History of Ripley, (Brown County) Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

Alexander Campbell, senator, was born in Virginia in 1779. His father removed to Kentucky in 1785, where the son was educated as a physician, and was a representative in the Kentucky legislature, 1800. He removed to Ohio in 1803, settled in Adams county, was a representative in the Ohio legislature from Adams county, 1807-09, from Clermont county, 1819-20, and from Brown county, 1832-33; a U.S. senator elected as successor to Edward Tiffin, resigned, 1809-13; a presidential elector voting for James Monroe in 1820; and state senator, 1822-24. He died in Ripley, Ohio, Nov. 5, 1857.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Adam G. Collin, Lawyer, ex-Mayor of Ripley, Ohio, was born in Ripley, Brown county, Ohio, October 10th, 1834. He is the son of Thomas W. Collin and Sarah G. Collin. His grandfather, Nathaniel Collin, was one of the earlier pioneers and settlers of Ohio. His father was one of seven who voted the Abolition ticket in Brown county in 1840, and his house was for many years the principal depot of the "under-ground railway," and once there the fugitive was in safe quarters. There the lacerated and fearing slave was sheltered and nurtured; and thence on a favorable occasion was transferred swiftly and silently to the Canadian border. His mother was a daughter of Rev. James Gilliland, an early settler, and one of the first Presbyterian ministers, having settled at Red Oak, Brown county, in 1805. His earlier education was obtained in the common schools located in the vicinity of his home. On the completion of his allotted course of studies he was placed to learn the carpentering trade, but after working at it for several years, when endeavoring to save a neighbor's house while a prey to the flames, fell from its roof and received a severe sprain in the back, which compelled him ultimately to turn his attention to another avenue of labor. Being endowed naturally with considerable oratorical powers, his friends induced him to enter the political arena, and, after filling various minor municipal offices, he received in 1861 the appointment of Deputy United States Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio. The occupation of this position drew down upon him the bitterest denunciations of the Democratic press, and thus he was brought more prominently before the public, particularly in the Sixth Congressional District. He steadily refrained from making any arrests for disloyalty except through the orders of his superior officers, and on account of refusing to act without the sanction of such authority was often denounced by those who would not or could not recognize the fact, that for any illegal arrest made he was liable to suits for heavy damages. One arrest made, moreover, under an order issued by E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, involved him in a suit which cost him several hundreds of dollars. And on this occasion those impetuous Unionists who had been foremost in urging him to a harsh exercise of his authority then stood aloof from him and refused to sanction publicly his course. That case occupied the attention of the Court of Common Pleas, of the District Court and of the United States Court for about seven years; and the suit was only abandoned on account of the inability of the attorneys for the prosecution to secure from their client the required fee. He afterward acted in the capacity of Deputy Provost Marshal of the Sixth Congressional District of Ohio, where his heretofore political opponents became his personal enemies, and, residing at the time in Brown county, a place not then more loyal than South Carolina or Alabama, he had many narrow escapes from death. On one occasion an order was received to arrest a certain deserter hiding in the woods near Arnheim and New Hope. The fellow it was known was constantly armed with a short rifle, and was one of the marauders who infested the underbrush of the neighborhood. After much trouble--for the citizens in general constituted a regularly organized company, avowedly formed for the purpose of resisting the draft and defending all deserters--he succeeded, with his two guards, in tracking the deserter to the house of a noted desperado, living in a wild and uninhabited spot. Here he was confronted by three men, two of whom were armed; the other, however, returned hastily to the log shanty and ran for his rifle. This was the one "wanted;" the Marshal sprang upon him, wrenched away the ascending weapon, and instantly was engaged with him in a hand-to-hand combat, the guards during this exciting time restraining the other two scoundrels by keeping a steady aim on them with their revolvers. Finally one of his guards ran to his assistance, and before the comrades of the desperado could come to his aid had mastered and handcuffed him. On another occasion he was advised of two deserters who regularly attended the drill of the disloyal company referred to, thinking themselves secure with an entire military organization to befriend them. With his usual guard of two men, Captain J. H. Shaw and J. Q. Carr, he set out to capture these men. When within one mile of the rendezvous they were warned of impending peril, and advised to return. Undaunted, however, they proceeded on their way, and as they entered Arnheim, were met by an armed squad, which was passed in silence. A passing acquaintance then informed him that one of the deserters was in the company which had entered the woods adjoining the town. Acting at once on the information, he retraced his steps; found the entire company in the woodland, the butts of their guns resting on the ground; placed Shaw on his right and Carr in the rear; and finding the man needed at head-quarters, slapped him on the back; forced him to give up his gun, and led him away a prisoner, while his scores of friends looked on in silence, overpowered by the cool daring of the Marshal and his faithful guards. The other deserter he was told "was at a butternut picnic, about two miles below Russelville." Thither he went, found over three hundred persons assembled, coolly arrested the second deserter, and before the crowd thoroughly comprehended proceedings had marched him away to a place of safety. At the conclusion of the war he studied law with G. Bamback, of Ripley, Ohio, and, September 30th, 1867, was admitted to practise in Georgetown, Brown county, Ohio. In 1871 he was elected Mayor of the city of Ripley, and while serving in this capacity distinguished himself by his severe rectitude and inflexible impartiality in all matters connected with his administration. During his Mayoralty he was mobbed at one time by those interested in the liquor traffic, for alleged undue harshness in dealing with their interests; and the jail was broken open and many prisoners released. At the expiration of his term of office he removed to Cincinnati, and there engaged in the practice of law at No. 6 West Fourth street. He has now an extensive practice, and is recognized as a legal practitioner of sterling merits and ability. Politically he was primarily a "Free-Soiler," and cast his first vote for Salmon P. Chase for Governor of Ohio. He then until 1872 voted the Republican ticket, since which time he has yoted independently, with little or no regard for party principles or partisan issues.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.

David Tarbell, Lawyer, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Subdivision of the Fifth Judicial District of Ohio, was born in Ripley, Brown county, Ohio, December 3d, 1836. He was the second child in a family consisting of five children, whose parents were William T. Tarbell and Martha (Stevenson) Tarbell. His father, a native of Massachusetts, having been born near Groton, followed in early life the occupation of sea-captain, and in later years traded through the West with the Indians. About the year 1833 he settled in Ripley, Ohio, where, continuing his trading operations, he remained until his decease in 1852. He was widely and favorably known as a public-spirited and an enterprising citizen, and was noted also for his enthusiastic devotion to the now extinct Whig party. His mother, a native of Adams county, Ohio, was the daughter of one of the pioneer settlers of that county, and died in 1854. His paternal ancestors were active participants in the revolutionary struggle, and were of Scotch and German extraction. On the maternal side his ancestors were natives of Ireland, and his mother's father, having been engaged against the British crown in the revolution of 1798, was forced to flee from his home, and came to America to find the haven denied him in his own land. Judge David Tarbell, in his sixteenth year, began life on his own resources as a shoemaker, at Ripley, Ohio. This occupation monopolized his time and energies for about one year, at the expiration of which period he found employment as a clerk in a dry-goods store of the same town. This business occupied his attention during the following six months. Up to that time he had been attending school as regularly as circumstances would permit, and had accordingly acquired a thorough English education. After relinquishing the clerkship, he assumed the role of educator in a country school situated near Decatur, Brown county, and, while pursuing a course of literary and legal study, sustained it for about six years. During this period also he attended the Wesleyan University, of Ohio. In 1858 he passed the requisite examination and was admitted to the bar, whereupon he entered on the practice of his profession in his native place, and remained there until 1861. He then removed to Aberdeen, Ohio, where he was engaged in professional labors until the spring of 1864. Between the former and the latter date he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of Brown county, and performed the duties of that office for about one year. Leaving Aberdeen in 1864, he established his office in Georgetown, where he has since resided, engaged in conducting the affairs of a very extensive clientage. In this year he was elected Probate Judge of Brown county, and later was reelected to the same office. That position was occupied by him in all for a period of five or six years. His first election to it was the consequence of a vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Charles F. Campbell. In 1868 he was a Delegate to the National Democratic Convention, at New York. In 1871 he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he now holds. He gives to the Democratic party his favor and influence, and cast his first vote for president for Stephen A. Douglas. He is attached to the Methodist Church, and is an useful coworker in all important measures projected to ameliorate the condition of society or to hasten the development of the best interests of his State and the general community. For many years past he has been a Mason, and is a member also of the Odd Fellow Fraternity. In the Masonic Order he is a Knight Templar, and is a member of the Cincinnati Commandery, No. 3. He is a member also of the Order of the Knights of Pythias, and is warmly interested in the welfare of the various societies in which he is a valued associate. He was married, January 1st, 1861, to Nancy Sallee, a native of Brown county, Ohio.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.