John Ellison
John Ellison, son of John Ellison, Jr., Sheriff of Adams County, 1806-10, and grandson of Andrew Ellison, of "stone house" celebrity, whose father was John Ellison, the emigrant, was born at old Buckeye Station, March 24, 1821, and died in Manchester, April 5, 1872. His mother was Ann Barr, a native of Adams County, and his grandmother was Mary McFarland, a native of the Emerald Isle, who was married to Andrew Ellison previous to his coming to America. John Ellison, the subject of this sketch, received the rudiments of an English education in the schools such as were afforded in Adams County in his early youth. He afterwards spent some time at old Marietta College, one of the early educational institutions of Ohio. He early engaged in mercantile pursuits in which he was actively and successfully engaged until the time of his demise. While never robust, yet he undertook and carried forward enterprises of business which required the greatest mental and physical exertion. He was an alert, public spirited citizen, ever ready to lend assistance to promote; and advance the interests of the community in which he made his home and the county of his birth. He was one of the first advocates of the free turnpike road system of the State. He established the first bank in Manchester in the building which Thomas O'Neill now occupies on Water Street.
In 1866, h3, in connection with Peter Shiras and Robert H. Ellison, organized the banking house of John Ellison & Company. And just previous to his decease, established the First National Bank of Manchester in the building now occupied by the Manchester Bank. At the time of Morgan's Raid in 1863, he, assisted by his wife, sealed up the bonds and species of the bank amounting to $100,000, in fruit jars, and buried them in Keith's hollow back of Manchester, where they remained undisturbed until after all danger from Morgan's marauders had passed.
Mr. Ellison was a consistent and honored member of the Presbyterian Church during his lifetime, serving for many years as one of its alders and Sunday School Superintendent. In politics he adhered to the principles of the Republican party after its organization, although his grandfather and father were supporters of the doctrines of Jefferson and Jackson. In early manhood he wedded Miss Helena Baldwin, a daughter of Elijah Baldwin, a wealthy werchant and trader of Manchester, of whom is is said that he sent more keel-boats loaded with bacon and flour from Manchester to New Orleans than any other merchant of his day. On one occasion, when delayed at New Orleans for means of transportation home by water, he set out on foot and walked the entire distance across the country home, at a time when it was worth a man's life to undertake such a journey through a sparsely settled region infested with bandits of the most daring class. After the death of his first wife, he married Miss Caroline, her sister, with whom he resided until his decease. The fruits of the first marriage were Andrew, Anna, and John Prescott. the latter of whom yet survive. Of the second marriage, the children are Helena, who died in infancy; Esther, who married Stewart Alexander, a prominent business man of Adams County, and Louvica, a bright and interesting woman, recognized as a leader in social, church, and charitable affairs in her native community, now married to J. G. Nicholson, of Manchester.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900