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WASHINGTON TOWSHIP.

PETER E. ARMSTRONG, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 10; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Greenville Township, Darke Co., Ohio, Nov. 21, 1831, and is the son of John and Jane (Elston) Armstrong; at the age of 18, he was living in Jackson Township, this county; about that time the first church edifice was built there-a little log house, by the Methodists; his early education was obtained in a very poor log hut, of small dimensions, but from his father he obtained good sound knowledge, as he was an educated gentleman before he emigrated into the wilderness; he was an attorney at law, and in this county was Associate Judge of the Common Pleas a number of years, and Justice of the Peace twenty-four years he was one of the most highly respected and prominent men of the county during his lifetime. The subject of this sketch, Peter E., is Treasurer of this township; has assessed the chattel property of this township five years; a Trustee, etc.; is a strong Union man, and a Republican. He married Catherine Henning July 25, 1854; she was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Nov. 22, 1830, and came to Darke Co. in her youth, with her parents, Jacob and Rebecca (Stiner) Henning; they have four children, viz. David, born Aug. 11, 1855; Sarah Jane, born Nov. 23, 1856; she married Andrew C. Bickel; Hugh Lincoln, born June 15, 1860, and Mary Isabelle, born Nov. 29, 1867. Mr. Armstrong owns 148 acres, where he has resided twenty-four years; this he has procured by his own unaided efforts and self-reliance; himself and wife are members of the German Baptist Church.

ANDREW BICKEL, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 15; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Brush Valley, Centre Co., Penn., Sept. 2, 1805; moved to Montgomery Co., Ohio, with his parents in 1811. His father, Andrew Bickel, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Catherine Gloss, born also in Pennsylvania; he died in St. Joseph Co., Ind., in 1854, and she died here on Sec. 15 in 1858; he was drafted in the war of 1812, but hired a substitute. Andrew, the subject of this sketch, moved to this place, where he now resides, March 2, 1831, having entered 80 acres in August before; he built his cabin of logs in the woods, without windows or doors, but in the fall he procured a plank, of which he made a door, using wooden pins for nails, being too poor to buy nails, or latch, or hinges, but his latch-string has always been out for a friend; in 1838, he built a hewed-log house and weatherboarded it; in this he still resides, a good, warm, substantial habitation; he sold forty bushels of corn of his own raising for 25 cents a bushel, and every year since has had corn to sell; and in the early days he never refused a neighbor a sack of corn whether he had the money or not; in the first twelve years alone he cleared 50 acres; after that his boys were old enough to help him, and they did. He married Nancy Moyer May 30, 1830; she was born in Rockingham Co., Va., Aug, 27, 1810. Mr. and Mrs. Bickel have had ten children, viz.: Henry, born Jan. 2. 1831; John, born Feb. 23, 1832; William, born Oct. 10, 1833, died Nov. 22, 1853; Catherine, born Feb. 9, 1839; Daniel, born Oct. 21, 1837; Sally, born Dec. 2, 1839, died March 30, 1843; Elizabeth, born Jan. 3, 1842; Abigail, born Jan. 19, 1844, died March 20, 1853; Mary, born April 25, 1847, died May 21, 1847, and Andrew, born June 15, 1852. Catherine married Henry Blocher; Elizabeth married John J. Norris. Mr. Bickel is hale and hearty, and says at the age of 60 he could cut and split from the stump 200 rails, or cut and put up two cords of hard wood in a day. He voted for Andrew Jackson in 1832. He now owns the old homestead of 120 acres, where he resides.

DANIEL W. BICKEL, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 17; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Clermont Co., Ohio, Nov. 11, 1838, and is the eldest son of Tobias Bickel, of Sec. 18, Washington Township, who was born in Centre Co., Penn., May

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6, 1811, and married Elizabeth McAdams, of Hamilton Co., Ohio, in June, 1837, she was born in that county Nov. 15, 1815. Tobias Bickel moved to where he now resides in 1848; he followed teaming in Cincinnati until he was 25 years of age; he had no advantages for an education in his youth, but has given all his children good opportunities, which they have improved; they have had eleven chil dren, viz. Daniel, Margaret, Hamilton A., Sarah E., deceased; Catherine, deceased; John J., Nancy J., Joseph, Elijah, Stephen R., deceased, and Marcus D. Mr. T. Bickel has been a successful and thrifty farmer ever since he came to Darke Co., and owns, free and clear, 240 acres, which he has redeemed from a wilderness of swamps, by open and blind ditching, as well as clearing of heavy timber. The subject of this sketch, at the age of 20, commenced teaching school, and followed it four years; has been Assessor of the township for two years, and Clerk one year. He married Rebecca Chenoweth, daughter of John Chenoweth, deceased, of this township, Sept. 28, 1861; she was born May 25, 1838. They have had three children, viz.: the first died unnamed; John H., born Oct. 29, 1863, and Ira E., born Feb. 28, 1866. He owns a fine home and 156 acres of land; himself and wife are members of the Methodist Church.

HENRY M. BICKEL, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 8; P. O. Hill Grove; was born Jan. 2, 1831, in Montgomery County, Ohio, and came with his parents to Darke County in April following; his father, Andrew Bickel, was born in Centre County, Penn., Sept. 2, 1805, and married Nancy Moyer, who was born in Virginia Aug. 27, 1810; both, hale and hearty, are now living on the farm they bought in 1830, at that time in an unbroken wilderness, in Washington Township. though they experienced all the hardships and privations so well known to all the early settlers of this portion of Ohio, but now, instead of the wilderness, amid the most fertile and productive agricultural land of the State, Henry M., the subject of this sketch, has owned the farm (234 acres) where he lives twenty-three years; this also has he redeemed from wilderness and swamps to bountiful productiveness, being among, if not the very first man to "blind tile," which is the making of the fine farms in Darke County; now he is surrounded by abundance and comfort; at 21 years, he was not worth a dollar, and possesses to-day the first silver dollar that he earned, by cutting eight cords of hardwood. June 12, 1856, be married Mary Crumrine; she was born in Darke County July 8, 1839; they have had six children, viz., John C., Lucy C. (deceased), Mary A., Dora (deceased). Harrison C. and Henry I.

SAMUEL W. BLOCHER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 23; P. O. Greenville; is the youngest son of Samuel Blocher, of Washington Township, and was born in this township Oct. 20, 1845; was raised a farmer, and has continued to follow it successfully, and has just erected for himself one of the finest brick residences in this county. He married Catherine M. Glunt, daughter of Joseph Glunt deceased; they have three children, viz.: Ira, born July 22, 1873; Hugh, Feb. 12, 1876; and Myrtle, Aug. 6, 1878. Mr. B. owns 183 acres of fine farming land adjoining the homestead of his father.

THOMAS F. CHENOWETH, farmer and brickmason, Sec. 32; P. O. Darke was born in Franklin County, Ohio, July 17, 1808; his father, John Chenoweth, was born in Virginia, and married Betsey Foster; she was born in Maryland July 16, 1788; he died in Tippecanoe County, Ind., in 1865; she died in Darke County, Ohio, in 1876; the family moved to this section in February, 1818. (See biog raphy of Jacob B. Chenoweth.) The subject of this sketch attended school with about an equal number of white and colored children, as the Clemens (colored) settlement was made soon after they moved here; up to the age of 21, Mr. Chenoweth followed farming, then learned the brickmason's trade, which, with farming, he has ever since followed; was elected Justice of the Peace in 1852, and served until 1879 (twenty-seven years). He married Christina Thomas Nov. 10, 1831; she was born in Anderson County, Tenn., Feb. 1, 1810; her father, John Thomas, married Catherine Albright Oct. 31, 1799; she was born March 14, 1784;

both were born in North Carolina and died in Preble County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Chenoweth have had the following children, viz., Lewis A., born Aug. 6, 1832, died April 4, 1836; John, born Nov. 19, 1833; Louisa, Dec. 16, 1835; Nelson T., Oct. 8, 1837; Emeline, Dec. 7, 1839, died Feb. 18, 1840; Catherine, born Jan. 13, 1843; Joel T., Dec. 29, 1844; Mary Jane, Sept. 18, 1848; and Benjamin F., Sept. 27, 1852; Louisa married Milton Jefferis, Catherine married Daniel Clapp, Mary Jane married George McClure. In the winter of 1830 and 1831, Mr. Chenoweth hauled with a four-horse team out of Greenville all the wheat that was marketed there at that time, i. e., two loads a day, twenty-five bushels to the load; it was sold for 37 cents per bushel in merchandise. He owns a good farm of 160

acres.

JACOB B. CHENOWETH, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 17; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Pike Co., Ohio, May 13, 1824, and came with his parents to Washington Township, where he now resides, in December, 1829; his father, John Chenoweth, was born in Pike Co., Ohio, Nov. 7, 1797, and is said to be the first white child born on the Scioto River in that county; he married Mary E. Barger April 13, 1820; she was born in Virginia in 1797; her father, Jacob Barger, was born March 13, 1769, and married Susan Barger, who was born in Germany; he died Sept. 7, 1822, and she died Oct. 24, 1845. Jacob B., the subject of this sketch, began life poor; he worked for small wages, farming up to 1850; his limited education he procured here in a hut built of round logs, small and so low a big boy could barely stand upright; in place of glass window-lights was greased white paper, through which only dim knowledge could be obtained. He married Sarah Wagemon Sept. 10, 1857; she was born in Darke Co., Sept. 8, 1837; her father, William Wagemon, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Mary Baker, of Virginia; he died in Wabash Co., Ind., in the winter of 1867; she died in Randolph Co., Ind., in March, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Chenoweth have four children, viz., John W., born Sept. 6, 1858; Mary A., Oct. 21, 1860; Flora J., March 30, 1863; and Ira O., March 15, 1874. He owns 100 acres and a good home; he has been Supervisor, Trustee, School Director, etc., but has never aspired to public office.

JOSEPH COLE, JR., retired farmer, Sec. 33; P. O. Darke; was born in Washington Township, Darke Co., Dec. 29, 1823; at the age of 17, he began teaching school in the first schoolhouse erected in Washington Township, and followed teaching most of the time until he was 30 years old; he built and managed a saw-mill about three years; he went into merchandising in Coletown and followed it four years; he since has followed dealing in live-stock and farming; he has never been a political aspirant; he is now Secretary of the Darke County Pioneer Society. His father, Samuel Cole, was born in Sussex Co., N. J., July 3, 1787, -and married Mary Elston, of the same county, in 1812; she was born Nov. 27, 1792; his father, Samuel Cole, was born on the Hudson River, near New York City, Nov. 5, 1751. He first married Janey Davis; she was born July 2, 1755; his second wife was Anna Rider; she was born Oct. 25, 1760; his father was David Cole, a descendant of the Coles who were among the first settlers of New York City or New Amsterdam; Samuel Cole, the father of the subject of this sketch, moved to Washington Township in March, 1817; his father came the next year and died here Jan. 8, 1829; Samuel, father of Joseph, the subject of this sketch, died in Greenville Township, this county, Feb. 21, 1866; he was a farmer but taught the first school in Washington Township; he was the first Justice of the Peace, and was Township Clerk in 1823; his widow Mary, died Aug. 10, 1831; they had eight children, viz.: William, born July 25, 1813, in New Jersey, died April 3, 1836; Asa, born July 26, 1815, in New Jersey, died May 29, 1857; Jane, born April 20, 1817; the first white child born in Washington Township; she married Leonard Wintermute, and now resides in Greenville Township; Betsey, born March 23, 1819, died Feb. 6, 1872; she married George Elston, deceased; Samuel, born April 5, 1821; Joseph, Dec. 29, 1823; Polley, 18, 1826, died Sept. 25. 1831, and Henry, June 20, 1829; he is a Christian minister and resides in Kansas. Joseph, the subject of

this sketch, married Sarah Ann Shively April 6, 1850; she is the daughter of Daniel Shively, and was born May 14, 1831; they have had seven children, viz.: Arthur born Jan. 18, 1851, died March 16, 1852; Wallace S., born April 6, 1853; Flora A., born March 26, 1855; she married B. F. Chenoweth; William H., born Dec. 16, 1859; Mary C., born April 23, 1862 ; Charlie W., born Oct. 12, 1866, and Benjamin F., Nov. 12, 1874.

JAMES B. CREVISTON, school teacher, Sec. 4; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Washington Township, Darke Co., Ohio, Jan. 17, 1826. His father, Henry Creviston, was born in Bedford Co., Penn., in February, 1780, and married Mary Burnham, of North Carolina; they moved to Darke Co., Ohio, in 1808, and settled near Greenville; he mainly followed farming, but was a noted hunter, as game was abundant and the country a dense forest; he was in the war of 1812, and acted as scout for Gen. William H. Harrison, from Ft. Greenville to Tippecanoe and other points in the Northwest, among the Indians; he died in September, 1855; his wife survived him until February, 1865. James B. Creviston commenced teaching school at Hill Grove, where he now resides, in 1849, and has continued up to this time, within the four adjoining districts, and is now the oldest native teacher in the county, and if not the first, he was the second, white child born in this township. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Co. I, 11th O. V. I.; went out as first Lieutenant, and on Sept. 9, following. was appointed Adjutant of the 40th Ohio Regiment under Col. Jonathan Cranor, and served until discharged, on account of inflammatory rheumatism; he was commissioned Captain of Co. G, of the 193d Ohio Regiment of Infantry in February, 1865, and served until the surrender of all the rebel armies; was mustered out in September, 1865. He married Mary Ohler Aug. 29, 1849; she was born in this township Sept. 23, 1849; they have had four children, viz., Kate, born July 1, 1851 (she married Henry Cook): Bruce, born Sept. 20, 1859 (died Nov. 7, 1860); Johnny, born Oct. 18, 1867 (died Aug. 21, 1868); and Mary Agnes, born July 22, 1872. Himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church; in politics, he is a Republican.

JOHN FLORY, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 9; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Palestine, Darke Co., Ohio, Oct. 21, 1841. His father, Daniel Flory, was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio May 13, 1817, and came with his parents to German Township, in Darke Co., in his youth; he learned the tinner's trade, and was the first, and for many years the only tinner in Washington Township, which was his principal business during life. He died on his homestead in Sec. 10, Washington Township, Nov. 4, 1873, where he owned 182 acres of land. He married Eliza Wise, of Darke Co., who died about 1849; by this marriage were six children, all of whom are now living. His second marriage was with Elizabeth Morgan, of Maryland, in December, 1851, by whom were nine children, three of whom only are living-John Flory learned the tinner's trade also, which he followed only for a short time, giving his attention mainly to farming; he married Rebecca Friend Oct. 19, 1865; she was born in Darke Co., Ohio June 15, 1849; they have six children, viz., Rachel, born Oct. 30, 1867; Emma, born Nov. 13, 1870; Sirrilda. born July 20, 1872; Sarah, born May 20, 1874; Jesse, born Sept. 15, 1876, and Joseph E., born Aug. 5, 1878. He owns 73 acres of land; Mr. and Mrs. Flory belong to the German Baptist Church, of which he is a Deacon.

ELIZABETH (CRUMRINE) GLUNT, widow of Joseph Glunt, deceased, Sec. 17; P. O. Union City, Ind. Her husband, Joseph Glunt, was born June 5. 1822, and departed this life May 1, 1878, after a lingering illness, which he bore with patience and Christian fortitude; he had been a member of the German Baptist Church for seventeen years. They commenced life in a very poor little log hut, which now stands in the rear of the pleasant home, and is used as a stable. The gentlemen and ladies of to-day would hardly desire to make such a beginning, but from such beginnings have grown all the wealth and prosperity of this country. This hut was erected in the wilderness, but is now surrounded by beautiful and productive farms. Mr. Glunt, when married, had only a cow, two

horses and a few farming tools, thus showing what untiring industry and indomitable will will accomplish. The farm consists of 427 acres of excellent land. Mr. Glunt married Elizabeth Crumrine, daughter of Moses Crumrine, one of the earliest settlers of this county, June 7, 1849; she was born in Darke Co., Ohio, July 22, 1832; they have had five children, viz.: Catherine M., born March 21, 1850; she married Samuel W. Blocker; Mary E., born Sept. 18, 1852; she married Samuel Mote; Isaac N., born Sept. 18. 1856; Harrison, July 11, 1863, died Aug. 27, 1863, and Harvey M., born Dec. 11, 1864.

FREDRICK HOUPT, retired farmer, Sec. 33; P. O. Darke, Ohio; was born in Lebanon Co., Penn., Aug. 10, 1814; his father, Fredrick Houpt, was born in Schuylkill Co., Penn. The subject of this sketch, at the age of 12, went to work on a farm and worked five years for his board and clothes; he then learned the cooper's trade; moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1833, worked at farming in summer and in winter at his trade; in the spring of 1846, he moved to where he now resides; the first land he owned was 25 acres, which he bought in the wilderness in the eastern part of Darke County, for $275; he sold it for $1,000 in 1856. He married Sarah Wilds April 2, 1844; she was born in Ohio, Aug. 16, 1815, and died Feb. 7, 1879; they have had four children, viz.: a little boy, died unnamed ; John, born Feb. 16, 1849, died Nov. 5, 1869; David, born Nov. 4, 1851. and Sarah Ann, Dec. 27, 1854; she married Calvin Young; David resides at home; he married Almira Heck April 10, 1873; she was born in German Township, Darke Co., March 28, 1855, and died March 30, 1876; they had one boy, William F., born Nov. 19, 1873, died Feb. 6, 1875. His second marriage was with Phœbe Rodgers, Dec. 26, 1878; she was born in Washington Township April 21, 1858. Fredrick Houpt owns a good home and 623 acres of land, and other good houses and buildings.

SAMUEL HUFFER, farmer, Sec. 2; P. O. Hill Grove, Ohio; who is a son of Jacob and Barbara (Bechtel) Huffer; was born in Maryland, Sept. 24, 1799; the father moved to Montgomery Co., Ohio, in the fall of 1830, and to Darke County in 1838, to Harrison Township; in 1844, they moved to where a portion of the family now reside, in Sec. 2, Washington Township; he died Feb. 15, 1873; his widow, Catherine, died Feb. 16, 1879; they had seven children, viz.: Aaron, born April 19, 1830; Jacob. Jan. 6, 1832, deceased; Elizabeth, born Dec. 19, 1834, deceased; Samuel (the subject of this sketch), born March 31, 1836; Reuben, April 13, 1839; Magdalena, July 13, 1844; she married Jonathan Hart; and Malinda, born June 7, 1846; he followed farming during his lifetime; two of his sons, Aaron and Samuel, and son-in-law, J. Hart, established a tile factory on the old homestead in 1874, where they are turning out large quantities of tile of excellent quality. Aaron and Samuel remain unmarried and live in their paternal residence with Howard and Rebecca Hart, and own 200 acres of land which their father and his sons have converted from a wilderness to fine productive meadows and fields; their first residence here cost, erected and covered, $6, which exhausted their exchequer; in this they resided four years; in 1852, the present home was built; all the privations and hardships of pioneer life have been experienced by this family. Elizabeth Huffer married Ambrose Green, whose daughter, Rebecca A. (born June 19, 1858), married Charles H. Hart, born in Berks Co., Penn., July 11, 1855; they have one child, Mary Myrtle Hart, born July 1, 1879.

ISAAC KAUCHER, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 9; P. O. Hill Grove; was born in Patter's Township, Center Co., Penn., Sept. 17, 1805; went with his parents to Montgomery Co., Ohio, in 1808; his father, Godfrey Kaucher, was born in Berks Co., Penn., Sept. 1, 1774, and married Christina Fay; she was born in the same county Aug. 14, 1773; he died Nov. 13, 1850, and she died April 13, 1855; both are buried on the old homestead. The family moved to Washington Township, Darke Co., in 1831; in his early days, Godfrey Kaucher followed milling, but, after he came here, farming. Isaac, the subject of this sketch, obtained only three months' schooling in his youth, and then in a German school; previous to 1830,

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