Ohio

Slave Narrative of Ben Brown

Interviewer: Albert I Dugan Person Interviewed: Ben Brown Location: Keen St., Zanesville, Ohio Age: 100 Occupation: Railroad worker Yes suh I wuz a slave in Vaginyah, Alvamaul (Albermarle) county an’ I didn’t have any good life, I’m tellin’ you dat! It wuz a tough life. I don’t know how old I am, dey never told me down dere, but the folks here say I’m a hunderd yeah old an’ I spect dats about right. My fathah’s name wuz Jack Brown and’ my mammy’s Nellie Brown. Dey wuz six of us chillun, one sistah Hannah an’ three brothers, Jim, Harrison, an’ … Read more

Slave Narrative of Sarah Woods Burke

Interviewer: James Immel Person Interviewed: Sarah Woods Burke Location: Washington County, Ohio Place of Birth: Grayson County, West Virginia Age: 85 “Yessir, I guess you all would call me an ex-slave cause I was born in Grayson County, West Virginia and on a plantation I lived for quite a spell, that is until when I was seven years old when we all moved up here to Washington county.” “My Pappy’s old Mammy was supposed to have been sold into slavery when my Pappy was one month old and some poor white people took him ter raise. We worked for them … Read more

Slave Narrative of James Campbell

Interviewer: Hallie Miller Person Interviewed: James Campbell Location: Gallipolis, Ohio Place of Birth: Monroe County WV Date of Birth: January 15, 1852 “Well, I’se bo’n Monro’ County, West Virginia, on January 15, 1852, jes’ few miles from Union, West Virginia.” “My mammy wuz Dinnah Alexander Campbell an’ my pappy wuz Levi Campbell an’ dey bof cum frum Monro’ County. Dat’s ’bout only place I heerd dem speak ’bout.” “Der wuz Levi, Floyd, Henry, Noah, an’ Nancy, jes’ my haf brudders an’ sistahs, but I neber knowed no diffrunce but whut dey wuz my sistahs an’ brudders.” “Where we liv? On … Read more

Slave Narrative of Charley Watson

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Charley Watson Location: South Carolina Age: 87 “Dis is a mighty hot day I tells you, and after climbing them steps I just got to fan myself befo’ I give answer to your questions. You got any ‘bacco I could chaw and a place to spit? Dis old darkie maybe answer more better if he be allowed to be placed lak dat at de beginnin’ of de ‘sperience. “Where was I born? Why right dere on de Hog Fork Place, thought everybody knowed dat! It was de home place of my old Marster Daniel … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mack Taylor

Interviewer: W. W. Dixon Person Interviewed: Mack Taylor Location: Ridgeway, South Carolina Age: 97 Mack Taylor lives six miles southeast of Ridgeway, S.C., on his farm of ninety-seven acres. The house, in which he resides, is a frame house containing six rooms, all on one floor. His son, Charley, lives with him. Charley is married and has a small family. “Howdy do sir! I sees you a good deal goin’ backwards and forwards to Columbia. I has to set way back in de bus and you sets up to de front. I can’t ketch you to speak to you, as … Read more

Genealogy of Susannah French and John Shideler

9 SUSANNAH FRENCH (Aaron1), b. 1785, Essex Co., New Jersey; d. Nov. 9, 1863, near Troy, Ohio; m. John Shideler (d. Sep. 15, 1844, age 61 yrs., 7 mos., 28 ds.), s. of Peter Shideler of Washington Co., Pennsylvania. John and Susannah (French) Shideler settled in Miami Co., Ohio, soon after marriage. Children: 91 AARON SHIDELER, d.; m. Hannah 92 SUSANNAH SHIDELER, d.; m. Lewis Winters. 93 JOHN SHIDELER, d.; m. Isabelle Long. Ch.: (Hon.) WILLIAM LONG SHIDELER (Dayton, Tenn.), m. JOHN LEWIS SHIDELER, m. MARY, d. SUSANNAH BELLE, d. m.. MARTHA, d. m. GEORGE HUGHES SHIDELER, m. 94 PETER … Read more

Genealogy of Asa French

8 ASA FRENCH (Aaron1), b. July 8, 1780, Essex Co., N. J.; d. Aug. 9, 1845, Miami Co., O.; m. (1st), 1301, Sarah Jackson (b. Apr. 24, 1780; d. Mar. 26,1820); m. (2nd). Miami Co., O., Hannah Davis (b. Feb. 19, 1800, near Lexington, Ky.; d. Mar. 5, 1883, near Troy, O.). Asa French moved from Greene Co., Pa., to Miami Co., O., 1811. Children of first marriage: 68 EZEKIEL FRENCH, b. Aug. 20, 1802, near Amity, Pa.; d. Feb. 2, 1889, S. Bend, Ind.; m. Elizabeth Hilliard. Ch.: CHARLES HILLIARD, d. (m. Mary Eliza Stillman). SARAH d. (m. Francis … Read more

Genealogy of Aaron French, Jr.

2 AARON FRENCH, Jr. (Aaron1), b. Apr. 19, 1767, Essex Co., N. J.; d. Jan. 31, 1850, Johnstown, O.; m. (1st), Mar. 8, 1792, Washington Co., Pa., Ruth Coe (b. Aug. 19, 1770, Morristown, N. J.; d. Mar. 19, 1835, Johnstown, O.), dau. of Elder Joseph Coe (Joseph, Joseph, Benjamin, Robert), and Abigail Moon, his w. Aaron French 2 m. (2nd) Oct. 8, 1835, Catharine Combs (d. Aug. 9, 1856), wid. of – Starkey. Robert Coe, ancestor of Ruth (Coe) French, came to Mass., 1634, from Suffolkshire, England, where he was b., 1596. Children of first marriage (none of second): … Read more

Genealogy of Lydia French and James Fordyce

7 LYDIA FRENCH (Aaron1), b. about 1777, Essex Co., New Jersey; d. about 1856-7, Miami Co., Ohio; m. June 28, 1802, Amity, Pennsylvania, James Fordyce, Jr. (b. Sep. 17, 1 2; d. Aug., 1852) ; moved from Pennsylvania to Miami Co., Ohio, 1811. Children: 58 ELIZABETH FORDYCE, b. Apr. 8, 1803; d. Apr., 1806. 59 URI FORDYCE, b. Feb. 18, 1805; d. Mar. 4, 1876; m. Mar. 17, 1829, Margaret Ann Long; 10 ch., including RUHAMA ANN (b. Nov. 21,1831; d. May 13, 1809, N. Y. City; m. Thomas Bowdle); MARGARET ELLEN (b. May 15, 1838; lives at West Milton, … Read more

Genealogy of Ezekiel French

6 EZEKIEL FRENCH (Aaron1), b. June 17, 1775, Essex Co., New Jersey; d. Jan. 1, 1861, Miami Co., Ohio; m. (1st) Mar. 4, 1795, Phebe Bates (b. Jan. 18, 1775; d. Sep. 4, 1843), dau. of Ephraim Bates; m. (2nd) Jan. 16, 1845, Martha Jones (b. Mar. 21, 1773; d.) ; m. (3rd) Elizabeth (b. May, 1777, in N. J.; d. Feb., 1860, Miami Co., O.), widow of Enoch Sutton. Ezekiel French a moved from Pennsylvania to West Virginia, 1798, and to Miami Co., Ohio, 1811. Children of first marriage (none of second or third): 47 ISAAC FRENCH, b. Feb. … Read more

Genealogy of Mary French and John Clark

5 MARY FRENCH (Aaron3), b. 1772, Essex Co., New Jersey; d. Jan. 12, 1859, Johnstown, Ohio, age 86 yrs. 6 mos.; m. near Amity, Pennsylvania, John Clark (d. Jan. 28, 1840, age 69 yrs.), a Baptist preacher, brother of Isaac Clark, h. of Deborah French;3 he moved to Licking Co., Ohio, about 1810. Children: 35 MARY CLARK, d. m. (2). 36 DEBORAH CLARK, d. m. 37 LYDIA CLARK, d. 38 EUNICE CLARK, d.; m. Elder John Evans (Washington). 39 LUTHER CLARK, d. age 6 or 7 yrs. 40 MATTHEW CLARK, d. Mar. 10, 1875, age 76 yrs.; m. Mary Evans … Read more

Slave Narrative of Aunt Betty Cofer

Interviewer: Esther S. Pinnix Person Interviewed: Betty Cofer Location: North Carolina Date of Birth: 1856 Age: 81 Negro Folk Lore Of The Piedmont. Sources of Information: Aunt Betty Cofer–ex-slave of Dr. Beverly Jones The ranks of negro ex-slaves are rapidly thinning out, but, scattered here and there among the ante-bellum families of the South, may be found a few of these picturesque old characters. Three miles north of Bethania, the second oldest settlement of the “Unitas Fratrum” in Wachovia, lies the 1500 acre Jones plantation. It has been owned for several generations by the one family, descendants of Abraham Conrad. … Read more

Biography of Samuel R. H. Robinson

In the history of railroad building throughout the American continent the name of Samuel Roland Hiland Robinson figures prominently. For many years he was accorded and executed most important contracts of that character, being associated with the construction of many of the most important times west of the Mississippi as well as in Canada and in Mexico. He developed splendid executive ability, and his administrative direction of his affairs showed him to be a man of keen insight and wide vision. For many years he maintained his home in St. Louis and was regarded as one of its most valued … Read more

Biography of Charles Hugh Neilson, M. D.

Dr. Charles Hugh Neilson, an internist with offices in the Humboldt building in St. Louis, and widely known in educational circles, being now head professor in charge of the department of medicine in the St. Louis University, was born in Sunbury, Ohio, July 19, 1872. His father, A. W. Neilson, was also a native of the Buckeye state and belonged to one of the old families of Ohio of Scotch lineage, the first representative of the name coming to the new world during the colonial epoch in American history. One of the early ancestors in the paternal line served in … Read more

Biography of A. P. Fonda

A. P. Fonda has made a most creditable record as a farmer, as a lawyer and particularly as a citizen whose devotion to the welfare of the great majority Is a recognized fact. A resident of Independence, he was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, March 30, 1878, his parents being Anthony Philip and Laura D. (Wier) Fonda, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of New Jersey. His parents became acquainted and were married in Leavenworth, Kansas. The father conducted the first wholesale grocery in Kansas City, which place was then known as Port Fonda. … Read more

Biography of Sol. E. Waggoner

Sol. E. Waggoner, president of the Masonic Home of St. Louis, has long been a recognized leader in the Masonic fraternity of Missouri and has contributed much to the growth and success of the order in the state. A native of Ohio he was born March 8, 1851, and is justly proud to trace his descent from General Waggoner of Revolutionary war fame who was a resident of Virginia. His father, William Waggoner, lived for some time in Ohio and in 1858 established his home in Macon, Missouri. He was one of only eight in the entire county who supported … Read more

Biography of Herbert O. Caster

Herbert O. Caster, who, on February 2, 1914, qualified as attorney for the State Public Utilities Commission, and is now a resident of Topeka, had lived in Kansas for thirty-eight years, and is well known over the state, but particularly in his home County of Decatur, where before his admission to the bar he made a fine record for himself as an educator and an energetic factor in other affairs of public importance. When the Caster family came to Kansas in 1878 they took up a homestead in Decatur County. At that time the county was a sparsely settled regiMeigon, … Read more

Biography of James W. Shankland, M. D.

Dr. James W. Shankland, a St. Louis surgeon who for some time was surgical chief of the Embarkation Hospital at Newport News, Virginia, during the World war and who is now practicing successfully in the metropolis of Missouri, was born in Noble county, Ohio, April 4, 1867. His father, James M. Shankland, was a native of the Buckeye state and a representative of one of its old families of Scotch-Irish descent. The founder of the family in America was Rhodes Shankland, who came to the new world from Scotland prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in Delaware, where during … Read more

Biography of Rev. ZeBarney Thorne Phillips, D. D.

Rev. ZeBarney Thorne Phillips, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal church, St. Louis, was born in Springfield, Ohio, May 1, 1875. His father, ZeBarney Phillips, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, and at the time of the Civil war enlisted in the Union army, serving throughout the period of hostilities in the One Hundred and Twelfth New York Volunteer Infantry. He married Sallie Essex Sharp, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, the wedding being celebrated in Springfield, Ohio, July 12, 1866. They became the parents of four children, all of whom survived the father, who passed away on the 24th of … Read more

Biography of Arthur Ogden Archer

Arthur Ogden Archer, who is president of the Archer Petroleum Company of St. Louis, in which city he has resided since 1912, was born in Stock township, Noble county, Ohio, and spent his youthful days upon his father’s farm. He represents one of the old and highly respected families of the Buckeye state, its men always being inspired by courage, fidelity and loyalty to duty. His grandfather, Absalom Archer, was a son of Simon Archer and was born in Stock township, where he devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. He wedded Rhoda Swainey, who belonged to one of the pioneer … Read more