Eben Skillings

As printed in 1908

EBEN SKILLINGS, whose comfortable home and fine farm of ninety-five acres are situated in Section 1, Spring field Township, the latter lying on the line dividing Springfield from Green Township, was born on this farm June 14, 1833. His parents were Lewis and Anna (Craig) Skillings.

The ancestral history of Mr. Skillings is very interesting. His grandfather, Lewis Skillings, was born in Prussia and became a soldier. At the beginning of the Revolutionary AVar England hired some 20,000 soldiers from the ruler of Hesse- Cassel and other German prices, to which troops the general name of Hessians was applied, and Lewis Skillings happened to be one of the soldiers dispatched to the American coast. The task of fighting for an alien land did not inspire him with much enthusiasm, and when the English vessel was off the shore of the state of Maine, Mr. Skillings, with a companion, managed to desert the vessel during the night and swim to the land, a distance of about a mile. They were assisted by a brave young woman, who hid them until pursuit was over. The name of this courageous and loyal maiden is not remembered, but she subsequently became the wife of Lewis Skillings, whom she had saved from certain death. They became parents of a numerous family and lived a happy and contented life until Mr. Skillings was accidentally killed while clearing up his farm in Maine.

Lewi's Skillings (2d), father of Eben, was born during the Revolutionary War and was the eldest of the large family, of which he took charge after his father's death, providing for its members until he was twenty-two years of age. In 1811. in company with a Mr. Haywood, he set out from Maine to prospect in Ohio, desiring lo find a more genial climate and better agricultural conditions. When they reached what is now Green Township, Clark County, Mr. Skillings decided to stop, but Mr. Haywood continued his journey and settled near Troy, in Miami County. Mr. Skillings entered a quarter section of land in what is now Springfield Township, but money was so hard to get in those days, on any terms, that he was obliged to release a part of this land in order to retain the rest, but at a later date he regained it.

Prior to settling permanently in Springfield Township he had visited other sections of the country, going as far south as Natchez, Mississippi, where he could easily have obtained a remunerative position as slave driver had he not scorned the offer. He returned north, lived for some time in Cincinnati, and worked in the salt works at Kanawha, on the Ohio River. After settling on a place of permanent above he was married to Anna Craig, who was a daughter of John Craig. The latter had served with his father, Andrew Craig, in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Skillings was born at Roxbury, Vermont, and her parents came to Clark County, Ohio, among the very early settlers. A family of seven children was born to Lewis and Anna Skillings, namely: Mary, who married James Leybourn; Hannah, who married William McKinney; Sarah, who married Abel Leybourn; John, who died in 1852; Lewis, who is a prominent farmer in Green Township; Eben, subject of this notice; and Wesley, who died in 1861. The only survivors of the family are Lewis and Eben, the parents having also passed away, the father when aged eighty years and the mother at the age of seventy-three.

Even Skillings was reared on the home farm and has devoted the larger part of his life to its improvement. He was married, first, to Susan Runyan, who died in the spring of 1860, leaving one child, Laura, who is the wife of Rev. James H. Hollingsworth, a Baptist minister, located at Clyde, Ohio. Mr. Skillings married for his second wife Phebe Paullin, who died September 2, 1881. There were six children born of that marriage, namely: Otis G., who is a farmer in Miami County; Wesley, who is a farmer in Kansas; Luella, now deceased, who was the wife of James Rodgers; Elizabeth, who married Anson A. Garlough, of Green Township; Frank, who resides at home; and Byron E., who lives on a part of the home farm. Mr. Skillings was married (thirdly) to Luciuda V. Miller.

In addition to his farm in Springfield Township, Mr. Skillings owns one of sixty acres situated in Harmony Township, and another that he owned in Green Township he has turned over to his sons. He is a leading member and a trustee of the Free Baptist Church at Pleasant Grove, in Green Township. In politics Mr. Skillings has always been a Republican, but is now a Prohibitionist.

As printed in 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.