Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/948

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��BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES:

��Thus passed to the better world beyond, one who filled more than an ordinary space in the affairs of his time, and, dying, left to his children the priceless legacy of an honored and honest name.

CUMMINS, DAVID, Sb. (deceased), was born in Rockingham Co., Va., on the 28th day of February, 1782, and removed with his parents in 1790, to Indiana Co., Penn., where he grew to manhood ; he was a sol- dier in the war of 1812, and belonged to a regiment that was raised for the defense of Baltimore ; in 1816, in company with Andrew Dixon, Sr., a widely and well known pioneer, he came to Richland Co., and purchased a tract of land on the Tiffin road, some eighteen miles distant from Mansfield, now a part of Auburn and Vernon Townships, Crawford Co., and shortly there- after removed his family to that place ; Mrs. Dixon and himself assisted William Green in building the first log house in all that country round about ; he was mar- ried in 1803 to Mary Trimble ; the issue of this mar- riage was two sons and four daughters ; his first wife dying in 1824, he married Rebecca Hoblitzell, by whom

��he had one daughter, the late Mrs. Thomas Mickey, of Shelby ; the children by his first marriage were George, William, Eliza (married to Hon. R. W. Cahill), Jean- nette (married to Robert Cook, of Wayne Co., Ohio), Mary (married to Andrew Dixon, Jr.), and Nancy (married to James English); George Cummins married Caroline Hoblitzell. and William Cummins married Jane Cahill ; David Cummins, Sr., was a man of great physi- cal endurance, remarkable for his energy and decision of character ; he was of Scotch-Irish parentage and possessed many of the best qualities of both nationali- ties. In religion, he was a Presbyterian of the old school, and rigorously observed and carried out the teachings and tenets of his favorite church ; he was emphatically a pioneer in all that the word imports, and had the will and the physical power to hew a home out of the then unbroken wilderness, and was largely instrumental in assisting all of his children to secure a fair start in life ; he died Dec. 26, 1866, at the same old homestead that he selected for his home a half-cen- tury before.

��JACKSON TOWNSHIP, CRAWFORD COUNTY.

��BARGAHISER, LEWIS G., farmer; P. 0. Crestline ; he was born near Shelby Feb. 28, 1829, and resided in Sharon Township till the fall of 1877, when he re- moved to the farm between Crestline and Leesville, where he and his family now reside. His father, Jacob Bargahiser, and his uncle Levi, settled on land near Shel- by about the year 1824. They were in the county, how- ever, as early as 1812 ; Levi was a boy, living with Mr. Ruffner on the Black Fork of the Mohican, when the mas- sacre of his and the Zimmer families occurred. Jacob, Levi, and their wives were each 77 years old at the time of their deaths.

BROWN, JOSEPH, farmer ; P. 0. Crestline ; he was born in Delaware Oct. 26, 1793; he says his wife was born the same day ; they now reside on the farm where they settled in 1815 — sixty-five years ago. Mr. B. was so severely injured by the cars some time ago as to re- quire the amputation of both legs near the knees ; still he can get about well on the stumps. His first habita- tion here was made of poles and covered with bark ; they lived in this rude structure some time before they erected a cabin. A hickory withe was used to draw the logs together at the cabin site ; he went to Knox Co. for corn till he could raise a crop, and had nearly twenty miles to go to mill ; wild game was then abun- dant, and furnished plenty of meat. Mr. B. was mar- ried, in 1824, to Elizabeth Hagar, daughter of Sebastian Swartz, who came to this country in 1820.

CAHILL, RICHARD WALLACE, farmer; P. 0. DeKalb, Crawford Co., Ohio. Mr. Cahill was born in Derby Township, Westmoreland Co., Penn., March 6, 1801, and spent his early days upon the farm with his father, Abraham Cahill, in clearing land and doing general farm work ; he moved from Pennsylvania to

��Wayne Co., Ohio, about the year 1817, with his parents, four brothers and six sisters, he being the sixth in the family ; he continued on the farm with his parents un- til at the age of 21 years, when he came further west and settled in Bucyrus, Crawford Co., Ohio, first en- gaging in the dry-goods business as clerk in the store of Judge Inman, in whose service he remained five years. He married Miss Eliza Cummins, of Richland Co., and finally moved on his present homestead. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and has always been an active Democrat, taking a deep interest in the welfare of the party and all public affairs ; hie has always been a rep- resentative man of his neighborhood, and, in 1841, was elected as Representative from Richland Co., to the Ohio Legislature, and was re-elected (as was the custom of his party in 1842, the terms then being only one year), during which term he served his constituents with marked ability and intelligence ; in 1850, he was elected as a member of the convention which framed the existing constitution of Ohio, in the debates of which are found his published speeches during the ses- sion ; in every public position he has exhibited that fidelity to public trusts, which has made him a man of mark in his community. He is a man of remarkable memory, entertaining intelligent and positive opinions on all questions coming under his observation. His family consists of eleven children, eight of whom are yet living, viz.: David C, who has served two terms as the Clerk of Court of Crawford Co.; James, Isaac, Rich- ard W., Jr., Warren J. C, Katie and Nettie; a son, Abraham Cahill, became a distinguished Attorney, member of the Dayton bar, and died at the very dawn of distinguished usefulness, deeply regretted by all who knew him. The career of the subject of this sketch has

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