germany, February 27, 1830. When at the age of seven years, his parents, John and Charlotte Bennighof, emigrated to this country, and located in Vermillion township, where they lived three years. They then removed to Mifflin township, where the subject of this sketch has since resided. He was married, January 8, 1856, to Miss Susan Young, who was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1829. Her parents removed to this county in 1836, and she has since lived in the county. The fruit of this union are eight children, six of whom are still living, and named respectively, John D., born April 30, 1858, Mary C., born November 15, 1859; Susannah, born December 4, 1861; Hannah, born August 5, 1863; Allen J., born March 18, 1865, and William H., born December 11, 1868. The ones deceased are Jacob and one who died in infancy. Jacob died December 18, 1870, aged four years and three days. Mr. Bennighof is by trade a carpenter and a painter, and has followed those avocations, principally the carpenter trade, from his boyhood. Politically he is a Democrat, and has represented his township as justice of the peace for nine years, and has been a member of the board of education for twenty-five years, being its presiding officer twenty-three years. He has helped build every schoolhouse in the township. By good management and industry he has made for himself a good home, and is considered by all who know him, to be a gentleman whose character cannot be impeached. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)