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Pioneer Life in Dayton and Vicinity
Chapter Four Part 2

 

 

In 1804 Dayton received valuable acquisitions to its population in Colonel Robert Patterson, Joseph H. Crane, Luther Bruen, Captain Hugh Andrews, Henry Brown, and others.

Luther Bruen, a son of Jabez Bruen, a Revolutionary soldier, and Abigail Spining, sister of Judge Isaac Spining, came to Ohio with his father, on horseback, at an early day. The rest of the family came by boat down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and settled on Mill Creek, about nine miles from Cincinnati, on a farm of one hundred acres, purchased from one of Mrs. Bruen's brothers, who had come west as early as 1797. Luther was the fourth in a family of eight children, having three older and three younger sisters, and one brother, Isaac, some eight years his junior, who died on the farm in 1866, aged seventy-five years. Luther Bruen was born September 8, 1783, and spent the last two years of his minority in learning to make shoes in Cincinnati. In August of 1804 he went to Yellow Springs for his health, and on leaving there for home, decided to stop in Dayton to visit his uncle, Isaac Spining. While visiting there he made shoes for all of his uncle's family, and was finally induced to settle in Dayton. In December, 1804, he built a little shop, where he lived and worked, and evidently prospered, for in 1806 he began to acquire land.

On July 9, 1807, Mr. Bruen married Priscilla Owings, who died March 11, 1809, at the birth of a daughter, Priscilla, who afterwards became Mrs. Samuel Brady. On June 4, 1810, Mr. Bruen married Susan Barnett, daughter of John and Elizabeth Barnett, who lived near Miller's Ford, south of Dayton. Their children were David H.; Isaac Spining, who died in infancy; Eliza, who married Robert G. Corwin, of Lebanon, Ohio, and died March 27,1894, in her seventy-sixth year, and Luther. Mr. Bruen's second wife dying September 11, 1843, he married, on May 2, 1844, Susan D. Howell. One daughter was born to them, Susan Eleanor Seely, who married John Morgan, of Cincinnati. Mrs. Bruen died December 4, 1868. Mr. Bruen died July 1, 1849, of cholera.

David H. Bruen, the oldest child of Luther Bruen and Susan Barnett, was born in Dayton, October 20, 1811, and died January 19, 1853. He graduated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, September 24, 1834, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was a respected member of the Dayton bar, and was connected at one time with the Dayton Bank. He never married.

Luther Barnett, the youngest child, was born in Dayton September 14, 1822.  He entered Miami University in October, 1840, as a junior, and remained there a year. About the first of 1843 he went to Lebanon, Ohio, to study and practice law with his brother-in-law, Robert G. Corwin, staying there until the spring of 1845, when he went to Cincinnati and opened an office for himself. In 1849 he visited Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Galena, and St. Paul, in search of an opening, but found all the places crowded with lawyers. While on this trip he received an appointment to a position in one of the departments at Washington, District of Columbia, and assumed his duties about December 1, 1849. In March, 1852, he purchased an interest in the Cincinnati Gazette, and was junior editor until sometime in 1856, when he opened a law office in partnership with Robert G. Corwin in Dayton, and practiced law until 1861. He was then made one of the majors in the Twelfth Regiment United States Infantry, a regiment raised by President Lincoln and officered by civilians. Major Bruen assumed his duties July 4, 1861, at Fort Hamilton, Long Island, being ranking officer for some time. Later he was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, in Virginia. While in command of his regiment at Spottsylvania Court-house, May 13, 1864, he was wounded by a fragment of shell, and died from the effects of the wound June 21, 1864, at Douglas Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia.

On December 8, 1853, Mr. Bruen married Augusta Forrer, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Forrer, of Dayton, and Mrs. Bruen and four children—Sarah H., Frank, Robert L., and Mary H. Bruen—are still living.

Henry Brown, whose ancestors emigrated from the north of Ireland about 1740, was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1770, and in 1793 was military secretary for Colonel Preston, who commanded a regiment in General Wayne's army. Mr. Brown was afterwards interested in forwarding supplies to the army, and in 1795 entered into partnership with John Southerland, at Hamilton, Ohio, their principal business being to trade with the Indians for furs, peltries, etc. In 1799 Mr. Brown took a stock of goods to Fort Laramie, following up the retreating Indians.

In 1804 he removed his business to Dayton, and it is said that in 1808 he built the first two-story brick residence in Dayton, on lot 110, just north of the Court-house. The house, as was usual in those days, was built about three feet above the street level, so as to be above high water. In the front room Mr. Brown had his store.  Henry Herrman opened a store in that room about 1829, and in 1863, when Major Bickham took charge of the Journal, he opened his office in this building, and occupied it a number of years.

In 1810 Mr. Brown was appointed agent in charge of Indian supplies to be distributed under the direction of Colonel John Johnston, Indian agent. On February 19, 1811, he and Kitty Patterson, daughter of Colonel Robert Patterson, were married by the Rev. James Welsh, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Miss Patterson was born at Lexington, Kentucky, March 7, 1793. They had three children—Robert Patterson, Henry L., and Eliza J. Mr. Brown died May 19, 1823.

Mrs. Brown was for many years an active Christian worker, and it was at her home, on April 12, 1815, while she was confined to her bed by sickness, that several ladies met and organized the Female Charitable and Bible Society of Dayton, the first organization of that kind effected here. Mrs. Brown married Andrew Irwin, and had one son— A. Barr Irwin. Mr. Irwin died, and in 1836 Mrs. Irwin married Horatio G. Phillips, who died in 1859.  Mrs. Phillips died in 1864. They had no children.

Robert Patterson Brown was born December 6,1811, and married Sarah Galloway, of Xenia, October 31, 1837. He was a lawyer, and served for some time as associate judge. He died in Kansas City, May 4, 1879. They had three children—Mary (Mrs. Campbell), Henry, and Charles.

Henry L. Brown was born December 2, 1814 He married Sarah Bell Browning, of Indianapolis, Indiana, February 7, 1837. He was for many years an active merchant in Dayton, and at one time had his store and residence on the corner of Third and Main streets, where the Phillips House now stands. Mr. Brown was an elder and active worker in the First Presbyterian Church. His wife died October 15, 1858. He survived her twenty years and a little over a month, dying November 25, 1878. They had eight children—Fannie (Mrs. L. B. Evans), Katie (Mrs. Noel), Hattie (Mrs. Dr. Telfair), Sarah Bell (Mrs. Daring Whitmore), Harry, Edward, and Robert, all of whom are still living.

Eliza J. Brown was born October 29, 1816, and on September 16,1835, married Charles Anderson, a young lawyer who came to Dayton in 1835 when but twenty-one years of age, having been born in Louisville, Kentucky, June 1, 1814. Although born and reared in a slave State, Mr. Anderson was opposed to the system of slavery. He was living in Texas when the War of the Rebellion broke out, and was imprisoned for expressing antislavery sentiments, but effected his escape and returned to Dayton. He soon after went to the front as colonel of the Ninety-third Ohio Regiment, of which Hiram Strong was major. Owing to a wound which he received at the battle of Stone River, he was compelled to leave the army, and was soon after elected Lieutenant-Governor of Ohio. On account of the death of Governor Brough, he was serving as Governor of. Ohio at the close of the-War. He afterwards removed to Kentucky, where he died in the fall of 1895. His wife and three children—Kitty, Latham, and Bell—are still living.

Judge A. Barr Irwin married Jane Schenck, daughter of Admiral Schenck. He was for many years one- of the prominent merchants in Dayton, in partnership with Henry L. Brown. He afterwards moved to Kanawha, Kentucky, where he received the appointment of judge. They had four children—Eliza Schenck, Sarah Crane, Catharine Patterson, and Woodhull Schenck, all of whom are still living.

Captain Hugh Andrews, of Scotch-Irish extraction, was the son of James Andrews and Jane Strain, (widow of John Strain), and was born August 31, 1764, in Hanover Town-ship, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He won his title of captain as the commander of a Light Horse Company in Pennsylvania. Captain Andrews was twice married—first to Miss Spear, of Hanover Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. They had three children—John, Isabella, and Margaret, all of whom lived and died in Logan County, Ohio. His second wife was Elizabeth Ainsworth, whom he also married in Hanover Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, where, too, his son Samuel went for his wife, Margaret Ramsey, in 1831. By Captain Andrews's second wife he had five children—Nancy, Samuel Ainsworth, James, Hugh, and Eliza, the first three of whom— Nancy (afterwards Mrs. Shaw), Samuel, and James—lived and died here in Dayton, each having attained nearly eighty-eight years, and leaving numerous children and grandchildren, who are well known in the community. Hugh died near Muncie, Indiana, and Eliza (Mrs. Stevens) lived and died in Greene County.

Captain Andrews first came to Ohio on a prospecting tour in 1797, by flatboat down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and thence through the woods to Dayton, where there were then only about a dozen houses. After buying considerable land in this vicinity, he returned to Pennsylvania, and in the spring of 1804 emigrated with his family (Samuel being then an infant) and settled about six miles northeast of where the Court-house stands. He died in May, 1811, and was buried in the old graveyard on Fifth Street, near the Union Depot.

Nathan Worley was born in Virginia, January 7, 1773, and on March 2, 1791, married Rachel Greer, of Fayette County, Kentucky, coming to Dayton in 1804.  Being an earnest worker among the Newlights, in 1815 he was regularly appointed to the work of the ministry, in which he continued until his death, April 9, 1847.

Joseph H. Crane was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, August 31, 1772. His father was a major in the Revolutionary War, and lost a leg in that struggle for liberty. Mr. Crane read law and was admitted to practice in his native State. In the spring of 1804 he came to Dayton, opened an office; and commenced the practice of law. On July 16, 1809, he married Julia Ann Elliott, daughter of Dr. John Elliott, born in February, 1790. Two of their sons, William and Joseph G., were members of the Montgomery County bar. Mr. Crane was nominated by the Whigs and elected September 6, 1809, to the Eighth General Assembly, which convened at Chillicothe the first Monday of December, 1809. In 1812 he enlisted in Captain Steele's company and marched to the front, where he was promoted to the rank of sergeant-major: He served as prosecuting attorney for the First District Circuit Court from 1813 to 1816, and in 1817 was appointed presiding judge to succeed Judge Dunlevy. He held that office until 1828, when he was elected to Congress, and served as the Representative of this district for eight years, after which he resumed the practice of his profession. In 1838 he was again appointed prosecuting attorney and served one year.

Judge Crane formed a law partnership with Colonel John H. James, of Urbana, which continued until 1831 as Crane & James, at which time Robert C. Schenck was admitted to the firm, and the name changed to Crane, James & Schenck. In 1834 this firm was dissolved by mutual consent, and Judge Crane became associated with Edward W. Davies, and in 1837 his son William was taken into the firm, where he remained until his death. The law firm of Crane & Davies continued until the death of Judge Crane, in November, 1851.

Judge Crane was the chairman of the meeting at the organization of the Montgomery County Bible Society, on August 21, 1822. His wife had been one of the organizers of the Female Bible Society in 1815. He was loved and venerated by the older citizens, and looked up to by the bar as an able lawyer and an honest man. He was a noble Christian gentleman, a devoted member of the Episcopal Church. His portrait, painted by Charles Soule, Sr., is in the Law Library.

Joseph G. Crane, born October 17, 1825, married Sarah Schenck, daughter of Admiral James F. Schenck. He was a soldier in the late War, serving on the staff of General R. C. Schenck. At the close of the War he was commissioned captain, with the brevet of colonel in the regular army, and was made mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, in 1868. While acting in this capacity, he was killed in the street by the noted ex-Confederate officer, Colonel Yerger, on June 8, 1869.

Colonel Robert Patterson was born March 15, 1759, near Big Cove Mountain, Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen, in 1774, he served six months with a company of Rangers of the frontiers of Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1775 he, with three other men, started west to Fort Pitt, and in October of that year, in company with eight or ten other persons, started in boats down the Ohio River for Kentucky. In 1776 they built a fort north of the Kentucky River and named it McClelland's Station, for one of the party. In the month of April, 1777, he and his company built a cabin near a big spring, now in the city of Lexington, Kentucky.

While there, he with his ax blazed the trees around a large tract of land, which he subsequently, in 1779, entered under the laws of Virginia, and laid out the city of Lexington, Kentucky. Their supply of ammunition was nearly exhausted, and a company of seven volunteered to return to Fort Pitt for sup-plies. Their trip up the river was made in a canoe. They reached the mouth of the Kanawha River safely the night of October 12, 1776. They camped on the north side of the river, and, contrary to custom, built a fire, and in the night, while asleep, were attacked by a party of Indians. The Indians fired on the sleeping whites and killed one, wounded four, took one prisoner, and one, Mitchell, was unhurt. Patterson had his right arm broken and was wounded by a tomahawk in his right side. He escaped into the bushes. While running, his broken arm swung between two saplings, and he had to stop to extricate it. At daylight the warriors assembled at the camp, and found five of the company. They had saved one rifle and some ammunition. Their boat had been stolen by the Indians, so they concluded to continue their journey on foot. They dressed the wounds as best they could and started. They found one of the five, named Wernock, unable to travel. He felt he must die, and desired the other four to go on and leave him. They tried to carry him, but finding they could not do that, they finally filled a camp-kettle with water and set it beside him, and started on their journey. After going a short distance, they gave out near a small stream of water, and concluded to camp there and send Mitchell back to the wounded man, while Perry was to take the rifle and reach the first settlement up the river and bring relief. Mitchell returned to Wernock and found him dying. He stayed with him until all was over, then returned to Patterson and Templeton, and that day moved them some distance up from the river into a deep ravine, although Patterson could not move about much, owing to the tomahawk wound in his right side. Mitchell found a projecting rock near, and removed the camp to that place, where they were protected from the rain. They lived on wild grapes and papaws. The broken arm was very painful, and, undertaking to dress it, they found the splints and shirt cemented together with blood, so that it was almost impossible to remove them. They finally did get them off, and dressed the arm with oak leaves, making it more comfortable. The wound in his side was more difficult to dress, and little could be done for it. Mitchell was constantly on the river bank watching for boats going down the river; but none appeared until the 20th of October, 1776, when he was rejoiced to see his brave friend Perry with Captain John Walls and troops from the Fort of Grave Creek. The wounds of Patterson and Templeton were then dressed, and they were taken on board the boats and supplied with nourishing food. The Captain then had the bones of Wernock and McNutt buried (the wolves having eaten all the flesh off of them), and they all then started up the river in boats to Grave Creek. Patterson was nearly a year under the surgeon's care at his home in Pennsylvania.

In September we find him again with his rifle in hand, on his way to Kentucky. In 1778 he was with Colonel George Rogers Clark in the Illinois campaign, and was promoted to the rank of ensign of the company. In March, 1779, he was detailed with twenty-five men to establish a garrison north of the Kentucky River (now the. center of the city of Lexington, Kentucky). The stockade included the big spring found by him in 1777, where the men that were with him cleared a patch of ground and planted corn in it. While there, he blazed a tract of land, which he afterwards entered and upon which he laid out the city of Lexington.

In 1779 he and his company joined Captain Levi Todd, as a part of his force to march against old Chillicothe, Little Miami, and old Piqua on Mad River. In the winter of 1779 he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, and on the 20th of March, 1780, married Elizabeth Lindsay, of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and. returned to Kentucky shortly after. Later in 1780, as captain of a company, he was with the expedition of General George Rogers Clark against the Shawnees in the vicinity of Springfield.

April 7, 1781, Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, commissioned him captain of Virginia volunteers. August 19, 1782, he, with his company, was in the battle of Blue Licks, which proved disastrous to the whites. During the retreat, one of his men, Aaron Reynolds, on horseback, overtook Captain Patterson walking and almost exhausted. He dismounted and helped the Captain on his horse and started on on foot. Reynolds was soon captured by three Indians. Two of the Indians left the prisoner with the other and started to find some other of the defeated troops. Reynolds watched his opportunity and knocked his captor over and escaped. Patterson also escaped, and presented Reynolds with two hundred acres of land for his generous act. There was great rejoicing on his return to the camp after that disastrous defeat. Again, in the fall of 1782, we find Captain Patterson and his company in Colonel Logan's regiment in Clark's expedition against the Indians at Piqua, Laramie, and Portage. On returning, they camped a few days at the mouth of Mad River. In 1783 he built a log house on one of the lots in Lexington, and moved his family from the stockade, and subsequently erected a substantial stone house, instead of the log cabin, within the stockade and moved there.

In 1783 he was elected justice of the peace for Fayette County, and in July, 1785, was chosen delegate to a convention that met in Danville. August 8 that convention petitioned the Virginia Legislature for the separation of Kentucky, so as to form a separate State of the United States. In September, 1785, Governor Patrick Henry commissioned him as colonel, and in the fall of 1786, with his regiment, he marched under Colonel B. Logan against the Indian towns on Mad River., This expedition burned eight of the Shawnee towns and destroyed a large amount of provisions. In a skirmish November 5, he became engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with a savage chief, who, to ward off the thrust of Colonel Patterson's sword, struck his right hand with his gun, breaking two of the bones. This encounter caused his old wound in the side to break out afresh, and it never afterwards healed, but remained a running sore for forty years or more.

Mathias Dennison, having bought land on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Licking, came west to Lexington, and on August 25, 1788, entered into an agreement with Colonel Patterson and John Filson to effect a settlement on his land, and after a rough passage from Limestone, Kentucky, landed and commenced to erect cabins on Denman's land. In 1790 Colonel Patterson was a delegate from Fayette County to the Virginia Legislature; in 1791, with his regiment, he was in St. Clair's defeat, where he suffered in the retreat as did others, but returned safely, and in 1792 he was representative from Fayette County in the first Legislature of Kentucky.  In 1803 he bought from D. C. Cooper his farm two miles south of Dayton, and moved his family there in 1804. On this land was a large spring subsequently called Wade's spring (now owned by the Southern Ohio Asylum), which gave water enough to run a corn-mill and woolen factory on Warren Street, and a sawmill on Main Street. There is a large sulphur spring on the same land owned by St. Mary's Institute. Sixty or seventy years ago this spring was a great resort for the. young people of the vicinity. Colonel Patterson named this branch and farm the "Rubicon."

In the War of 1812 he had charge of the transportation from Fort Meigs north to the army. He subsequently lived quietly at home in a comfortable brick house that he built on ground high enough to overlook the farm, enjoying the comforts of a well-spent life, in which he earned distinction for himself and his family, until August 5, 1827, when he died, aged sixty-eight years and six months. His faithful wife, Elizabeth Lindsay, survived him six, years and died October 23, 1833. They are buried in our beautiful Woodland Cemetery. Their family were all born in Lexington, Kentucky, and consisted of two children who were born and died in the stockade in Lexington, Kentucky; Margaret, born June 9, 1786; Elizabeth, born January 27, 1788; Francis, born April 6, 1791; Catherine, born March 7, 1793; Jane, born May 25, 1795; Harriet, born March 25, 1797; Robert L., born May 27,1799; Jefferson, born May 27,1801.

Jefferson, who was three years old when the family came to Dayton, was raised on a farm. On February 23, 1833, at the age of thirty-two, he married Julia Johnston, daughter of Colonel John Johnston, the Indian agent, at Piqua, Ohio. They started on their wedding trip to Dayton on horseback, but were intercepted by John Shellabarger, with a four-horse carriage, some distance out of town and brought in with great glee. "Uncle Jeff" being a great favorite, every one wanted to greet him and his young bride, and old Jim Elliott, according to his custom of giving a rolling-pin to every bachelor who got married, had one ready for the bride to roll out the biscuit for breakfast. Mr. Patterson was for some years a merchant on Jefferson Street, and in 1840 moved to the Rubicon farm, and remained there until his death. He was a noted farmer and horticulturist. Mrs. Patterson is still living. They had five children—Robert, Stephen J., John H., and Frank J. Patterson, and Julia, now Mrs. J. H. Crane.

In 1804 David McConnaughey, a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, when twenty-one years old, made a trip with his brother Francis on a flatboat to New Orleans. His brother died in Louisiana. David was also very sick with ague, and the Indians took some care of him, so that he partially recovered. On his best days, between the spells of fever, he endeavored to walk home. One day he found a silver half-dollar in the road, with which he purchased ague medicine. Finally he reached Dayton with fifty cents in his pocket, which he had earned on the way, and stopped at the Newcom Tavern. Having a knowledge of distilling, he engaged with Mr. Newcom to run his still house on the Newcom farm, near the location of the Davis Sewing Machine Works. While engaged in this way he earned enough money to purchase a hundred and sixty acres of land in Bethel Township, Miami County, the Dayton and. Brandt pike now running on the east side of the farm. In 1811 he married Anna Grimes, moved to a cabin on his farm, and was soon afterwards drafted in the War of 1812. He served part of his time, and then his brother Robert came and served as a substitute. Mr. McConnaughey Continued to live on his farm until his death in February, 1847. His wife died in April, 1863. They had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters,—Maria, Francis, William, Isabel, James (who was killed at Vicksburg Landing in 1863), Samuel, John C., Robert, David, Margaret, and Thomas H.

John C. McConnaughey married Elizabeth Keplinger, and continued to farm the old home place until, in 1893, he retired. He still owns the farm. They had five sons and six daughters, all of whom are still living.

Aaron Baker, who came here at an early day, and was elected justice of the peace, was married four times. His first wife Was Hannah Maxwell. They had four children— two who died young, Eliza, who married Moses Simpson, and David C. Baker.

David C. Baker married Sophia Van Cleve, daughter of Benjamin Van Cleve, and had four children—Mary Sophia, Clara, Charles, and David. His wife died, and he then married Sophie Sourby, and had five children—Harriet, Axia Green, Aaron, Hannah, and Mahala. David after-wards moved to Portland, Indiana, and died there in 1895.

Philip Gunckel was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, April 7, 1766, and learned the trade of milling. In 1793 he married Katarina Schaeffer, born July 12, 1766, also in Berks County, Pennsylvania. In 1796 he moved his family to Center County, Pennsylvania, built a mill, and became proprietor of Millheim, Pennsylvania. In the year 1803 Mr. Gunckel and several of his neighbors made a trip to and down the Ohio River, in search of a location for a colony, but not finding a satisfactory place returned home. In 1804 twenty-four families from Berks and Center counties arranged to start west in wagons in two companies to meet at Pittsburg, and from there to travel in company with Philip Gunckel as leader, he probably being the only one that could speak English. The party, with their, horses, wagons, and effects, were loaded on flatboats at Pittsburg, and reached Cincinnati in safety on June 20, 1804. After a short stay they again took up their march northward to Hole's Station, where they camped for about two weeks, living .in their wagons as best they could, while the men prospected for unoccupied land. All the desirable locations on the east side of the river had been taken, but at the forks of the Great and Little Twin creeks Mr. Gunckel finally found the mill site he was in search of, together with good land for farming purposes. The few squatters were soon bought out, and all the land wanted was purchased of the Government by the settlers. This was a strong colony, both as to numbers and money. They built good, warm cabins, and hunting parties were kept out during the winter, all sharing in the supplies brought in, while those at home were kept busy clearing the land and building cabins. Mr. Gunckel built a two-story log house the first winter, and had the best house in the settlement.

Although the colony was composed of quiet, peaceable Christian people, nearly all in some way connected, they very soon found it necessary to have some one to decide points of law, and on December 9, 1804, Mr. Gunckel was elected justice of the peace for German Township. Mr. Gunckel was never known to use profane language, and his even temperament and high standard of morals gave tone and character to the colony. He was soon recognized as one of the most influential men in the county, was referred to in all matters of public improvement, and "was ready and active in all movements for the good and prosperity of the community." It is said he was quite a musician.

In the year 1805 Mr. Gunckel commenced building a saw- and grist-mill, completing the grist-mill in 1806. The same year he purchased land of James Hatfield and Robert Hardin and laid out the town of Germantown, donating lots for school, church, and graveyard purposes on his plat. On October 17, 1806, Mr. Gunckel was elected to represent Montgomery County in the General Assembly, which met at Chillicothe in December, and he and General Munger were chosen to represent Montgomery and Preble counties at the Assembly which met December 5,1808, at Chillicothe. The General Assembly of 1816 appointed Mr. Gunckel associate judge of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, and he served for fifteen years.

Mr. and Mrs. Gunckel had eight children, six of whom— John, Michael, Catharine, Philip, Jacob, and Sarah—were born in Pennsylvania, and Daniel P. and Elizabeth were born in Germantown. Mr. Gunckel and his wife were members of the German Reformed church of Germantown, having been instrumental in its organization, and contributing freely of their means to its prosperity, as well as to other church organizations in Germantown. Mrs. Gunckel died at Germantown, August 2, 1836. After her death Mr. Gunckel was twice married, his last wife surviving him. He died May 24, 1848, in his eighty-third year. Judge Philip Gunckel was the grandfather of Hon. Lewis B. Gunckel, of this city, and great-grandfather of 0. I. Gunckel, secretary of the Columbia Insurance Company.

Lewis B. Gunckel was born in Germantown, Ohio, October 15, 1826, and has been a citizen of Dayton since early manhood. In 1860 he married Catharine Winters, a daughter of Valentine Winters, and has had four children - Winters, Katharine, Lewis W., and Percy, the second and third of whom survive, and are now living in the city. Mr. Gunckel was Representative in Congress from the Third Ohio District from 1872 to 1874, a member of the Board of Managers of the National Soldiers' Home for the first twelve years of its existence, and was chiefly instrumental in securing the location of the Central Branch near this city.

John Martin Shuey, second son of Lewis Henry Shuey, was born June 20, 1750, in Bethel Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Daniel Shuey, and his father, came to America from the Palatinate, Germany, in 1732, landing at Philadelphia. They were probably of Huguenot descent. John Martin's father was a member of the Committee of Inspection of Lancaster County elected to cooperate with the Continental Congress in the years preparatory to the Revolution, but died before the Declaration of Independence was signed. John Martin married Margaret Elizabeth Conrad, and had ten children—John, Catharine (Mrs. Spitler), Christiana (Mrs. John Zeiler), Martin, Barbara (Mrs. Michael Gunckel), Margaret (Mrs. John Moyer), Henry, Mary (Mrs. John C. Negley), Eve (Mrs. Dodds), and Adam. In 1805 he moved, with all but the first two of his children, to the Miami Valley, settling near Germantown. His party came by way of Pittsburg, floating down the Ohio River in a flatboat to Cincinnati. Some years later he removed to a farm on the east bank of the Miami, about two miles north of Miamisburg. The house he then occupied is still standing. Mr. Shuey died in February, 1829. His descendants in Dayton and Montgomery County are very numerous.

Martin Shuey, the second son of John Martin Shuey, was born September 28, 1785, in Dauphin, now Lebanon, County, Pennsylvania, and came with his father to Ohio in 1805. In the latter year he was chosen lieutenant of militia. In 1810 he was elected captain of his company and placed in command of the Eighth Military District of Ohio. He served through the War of 1812; in 1815 was elected major, in 1816 colonel, and in 1818 was promoted to the position of brigadier-general. The military district which he commanded embraced Forts Brown, Winchester, Laramie, St. Mary's, Amanda, and Jennings. In 1826 he resigned his military position. Mr. Shuey married Margaret Shuperd in 1808, and had eleven children. In 1820 he moved to Indiana, in 1829 to Illinois, and in 1859 to California, where his descendants are now quite numerous. He died February 12, 1876, at the age of more than ninety years.

Adam Shuey, the youngest son of John Martin Shuey, was born September 21, 1799, in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. In 1805 he came with his parents to the Miami Valley. In 1819 he married Hannah Aley, a daughter of Isaac Aley, of Montgomery County, formerly of Washington County, Maryland, and had four children—a daughter who died in infancy, Mary, Catharine, and William John. Mr. Shuey was a builder and cabinet-maker, and a number of houses erected by him in Miamisburg are still standing. He was the first postmaster of Miamisburg, serving from 1820 to 1832. In the latter year he was elected assessor of Montgomery County on the Whig ticket, and was twice reelected. At that time there was only one assessor for the whole county, and he repeatedly visited every house in the county. In 1836 he moved to Springfield, Ohio, and was for six years a commissioner of Clark County. He also occupied other public offices. In 1854 Mr. Shuey became a citizen of Dayton. He died in this city April 22, 1882, at the age of over eighty-two years.

Rev. William John Shuey, the only son of Adam Shuey, was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, February 9, 1827. He has long been a resident of Dayton, and for the last thirty-two years has been the publishing agent of the United Brethren Publishing House. He has in his possession a wall clock made in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1774, which his grandfather, John Martin Shuey, brought down the Ohio in 1805. In 1848 he married Sarah Berger, of the vicinity of Springfield, Ohio, and had four children—Albert L., Edwin L., William A., and Lincoln C., of whom the second and third are still living and are citizens of Dayton.

Among the other descendants of John Martin Shuey now living in Dayton are Hon. Lewis B. Gunckel, son of Mrs. Barbara Gunckel; John Dodds, son of Mrs. Eve Dodds; Oliver I. Gunckel, Herbert H. Weakley, Thomas Jefferson Weakley, George Willis Weakley, and Edward L. Rowe, grandsons of Mrs. Barbara Gunckel; Webster W. Shuey, grandson of Henry Shuey; Mrs. A. C. Marshall and Anna V. Zeiler, granddaughters of Mrs. Mary Negley.

 

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