REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS BURIED
IN CLARK COUNTY OHIO
BY A. L. SLAGER.*
The attached roster of men who served
on the side
of the Colonists during the War of
American Inde-
pendence, and who are buried in Clark
County, has been
compiled from partial lists of names
furnished by
Colonel George I. Gunckel, Dayton,
Ohio, president of
the Ohio Society Sons of the American
Revolution, and
a similar list taken from the records
of the George Rog-
ers Clark Chapter, S. A. R., of
Springfield, as well as
a list prepared by a committee of
Lagonda Chapter,
D. A. R., of the same city, composed of
Mrs. C. M.
Clark, Mrs. A. A. Wright, Mrs. Albert
Greaves, Miss
Dora Rubsam and Mrs. E. E. Otstott.
Comparison of these lists with township
histories of
Clark County, both printed and in
manuscript, has re-
vealed that several of the names given,
are of men who
were not in the Revolutionary War, but
who enlisted in
the American Army during the War of 1812-14.
One
other, mentioned in the S. A. R.
records, as having
been born in 1775, may have been
in the War of 1812,
but there is no available record to
substantiate the claim.
A fourth name is that of a man who was
not in either
army.
These names have been eliminated from
the roster
presented herewith, which after careful
investigation, is
* Secretary of the Clark County
Historical Society, Springfield, Ohio.
(86)
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 87
believed to be as accurate as it is
humanly possible to
make it at this late date, and with the
historical data
available.
It is to be regretted that so little of
the war record
of these patriots has been
preserved. Such isolated
sketches, as can be found in the
history of Clark County,
have been collected and are presented
as memorials of
these Revolutionary heroes who came
into the wilder-
ness of western Ohio, and settled in
what is now Clark
County, in the early years of the
nineteenth century, and
to whose loyalty, energy and industry,
we owe much
that is now the heritage of its present
population.
The removals, as noted, from farms and
small ceme-
teries, were made with perhaps a few
exceptions, in
December, in the year 1906, and such
graves as could
be located have been designated by
suitable iron markers.
ROSTER OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS
BURIED IN CLARK COUNTY, OHIO.
Albin, John ................ Ebenezer
Cemetery, Green Town-
ship.
Bacon, Capt. Richard .......Ferncliff
Cemetery, Springfield.
Baird, William .............Asbury
Chapel Cemetery, Pleasant
Township.
Baker, Nelyn ..............Enon
Cemetery, Mad River Town-
ship.
Bancroft, John.............. Columbia
Street Cemetery, Spring-
field.
Bardwell, Simeon .......... Thompson
Cemetery, Near Old
Columbus Road.
Bayley (or Bailey),Timothy. .Fletcher
Chapel Cemetery, Har-
mony Township.
Beardsley, Elijah ............ Columbia Street
Cemetery, Spring-
field. Northeast corner.
88 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Bridge, Benjamin ...........Enon
Cemetery, Mad River Town-
ship.
Brown, Frederick ......... Green Lawn
Cemetery, South
Charleston.
Christie, Lieut. Jesse........ Columbia
Street Cemetery, Spring-
field. Northeast corner.
Craig, John S.............. Fletcher
Chapel Cemetery, Har-
mony Township. (Removed from
Wragg Cemetery.)
Dawson, Lieut. Henry ......Asbury Chapel
Cemetery, Pleasant
Township. (Removed from Daw-
son farm.)
Ebersole, Jacob ............ Donnel's
Creek Cemetery, Pike
Township.
Farnum, John S............ Fletcher
Chapel Cemetery, Har-
mony Township.
Frantz, Benjamin .......... Old Frantz
Cemetery, Bethel
Township.
Galloway, James ........... Enon
Cemetery, Mad River Town-
ship. (Removed from Galloway
farm, August, 1906.)
Garlough, John Henry ......Garlough
Cemetery, Green Town-
ship.
Harriman, Stephen ......... Lisbon
Cemetery, Harmony Town-
ship.
Hempleman, George ........ Green Lawn
Cemetery, South
Charleston
Jones, Benjamin ...........Garlough
Cemetery, Green Town-
ship.
Keller, John ............... Old Frantz
Cemetery, Bethel
Township.
Kelley, James.............. Columbia
Street Cemetery, Spring-
field.
Lamme, James L. ...........Lamme
Cemetery, Bethel Town-
ship, Section 4.
Soldiers of the
Revolution Buried in Clark County 89
Lane, Robert
..............Ferncliff Cemetery,
Springfield.
(Known as Grandaddy (Removed from
McCullough
Lane) farm.)
Lippencott, Samuel
.........Myers Cemetery, Pike Township,
Northampton. (Removed
from
Seventh-Day Baptist
Cemetery.)
McCleave, George
..........Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield.
(Removed from
Columbia Street
Cemetery.)
McIntire, William ..........
Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring-
field. (Removed from Miller
farm, southeast of
Springfield.)
Nauman,
Thomas..........Nauman farm, German Township,
Section 13.
Parsons, John
..............Mad River Township. Cemetery
unknown.
Pool, William
..............Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Har-
mony Township.
Rodgers, William ...........
Moorefield Township. Cemetery
unknown.
Servase, William
...........Bethel Township. Cemetery un-
known.
Toland, John
Cornelius...... Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring-
field.
Tuttle, Sylvanus
...........Tuttle Farm Cemetery, Springfield
Township.
Vicory, Merrifield
...........Greenmount Cemetery, Springfield.
Wilson, Isaac
.............. Madison Township. Cemetery un-
known.
In 1906, the
following petition was presented to the
County Commissioners
of Clark County, by five free-
holders in each
township, as provided by law:
The undersigned
freeholders of the Township of Springfield,
desiring to avail
ourselves of the provisions of an act passed
(by the Legislature
of Ohio) April 21, 1904,
authorizing the
County Commissioners
to furnish Memorial Tablets for the
graves of deceased
soldiers, sailors and marines, do hereby peti-
90 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
tion your honorable body to furnish
suitable and proper metal
markers, such as hereafter described,
for the graves of the sol-
diers who served in the war of the
American Revolution.
The form and character of the metal
Tablets is described
on pages 20, 22 and 24 of the catalog
herewith submitted and
made a part of this petition. The
undersigned earnestly request
your honorable body that immediate
action be taken on this
petition as authorized by the act above
referred to.
In response to this petition, the
Commissioners fur-
nished markers for twenty-two graves,
which had been
located by Attorney Oscar T. Martin,
Forrest M. Run-
yan and persons in the vicinity of the
burial-places. The
markers were placed over the graves by
Messrs. Mar-
tin and Runyan, in 1906.
Additional graves were located and
markers placed
at their head in later years by the
Lagonda Chapter,
Daughters of the American Revolution.
HISTORICAL DATA.
JOHN ALBIN. Father of Gabriel, George
and William
Albin, came from Winchester, Virginia,
with his son, George, in
1810, and settled in the western part of
Green Township. His
war record has not been preserved in the
County or Township
histories. His son, George, served in
the War of 1812, and his
grandson, Cyrus (son of George), served
in the Civil War, hav-
ing enlisted in Captain Asa S.
Bushnell's Company, Fifty-second
Regiment, in May, 1864. John Albin is
buried in Ebenezer
Cemetery, Green Township.
WILLIAM BAIRD was of English origin,
his father's
family having come from England to the
Colony of Maryland
at an early day. He was born at
Hagerstown, March 16, 1762,
and when eighteen years of age joined
the Revolutionary Army.
At the close of the war he married
Dorothy Camerer, who was
also born at Hagerstown, in the year of
1760. She was of
Holland-Dutch descent, her father
having come to the Colonies
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 91
from Holland, before the war. In 1790, William Baird
and his
wife removed from Maryland to
Westmoreland County, Penn-
sylvania, where they resided about four
years, and then came
down the Ohio in a flatboat to Limestone
(now Maysville), Ken-
tucky, going from there to a land claim
given him by his father,
in Fleming County, in that State. The
claim having been proven
invalid, he again removed, coming with
his family to Clark
County, Ohio. Here he entered 160 acres
of land in Section 30,
Range 9, Harmony Township. He obtained
his patent for this
land in 1812.
During his residence in Kentucky,
William Baird had be-
come acquainted with the noted pioneers
and Indian Scouts,
Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. Besides
himself and wife,
his family consisted of three sons and
five daughters. He ac-
quired 394 acres of land, which he left
to his surviving children.
The mother, Dorothy, died in 1824, and
the father in 1836. He is
buried in Asbury Chapel Cemetery,
Pleasant Township.
MELYN BAKER enlisted in the American
army in 1776,
and was wounded in the battle of
Monmouth, New Jersey. In
1790, he, with two brothers -- Jonathan
and Donald -- came from
New Jersey and settled on the present
site of Cincinnati, and a
few years later removed to Butler
County, Ohio; in 1805 they
came to the present County of Clark,
where Melyn Baker en-
tered in a section of land in Section
13, Range 9, Mad River
Township. Melyn was given to
hospitality, and on more than
one occasion, incoming pioneers were
invited to his cabin, to
remain until they could erect cabins
upon their own lands. His
remains now rest in the Enon Cemetery.
LIEUTENANT JOHN BANCROFT enlisted as a
private,
with the eight months troops, in Capt.
Isaac Bolster's Company,
under Col. Eben Larned, at the beginning
of the Revolutionary
War, and was given a commission as
second lieutenant by the
Council of Safety, prior to the election
of Washington to the
presidency. Some time after the close of
hostilities he applied
for a pension and sent his commission to
Washington, D. C., but
it was never returned. He was the son of
Moses and Mary
92 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Bancroft, and was born at Reading,
Mass., September 18, 1748.
On December 1, 1777, he
was married to Anna Walters, to whom
were born four sons -- Amasa, John,
Lewis and Lawson -- and
one daughter -- Nancy.
He died September 28, 1837, and is
buried in the Columbia Street Cemetery,
Springfield, Ohio.
TIMOTHY BAYLEY (or BAILEY). Beyond the
fact
that he is known to have served in the
War of the Revolution,
but little is known of William Bailey.
He is said to have walked
from New Hampshire to Ohio, and after a
residence of a few
years, returned to his native state,
married and brought his
bride and his father's family to Clark
County. He is buried in
Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Harmony
Township.
ELIJAH BEARDSLEY was born in New
Fairfield, Conn.,
May 27, 1760, and entered the army of
the American Patriots
at the age of sixteen years. On June 27,
1780, he was married
at New Fairfield, to Sally Hubbell, to
whom were born fourteen
children -- six sons and eight
daughters. About the year 1796
he removed with his family to Delaware
County, N. Y., and
from thence, early in the year 1812, to Urbana,
Ohio. Three
years later he and his family took up
their abode in Springfield.
Here they first occupied a log house
near the southeast corner
of Plum and Main Streets, where with
pioneer hospitality, they
provided a pleasant stopping place for
many a weary traveler
who wished to tarry for the night. One
of the daughters married
Ira Page, prominent in the early history
of Springfield, and
another daughter married another useful
and highly esteemed
citizen of the place -- James S.
Christie. Elijah Beardsley's
good wife died in Springfield on July
23, 1813, and his own
death occurred October 2, 1826. They are
buried in the north-
east corner of the Columbia Street
Cemetery, Springfield.
There has been, for a long time, a local
tradition that Elijah
Beardsley was one of the
"Indians" who comprised the "Boston
Tea Party." This tradition,
however, like many others, does
not appear to be founded on fact.
Boarding British ships and
destroying their cargoes was serious
business, piracy in fact.
Beardsley, at the time of this
occurrence, was a thirteen-year-old
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 93
boy, living at New Fairfield, Conn.,
more than two hundred miles
to the southeast of Boston, by the water
route, and it is not at
all probable that he was in Boston on
that memorable day; and
if he had been, no group of men would
have tolerated the pres-
ence of a boy of his age among them in
so hazardous an under-
taking. The following account of this
revolutionary proceeding
is given by the well-known historian --
John Clark Ridpath:
At Boston, the tea had been consigned to
Governor Hutchinson and
his friends; and special precautions
were taken to prevent a failure of the
enterprise; but the authorities
stubbornly stood their ground and would
not permit the tea to be landed. On the
16th of December (1773), the
dispute was settled in a memorable
manner. There was a great town
meeting at which seven thousand people
were assembled. Adams (Samuel)
and Quincy (Josiah) spoke to the
multitudes. Evening came on and the
meeting was about to adjourn, when a
war-whoop was heard, and about
fifty men, disguised as Indians, passed
the door of the Old South Church.
The crowd followed to Griffin's Wharf,
where the three tea ships were at
anchor. Then everything became quiet.
The disguised men quickly boarded
the vessels, broke open the three
hundred and forty chests of tea that
composed the cargoes, and poured the
contents into the sea. Such was the
Boston Tea Party.
BENJAMIN BRIDGE enlisted in the
Revolutionary Army
at the age of 22, and served during the
war. He died in Clark
County, and is buried in Enon Cemetery,
Mad River Township.
FREDERICK BROWN. Born October 29,
1753. Died
January 29, 1829, and is buried in Green
Lawn Cemetery, at
South Charleston, Ohio.
LIEUTENANT JESSE CHRISTIE enlisted in
the War
of the Revolution, in a New Hampshire
Regiment, under Col.
Daniel Moore. In the fall of 1817, he
with his son, Major Robert
Christie, came to Springfield, Ohio, the
Lieutenant being then in
the eighty-eighth year of his age, while
the Major had reached
his forty-second year. Father and son
took up their abode in
a farm-house on what is now the
northwest corner of Wittenberg
Avenue and Main Street. Major Christie
died in August, 1822,
and his death was followed by that of
his father, in January,
1823, in his ninety-fourth year.
Lieutenant Christie is buried
in the northeast corner of the Columbia
Street Cemetery.
94 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
JOHN S. CRAIG was born February 15,
1753, and entered
the American Army in January, 1775.
After a service of five
years, he was honorably discharged in
1780. Coming
to Ohio,
he settled in what is now Harmony
Township, Clark County.
He was a citizen who had the esteem of
all who knew him, for
his moral worth and sterling character.
His death occurred at
the home of Lewis Skillings, in
Springfield, and he was laid to
rest in the Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, in
Harmony Township.
LIEUTENANT HENRY DAWSON served as an
officer
in the War of the Revolution, and at the
close of the struggle
for American independence, settled in
Kentucky. In 1804, he
brought his family to what is now Clark County,
Ohio, and
located on a tract of land near Catawba,
which at that time
was in the midst of a dense forest. He
brought with him a
number of young apple-trees, which he
planted near the cabin
he built upon his arrival. These were
the first fruit-trees brought
into that locality. The trees bore fruit
many years, and seventy-
six years after planting, some of them
still remained.
Henry Dawson was a cooper, and supplied
his neighbors
with tubs and buckets, and also
manufactured barrels for the
mills and distilleries which later were
established in the north-
east section of the county. He also
built and operated a small
mill for grinding corn, and was thus
able to supply the early
settlers in that region with corn-meal,
which was an important
addition to the family larder of that
day. In addition to himself
and wife, his family consisted of five
children -- George, John,
Richard, Harriett and Elizabeth. A small
plot of ground was
allotted on the western side of the
Dawson farm for a neighbor-
hood cemetery, and here Henry Dawson and
his wife were
buried. In October, 1906, their remains
were removed to Asbury
Chapel Cemetery, in Pleasant Township.
JACOB EBERSOLE was a member of a Pennsylvania
Regiment, during the Revolutionary War.
He died in 1828, and
is buried in the Donnel's Creek Cemetery
near Northampton,
Pike Township, about one mile south of
Northampton.
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 95
JOHN
S. FARNUM (or FARNSWORTH) was
born
September 9, 1763; served in the
Revolutionary War; died in
Clark County (date unknown), and is
buried in Fletcher Chapel
Cemetery, Harmony Township.
BENJAMIN FRANTZ came to what is now
Clark County,
from Pennsylvania, in 1812, having
served in the war, waged
by the mother country, against the
American Colonies. He set-
tled in German Township, and is buried
in the old Frantz Ceme-
tery, Bethel Township.
JAMES GALLOWAY, SR., emigrated in an
early day,
from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, but on
account of the inse-
curity of land titles, brought his
family to Ohio, and settled about
two miles north of Old Chillicothe (Old
Town), in 1798. This
location was included within the limits
of Hamilton County at
that time. A short time later he removed
to what is now
Section 5, in the southern end of Mad
River Township, where
he entered four hundred acres of land.
Greene County was
formed from Hamilton and Ross Counties,
in May, 1803, and
included all of the present Clark
County. James Galloway was
at once appointed Treasurer of Greene
County, and his son,
James, Jr., was appointed surveyor by
the newly organized county
court. The court convened for the trial
of causes, August 2,
1803, and these appointments were made
during the same month.
During the Revolutionary War, James
Galloway, the sub-
ject of this sketch, was in the service
of the Colonies in the
capacity of hunter, to procure game for
the army. He was in
the fight between the Indians and
Kentucky settlers, at the
Blue Licks, Kentucky, and in the
campaign of 1792 was shot by
the renegade, Simon Girty, whom he well
knew. Going through
the woods, on horseback and unarmed,
they met face to face.
Girty, perceiving that Galloway was
without his rifle, said, "Now
Galloway, d--n you, I've got you,"
and instantly fired three
small bullets into his body. Girty
supposed he had killed him.
Although badly wounded, Galloway wheeled
his horse and made
good his escape. One of these bullets
passed through his shoulder
and lodged in the back of his neck,
where it remained many years,
96 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
and was there when he came to Ohio. At
length, there being
no surgeon within reach, he sent for a
shoe cobbler, who, with his
knife and awl, extracted the bullet.
Beer's History of Clark County relates
an interesting story,
stating that the subject of this sketch
was a blacksmith, and that
he brought his tools to Ohio from
Kentucky. This, however,
is an error, as the narrative applies to
another James Galloway,
a cousin of our hero, who had located
near the banks of the
Mad River, and there carried on his
trade as blacksmith, while
James Galloway, Sr., had located his 400
acres of land on
Muddy Run, where he lived during the
remainder of his life.
He had a daughter, Rebecca, who, it has
been stated, taught the
Indian Chief, Tecumseh, to read and
speak the English lan-
guage. Tecumseh at that time was
twenty-eight or thirty years
of age, and a friend of the family.
During his visits for instruc-
tion, he became enamored of the young
woman, and finally asked
of her father that she be given him in
marriage. The father
referred him to his daughter, who
politely refused his suit,
saying she did not wish to become a wild
woman, and perform
the labors of a squaw. To this he
replied that she need not work,
but that he would make of her a
"great squaw." It is said
that notwithstanding her refusal,
Tecumseh always remained
friendly to the family.
James Galloway, Sr., was buried in a
neighborhood ceme-
tery upon his farm on Muddy Run. In the
fall of 1906, the
remains of himself and wife were removed
to the Enon Ceme-
tery, at the instance of the local
chapter of the Sons of the
American Revolution, by T. J.
Montgomery, of the G. A. R.
STEPHEN HARRIMAN enlisted in General
Stark's Bri-
gade of New Hampshire Militia, and
marched with his company
from Hopkintown, New Hampshire, July 22,
1777. After serv-
ing two months under Captain Bailey, he
was discharged Sep-
tember 22, 1777, and again entered the
service as a private, in
the Third Continental Regiment, Company
5, Col. Squarnell
commanding. He died February 25, 1828,
and is buried in the
Lisbon Cemetery, Harmony Township. He
was 71 years of
age at the time of his death.
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 97
JAMES KELLEY was a private in the
Virginia troop,
commanded by Col. Gibson, during the
Revolutionary War. He
died April 30, 1837, aged 85 years, and
is buried in the Columbia
Street Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio.
ROBERT LAING (or LANE). The following is
taken
from a manuscript address delivered a
number of years since,
at a pioneer meeting held near Emery
Chapel, by W. M. Harris,
himself a pioneer:
In the first house north of "Possum
Road" (Greene Township), lived
old Mr. Lane. All knew him as
"Grandaddy Lane." He was a soldier in
the Revolution, and the only one I ever
saw. The boys from "Possum
School" used to go to his place for
apples. The trees had grown from
seeds and the apples were sweet.
When the electric railroad was built, it
became necessary
to remove his remains from the
McCullough farm, where he
had been buried, and they were interred
in Ferncliff Cemetery,
at Springfield.
SAMUEL LIPPENCOTT, SR., was born August
20, 1758;
he was brought to Ohio, in 1810, by his
son, Obadiah Lippencott.
He was born August 20, 1758, and served
in the Revolutionary
War. He died in Clark County, and was
buried in the German
Baptist Cemetery, near Northampton. He was 95 years of
age at the time of his death. His
remains were removed to the
Myers Cemetery.
GEORGE McCLEAVE moved with his family
from Mary-
land to Colerain, Ohio, on the Big Miami
River, about 1790.
He was tall and of good personal
appearance; a shoemaker by
trade, which he learned in Philadelphia;
was a soldier in the
Revolutionary War, participating in one
of the great battles;
died at the home of his daughter, Mrs.
Mary (McCleave) Red-
dish, east of Springfield, Ohio, and was
buried in the old Colum-
bia Street Graveyard, at Springfield,
Ohio. His remains were
later removed to Ferncliff Cemetery.
George McCleave had four
children: John, Elizabeth, Benjamin and
Mary. Elizabeth mar-
ried Samuel Smith, August 22, 1801;
her husband was the son
Vol. XXXVII--7.
98 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
of Rev. Peter Smith, the maternal
grandfather of General J. War-
ren Keifer, of Springfield, Ohio. George
McCleave's wife died
soon after their arrival at Colerain,
and the daughter, Elizabeth,
kept house for her father and brothers
until her marriage to
Samuel Smith. In 1791, several hundred
Indians, led by Simon
Girty, besieged the garrison at
Colerain, where the McCleaves
lived, and Elizabeth, with the other
women of the place, did
her part in defending the fort by
moulding bullets for the men,
who kept up a vigorous fight until
relieved by a rescuing party
from Fort Washington (Cincinnati). In
the year 1805, Samuel
Smith and his wife, Elizabeth (McCleave)
Smith, moved from
Columbia, with his father's family, to
Clark County, Ohio, and
built a cabin near the east and west
forks of Donnel's Creek,
about one-half mile from the present
village of Donnelsville. In
1819, George McCleave, now well advanced
in years, went with
his son, Benjamin, to Illinois, where he
remained two years,
and then returned to Clark County, Ohio,
where he spent the
remainder of his days at the homes of
his daughters, Elizabeth
Smith and Mary Reddish, near
Springfield. Descendants of his
sons, John and Benjamin, were living in
Lawrence County, Illi-
nois, as late as 1921.
WILLIAM McINTIRE was a private in the
17th Pennsyl-
vania Regiment, Col. Wm. Irwin,
Commander. He enlisted in
the American army August 1, 1777, and
served under Capt.
Samuel Montgomery during the remainder
of the war. He came
to Clark County, Ohio, in an early day,
and lived at what is now
the southwest corner of Limestone Street
and McCreight Avenue.
He is said to have been a personal
friend of William Henry
Harrison. He died in Springfield and is
buried in the old
Columbia Street Cemetery.
THOMAS NAUMAN, SR. In the year 1809,
Thomas
Nauman, Sr., brought his family from
Virginia and settled in
the neighborhood of Tremont City, Clark
County, Ohio. Ac-
cording to a statement made by Mr. John
H. Blose, who in 19O1
wrote an excellent history of German
Township, Clark County,
Thomas Nauman was one of the
Revolutionary Patriots who
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in
Clark County 99
could rightfully claim to have been a
member of the "Boston
Tea Party." He acquired a farm
about flour miles south of
Tremont City, in Section 13, German
Township, where he lived
and died, and is buried in the Nauman
Graveyard on his farm.
He was born in Massachusetts, and after
the Revolutionary War,
settled in Shenandoah County, Virginia,
before coming to Ohio.
JOHN CORNELIUS TOLAND was born in the
year 1750,
and served in the American Army in the
Revolutionary War.
He came to the village of Springfield in
an early day and was
the first of the Revolutionary soldiers
to be buried in Clark
County with military honors. The
following account of his
funeral was published in The Western
Pioneer, a Springfield
newspaper, on August 14, 1835, under the
head-line, "Another
Revolutionary Hero Gone."
John Toland, aged 85, was buried
yesterday, according to his request,
with the honors of War, rendered by the
"Clark Guards." An appropriate
address was delivered by Mr. (Charles)
Anthony. The deceased served in
the American Army during the whole war.
Note--The "Clark Guards" was a
semi-military company
of citizens organized for the protection
of the community, in
the absence of a marshal or police. Each
guard possessed a
horse and mounted parades were held at
stated intervals.
SYLVANUS TUTTLE was a member of the New
Jersey
branch of the Tuttle family; about the
year 1784, he was
married to a comely young woman -- Mary
Brown -- who seems
to have been possessed of the same
venturesome spirit that
characterized her husband. Soon after their marriage, they
emigrated to western Pennsylvania, and
after a few years, to
the vicinity of Clarksburg, West
Virginia. From there they
removed to Clark County, Ohio, in the
year 1806, and took up
their residence near the headwaters of
Buck Creek, about six
miles northeast of New Moorefield, where
they resided about
two years, when they removed to a tract
of land which Sylvanus
Tuttle entered on Sinking Creek, about
one and one-half miles
from its mouth, in the eastern end of
Springfield Township and
about six miles east of Springfield.
100 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
When they settled on this land, there
were in the Tuttle
family six boys and two daughters. A
third daughter, the
eldest, had married in Virginia, and
she, with her husband, ac-
companied her parents to their new home
in the wilds of the
new State of Ohio. Sylvanus Tuttle was a
"Minute Man" in
the Revolutionary Army, and was in the
battle of Monmouth,
New Jersey, and at other places. When
the family came to Ohio,
they brought with them a goodly supply
of garden and apple-tree
seeds, a flock of fifteen or twenty
sheep, two or three cows, and
the horses and wagons used in their
journey to Clark County.
After a long and useful life, Sylvanus
Tuttle died at his
home on the farm, and was buried in the
Byrd Cemetery, Spring-
field Township. He was in the
eighty-second year of his age,
at the close of his life. His remains
were removed to the Tuttle
Farm Graveyard, one-half mile southwest
of the Sinking Creek
Church.
MERRIFIELD VICORY was a drummer boy in
the Revo-
lutionary War, and had his drum shot
from his side at the Siege
of Yorktown, receiving a pension for his
services in the conflict.
He was an odd but genial character. He
located in Springfield
in 1814; he was a short, round man, with
a jolly face, and soon
became known as "Little Daddy
Vicory." He did not lack
courage, as will be seen from the
following narrative. "Early
on a Sunday morning, while living in
Springfield, he discovered
a thief stealing bacon from his
smoke-house; securing a rope he
caught the thief and tied him securely
until the hour when people
were on their way to church, when he
drove him to the Presby-
terian Meeting-House, under the
persuasive influence of a large
club, with two sides of bacon tied to
his shoulders, taking him
to the door of the church he asked the
people, there assembled, if
they claimed him as one of their
members. This was such a
humiliating lesson that the thief, upon
being released, disappeared
and never was seen in the town
again." Soon after locating in
Springfield, Merrifield Vicory bought
ten acres of the land on
what afterward became the east end of
High Street. He died
in March, 1849, in the seventy-eighth
year of his age, and was
buried with military honors in
Greenmount Cemetery.