Franklin Oglesbee

As printed in 1882

FRANKLIN OGLESBEE, farmer, P. 0. McKay’s Station. He comes from the Isaiah Oglesbee who is mentioned in Joshua Oglesbee’s sketch. He is a great grandson of Isaiah, grandson of John, and a son of Amos, who was born in Virginia in 1810 and came to Ohio in 1817, and from 1820 matured in Clinton County. He was the eldest.son of his father, and naturally endured many privations not subjected to by the younger ones. He remained at home until 1835, when he married Anna, sister of Solomon Huffman, mentioned in Christopher Huffmann’s biography. She was born 1814 in Virginia, and came to Ohio with her parents soon after the war of 1812. Soon after this marriage they settled on the farm now owned by Frank, where he cleared considerable of it, and finally, on December 31, 1851, after having been a long and useful pioneer and for many years a member of the Reformed Church, he entered his final rest. His widow survived until June 25, 1875, when she, too, passed away. Their children were nine in number, of whom eight are now living, and our subject is the eldest, and was born September 4, 1836, on the farm he now owns, and as his father’s eldest child became his most valuable assistant. He remained with his widowed mother until 1863, when he enlisted in Company H, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, serving until the oloao of the war; received no wounds, but through exposure has impaired his health. Upon his return he resumed farming, which has since received his attention, and now owns a farm of 110 acres, well improved and under good cultivation. His nuptials were celebrated January 2, 1873, with Miss Ruth Hadley, who was born in Clinton Connty,ohio. in 1854, she being the daughter of Eli L. and Theodosia, who were pioneers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Oglesbee are the parents of one child — Anna T., born December 1, 1873.

ELIHU OREN was born in Greene County, Tenn., March 3, 1809. In the fall of 1810, his father, John Oren, moved with his family, from that State to Clinton County, Ohio. Elihu grew to manhood on his father’s farm, assisted in clearing the land, and preparing it for cultivation. The limited facilities for obtaining an education at that early day were not calculated to inspire the young men with an ambition to become scholars. Still at the age of twenty we find Mr. Oren engaged in teaching school. On the ist of August, 1830, he was married to Jane Newcomb. They raised a family of five children who lived to be grown and married, as follows: Charles, Elizabeth, Jesse, Mary Jane, and Asenath Clarissa, a bright, promising young lady, died in 1862, in her eighteenth year. Mr. Oren continued teaching for a number >4 years after his marriage. His principal occupation, however, was farming. lie moved into Liberty Township in the winter of 1835, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred March 7, 1872. Mr. Oren was an intelligent, enterprising, public spirited and thoroughly conscientious man. He was a friend of railroads, free pikes and free schools. He took an active interest in securing the first fre pikes that were built in our county, and the last day’s work of his life was in the inter. of the extension of the Chesapeako & Ohio Railway. In politics, he was a Whig, until 1840, when he cast his last Whig vote for Harrison for President. From that time, until Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, he was a Garrisonian Abolitionist. The black man found in him a true and steadfast friend. He early espoused the temperance cause, and was an outspoken advocate for total abstinence. Reared under the inla,,mo fluence of the Society of Friends, he was opposed to war, and the advocate of peace. ' But when the war for the preservation of the Union came, his sympathies were all with the Union armies, and he desired and prayed for their success. His two sons, Charles and Jesse, enlisted in the Union army. Charles was Captain of the Fifth United States Colored Troops, and was killed by a sharpshooter in front of Petersburg in August, 1864. Jesse served for three years in Company B, Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After Mr. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Mr. Oren became an earnest, active Republican. He lived to see the complete triumph of the anti-slavery principles for which he so long contended. Jane Oreu, his widow, still survives him, and is now in her seventy-sixth year. Her faculties are remarkably good for one of her age. She lives in Gurneyville with her son-in-law, B. F. James, and is patiently waiting for the time to come when she can join the companion of her youth who has gone before.

As printed in The history of Clinton County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the (1882). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.