Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/883

 PLYMOUTH TOWjS'SHIP.

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��going to Coal Creek to mill, some, thirty miles distant, where they had a water mill ; they would have to go on horseback, and would take two days for the trip; they had their horses trained so they would carry a sack of corn on their backs through the woods and not brush it off. There wasn't an acre cleared between his house and town, and he remembers well when Plymouth was first laid out for a town. He owns a part of the old home- stead. His father was the first to propose to establish a Baptist society, and the first meetings were held in what is now Auburn Township : the society was or- ganized about 1820, and the Presbyterian Church was built near their land ; built of logs ; the following lines were found tacked up on the church-door : " Rusty-looking church, wiiliout any steeple ;

Money-catching priest and a scurvey sett of people." At one time, when the people of Plymouth wanted guide-boards, the Supervisor put up some rather rude- looking ones in town, and the citizens thought they would better the first ones, and they therefore put up a new set ; .John Webber came along and saw the boards, and went into a store and wrote these lines and put them on the " guide-boards : "

"If finger-boards direct the way To hell or Tartaris, Ob, great God, we all must say, 'Twill go hard with Paris."

Mr. Ruckman has lived and grown up with the country, so to speak. Was married, Nov. 28, 1840, to Miss Elizabeth Young; they have ten children — Alzina, born July 29, 1842 ; Peter, Feb. 20, 1844 ; .Josephine, April 25,1846; Lavinia, Nov. 8, 1848; Dolisca, Aug. 27, 1850; Emma, Dec. 3, 1852; Laura, March 26, 1855; Benton H., Aug. 21, 1857; Ethan A., Dec. 13, 1859; Nora P., Jan. 31, 1862; they have lost three children, as follows: Alzina, died July 9, 1850 ; Dora, April 14, 1866 ; Laura, Dec. 21, 1877. Mr. Ruckman and his family are well known throughout the country, and they have all seen as hard times in their day as any one ; he now lives to enjoy his fine farm and pleasant home. The farm was in Auburn Township, but now, since the change of boundaries, is in Plymouth Township.

SEILER, M. K., harness-maker, Plymouth; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., Sept. 18, 1842 ; the family came to Ohio when Mr. S. was quite young ; he re- ceived his education at Plymouth ; in 1858, commenced to learn his trade. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. D, o2d 0. V. I.; he remained in this company till September, 1864, and participated in the following battles: Green Briar, W. Va., Alleghany Mountains, McDowell and Cross Keys, after which they returned to Winchester, Va., thence to Harper's Ferry, where they were captured on Sept. 15, 1862. (See history of the regiment.) Mr. Seiler endured many privations and hardships incident to war, and was a brave and valiant soldier; on their return up the Mississippi River, they had orders not to stop at Ft. Pillow, or they would all suffer the same fate as did the brave boys who were there; he was with Sherman's army during the battles and siege of Atlanta, he receiving a shot in the shoulder which laid him up for a time ; after his discharge, he went to Little Rock, Ark., where he worked in the Government harness-shop till June, 1865, when he returned to Richland Co., where he has lived ever since, and to-day is numbered as one of

��the business men of the town, and his work gives sat- isfaction wherever used. .June 6, 1866, he was mar- ried to Miss Clara E. Hull ; they have three children — Charles, born Dec. 6, 1869 ; Ross, Feb. 23, 1876 ; Grace, Feb. 25, 1878.

SCHEAFFER, J. E., Plymouth; was born in Penn- sylvania in 1845. April 13, 1861, he enlisted in Co. E, 1st Penn. Battery ; there remained until Aug. 21, 1863, and participated in the following battles : Green Briar, W. Va., and Bull Run, where he was wounded on the 30th day of August, 1862 ; then he returned to Pennsylvania, and, in 1864, started West; in Septem- ber, 1864, he hired to the Government to pack pro- visions, with headquarters at Leavenworth, Kan., where he traveled all through the territory and crossed the Rocky Mountains twice ; was in Salt Lake t ity for ten days ; in February, 1867, he returned to Pennsyl- vania ; in December of the same year, he went to Crest- line, Ohio. Was married, Dec. 22, 1868, to Miss Clara McKean, of Leesville, Ohio, whence he moved to Plym- outh, Ohio, and began to work at his trade, manu- facturing harness, saddles, etc., where he now lives, and is regarded by his numerous friends and patrons as a reliable and worthy man ; they have two children —Frederick, born Sept. 29, 1869; Cora May, Aug. 10. 1873. Mr. A. McKean is a harness-maker with Mr. Scheaffer.

SHOUP, JOHN J., farmer; P. 0. Shelby; was born in Pennsylvania in 1844 ; he has always lived at home and has helped to make the farm what it is to-day. Was married, Oct. 3, 1871, to Miss Adaline Miller, of Cass Township ; they have one child — Martha J., born Sept. 2, 1873. His father, John Shoup, was born in Franklin Co., Penn., within nine miles of Hagerstown, Md., Oct. 31, 1812; was raised on the farm till about 14 years of age; he then commenced to learn the carpenter's trade ; in June, 1833, came to Richland Co., where he remained two years, and returned to Penn- sylvania ; in 1845, moved back and located near his present fjirm, and, about one year after, he bought his farm; the old log house still stands there that was built nearly fifty years ago ; the land was wild and very wet ; his corn-field is now where what was known as the "big marsh," and used to be considered worthless. They have quite a curiosity in the shape of a dirk- knife, which they found in a limb of a large tree, about seventy feet from the ground ; they cut it down for rails, and, on trimming it up, they cut the limb and split it, and there lay the dirk-knife inside of the limb, and how it came there is a mystery yet unsolved, as the limb had the appearance of being nearly solid. They have a very productive farm ; have raised eighty bushels of shelled corn to the acre, nnd thirty-six bushels of wheat to the acre. Was married, Nov. 16, 1837, to Miss Logue ; they had ten children, four of whom are now living. Mr. Shoup remembers well wheii the old log court house and jail was standing in Mans- field, and when they held court in it; his family all live with and around him ; they moved from Pennsyl- vania in A'agons ; were three weeks coming through; his farm is five miles south of Plymouth and is as fine and productive a farm as there is in the township.

SMITH, S. S.. DR..manufacturerof Dr. Smith's King of Cure; was born in (panada Dec. 12, 1822; the

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