The Hueston Family of Butler County, Ohio

Matthew Hueston was a native of Pennsylvania, coming from what is now Franklin county, where he was born on the ist of May, 1771. His father’s next neighbor was a Scotchman, named Buchanan, who afterwards became better off in the world, and moved to Mercersburg, where he became a justice of the peace. His son James was sent to Dickinson College, afterward entering upon the practice of law. He was successively a member of the United States senate, minister to England, and President of the United States. When Matthew Hueston was two years of age his father, William Hueston, removed to the backwoods, and settled on the Monongahela, in Ohio county, Virginia. The Indians becoming troublesome, Mr. Hueston removed his family to Taylor’s Fort, twenty-four miles from the town of Wheeling. The family remained most of the time at the fort, but occasionally went to the farm when it was deemed safe. Mr. Hueston went back and forth to cultivate his place, but on one of these trips he was shot, killed, and scalped by the Indians, at the door of his own cabin. Mrs. Hueston was left a widow with six small children.

As soon as Matthew Hueston was able he began working around the farm, and at fifteen went as an apprentice to learn the trade of a tanner and currier, continuing at that employment for several years. When he became a journeyman he saved up his money, and, in 1793, made a small venture of stock, with which he went down the Ohio river. On the 17th of April he landed at Cincinnati, but after a few days went down to the falls of the Ohio. He returned by the way of Maysville, again floating down to Cincinnati, where General Wayne’s army had arrived in the meantime. Soon after arriving he sold out his goods to a man named McCrea, who, however, decamped without paying him. He then went to work in a tannery, being the one afterwards owned by Jesse Hunt, and afterwards went with Robert and William McClellan, who were engaged in driving a brigade of packhorses from Cincinnati to Fort Jefferson. Completing his first trip, he drove a number of beeves from Fort Washington to Fort Jefferson, and then superintended the killing of the cattle and putting up the beef, which was designed to subsist the men the next winter. There being no salt at the garrison, the meat had to be hung up in the open air around the fort to prevent it from spoiling, until salt could be procured. This caused a delay in the business for some time. Soon after Mr. Hueston was appointed commissary at this post, at the pay of thirty dollars a month. The next summer he returned to Fort Washington, and went out with Wayne on his expedition, being issued commissary until the summer of 1795, when he resigned.

He then furnished himself with a stock of groceries and other articles, and began as a sutler, following this up until the year 1796. He had one store at Greenville and another at Cincinnati, in the latter having a partner. The business was very profitable, and he soon accumulated twelve to fifteen thousand dollars. In the latter part of 1796 Mr. Hueston was taken sick, remaining in his bed for three or four weeks. When he had sufficiently recovered, he set out for Cincinnati, but found his affairs were in a wretched condition. His partner had become dissipated, had squandered most of the property by gambling, and had finally sold out the stock, going down the river, and leaving Mr. Hueston to pay the debts of the firm. This he did, and found that, after exhausting all his means, he still owed four hundred dollars. Undiscouraged, he persevered in his industrious way, and again embarked as a drove. He drove a large number of cattle from Cincinnati to Detroit for two dollars and fifty cents a head, and was successful in delivering them all, although the route was a complete wilderness. He returned in forty days. This business he followed till the year 1800, when he had paid off all his old debts and had accumulated fourteen or fifteen hundred dollars in hard cash. This he laid out in land.

He bought a tract of two hundred acres, four miles south of Hamilton. It was then altogether in the woods, but now the railroad. the canal, and the Cincinnati turnpike pass through it. In a few years he had a large farm under cultivation. He built a hewed-log house, in which he lived and kept entertainment for travelers a number of years. At the United States land sales in 1801 he purchased, or entered, three sections of land and two fractional sections, on the west side of the river, comprehending in all about two thousand six hundred acres. To these purchases he added from time to time, so that he eventually became the largest owner of land in this county.

On his farm south of Hamilton he began to reside in the year 1802, and on the 15th of April married Miss Catherine Davis. He remained here till 1813, when he removed to his farm on Four-Mile creek, in Hanover township. Here he built a large stone mansion, and attended to his agricultural interests for many years. He then removed to Rossville, taking up his above there in October, 1834. This is in the house now occupied by his son-in-law, Robert Harper.

At the beginning of the century the militia was better organized than it is now. Mr. Hueston became captain of a company of light-horse, from which he was afterwards advanced to the office of colonel of the Second Regiment. When Hull surrendered Colonel Hueston volunteered his services, and went with a number of others to Fort Wayne, which was then besieged by the enemy. After serving two or three months, he was made purchasing agent for the contractor of the Northwestern army, acting in that capacity until the conclusion of the war.

In 1808 be became a justice of the peace in Fairfield township, remaining so till he removed to Hanover, where, after a few months, he was again elected. In this position he served until his removal to Rossville, holding this office for twenty-three years. In no case was his judgment reversed on appeal. He was a commissioner of Butler county from 1826 to 1835. He died on the 1 6th of April, 1847, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and was buried near the Presbyterian church in Collinsville. The services were conducted by the Masons.

He had four sons and five daughters. They were William, Eliza, Mary, Samuel, Thomas, Eleanor, Robert. Cynthia and Catherine.

j. G. LONG.

J. G. Long was the son of Armel Long and was born December 15, 1815, in Wayne township. He received a good education at both the common and graded schools. He was reared to the pursuit of a farmer, which was his chief occupation through life.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS HUESTON, a pioneer of Buffer county, was born in the backwoods of Virginia in 1776 and died at his home, four miles north of Hamilton, in 1861 in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The parents of the subject first resided near Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania. In religion they were Presbyterians, and belonged to Dr. King’s congregation, who was distinguished in the annals of that region of country as the pastor there from 1769 to 1813. They removed from that place west of the Alleghany mountains, and settled in Ohio county, Virginia, which was then called the western country — the backwoods. The father of Thomas located and resided with his family on a tract of land lying on Little Wheeling creek, twelve miles above its mouth. He was not allowed, however, to remain there long, for in 1774 Dunmore’s war commenced, and the Indians became so troublesome that the settlements were broken up and the families obliged to remove to forts for security. Mr. Hueston’s family was ensconced in Taylor’s Fort (named after Robert Taylor, his brother-in-law, and the ancestor of the Taylors, who were the early settlers of this county. This fort was situated on Buffalo creek, twenty-four miles from the city of Wheeling (then Fort Henry) and twelve miles from the Hueston farm). In Taylor’s Fort Thomas Hueston was born, in the year 1776, and in 1781 his father was shot, killed and scalped by the Indians at the door of his own residence. Col. Matthew Hueston, the brothers of Thomas, emigrated to the city of Cincinnati in the year 1793, and in a few years Thomas followed, and both resided in Butler county ever afterward. The first sales of United States lands west of the Great Miami river were held at Cincinnati in April, 1801; not long after Thomas purchased a tract and in a few years afterward began to put it in a cultivable condition, and resided upon it for many years, leading a quiet, sober, economical, virtuous and industrious life. He was associated with his brother Matthew in the commissary department in the war of 1812. The Hueston family is the largest family connection in the county. There are the Elliotts, Taylors, Grays, Nichols, Marshalls, Thomas, Harpers, Birds, Millers; Robertsons, Millions, Becketts, Trabers, Hardings and others, all connected.

Thomas Hueston left a widow and a family of sons and daughters and lived four score and five years. He was born the same year that our Declaration of Independence was announced to the world, and died when the patriotism of the country was being aroused to squelch out the most wicked rebellion against the best government that ever mankind have been best with. He was an old-school patriot; and while living, his prayers went up before his God oft and frequent, for the preservation of our government and the perpetuity of the freedom of his race. We cast our eyes over his life, but to behold in its pathway the just and conscientious man. It is no exaggeration to say of him: “All the ends he aimed at, were his country’s, his God’s, and Truth’s.” He was always for his country and government, whether administered right or wrong. He truly lived in the days “that tried men’s souls,” and was a connecting link between the men of 1 776, when tories were summarily dealt with, and the men of 1861, many of whom were halting between two opinions, whether they would espouse and defend their country or justify rebellion and revolution.

Thomas Hueston died a Christian, a patriot, a philanthropist, a pioneer and an honest man.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

SAMUEL HUESTON. As a worthy representative of the intelligence, integrity and moral worth of the citizens of St. Clair Township, Butler County, the subject of this sketch occupies no ordinary position. Born near the place where he now resides, he is well and favorably known in this section, and the fact that he has the regard of high and low, rich and poor, is sufficient indication of his character. By a course of industry and good management he has become well-to-do financially, and his fine estate of one hundred and sixty acres indicates in a marked degree to what good purpose the owner has labored.

This sketch of the life of Mr. Hueston would be unsatisfactory to himself were no mention made of his ancestors. His paternal grandfather, a resident of Pennsylvania, was killed by the Indians, who were at that time troublesome and dangerous foes of the pioneers; later his wife married again, a Mr. Gray becoming her husband. The father of our subject, Thomas Hueston, was born in Pennsylvania in 1 776, and in an early day came to Ohio, where, in 1817, he married Mary Hardin, a native of Pennsylvania, born July 5, 1792, and a daughter of James Hardin, who with his family came to Ohio and settled in Hamilton County in 1799. Her death occurred at the age of ninety-one.

After their marriage the parents of our subject settled in Butler County, where they reared a family of eight children, namely: William; Ellen, wife of Col. George F. Elliott; James; Matthew, who died in 1869; Samuel; Elizabeth, Mrs. N. B. Tubbs; Robert and John T. During the War of 1812 Thomas Hueston was captain of a packhorse company, and after the war he and his brother Matthew settled in St. Clair Township. A farmer by occupation, he became the owner of fourteen hundred acres of land, one-half of which was located in Indiana. His death occurred in 1881.

Born June 10, 1827, on the farm now occupied by John Hueston, in St. Clair Township, our subject was here reared and educated. In boyhood he assisted in clearing and improving his father’s land, and upon choosing a life calling selected that of agriculture. December 14, 1853, he married Hannah M. Williamson, who was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, February 10, 1832, a daughter of Simeon S. and Eliza (Robeson) Williamson. Her father was born in New Jersey in 1801, but came to Ohio with his family when he was nine years old, settling with them near Cincinnati. There he married and continued to reside until about 1837, when he removed to Milford Township, Butler County, and here he passed away December 2, 1884. His wife, who was born in Milford Township in 1806, died in the same locality June 21, 1858. Both were consistent Christians and church members. They reared six children, as follows: Mary Ann, who married Dr. John Irwin, and died at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; Hannah M., Mrs. Hueston; William, who resides in Ft. Worth, Tex.;

John H., whose home is in Milford Township; Amos Alexander, of Webster County, Mo.; and Samuel M., who lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Hueston were May. William and Mary (Wilson) Robeson, who died September 23, 1827, and June 14, 1835, respectively. The Robeson family was founded in America by Mrs. Hueston ’s great-great-grandfather, a Scotch- Irishman, and a man of great piety, belonging to the Presbyterian Church. He came to America and settled in Bucks County, Pa., when his son James was eight years old. The only son of the latter, William, with his father, the great-grandfather, removed to Rockbridge County, Va., and came to Ohio prior to the War of 1812, in which he served as Major, being commissioned as such at Ft. Meigs.

Soon after his marriage Mr. Hueston located upon the property where he has since lived, which is one of the most valuable states in the township. He is a man of prominence in this locality, and has served his township as Trustee for many years. He is interested in the political movements of the day, and earnestly espouses the doctrines and policy of the Democratic party, taking an active part in local affairs and supporting the candidates of his chosen party. Mrs. Hueston is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Seven Mile. They have no children, but reared one young lady from the age of twelve, Mary Snyder, now the widow of Michael Beauman; she resides in Hamilton. They have also assisted in rearing three other children, one of whom was in the family six years.

Mrs. charlotte McGuire miller.

Our readers will be both pleased and profited to read of this venerable lady, who has for so many years exerted an influence for good, not only in her home and church, but also throughout the community. She is a woman whose amiability and charm of manner under her to friends and commend her to acquaintances, a woman whose real is in her family life, but who is also well known in social circles and who always has a kind word for the distressed and unhappy. Though not a native of Hamilton, much of her life has been passed here, and few of its residents are better known than she.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.