Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/911

 ��TROY TOWNSHIP.

��varied ; he enlisted in the three-months service, and died at Fortress Monroe in 1864. Mr. Beverstock lives in his pleasant residence in the village of Lex- ington.

BOWSER, GEORGE, laborer, Lexngton ; born in Troy Township, May 6, 1833 ; he is the second son of John Bowser, and was born on his father's farm, in the southeast quarter of Sec. 36 ; he lived on the old homestead until 1872, when he married Virginia, McWharter, of Marion, Ohio, by whom he has had one child — an interesting little girl, born in the centennial year, and named Ida May Bowser; immediately upon his marriage, Mr. removed to a small piece of land, con- taining 20 acres, in Sec. 35 ; remained about three years ; from there he again removed to the southwest quarter of same section, where he bought a tract, containing 10 acres, on which he now resides. Mr. Bowser is one of the honest laboring men of Richland Co. A consistent member of the United Brethren Church, of which his wife is also a member.

BULL, EPHRAIM, farmer ; P. 0. Lexington. Mr. Bull is one of the oldest residents of Richland Co.; he was born near the city of Baltimore, Md., on the 7th day of April, 1806 ; his father removed to Pennsylvania.while Ephraim was quite young, and in a few years again returned to Maryland ; in 1817, he turned his face westward, and emigrated to Ohio, settling in AVashington Township, Richland Co. Ephraim lived in this town- ship until his marriage to Elizabeth Ridenour, in Sep- tember of 1829 ; he then removed to Troy Township ; he is the father of seven children, six of whom are living. When the rebellion broke out, two of his sons went to the war as wagonmasters. On the 10th of September 1879, Mr. Bull and his estimable wife, surrounded by child- dren and friends, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedded life. Mr. Bull's home is situated on part of southeast quarter of Sec. 35.

COCKLEY, W. W., merchant, Lexington; dealer in all kinds of staple goods. A full assortment constantly kept on hand.

CUSTER, GEORGE AV., hotel keeper, Lexington ; born in Allen Co., Ohio, in the year 1842. During his early life, his father made several removals : first to Auglaize Co., then to Morrow Co. ; then to Richland Co. While living in this county, the rebellion broke out and George enlisted in Co. D, 26th 0. V. I., May 21, 1861, responding to the first call for troops to defend the honor of the nation ; Mr. Custer enlisted for the term of three years, but after thirteen months of active ser- vice, most of which was spent marching from place to place, he took sick at Nashville, was honorably dis- charged from service and sent home. In 1864, he married Fidelia AVorcester, of Morrow Co., where he again became a resident until 1872, when he returned to Richland Co.. settling in the village of Lexington, and purchased the old hotel building on the southeast corner of the public square. Mr. Custer is the father of three children. Inl878, he served as Councilman, and in 1879 was elected by his townsmen as Justice of the Peace. He has repaired the old hotel to a gr.eat ex- tent where now can be obtained ample accommodations for man and beast.

DAUGHERTY, AV. C, dealer in stoves, tinware, etc., Lexington.

��DOUGLAS, SAMUEL, farmer;, P. 0. Livingston; born in Richland Co., Ohio, Sept. 29, 1821. His father emigrated to Ohio in 1818 and located in Monroe Town- ship, Richland Co., where Samuel was born ; he lived with his father until after his marriage to Harriet Fin- ney, Nov. 20, 1845; she was born Aug. 31, 1826, in Richland Co. In 1852, Mr. Douglas and family re- moved to Troy Township, where he purchased a farm of 210 acres, owned by the heirs of the Hisky estate ; he paid about |21 per acre for this valuable farm, sit- uated in Sees. 22 and 27 ; it is now worth probably three times that amount. Mr. Douglas and family are members of the Congregational Church. He divides his farming operations between raising stock and grain. He is the father of five children, three of whom are dead.

GASS, WILLIAM (deceased), who entered the first land in Troy Township, in A. D. 1811, was born in Franklin Co., Penn., on Feb. 14, 1769; removed with his parents to Western Pennsylvania when a youth ; worked there a few years, assisting his father, then re- turned to his native county, and in 1793 was married to Mrs. Jane McClain ; soon after their marriage, they moved to Brooke Co., Va., where he bought a small farm ; sold out there in June, 1800, and emigrated to the Northwest Territory, squatting on land which he bought as soon as opened for sale, near New Lancaster, now Fairfield Co., Ohio ; in the spring of 1806, he sold out there and removed to Knox Co., Ohio, entering a quarter-section, one mile east of Mt. Vernon, where he resided until the spring of 1812, when he sold it and re- moved to his land in what is now Troy Township, Rich- land Co., where he remained during his life, reaching his log cabin the 23d of April. His family was then four sons, in the following order: Benjamin, James R.\ John, and AVilliam ; their mother died in March of 1817. In July, 1818, he was married to Mrs. Rebecca Meredith, mother of Judge John Meredith, by whom he had one son, Isaac Gass ; Mr. Gass was Representative of Fair-field County in the Legislature of 1803-04, sitting at Chillicothe ; he was also frequently a member, both from Knox and Richland Cos., until he, became quite aged ; was said to be the oldest man in the Legislature during the last winter that he served, to wit : 1832-33 ; though of rather limited education, and making but lit- tle show, he was quite popular, and esteemed as a good reliable statesman. Religiously he was of the Baptist order, and died in that faith, in March of 1846, a little over 77 years old. A daughter, Elizabeth, was born in September, 1800, while the family resided in Fairfield Co. ; she lived to be about 5 years old and losther life from the efi'ects of the kick of a colt.

GASS, JAMES R., farmer ; second son of AVilliam and Jane Gass, was born in Brooke Co., A''a., on the 8th of August, 1796; was brought by his parents to Fairfield Co., Ohio, in the summer of 1800, and to Knox Co., Ohio, in the spring of 1806, and thence to what is now Troy Township, in the spring of 1812, arriving at their cabin on the 23d of April, where he has resided continuously ever since, never having been absent from the township six weeks at one time, since the family first settled in it. AVas marrie(i in the fall of 1822, to Miss Jane AA'. Burns ; they raised four sons and three daughters ; have now living, three sons and two daughters ; his sons are now all settled on

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