Jonah R. and James A. Gregg Biographical Sketch from Beers History of Warren County, Ohio
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Jonah R. and James A. Gregg

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Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 7 June 2005

Sources:
The History of Warren County Ohio
Part V. Biographical Sketches
Clear Creek Township
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)
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JONAH R. and JAMES A. GREGG, farmers; P. O. Springboro; both were born on the old home place where James A. now resides, Jonah R., born Sept. 6, 1836, and James A., Feb. 25, 1846; are sons of William and Susannah (Millard) Gregg. The paternal grandparents were Samuel and Nancy (O'Brian) Gregg; he was born in Loudoun Co., Va., May 4, 1773; she was born July 28, 1775; in 1796, they emigrated from Western Pennsylvania and landed at Columbia above Cincinnati, near the mouth of the Little Miami River; they located at Deerfield, Warren Co., soon after which Mr. Gregg entered a tract of land in Clear Creek Township, where he built a log cabin and moved into it; this structure was without floor, window, chimney or chinks; a doorway was made in me side by cutting out the logs; a dense forest covered the country, and he had to make a route from the cabin to the schoolhouse by blazing trees, in order that the children might not got lost in the woods; this structure was also built of logs, with greased paper windows and puncheon floor and seats of the same material. Mr. Gregg, though a young man of about 23 when

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he came to Ohio, was inured to severe labor and toil; game abounded, and he took special delight in allowing his trusty rifle to speak the doom of many a deer, wolf and bear; of the deer, he killed, in one winter, thirty-six, and tanned their skins, which served the purposes of clothing, etc.; at that early day, and for a number of years afterward, the families of the settlers spun their own yarn, had their own looms, wove their own cloth and made their own apparel. Mr. Gregg died Aug. 30, 1844; his wife died Oct, 10, 1844; they had seven sons and six daughters, all now deceased. William Gregg, the father of our subjects, who was the first son and second child of the above Samuel and Nancy Gregg, was born at Deerfield, Warren Co., Oct. 28, 1798; was raised in the above-described log cabin, and grew to manhood inured to all the hardships pertaining to those pioneer days. On Dec. 12, 1822, he married Susannah, daughter of Mordecai and Catharine (Evans) Millard; he was born in Pennsylvania March 31, 1874 [sic]; she was also a native of Pennsylvania, and they were married in that State, came to Ohio in August, 1817, and settled near Springboro, Warren Co.; here Mr. Millard erected a saw and grist mill about the year 1818, which business he followed about thirty years; his wife died in February, 1849, aged 77 years; Mr. Millard died in Indiana March 9, 1850; his remains were brought home and interred in the Springboro Cemetery They had two sons and eight daughters, of whom Susannah, the mother of the subjects of this sketch, was born in Berks Co., Penn., April 7, 1803; her grandfather was Mordecai Millard, born in Pennsylvania June 24, 1736, who married Frances Lincoln, who was born June 22, 1741, in the same State. Mr. Gregg and wife had the following children: Rebecca, born Feb. 14, 1824, died Aug. 6, 1825; Mordecai M., born Dec. 21, 1825; Hiram, born Dec. 20, 1828; Ann J., born Aug. 3, 1831, died Feb. 20, 1836; Amanda, born May 3, 1833; an infant, born Sept. 7, 1835, died Nov. 19, 1835; Jonah; Catharine, born Jan. 10, 1839, died 1860; William H., born Nov. 14, 1840, died Oct. 10 1864; George W., born Dec. 10, 1843, died July 10, 1864; James A.; Emaline and Adaline, twins, born March 5, 1848; Adaline died Aug. 4, 1848; Emaline died Sept, 30, 1848. Of these, William H. served in the war of the rebellion and was killed near Atlanta, Ga., by the guerrillas, while carrying dispatches from Col. Smith, at Chattahootchie River Railroad bridge, to Col. Dustin, at Atlanta; his body was found twice pierced with bullets; there were also two bayonet thrusts in the breast; it was thought, judging from the character of the wounds that he received, that the brutal wretches bayoneted him after he had fallen; either of the gun-shot wounds, or both, of themselves, might not have proved fatal; as a friend, he was all that could be desired - frank, truthful and good; as a companion, pleasant, amiable and attractive; as a soldier, true as steel and brave to a fault; he was buried on a high hill within the fortification near the river; George W. also served in the late war, and died in the service at Fayetteville, W. Va.; was buried there; he was a faithful soldier and a noble young man; the remains of both were brought home and interred in the family burying-ground at Springboro. These the parents willingly gave up for the preservation of the Union and the glorious cause of universal liberty; the family have in their possession the head-boards that were placed at their graves, having respectively the following inscriptions neatly cut into the wood:

HARRISON GREGG
Company A, 79th Regiment, O. V. I.,
Killed October 10, 1864.
GEORGE GREGG,
Company H, 146th Regiment, O. N. G.
Died July 10, 1864.

Mr. William Gregg was raised and instructed in the doctrines and discipline of the Society of Friends, but about the year 1840 he embraced the doctrines of

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Universalism, and was one among the first to form a society in Springboro for the building of a Universalist Church; he died March 2, 1879; his wife died July 22, 1878. Jonah R. Gregg was married, Nov. 8, 1864, to Miss Ella S., daughter of Aaron and Rebecca (Kelsey) Gregg, he a native of Loudoun Co., Va., and she of Warren Co., Ohio, and were among the early settlers of this county; were married here and became parents of seven children; three now survive - Ella S., George W. and Albert M. Mrs. Gregg died in July, 1852. Mr. Gregg married for his second wife Philena Borden, by, whom he had seven children; four now survive - Sarah E., Ada, Aaron and Edward Everett. Mr. Gregg died July 16, 1865. During the war, Mr. Gregg was a resident of Kentucky, and was a stanch Union man; was several times compelled to leave his home for a time to save his life; he was a member of the Senate two years during the war; two of his sons, Wilson and George W., served in the war; the former enlisted in the 5th O. V. I., and was killed at the battle of Cedar Mountain in August, 1862; George W. enlisted when 14 years of age, in the 18th Ky. V. I., and served through the war. Miss Ella S., the wife of Jonah R. Gregg, was born in Warren County Nov. 8, 1842; they have had four children - Frank B., born Sept. 27, 1865; Susie A., born Sept. 11, 1867, died March 14, 1881; one infant, born Aug. 2, 1869, deceased; and Earl La Mont, born May 6, 1878. Mr. Gregg located on the place where he now lives, which was known as the Voorhis farm; here his house was destroyed by fire in January, 1868, losing all their furniture and the contents of their house; in the summer of the same year, he erected his present large brick house, and now has a fine home and residence. James A. Gregg was married, March 28, 1867, to Miss Rachel J., daughter of Henry S. and Lydia (Bateman) Thompson, he a native of the State of New York and she of Pennsylvania; they became early settlers of Warren County; were married here, and lived and died in this county, dying an the place where James A. now lives, residing, at the time of their death, with him. Mr. Bateman erected the first mill just south of Springboro, which property is now owned by Mr. Baird, which was one of the first :mills built in the county; they had nine children; seven now survive - Hannah Zada, now Mrs. Ryan, residing in Tennessee; Joseph S., living in Muncie, Ind.; Mary A., now Mrs. Baker; John B., living in Cincinnati; William H., living in Indianapolis; Charles W., and Rachel J., who was born in this county July 22, 1845. Mr. Gregg and wife have four children-William H., born Feb. 14, 1868; John T., April 19, 1871; Mabel A., July 15, 1876; and Albert Carl, born Feb. 27, 1880. Mr. Gregg remains upon the old home place where he was born, and where his parents lived so many years; this place has now been in possession of the Gregg family for forty-four years.

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This page created 7 June 2005 and last updated 18 December, 2008
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