1798 HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
H. Z. WILLIAMS & BRO.,PUBLISHERS.1881.
FROM PRINTING HOUSE OF W. W. WILLIAMS, CLEVELAND, OHIO
THE OTT FAMILY.
The family of this name, which first settled in Preble county, emigrated from Rockbridge county, Virginia. They were among the first settlers of Harrison township, locating near where Euphemia now is. They had not been here long when some vague rumors of Indian depredations induced them, with the exception of the son John and an older brother, who remained to winter through the stock, to return to Warren county, Ohio. The following spring the family returned to Harrison, where they made a permanent settlement. At the time of the emigration of the family from Virginia, John Ott, sr., previously mentioned, and father of John Ott, whose portrait appears on another page, was a young man, having been born August 1, 1785. He married June 22, 1815, Mary Magdalena Lock, who came from Maryland in an early day. She was born October 12, 1783. After marriage John settled on the dry fork of Twin creek, not far from where his son John now re sides. He lived in Euphemia during the later years of his life, and died there May 22, 1857. His first wife died in 1848, and some two years before his death he married Mrs. Hannah Hinkle, of Euphemia. He was a great hunter, and often came in friendly contact with the Indians, concerning whom he frequently related in after life many interesting reminiscences. He was an industrious, hard-working man, and secured a good property and provided liberally for his children. He was a member of the Lewisburgh Lutheran church, and was a useful citizen. He had, by his first marriage, five sons— Abraham, George, Jacob, John and Jesse, all of whom, but John, live in Indiana. John Ott, jr., subject of the portrait elsewhere given, was born in Harrison township, March 23, 1820. He married April 18, 1844, Matilda, daughter of George Brown, who lived on Twin creek. His first wife died November 1, 1845, leaving one child—John A., born February 11, 1845. In 1848 Mr. Ott married Barbara Link, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, July 31, 1822. Her father, John Link, was among the early settlers of Harrison. The children by this marriage are as follows: Daniel, born May to, 1849; Matilda, wife of John Gangwer, born February 3, 1851; Eliza Jane, wife of William Glick, born January 15, 1853; Sarah, wife of Jasper Ott, born August 13, 1854, is living in Noble county, Indiana; Barbara Ann, wife of Henry Chambers, b0rn May 14, 1856; Elijah, born November 25, 1860; Mary, born July 11, 1863. An infant son, George Franklin, died, in 1859. All of the children, except Mrs. Jasper Ott, live in Preble county. John Ott remained with his father and farmed the place until 1854, when he removed to Noble county, Indiana. In 1860 he moved back to Harrison, and has since lived here. He is one of the largest landholders in this part of the county, owning nearly eight hundred acres.