John Combs
John Combs, son of John and Ruth (Westcott) Combs, was born in Burlington, Lawrence county, Ohio, April 1, 1832. His marriage to Lizzie A. C. Crawford took place near Burlington, November 14, 1853. She was born on a farm two miles above Burlington, July 4, 1835. Her parents are James and Nancy (Kouns) Crawford, settlers of this county in 1820, and of whom we publish an extensive genealogy. The children of Mr. Combs are: Lizzie A., born at Alton, Illinois, November 8, 1854, died same day; Mary E., in Ironton, May 10, 1857; Susie M., in Ironton, September 10, 1866, resides at home. Mr. Combs settled in Ironton in 1854 and engaged in the book and stationery business. In the first call for volunteers, Mr. Combs was appointed second lieutenant in the 2d Virginia Cavalry, serving under General Averill. He was afterward promoted to first lieutenant and then to adjutant of the regiment. After the war he settled in Ironton, where he edited the Ironton Journal, then changing in politics and edited the Ironton Democrat, then the Iron Era, the only democratic paper in the county. Mary E., one of the daughters of Mr. Combs, is married to E. R. Mauck, now residing in Cincinnati, who served three years as drum-major during the late war. The genealogy of Mrs. Combs is as follows: George W. Kouns came from Pennsylvania, and Catherine, his wife, from Greenbrier county, Virginia, and settled near where Burlington, Lawrence county, now stands. The former came in 1807 and the latter in 1808, and they were married in the latter part of the last year. Uncle George, as he was familiarly called, was a brother of Andrew P. Kouns, deceased, who lived near Symmes’ creek, now opposite Huntington, Virginia, and died June 7, 1848, aged __ years. Catherine, his wife, commonly called Aunt Katy, was born on the 14th of September, 1783, and died in 1874, aged 90 years and 5 months. Their early home was a vast wilderness, situated on the banks of the Ohio river—water often driving them from their cabin to seek shelter in other buildings. At that time neighbors were few and far between, there being but four families between the mouth of Guyan river and that of Big Sandy, and but a few now remain to tell the hardships and trials of those early days. James Crawford, the grandfather of Mrs. Combs, was a native of the county of Donegal, Ireland, and emigrated to America about one hundred years ago with his family and settled in Carlisle county, Pennsylvania, where he lived the remainder of his days, after having reared a large family. His son, James Crawford, the father of Mrs. Combs, was born December 6, 1804, and was married to Nancy Kouns, daughter of George and Catherine Kouns, on the 10th of February, 1829. He had three brothers, their names being familiar to most every old resident of Lawrence county, viz: John, who moved to Illinois twenty-nine years ago; Hugh, one of the first settlers of Ironton, and Samuel, who died some years ago on his farm at the mouth of Charley creek.
The children born to James Crawford are as follows: Catherine L., Lizzie C., George K., Eliza A., Addie F., James R., Mary O., Clayton L., John M., Dillie M., and two died in infancy. John Combs is an editor and also a hotel keeper. His postoffice address is Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio.
Atlas of Lawrence Co., Ohio by Hardesty (1882)