Ciphers - Covert
DAVID CIPHERS (Vermillion) p. 307(1)
David Ciphers was born in Vermillion township, Ashland county Ohio, March 12, 1842, about half a mile north of Hayesville, on the farm he now owns. The old log cabin, in which he was born, still stands just across the road from his present residence, and is a fair sample of the homes of the hardy pioneers. Were it not that we can occasionally see one of these old landmarks, it would be hard to believe that this now beautiful and well improved country was once the scene of hardship, where only the sturdy and determined pioneer could abide. The subject of this sketch is the son of David and Catherena Ciphers, who came to Ohio from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1835. Mr. Ciphers was married June 4, 1868 to Eliza Latimer, daughter of John Latimer, of Mifflin, her mother died in Wayne county Ohio, a number of years ago. Mrs. Ciphers died January 5, 1877, leaving two daughters, who are the cheer of their father in his loneliness. Mr. Ciphers gives his whole time to his farm, and deals quite extensively in cattle. He is a model farmer, and a man highly esteemed as a neighbor and friend. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
DR. BELA B. CLARK (Montgomery) p. 170(1)
Was born in New Milford, Connecticut, October 1, 1796. He studied medicine in the same place, and attended lectures under Drs. Hosac, Francis and Mott, in New York city in 1817. He came to Medina, Ohio, in 1818, and was married to Sophia P. Searls, October 28, 1820. He practiced medicine in Medina county twenty-four years, and removed to the city of Columbus in 1842, where he practiced three years. During his residence in that city he became acquainted with several gentlemen from Ashland, who were laboring for the passage of an act for the erection of the new county of Ashland, and became identified with the measure. Upon the passage of that act, he removed to Ashland and entered upon his profession. He continued to practice medicine about fourteen years. When the enterprise of constructing the Atlantic & Great Western railway originated, Dr. Clark entered heartily into the project, and aided until it was nearly graded. He was among the first directors. Soon after his arrival in Ashland he was appointed one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas, and served until the adoption of the constitution of 1851. During his medical practice he received a diploma from the fellows of the Connecticut medical society in 1817; also one from the nineteenth medical district of Ohio, at Cleveland, May 25, 1824; and a license from the court of the third judicial court of Ohio, November 30, 1818, and another from the medical society of the eighth medical district of Ohio, November 5, 1818; and in 1841, Willoughby Medical college conferred an honorary degree of medicine, with diploma, upon him.
The doctor died from apoplexy, August 20, 1859, aged about sixty-three years. He had been an active member and ruling elder in the Presbyterian church for a number of years. He was an accomplished physician, a zealous advocate of education, and always active for the public weal. His family consists of his wife, who still survives; Dr. W. R. Clark, of Des Moines, Iowa, a successful physician; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. P.H. Clark, of Ashland, and Charles F. M., of Iowa. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JAMES CLARK (Clearcreek) p. 231(1)
JAMES CLARK was born in Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1790, and in youth attended the common schools of his neighborhood. In 1797 his parents removed to Washington county, in the same State, where he grew to manhood. War having been declared against Great Britain in 1812, by the United States, all those capable of bearing arms in the contest were either drafted or volunteered for the service. Washington county during the Revolution and subsequent struggles, had suffered severely by the incursions of the red men from Sandusky and the Scioto. From the temper evinced by the mother country, it was apprehended that so far as her agents could corrupt and inflame the passions of the tribes of the northwest against our people they would do so. Her agents secretly gave to the fierce red men ammunition, blankets, and arms, as the price of human scalps. They regarded the Americans as rebels in rebellion, and in a relentless war expected to subdue our people. The border settlers were aroused, and a most determined effort was put forth to turn back the red fiend, headed by British bayonets, and thus parry every attempt to subdue our country a second time. The young men of Washington county, in 1813, of the proper age, were drafted into the service. Mr. Clark was among those who drew a place in the service, and was soon enrolled. The heroic victory on Lake Erie, by Commodore Perry, and the brave conduct of Captain Crogan, turned back the red hordes of the northwest, headed by British bayonets, and thus repelled invasion, by lake and land, and by the time the troops of western Pennsylvania had reached Pittsburgh, a lull in the contest soon caused a declaration of peace, and Mr. Clark and his comrades were discharged without further service. He was in no battle, but evinced his readiness for the fray.
In 1814 he entered, at the land office, his late home in Orange township. When he visited his land he came by way of Wheeling, Zanesville, Coshocton, up the Walhonding, the Lake and Jerome forks, by Finley’s, to the block-house on Jerome’s farm, and thence up the stream by what became the home of Jacob Young, to his own location northwest of what is now the village of Orange, on the waters of Mohican. In 1818 he built a small cabin on his land, and kept bachelor’s hall during the summer season, doing his own cooking, grubbing, chopping, and preparing his land, and in the fall returned home and engaged in teaming to “old Pitt.” In this manner he continued to labor on his land, each summer, for seven successive years. When he came out in 1818, he was accompanied by his brother John, and stayed all night at Uniontown, now Ashland, at the cabin hotel of Joseph Sheets, just opposite the present hardware store of Mr. Stull, on the north side of Main street. Mr. Sheets deceased several years since; but Mrs. Nancy Sheets, the former landlady, resides in South Ashland, possessing a good deal of energy, and quite a vigorous mind, for an aged lady. For some time after his arrival wild game was abundant. Mr. Clark was a good marksman, and easily procured plenty of venison, wild turkeys and occasionally a black bear. These he dressed and cooked according to his taste. Wolves were very numerous and bold. He related that on several occasions, having no door to his cabin, wolves ventured in during the night and actually carried away meat and other articles. On one occasion he killed and dressed a large, fat turkey, expecting to enjoy the luxury of roasting and eating the same. On going to bed he hung it up in his cabin; but when he arose next morning he found that during the night some howling, hungry wolf had carried it away and devoured it while he slept.
He was repeatedly visited by bands of Delaware Indians, from the Fire Lands, during their encampment and hunts in the neighborhood. These Indians were very poor, and miserably clad. They were always apparently hungry, and in a begging humor. They often got corn meal and other food from him, and agreed to pay him in deer skins and peltry for it, but invariably forgot to remember the agreement. Mr. Clark, in his prime, was fully six feet high, and would weigh one hundred and eighty pounds. He was very resolute in his manner, and frank in his interviews with the Indians, and hence was never uncivilly treated by them. These Indians had a number of wigwams, or bark huts, three quarters of a mile northwest of him, in what is now Troy township. Old Tom Lyons, Jonacake and his squaw, Catottawa, and other Indians, often came to his cabin, on their hunting excursions. He was also visited on several occasions by the eccentric, but harmless, Johnny Appleseed, who was engaged in planting, on Mason’s run, a nursery in advance of the pioneers.
These were solitary times; but Mr. Clark often stated that, being busily engaged in clearing and preparing his farm, time passed rapidly, and he really enjoyed himself working, and occasionally traversing the wild forests in search of game. When he entered the township, he was of the opinion there were not over sixteen or seventeen families in it. Joel Mackerel, John Bishop, and Peter Biddinger were his nearest neighbors. Mr. Biddinger was a blacksmith, and also repaired guns and tomahawks for the Indians.
At that time two shillings a day, and twenty-five cents a hundred for cutting and splitting twelve foot rails, in trade, was the customary price. He often traveled five miles on foot, to help roll logs or raise a cabin, and was really glad to assist in this manner all new settlers. There were no improved roads; all was new, and no road fund to repair highways. The willing hands and stout arms of the resolute pioneer had it all to do, and right cheerfully did they perform the task. It was some years before the advantages of good schools were enjoyed by the rising generation.
Mr. Clark dwelt on the reminiscences of the past, the growth of the country in population, intelligence and wealth, and regarded the change that had occurred in this region, as simply wondrous in the last sixty-one years. In 1830, he married Miss Charlotte Myers, daughter of Jacob Myers, of Clearcreek, by whom he had four sons, Josephus, John, M. L., and James M. Clark, and two daughters, Mary A. McBride and Mrs. C. Sharrick. Mrs. Clark died in 1841, and Mr. Clark subsequently married a Miss Marshall, who, at an advanced age, survives her husband, and resides at the home of James M. Clark, on the old homestead. Mr. Clark and his aged lady enjoyed the filial attentions of the family, and esteem of all his pioneer neighbors, and life ebbed quietly away, and at eighty-nine years he became gradually feeble, and gently passed over the dark river to a better and happier land July 7, 1879.
A deep veneration for the memory of these fathers and mothers of a new country pervades the rising generation. In the last twelve months we have parted with over twenty-five of the pioneers of the county, who have been gathered to their fathers. Ere long the last will disappear from among us. It is a grateful duty we owe them to smooth their departing hours by kind and respectful attention, ere we are called upon to enjoy the fruits of their toil and valor. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
NATHANIEL CLARK (Troy) p. 181(1)
Was born in the State of New York, March 10, 1792. In 1799 his father removed to Seneca county, New York. In 1812 he was drafted and served in the war. After peace he married Elizabeth Phelps, of the same county. In 1832 he moved to Troy township and settled amid the forests. He located north of the center; where he still resides on lot eighteen, upon an improved farm of ninety-nine acres. His family consists of but two children, both of whom are married. His honorable wife is a sister of Mrs. Parker, of the same township. At this time, 1876, he and his aged wife are in the enjoyment of good health. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. (transcribed by Penny Hanes PHanes1368@aol.com) (Contributed by Russ Shopbell)
DR. JOSEPH E. CLIFF p. 167(1)
A native of London, England, an energetic and spirited physician, well calculated to make himself known and felt in the community, settled in Loudonville in 1825. He studied medicine with Dr. Daniel McPhail, of Wooster, 1821-2 a Scotchman, and leading physician of Wayne county, for several years. At that period Dr. McPhail frequently visited Clearcreek, Montgomery, Vermillion, and Mohican townships, accompanied by Dr. Cliff, who sometimes repeated the visits. He remained about two years in Loudonville, and returned to Wooster, and shortly afterwards departed for the gold mines in Brazil, South America. He landed in the midst of a revolution, and proceeding to the mines, remained several years, and became possessed of considerable wealth. In the meantime, his wife, a daughter of Dr. McPhail, supposing him dead, married Robert W. Smith, late of Mohican township. Dr. Cliff returned from South America and found his wife in the possession of another! Accepting the condition of things as philosophically as possible, he proceeded to provide liberally for his son, who afterwards read medicine, and now enjoys a wide reputation as Dr. D. B. Cliff, of Franklin, Tennessee. After this the old doctor returned to London, England, where he died some years since. This is highly romantic, but nevertheless true. It is obtained from the lips of his venerable wife, who still survives, and is now seventy-six years of age, and resides with her son, Edward P. Smith, near Ashland.
Money was very scarce, and the surplus products of the country, in 1825, had no market. High spirited and ambitious, the doctor hoped to better his fortunes in other countries. He was wholly deprived of the means of corresponding with his family, and the sequel shows that, while he accomplished the object of his adventure, he lost an amiable and accomplished wife. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
HENRY M. CLOSE (Sullivan) p.353(1)
Henry M. Close was born in Connecticut, December 26, 1785, and married Eliza Knapp in New York, residing there until the time of her death. She was the mother of two children, who also died in New York. Then he married Mary Moe, who died October 5, 1849. In 1817 he came to Ohio, and settled in Sullivan township, Ashland county, on the farm now owned by Stephen Coats. He was the first justice of the peace of that township, and held the office for several years. He was a member of the Congregational church, and in politics he was an old-line Whig. August 10, 1846 he died.
His second wife was the mother of eight children, five of whom are living: Esther, wife of Pierce C. Grannis, of Williams county, Ohio; Henry M., who married Betsey McConnell; Benjamin, who married Elzina Dyer, afterward married Harriet L. Brown, and lives in Illinois; Susan, wife of George W. Houghton; and Roderick, who married Rosetta Mann, and lives in Ashland county, Ohio. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
RODERICK M. CLOSE (Sullivan) p. 353(1)
Roderick M. Close was born in Ashland county, Ohio on the old homestead, where he now resides. He is engaged in farming and stock raising, and deals largely in blooded stock; he is also a breeder and extensive shipper of fancy fowls. For seven years he taught school, and has held the office of trustee of Sullivan township several years, and been justice of the peace one term. In politics he is a Greenbacker, and is one of the three who first voted that ticket in Ashland county. In 1860 he married Rosetta Mann, and is the father of three children: Esther A., Rosetta D., and Henry M. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JOSIAH M. CLOSSON (Montgomery) p. 370(1)
Josiah M. Closson was born in Jefferson county, this State, December 20, 1820. When two years and two months of age, his mother removed to Ashland county, his father having died prior to that time. He is the youngest of eight children of John and Jane Closson. The oldest child was Elizabeth, who married Samuel Roland; Samuel, who married Mary Long; William, who married Mary Hamilton; John A., who married Susan Loper; Isaac, who married Henrietta Updegraff; Julia Ann, who married Thomas Hamilton; and Bezaleel D., who remained single. When his mother first came here she located in Montgomery township in a log school-house, with a clapboard roof, puncheon floor; the loft was split boards, clapboard door six feet long, one window, with two cross sticks and a greased paper for light. The chimney was built of logs and sticks, together with nigger-head stones for jambs and back wall. His mother married in this house (the second time) David Mann, when our subject was about eighteen years old. September 6, 1870, his mother departed this life, aged eighty-six years and seven months. Mr. Closson recalls the many hardships and privations that himself and others had to contend with, that the present, as well as future, generations will never know or experience. June 23, 1878, he married Sophia C. Bentz. In the late war he was a member of company B, Sixteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, and re-enlisted in company G, Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, President Hayes’ old regiment. From there he was transferred to the Seventh regiment, Veteran Reserve corps, on account of disability, and was finally mustered out of the service the eighth of October, 1864, on account of inability to perform his duty as a soldier. He entered the service April 25, 1861, making him a soldier for a period of over four years. He is now totally blind, which was caused from exposure and disease contracted in the service. He is justly pensioned by the government, and will be during life; but this is a small compensation for his irreparable loss. Mr. Closson is among the old surviving settlers of the county. He, together with his wife, are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are comfortably situated financially. Above all, they both enjoy the respect and esteem of all in the community where they reside. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
SIMON CLOUSE (Jackson) p. 341(1)
Simon Clouse was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1815. Mr. Clouse with his father moved to Wayne county, Ohio, about the year 1820, and about the year 1852 moved to Ashland county to the farm where he now lives in Jackson township. He was married to Sarah Newcomer of Wayne county March 30, 1841. The fruit of this union was seven children: Mary, Jasper, Lewis, James M., Jacob, Leander and Oliver. Of these, four are living: Mary, James M., Leander and Oliver, the other three being dead. Mr. Clouse and wife are members of the Evangelical church, and are among its most liberal supporters. When Mr. Clouse came to the place where he now lives it was all in woods. The first thing for him to do was to erect a log cabin in which to shelter his family. Then he set out to clear and cultivate the soil. Now he has a well improved farm in Jackson township. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
HENRY COBLE (Lake) p. 283(1)
Henry Coble, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1798; came to Ohio with his father at an early date and settled in Wayne county, near Wooster, where he married Anna M. Harner in 1824. In 1823, he came to Ashland county, and settled in Lake township, and has always been engaged in farming. In politics, he is a Republican; and is a member of the Presbyterian church. February 28, 1880, his wife died. Six children constitute his family: John, who married Sophia Kantzer, and afterwards married Rebecca Horn; Sarah, wife of John Norris deceased; Rebecca, wife of Thomas Metcalf, living in Iowa; Daniel, who married Margaret Kantzer; Henry, who married Mary E. Young; Maria A., wife of Joseph Chesseroun. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JOHN COBLE (Lake) p. 289(1)
John Coble, born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1825, came to Ashland county with his father when four years old. He learned the blacksmith trade with John Moulter, in McZena, and worked at his trade seven years. In 1850 he went overland to California, where he remained about a year, engaged in gold mining. He met with success, and during the year cleared about fifteen hundred dollars. Then he returned to Wayne county, Ohio, where he bought fifty acres of land. He remained there three years, and was engaged in blacksmithing. In 1854 he came to Ashland county, and purchased eighty acres of land–the same now owned by John and George Smith–and remained there about two years and a half, and then went to McZena, where he remained three years and worked at his trade. Then he returned to Wayne county and purchased one hundred acres of land, and at the end of six years again returned to Ashland county and purchased one hundred and twenty-two acres of land–the same now owned by Jacob Kayler–and at the end of two years bought the farm on which he now lives, from Calvin Parker. For twelve years he has held the office of school director, has been township trustee two years and supervisor several years. He is director of the Washington township, Holmes county, fire and lighting insurance company. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1851 he married Sophia Kantzer, who became the mother of seven children, and died in 1875. In 1876 he married Rebecca Horn, who is the mother of two children. The names of his children are: Samuel, deceased, infant, deceased; Margaret, Saloma, Sophia C., John G., Clementine, Elza A., and an infant, deceased. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
FREDERICK W. COFFIN (Montgomery) p. 177(1)
Was born in Washington county, New York, January 6, 1809. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker in Vermont. On reaching manhood he married Mary Waters, of Bennington, and located in Troy, New York, in 1833. In 1845 he removed to Mohicanville, Ashland county, where he remained two years, and removed to Ashland, where he still resides. He is of English descent, and the family trace their ancestry back to the invasion of the conqueror William, of Normandy. The Coffins settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, as early as 1642. At one time the Coffins were the proprietors of Nantucket.
Mr. Coffin is an excellent mechanic, and a gentleman of high integrity. He is the parent of twelve children, part of whom are deceased. In December, 1875, he held a family reunion; those present were: the father, Frederick W. Coffin, aged sixty-seven; the mother, Mary Coffin, aged sixty-two; Mrs. L.J. Sprengle, Mrs. F.H. Smith, Mrs. M. Jennings, Mrs. E.L. McIlrath, Thaddeus Coffin, Arthur W. Coffin, Eugene Coffin, Harry T. Coffin, and Edward Coffin. These, with relations by marriage, and offspring, numbered in all thirty-two souls. If the mother of Mrs. Mary Coffin, who resides in Troy, New York, aged eighty-six, had been present, there would have been five generations under the same roof.
The Coffins are noted for their musical endowments, and when all together make an interesting family concert. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
THOMAS COLE, SR. (Clearcreek) p. 223(1)
Was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, March 20, 1796. His grandfather, Aquilla Cole, came from England and settled near Baltimore about 1760. After the close of the Revolutionary war, when the lands of Kentucky came into market, he started on a journey to that region with the intention of purchasing a large tract of land and finally locating there. On his way through Ohio, while traveling along “Zane’s trace,” from Wheeling to the present site of Zanesville, in crossing the main stream of Wills creek, his horse became entangled in driftwood, the stream being full and deep, and he was drowned. His traveling comrades all escaped, and recovered and buried his remains near where he met his melancholy death. His estate, under the old English law, fell to his oldest son. His sons were Thomas, Elijah, Aquilla, Salathiel, Mycagy, and Stephen. They all removed to Kentucky but Thomas and Stephen. Thomas finally located in Washington county, Pennsylvania, while Stephen removed to Fairfield county, Ohio, about the year 1809. Stephen was twice married in Maryland, prior to his removal. He died in Fairfield county, leaving the following family: Stephen, Salathiel, Thomas, Charles, who died in infancy, Abraham, Mycagy, John, Eleanor, Mary, Richard, Charles, Wesley, Elijah, and Eliza. Stephen and Thomas came to Jackson township, Wayne county, now Ashland county, in August, 1819. Thomas had married in 1816, and had one child at the time of his removal. On his route from Fairfield he came by Newark, Mount Vernon, Bellville, Greentown, Jeromeville, and over the east part of Montgomery township to the forest home of William Bryan, south of the present site of Polk, where he remained until he and his brother cut a path to section eight, southeast and southwest quarters. When they selected a site for a cabin their wives stitched a number of linen sheets together and a tent was erected, in which they lived until the cabin could be erected and prepared for occupation. The third day was Sunday, and with the night came a heavy rain. His child was sick, and the rain beat through the tent. The bed became wet, and Mr. Cole sat upright with the quilt over his head to protect his sick child. Fortunately the next morning his child was better. He retains a vivid recollection of that introductory storm, and his altitude as “center-pole.” Salathiel, with a team, accompanied them to their wilderness home, and returned to Fairfield by the path he came. When the cabin was raised, Mr. Cole states that most of the hands were from the present vicinity of the village of Orange. He squared his house to the meridian by observing the section line, setting up and plumbing a stake and watching when the sun shadow pointed due north.
Upon his arrival he found the following families in the north half of the township: Rev. John Hazzard, John Mason, Mr. Morton, Thomas Green, Josiah Lee, Jesse Matthews, Laffler, and James Durfee, and in the south half, Noah Long, Jonas H. Gierhart, James A. Dinsmore, John Jackson, Michael and Matthias Rickel, William Bryan, Charles Hoy, and John Davault. A number of other families arrived during the fall of 1819. Stephen and Thomas Cole brought a number of milch cows and young cattle, and two or three head of horses. A favorite mare escaped and attempted to return to Fairfield, but was pursued and captured, after a lively chase of several hours in the south part of the township. Wild grass was abundant in the forest, and cattle thrived upon it. Mr. Cole, by industry, and the assistance of his pioneer neighbors, soon prepared fields for culture. There were no schools or churches at his arrival in the township. Rev. Mr. Hazzard was a gentleman of good English education, and soon volunteered to instruct the children of the pioneers. He resided in the northeast part of the township, on section eleven. In 1822-3 Mr. Hazzard also established the first class of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was leader and teacher. He became a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. The class was established in what has since become the village of Perryburgh–known sometimes as Albion, the name of it post-office. The first class contained about ten members; Josiah Lee was at one time a leader. Mr. Cole became a member in 1825, and about 1830, a leader and exhorter, and in 1840 was licensed a local preacher and still retains his license. The Rev. Mr. Hazzard died in 1870 and was buried on his homestead. Mr. Cole, and we believe, Mr. Hazzard also, was licensed by that venerable and much loved pioneer minister, Rev. Elmer Yocum. Mr. Cole is now (1876) deprived of his vision, having been afflicted some years with opacity of the crystalline lens, or cataract. His general health is good, and his disposition quite cheerful. Mrs. Cole, his excellent wife, who shared his pioneer toils, deceased May 8, 1870, aged seventy-four. His children are: Thomas Cole, jr., Elizabeth, wife of Chester C. Matthews; Rebecca, wife of Joseph C. Bolles; Mary, wife of Jacob Plice; Rachel, wife of Isaac Gordon, deceased, and Ruthie, wife of James Campbell, of Iowa. Mr. Cole has forty-six grandchildren, and twenty-five great-grandchildren. Most of his children reside in Ashland county.
Rev. Thomas Cole died of paralysis, May 17, 1880, aged eighty-four years, one month, and twenty-seven days.
This sketch was written in 1876, when Mr. Cole was in fair health. His infirmities of vision gradually grew worse, until his decease on the 17th. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
D.H. COLEMAN (Clearcreek) p. 313(1)
D. H. COLEMAN, a native of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, came through by wagon in the spring of 1839, and settled in Orange township. In the year 1855 he was married, and was the father of six children, four sons and two daughters: Mary D., Margaret A., Joseph S., John, Oscar E., and William. Joseph S. and Margaret A. are deceased. Mr. Coleman is a worthy citizen. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
ISAAC COLEMAN (Clearcreek) p. 311(1)
ISAAC COLEMAN was born in the year 1832, and with his parents came to Ohio in 1840, and settled in Orange township, three miles north of the town of Orange. April 10, 1856, he was married, and farmed the old homestead for his father for fourteen years. Then he moved to Montgomery township, and after a short residence there, went to Iowa. After remaining there a brief time, he came back to Richland county, and finally, to the old home, which he purchased of his father. This he sold, and removed to Clearcreek township, and bought the old Shaw farm. He is the father of five children: Arabella, Jennie, Eva, Charles, and Emma. At the age of two, Eva was killed by a log falling upon her. The loss was a severe one to the fond parents. The other children are all living. Mr. Coleman is a man of enterprise and industry. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
WILLIAM CONDICK (Green) p. 281(1)
William Condick was born in Hampshire, England, and in 1866 married Jane A. Day; came to America in 1869, and first settled in Philadelphia, where he remained five years, clerking in a drug store. In 1874, he came to Perrysville, bought a stock of drugs and medicines, and opened a store in the room now occupied by the post-office, where he remained until 1878, when he bought a lot and erected a fine store room, in which he is now doing business; he has the only drug store in Perrysville, and is doing a flourishing business, keeping for sale a general line of drugs, medicines, cigars, tobacco, notions and toilet articles. He is the father of four children: Harry, Mabel L., Minnie E., and William, who died in England. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
GEORGE CONN (Mifflin) p. 318(1)
George Conn was born in Washington county, Maryland, August 13, 1823. When at the age of seven years, his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Conn, removed to Ashland county and located in Mifflin township, where our subject has since resided. His father died in 1833, three years after he came here; his mother survived him and died November 19, 1879, aged eighty years eight months and seventeen days. Mr. Conn is the seventh of eleven children. He was married May 31, 1848, to Miss Phebe Sunday. They have reared a family of eight children, one of whom died in infancy. Seven are living, as follows: Enoch, born September 11, 1849; Susan, born April 22, 1852; Mollie Ann, born October 22, 1855; Belinda, born June 10, 1858; John, born November 30, 1861; Morris, born February 10, 1866; Emma L., born February 4, 1870. Mr. Conn has seven grandchildren living. One of his grandchildren, a little boy, named Allen Thurman Conn, while playing with a bonfire was burned so badly that he died April 8, 1880. Mr. Conn has always paid his attention to farming. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
WESLEY COPUS (Mifflin) p. 177(1)
Was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 1804, and immigrated, with his father’s family, to Mifflin township, Richland, now Ashland county, in the spring of 1809. In reaching their wilderness home, they passed through the Indian village of Greentown, and followed a trail to the south part of what is now Mifflin township, and erected a camp cabin of poles about one mile northeast of what is now Charles’ mill, near a run subsequently named Zimmer’s. They resided in this cabin about fifteen months. In the meantime, the family cleared a few acres and planted corn. It was frosted in July, and much injured. Mr. Copus had moved his family in a cart, with a good yoke of oxen; and also brought two or three milch cows, which fed, during the summer, on sedge grass and pea-vines. In the spring of 1810, he commenced the erection of a more substantial log cabin near a fine spring, about one mile south of his pole cabin, and removed to it during the summer of 1810. The old Greentown trail passed near the spring, and Mr. Copus was often visited by the Greentown Indians, during the spring and summers of 1809-10-11-12. Thomas Armstrong, the chief, and his sons Silas and James, and Tom Lyons, Bill Dowdee, Billy Montour, Abram Williams, and others, frequently
came to the cabin, and were quite friendly. James and Silas Armstrong, then boys, often came to the sugar camp and ran races and wrestled with the Copus boys. For over three years the intercourse continued in harmony, and not until after the disgraceful surrender of General Hull at Detroit, in August 1812, were any apprehensions of danger from the Greentown Indians felt. Fears were then entertained that they might be corrupted through British influence, and attack the defenseless settlements along the branches of the Mohican.
As a means of safety the State authorities ordered the removal of the Jerome and Greentown Indians to Piqua, after which, a number of Greentown Indians, who had, prior to that time fled to Upper Sandusky, returned and assassinated the family of Frederick Zimmer and Margaret Ruffner, and, a few days afterward, attacked the cabin of James Copus, father of Wesley, and killed him, and several soldiers near the cabin. Wesley, then nine years old, with the balance of the family, was in the cabin during the assault, and saw his father fall and expire. He retained a vivid recollection of the terrific screams of the savages as they riddled the walls of the cabin with bullets.
After this tragedy, his mother and children returned to Guernsey county, where they remained until the fall of 1814, when they came back to the old cabin, where, some forty years afterward, Mrs. Copus deceased. At that time the family consisted of Henry, Nancy, Sarah, James, Wesley, Nelson, and Anna.
Wesley Copus continued to reside in the vicinity of the old homestead. For several years his health had been gradually failing. It had been apparent for some time that he could not survive a great while. Having been somewhat exposed to the inclemency of the weather, he was attacked with pneumonia, and expired February 14, 1876.
During his youth his educational advantages were limited, and his entire schooling consisted of about three months; but, by observation, a retentive memory, and good judgement, he had acquired a fund of information, and was a very interesting conversationalist.
He was twice married. His first wife survived only six months. By his second wife he had ten children, six of whom survive–John W., Madison, Eliza J., Sarah, Mary, and Nancy E., all of whom are married.
Mr. Copus was a member of the United Brethren church for thirty-five years. As a citizen, he was industrious, conscientious, and the opponent of all shams and vices. He was buried at the old cemetery near Charles’ mill, where many of his kindred sleep. Mr. Copus being enrolled among the pioneers, the obituary committee of the Pioneer and Historical society, of Ashland county, adopted the customary resolutions.
Only two of the James Copus family now survive–Mrs. Sarah Vail, of Mifflin, and Mrs. Anna Whitmer, of Wood county, Ohio. (Transcribed by Penny Hanes PHanes1368@aol.com) (Contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JOHN CORY (Perry) p. 230
JOHN CORY was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1800. His father, Aaron Cory, was born in New Jersey in 1772, and came to Washington county when a young man, in 1793, and married Miss Elizabeth McGuire, sister of the late Thomas and Hugh McGuire. He and his family, consisting of his wife and children, removed to what became Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1802. That region had been the home of the Delaware Indians prior to the expeditions of Williamson and Colonel William Crawford, in 1781-2, and was long a favorite resort for Indians of that nation, after the Corys came into the country. The Delawares were much attached to the preaching and teaching of the Moravian missionary, Rev. John Heckewelder, and visited Goshen in memory of the past. Here the Corys and Carrs became acquainted with many leading Indians, among whom were George Hamilton and Philip Ignatius, who participated in the fight with General Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1795, and often spoke of the wonderful manner in which he conducted the campaign. These Indians, with others, often visited Mr. Cory in Perry township, Wayne county, after his removal in subsequent years. In the year 1814 Aaron Cory located two quarters of land in Wayne and Richland counties, one in section twenty-nine in Perry, and one in Montgomery township, known as the old Andress farm, at the land office at Canton. In 1817 Aaron Cory and his son John, the oldest member of his family, visited Perry township with the view of improving his land. They cleared about ten acres, and Mr. Cory returned to Tuscarawas county. John remained, and continued the improvements in the summer season, for two years, returning home during each winter. In the spring of 1819, Aaron Cory and family, consisting of his wife and eight children, John being the oldest, removed to the farm in Perry township. Mr. Cory remained about eight years, and then purchased a new home, and located in Crawford county, where he died in 1834, aged about sixty years. John took possession of the home farm in Perry township, and married Miss Elizabeth Cantwell, sister of the late Colonel James Cantwell, who fell at the second battle of Bull Run, during the late war.
John Cory continued to reside on the old farm until 1867, when he sold it and purchased in Morrow county, whence he removed. Here he had the misfortune to lose, by death, the wife of his youth, in 1872, aged about sixty-five years. He felt the separation most keenly, and was never fully reconciled to her death. Mrs. Cory was an excellent lady, and possessed of great firmness, good judgment, and Christian forbearance, in a large degree. Of late years Mr. Cory has resided in Sandusky township, Richland county, at the residence of a daughter, Mrs. Stevens, where he died.
His family consists of Anne Mariah, wife of Peter Spangler, of Evansport, Defiance county, Ohio; Aaron F. Cory, of Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Dr. J. McKune, of Marion county, Ohio; Martha J., wife of George Palmer, of Marion county, Iowa; William W. Cory, esq., of Ottumwa, Iowa; John F. Cory, of Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; and Rhoda A., the wife of Lewis Stevens, of Richland county, Ohio. The members of the family above enumerated are all living, and were generally present at the funeral of Mr. Cory.
The Corys, on the mother’s side of the house, were French, and on that of the father’s and grandfather’s, of Scotch descent, and originally settled in New Jersey, some time before the American Revolution. Mr. Cory, at the time of his decease, possessed a Bible printed in France in 1727, which is said to have been originally the property of his great-grandfather, Joseph Freeman. The Bible was purchased in France about the time his ancestors settled in New Jersey.
Mr. Cory often, in his conversation, dwelt upon the early reminiscences of settlement in Perry township, the wildness of the forest, the hardships of the pioneers, the difficulty of procuring milling, and the thinness of the settlements. He related, with much merriment, the experience of himself and father during the first summer, whilst engaged in making their first improvements. They erected, against a large log, a camp cabin, eight by ten feet, of small logs or saplings, and covered it, the roof all sloping one way, by clapboards, to keep out the wet. It had no floor, and was open in front. A fire was built a few feet from the front, to keep off the wolves, which at night were quite numerous. The only furniture of the cabin consisted of a rifle, two axes, two or three knives, a fork or two, two or three pewter plates, one or two tin cups, an iron pot for cooking, a skillet for frying meat, and two or three home-made stools. They slept on their blankets spread on leaves in their cabin. In this solitary home they were often joined by the late John Carr, sr., who lived a few miles away, in their work. One evening, while preparing supper, Mr. Cory had the misfortune to upset the skillet in frying meat. The oil immediately took fire, and with a great blaze was, with the meat, consumed. The fragrance of the consuming fat was wafted on the evening breeze, and snuffed by the hungry wolves, which speedily gathered in the distance, and commenced a hideous serenade, not daring to approach, having great fears of the fire. In this manner, Mr. Cory began his improvement in Perry, about sixty-two years ago. Such has been the change that has, almost imperceptibly, gone on in a single life time.
It may be remarked that Mr. Cory was an intelligent, honest, and kind-hearted gentleman. He was noted for his Christian bearing and generous impulses. In his politics, as in his religious views, he was firm and fixed, and never shrank from the issue. For a long series of years he was a most exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He met the dread monster, Death, fearing not, but conscious that his work was well done, and he had nothing to regret, but was ready to go. Just as the morning of the fourth of July, 1879, commenced to dawn, the good old pioneer was ushered into the presence of all those who had long since departed to a better and, we trust, a happier world. May he rest in peace. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
CHRISTOPHER C. COULTER (Green) p. 274(1)
Christopher C. Coulter, born in Ashland county, and in 1840 married Mary Cary, who died January 12, 1872. In 1850 he went to California, and was very successful there in gold mining. When he came back he made the trip by water. January 7, 1878, he married Mary A. Tarr. He held the office of justice of the peace in Perry township for two years, when he resigned, and during the times of militia held the offices of captain and major. He is a farmer and storekeeper. In politics he is a Republican, and was a Jacksonian Democrat. He is an earnest Christian, and a respected member of society. He is the father of six children: Artemicia, deceased; George Benton, who married Olive Ayers, and lives in Ashland county; Samuel J., deceased; Mary E., wife of Dr. James H. Christie, of Pennsylvania; John W., deceased; and Martha L. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
GEORGE B. COULTER (Green) p. 274(1)
George B. Coulter, son of Christopher C. Coulter, was born in 1845, and in 1867 married Olive M. Ayers, of Green township. He has held the office of councilman in Perrysville ever since it was incorporated, and has been in the dry goods business there since 1868, under the firm name of C.C. Coulter & Son, and by honesty and fair dealing has built up a large trade. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since he was eleven years old, and is highly respected by the community in which he lives. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Loudonville, and a member of Odd Fellows lodge and Royal Arcanum, in Perrysville. He is the father of three children – Louis L., who died when about nine years of age; Claude C., who died when one year old, and Alfred. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JOHN COULTER (Green) p. 273(1)
John Coulter, born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1790, came to Ashland county in 1810, and settled on the farm now owned by J.N. Castor. He was the first constable and coroner of Richland county. He served two terms in the legislature, representing Richland county, and was a member of the state board of equalization in 1856. In politics he was a Democrat. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1814 he married Elizabeth Rice, who was the first schoolteacher in Richland county, and opened the school in her own house. He died October 2, 1873. He was the father of ten children. At the present time only four are living: Christopher, who married Mary Cary, and afterward married Nancy Farr, and lives in Ashland county; John N., who married Elsie Polock, and afterward Alice E. Skelly, and lives in Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Strickler, and afterward wife of A.D. Zimmerman, and lives in Wayne county, Ohio; Nancy L. wife of Rev. Frank Eddy, who lives in Wayne county, Ohio. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JONATHAN COULTER (Green) p. 274(1)
Jonathan Coulter, son of T.W. Coulter, was a born in Perrysville, in 1844. He received a common school education in Perrysville, and attended the Vermillion institute, at Hayesville, three terms. In 1867 he bought an interest in the store formally known as the dry goods store of T.W. Coulter & Son, and at the same time, was ticket and express agent of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. In 1873 he purchased his brother’s interest in the store, and sold a two thirds share to A.D. Zimmerman, and at the end of two years, sold out to Zimmerman, and began to clerk in a hardware store for his brother, T.W. Coulter. At the end of one year he bought his brother’s interest, and the following year purchased the stove and tin store of Leopold & Yarnell, and consolidated the two. On the fourteenth of April 1880, his store, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire, but, not discouraged by his heavy loss, he erected a temporary building near his dwelling house, where he is doing a flourishing business. He has been councilman for three years; in politics is a Republican. In 1867 he married Ursula J. Peters, of Richland county, and to them have been born two children, Ettie E. and Esther L. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
THOMAS W. COULTER (Green) p. 274(1)
Thomas W. Coulter was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and came to Ohio in 1814, and married Elmira Hill, of Perrysville. He at one time, while living on the farm now owned by John Castor, near the Black fork, built a flat-boat, and loaded it with pork and set out for New Orleans, making the journey there in about a month, where he sold his stock of provisions and also his boat. It was a common way then, among enterprising men, to take provisions down to New Orleans–unless they sold out before they got there. Thomas Coulter was a tanner by trade, and bought out White, Colton & McBride, who built the first tannery in the county, where he carried on the business twenty-five years. He kept a farm, store, blacksmith shop, and harness shop, for ten years, and, after that, carried on a farm and was engaged in the dry goods business until the time of his death, which occurred in 1865. He held the office of justice of the peace for three years in succession, and it was offered him a fourth time, but he would not accept it. In politics he was a Republican. He was the father of eleven children, of whom five are living: Eliza E., wife of Joseph Hubbs, of Illinois; Jonathan, who married Lulie Peterson, and lives in Perrysville; Jennie, wife of Jacob Robinson, of Ashland county; Thomas W., and William H. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
THE COULTERS (Green) p, 146(1)
Thomas Coulter was born August 9, 1766, in the State of New York. His father, John Coulter, was a native of Ireland, and came to America when a youth, and married Abigail Parshall, a native of the State of New York. His paternal ancestors, therefore, were Scotch-Irish, and those on his mother’s side were Hollanders, and were among the early settlers of New Amsterdam. The home of John Coulter and his wife, after leaving New York, was near Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, but in a short time they were driven thence by the Indians, at the time of the Wyoming massacre (1779), their house and grain being consumed by fire and their cattle driven away by the Indians and Tories. The father of Tom Jelloway, since a Greentown Indian, was then living in the Wyoming valley, and, being friendly to the whites, warned them of their danger; and among the number saved was the Coulter family. As soon as the perils of the times were over they turned their faces toward the West, and made a home near Ginger Hill, in Washington county, Pennsylvania. In 1788, Thomas Coulter, and his father, John Coulter, took a cargo of flour, fruit, etc., down the Ohio River to Maysville, then Limestone, Kentucky, where they disposed of their load. While there, they were both attacked with small-pox, which proved fatal to the father. After Thomas was sufficiently recovered, he started for home, on foot, having previously sold the boat. One day, as he was pursuing “his solitary way,” he was overtaken by the notorious renegade, Simon Girty, armed with all the weapons peculiar to the savage Senecas, with whom he then lived as an adopted member of the tribe. Mr. Coulter new him, and not relishing or desiring his company, resolved to get rid of him by stratagem. Under some slight pretext he stepped behind Girty, cocked his rifle, and told him if he moved either to the right or left, or offered any resistance whatever, he would be a dead man. Girty was taken by surprise, and obeyed orders; and they marched all that day along the paths through an unbroken wilderness, until they reached a settlement, when Mr. Coulter gladly gave up his prisoner. Some time after his return he joined a volunteer company under Colonel Morgan, and went to White River, Indiana, to aid in subduing the Indians who were committing depredations upon the white inhabitants of the frontier settlements in Kentucky. After an absence of a few months he again returned home, and in a short time married Miss Nancy Tannahill, the marriage occurring August, 1789. In 1797 he moved to Butler county, Pennsylvania, where he remained until about the year 1806, when he settled in Jefferson county, Ohio. After remaining there a few years he finally emigrated to Richland county, then a part of Knox county, and settled near the present site of Perrysville, in Ashland county. The town of Perrysville was laid out by Thomas Coulter, June 10, 1813, with the intention of naming it Coulterville; but after Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, he changed his intention, and called the village Perrysville, in honor of the naval achievement of Commodore Perry. When Richland county, was organized, he was appointed one of the associate judges by the general assembly of Ohio. Mr. Coulter was a member of the Presbyterian church of Perrysville, and one of the first elders. He died as he lived–a consistent Christian, and zealous for the growth and prosperity of the church of his choice. He died October 24, 1844, and was buried in Perrysville cemetery, aged nearly seventy-nine years. He was the father of seven children, viz.: John, Rachel, Abigail, David, Melzer, Nancy, and Thomas.
John Coulter was born September 13, 1790, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was the oldest son of Judge Thomas Coulter. His education was obtained principally in the common schools of the time. He frequently spoke in the highest terms of one of his teachers, the Rev. Mr. McMillen, one of the pioneers of Presbyterianism in western Pennsylvania, and particularly in Washington county. Among the pupils of this good man was Rev. John Coulter, brother of Judge Coulter, and was pastor of the church of Concord, in the presbytery of Butler, more than forty years. Also, of Walter Lowrie, of blessed memory. John Coulter came to Richmond, then a part of Knox county, in the fall of 1810, in company with Edward Haley, a young man employed by Judge Coulter to accompany him. They began their labors upon a farm a little southeast of the present site of Perrysville, in October, and continued their work until they had made several thousand rails, built a cabin, cleared out ten acres of ground, set out fruit trees, etc., after which they returned to their homes in Jefferson county, Ohio. In the following spring, 1811, John Coulter, and the rest of his father’s family, removed to the cabin in the wilderness, which had been erected the fall before. This cabin afterwards became the Coulter block-house, and while used as such, John Coulter acted as one of the scouts to watch the proceedings of the Indians. Early in the fall of 1812 he went with a surveying party to open a road from Cleveland to Mansfield. The road is now known as the Harrisville and Cleveland road, and passes through the town of Ashland. On Saturday evening, after having commenced the survey, they had reached Chippewa lake, in Medina county, and were encamped for the night. Mr. McArthur, one of the commissioners to locate the road, was also captain of an independent company, and while there a messenger rode into camp with orders for Captain McArthur’s company to return immediately to Cleveland, at the same time bringing the news of the surrender of General Hull at Detroit, this being the first intimation they had of the event, although it occurred on the 16th of August, 1812, some weeks prior to the survey. The surveying party was, therefore, disbanded, a part of which returned to Cleveland, and a part to the Black fork of the Mohican. Every one of the few settlements they passed on their way home was deserted, the cabins standing silent and tenantless. How their hearts must have sunk within them when they thought of the possible fate of their loved ones. But when they reached the block-house they found the several families of the settlers gathered there for safety, and learned that the Zimmer family had been murdered by the Greentown, or other Indians, the night before. While they were encamped at Chippewa lake, they heard the noise of chopping on the other side, and as they afterward found the Harris settlement deserted, from which they supposed the noise to proceed, Mr. Coulter was strongly of the opinion that the Indians who killed the Zimmers were encamped there. The details concerning the great flight to the block-houses at Clinton’s, Lewis’, Beam’s, Oliver’s, Coulter’s, Jerome’s, Priest’s, Eagle’s, and Metcalf’s, are given in the sketch of the war of 1812, where Mr. Coulter’s experiences are referred to.
In the fall of 1813 Mr. Coulter and Captain Ebenezer Rice took the job of continuing the survey and opening of the same road, from Trickle’s cabin, the late location of the Markley brick residence, just east of Ashland, to the Black fork. While thus employed, Mr. Coulter, killed a large black wolf. After the completion of the contract, early in the year 1814, Captain Rice walked to Chillicothe to receive the money, ninety dollars, which was due them, also four dollars which the law of Ohio allowed for each wolf scalp.
On the seventh of April, 1814, John Coulter was married by Rev. James Scott, a Presbyterian minister of Mount Vernon, to Betsy Rice, eldest daughter of Captain Ebenezer Rice. In September, 1814, the young couple moved to their own home, a cabin on a quarter of land, which joined Captain Rice’s. In the summer of 1815, Mrs. Coulter taught the first school in Green township, and, we believe, in what is now Ashland county, and took spinning and weaving as her pay for tuition. She said it was a great accommodation to her, as she did not understand spinning and weaving as well as teaching. Mrs. Coulter (Betsey Rice) was born January 27, 1797, in New Salem, Worcester township, Hampshire county, Massachusetts. She came with her father’s family, Captain Ebenezer Rice, to Newark, Licking county, Ohio, in 1810, and in February, 1811, he settled near the present site of Perrysville, in Ashland county, then part of Knox county. Mrs. Coulter is now (1878) a resident of Congress, Wayne county, and although far advanced in years, possesses perfectly all her mental faculties and a fair degree of physical force.
In June, 1814, John Coulter and his brother-in-law, James Moore, descended through the Black fork, Walhonding, and Muskingum, in a canoe, to Zanesville, on a shopping expedition; and from the bill of goods we learn that six small dinner plates cost one dollar and fifty cents; six cups and saucers, one dollar and seventy-five cents; an earthen teapot, one dollar and twenty-five cents; a little blue creamer (still in existence), sixty-two and one-half cents, etc. etc. In the spring of 1815 he and David Hill went in a canoe to the mouth of Owl creek, to one of Johnny Appleseed’s nurseries, and brought up five hundred apple trees, which produced excellent fruit.
Mr. Coulter was a man of sterling integrity, sound judgment, warm and true in his friendships; and in consequence of these qualities the people often honored him with office. When the project of erecting the new county of Vermillion was agitated, Mr. Coulter was sent to Columbus some two or three sessions of the legislature, to work up the claims of the new county. He afterwards served on the State board of equalization for real estate, and was the first assessor of personal property of the eastern half of Richland county, and was the first coroner. He was twice elected justice of the peace in Green township, Ashland county, and twice in Washington township, Richland county, besides to many minor offices, all the duties of which he discharged with fidelity and honor.
In November 1817, he and his wife united with the Methodist Episcopal church, under the ministry of Rev. John Sommerville, and Mrs. Coulter and their eldest child, Rumina, were baptized the same day. A few years afterward they united with the Presbyterian church, in communion and fellowship of which they walked together until the death of Mr. Coulter, which occurred in Perrysville, October 2, 1873. He had reached the ripe old age of eighty-two years and seventeen days, and had lived with the wife of his youth nearly sixty years. The purity of his acts certified to the sincerity of his professions, and his long and busy life closed calmly and peacefully. His grave is made in Perrysville, where he spent the strength of his early manhood.
Mr. Coulter was the father of ten children, only four of whom survive, viz.: C.C. Coulter, of Perrysville, Captain J.N. Coulter, of Glidden, Carroll county, Iowa, Elizabeth R. wife of A.D. Zimmerman, of Shreve, Wayne county, Ohio, and Nancy L., wife of Rev. Franklin Eddy, of Congress, Wayne county, Ohio. The names of the deceased are: Cyrenius M., Rumina, wife of Dr. J.H. Register, Sebastian C., and Martha R., all buried at Perrysville, and Lucina, wife of David Ewing, of Hayesville, Martin Van Buren, who died at Miliken’s Bend, Louisiana, in the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1863. [Note: — We are indebted to Mrs. Rev. Eddy, of Congress, Wayne county, for most of the items of this personal sketch. It is quite valuable as a family reminiscence, and for the light it shed upon the pioneer transactions of 1812.] (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
ENOCH COUN (Mifflin) p. 317(1)
Enoch Coun was born in Mifflin township September 11, 1849, where he has always lived, with the exception of seven years when he resided in Mifflin township, Richland county. October 17, 1871, he was married to Sarah Eby, who was born in Mifflin township, Richland county, September 21, 1849. The fruits of this union are four children, three of whom are living: William Curtis, who was born October 9, 1872; Bryon O., who was born July 15, 1874; Amos L., who was born July 3, 1879. The one deceased was named Allen G. Thurman, and was born July 1, 1876. His death was caused by his clothing catching fire, burning him so badly that he only lived from Tuesday until Thursday; he died April 8, 1880. Our subject, Mr. Coun, has run a threshing machine for the last seventeen years. When not in the season for threshing, he pays his attention to the carpenter trade. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
CHRISTIAN COUNTRYMAN (Perry) p. 328(1)
Christian Countryman, fifth son of Peter and Rosanna Countryman, was born in the State of Pennsylvania, in the year 1817, and came to Ohio in the year 1847, and leased the farm on which he now lives. Here he began life in earnest immediately in the woods. He was married in the year 1844, to Miss Barbara Kline. To them have been born eight children, two sons and six daughters; all are living. Their names are as follows: Elizabeth, Jacob, Nancy, Simon Peter, Ann Maria, Mary Ellen, Sarah J., Lettie Levina; all married but Jacob and Levina. All were born in this State but Elizabeth, who was born in Pennsylvania. Both himself and his wife are earnest members of the Lutheran church. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
S. P. COUNTRYMAN (Perry) p. 323(1)
S. P. Countryman, second son of Christian and Barbara Countryman, was born in Perry township, Ashland county, Ohio, in the year 1847. He resided with his parents until the time of his marriage, in 1871, to Miss Selina Myers, daughter of a pioneer family. To Mr. And Mrs. Countryman were born two children, both sons. Mr. Countryman is one of the most substantial and enterprising young farmers of Perry township. Mrs. Countryman is an earnest member of the Albright church, and has always assisted in its support. While Mr. Countryman is not associated with any church organization, he is a firm advocate of law and order. By dint of hard labor, frugal habits, and wise economy, he is now the possessor of quite a nice property. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
ENOCK COVERT (Lake) p. 289(1)
Enoch Covert was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1781, and married Elizabeth Hannon, of the same place. In his young days, he was engaged in lumbering on the Susquehanna. In 1818, he came to Ohio, and first settled near Wooster, where he remained one year, and in 1819 came to Lake township, Ashland county, and settled in what was then a wilderness, on the farm now owned by William Covert. At that time, there were only three families within a radius of four miles. While in Ohio he was engaged in farming. For several years he was an elder in the Presbyterian church, of which he was a member, and was an earnest Christian; he contributed largely to the support of the church, and was respected by all who knew him. In 1861 he died, aged eighty years; his wife died in 1879, aged eighty-four years. Ten of his eleven children are living: John E., who married Esther Hanbey, William, who married Hannah Ewalt, and afterward married Rebecca Smith, James M., who married Martha Martin; Esty T., who married Elizabeth Byers, of Indiana; Susan, who married Matthew Leach; Lucinda, who married Henry Dillier; Matilda; Ithamer, who married Sarah A. Burd; Sarah A.; and Nancy, who married David Leach. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
ITHAMER COVERT (Lake) p. 285(1)
Ithamer Covert was born in Lake township, Ashland county, Ohio, in 1832, and received a common school education. In 1855 he married Sarah Burd. He is engaged in farming, is a deacon in the Reformed church and contributes largely to its support. In politics he is a Republican. He is the father of eight children: Cyrus B., Ithamer E., Emma E., Enoch I., Harvey S., John C., Eliza A., and Dayton. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)
JOHN E. COVERT (Lake) p. 290(1)
John E. Covert was born in Pennsylvania in 1817, and came to Ohio with his father, and settled in Ashland county. In 1847 he went to the State of New York, where he followed the carpenter and joiner’s trade nine years. He then returned to Ashland county and settled on the farm on which he now lives. He has held the office of school director and is deeply interested in all educational matters; is a member of the Reformed church, and in politics is a Republican. When he first began business he had only a small capital, but by industry and economy has accumulated quite a fortune and a very comfortable home. May 13, 1844, he married Esther Hanbey, of New York, and is the father of one child, James Enoch. (Transcribed and contributed by Russ Shopbell)