W. C. Nixon

As printed in 1882

W. C. NIXON, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born April 5, 1838; he is a son of Samuel and Rachel (Hatfield) Nixon, natives of Ohio, of English descent; he received a common-school education while living on the farm with his father. He has spent the greater part of his life on the farm, and, by steadiness of habits and close attention to business, he has made farming prove more than ordinarily successful. During the years from 1860 to 1867, he conducted a grist-mill between Lebanon and Morrow, known as the Stubbs’ Mill. In 1868, he married Hannah Vandoren, daughter of Peter Vandoren, an old settler of Warren County, who now lives in Sangamon Co., Ill. By this marriage, six children were born, viz., Frank V., John H., Peter E., Amy M., Mary E. and Adolphus. Mr. Nixon is a Democrat and has held the office of Justice of the Peace in Washington Township.

AXiLiEN NIXON, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Turtle Creek Township, Warren Co., Ohio, Oct. 30, 1812; he is one of a family of eleven children, bora to Allen and Margaret (Troutman) Nixon, who settled in Turtle

Creek in the year of our subject’s birth; he had every facility offered by the schools of that day to obtain an education, and, for ten years of his early life, made teaching his employment. He was married, in 1846, to Elizabeth G. Hatfield, who was born in Warren County in 1816. By her he had seven children, viz., Lewis C., a school-teacher; George (deceased), Clark, Emma (deceased), Ida Ann, Linn and Minnie Ellen. Mr. Nixon has devoted the last thirty-five years of his life to farming, and has succeeded in acquiring 409 acres of good farm land. He and his wife are both members of the Christian Church, in which he has been a Clerk and Trustee. His wife died March 2, 1882, aged 65 years and 4 months.

J. KELLY O’NEALL, attorney, Lebanon. Prominent among the legal fraternity of Warren County stands the above-named gentleman, who was born about two miles south of the village of Waynesville, Warren Co., Ohio, Feb. 15, 1820; his paternal ancestors were originally from Shane Castle, County Antrim, Ireland. The first to come to America, according to the family traditions, was a younger son of the house, named Hugh O’ Neale, a Lieutenant in the British Army, who, while cruising in the Chesapeake Bay, owing to some difficulty between him and his Captain, left the ship and located at Winchester, Va., changing the spelling of his name to O’Neall. From Hugh is traced in & direct line WTilliam, Abijah, William, and our subject, J. Kelly. Abijah, the grandfather, came to Warren County in 1799 and settled in Wayne Township on land of which a part still remains in the family’s possession. The maternal grandfather, James Smith, came from Virginia in the same year, and located on land in the same township, on the banks of the Little Miami River, but he died at Newtown, Ohio, and his family subsequently settled on the lands. The grandparents on both sides left their respective homes, in Virginia and South Carolina, to escape what they considered the evil influences of slavery. Mr. O’Neall’s parents were William and Martha (Smith) O’Neall, the former a native of South Carolina and the latter of Virginia. Our subject remained on the farm until 16 years of age, in the meantime attending the common school of his district But sickness at the time retarded his studies for a year or more, after which he began a course of study of the higher branches. In 1840, he attended the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, where he completed his literary education. In 1843, he returned to his father’s house and commenced the study of law, under the instructions of the late Judge George J. Smith. In (the summer of 1843, he went to Montgomery Co., Ind., and read law in the office of Henry S. Lane, Esq. In February, 1844, he took up his permanent residence in Lebanon, and, in May of the year following, was admitted to the bar at Lebanon. He was married, in July, 1848, to Miss Anna M. Skinner, by whom he had six children, four now living, viz., Laura K., Eva S. (the widow of Granville E. Colbert, deceased), William A. and Annie T. Mr. O’Neal! has practiced his profession continuously up to the present, and for four terms served the county as Prosecuting Attorney. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since November, 1864; was made a Master Mason in Lebanon Lodge, No. 26; he received the Capitulary degrees in Lebanon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 5, and was created a Knight Templar in Reed Commandery, No. 6, at Dayton, Ohio, in 1865; subsequently, he became a member of Lebanon Council of Royal and Select Masters; in 1872, was elected Grand High Priest of Ohio, serving three years; in 1875, he was elected Eminent Deputy Grand Commander of Knights Templar for the State of Ohio and served until 1879, when he was elected Right Eminent Grand Commander; in March, 1871, he received the degrees of the “ Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,” in the Scottish Rite Bodies and became a 3 2d Degree Mason in the Ohio Sovereign Qonsistory at Cincinnati. In addition to the time given to the study of the

Google laws of Masonry, and while discharging the duties of his profession, Mr. O’Neall has devoted considerable attention to the natural sciences, especially geology. He has collected a line cabinet of fossils, and it is believed that he understands the Paleontology of his own county better, even, than any teacher of the science. He has discovered some new species of fossils and a beautiful crinoid bears his name. He is a man who takes a deep interest in all matters touching the welfare of his county, and, as a citizen, he stands in the foremost rank.

JOSEPH W. O’NEALL, Probate Judge, Lebanon; was born in Wayne Township, Warren Co., Ohio, April 6, 1846; he is the son of James Smith and Martha A. (Sa Lee) O’Neall, the former a native of Warren County, and the latter of Woodford Co., Ky.; his father is still living and is a brother of J. Kelly O’Neall, under whose name a sketch of the ancestry is given; his mother is a daughter of Joseph and Judith (Hampton) SaLee, of Kentucky. Our subject received a very limited education, and remained on the farm until 15 years of age, when he enlisted in Company H, 54th O. V. I., at that time being barely able to read and write. He took part in the battle of Shiloh, but was discharged after the battle on account of his youth. On the 12th of August. 1862, he re-enlisted in Capt. Joseph L. Budd’s company A, 35th O. Y. I., and joined his regiment at Decherd, Tenn. He was with the regiment and participated in the skirmishes and 'battles at Shepherdsville, Harrodsburg, Perryville, Hoover’s Gap, Tallahoma and Chickamauga, in the latter of which he was three times wounded — once in the hand, once in the right shoulder and once in the head. He was left on the battle-field unconscious, and captured by the rebels, who took him to Atlanta, Ga., and thence, via Augusta, Branch Hill, Columbia, Charlotte, Baleigh and Petersburg, to Richmond, Va., where for forty-five days they confined him in Castle Pemberton. He was one of four prisoners detected in digging a tunnel from the prison, which resulted in the famous “ Sugar raid,” and for this was deprived of all rations for forty - eight hours and forced to stand erect twenty-four hours. He was afterward removed to Danville, Va., where he was confined six months. While here, a general escape, planned by all the prisoners, was betrayed, and the leaders, expecting to be court martialed and put to death, determined to make another and a more desperate effort to escape. Accordingly, our subject and six others concealed themselves in the vault and made their way down the drain as far as possible, and then tunneled out. In this, Mr. O’Neall and two others succeeded, while the rest were recaptured. After three days’ wandering through the woods, he was recaptured, but, escaping from the guards, had almost reached the Union lines, when he was captured with bloodhounds and taken back to Danville. To prevent his further attempting to escape, he was deprived of all his clothes, and for six months, remained in almost a nude condition, only having part of the time an old shirt given him by a fellow-prisoner; he was then taken to the jail at Greensboro, and from there to the State Penitentiary at Raleigh, S. C., where, with twelve others, he was fastened to the “ Bullring. ’ ’ He was afterward removed to the penitentiary at Columbia, thence to Macon, Ga., and from there to Andersonville, where he was confined four months, after which he was taken to Charleston, where he was for fourteen days under the fire of Union guns. From Charleston he was removed to Charlotte, S. C., and, on the 15th of December, 1864, succeeded in again making his escape, and, reaching the Union lines at Savannah, was sent on a Government vessel to Annapolis, Md. Here he obtained a furlough and returned home, much to the astonishment and joy of his people, who had long since supposed him dead, and who could hardly recognize in the wasted and emaciated figure before them the healthy farm boy who left them thirty months before. When captured, he weighed 155 pounds; when he reached home, he weighed 84. While in Andersonville Prison, he had the varioloid and scurvy. He was engaged in digging eight tunnels, and, at one time went nine days without rations. On the 19th of May, 1865, he received a Lieutenant’s commission, but was mustered out of the service before being assigned for duty. After the war, he taught school five years, and, after engaging in business in the West three years, he returned to Ohio and taught one year more. He studied law with John E. Smith, and was admitted to the bar April 13, 1877. On the 9th of February, 1879, he became Probate Judge of the county, in which position he is still retained, having been nominated for a second term by an overwhelming majority. He was married, Nov. 25, 1869, to Miss Laura A. Van Home, daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Dilatush) Van Home, and by this union has had five children, viz., M Stella, J. A. Willie (deceased), George A., Eva Belle (deceased) and Joseph Walter. Mr. O’Neall is a Republican in politics, and socially and morally a gentleman. He has served in his present capacity to the entire satisfaction of the people and with honor to himself and credit to his constituents.

As printed in The History of Warren County, Ohio (1882). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.