James Patchell
James Patchell, one of the oldest settlers of the township, occupies a farm on Section 5, in the second township, second range. He is a son of James Patchell and Elizabeth Cannon, who were natives of Ireland. He was born on Oil Creek, Venango County, PA, Jul 9, 1814. His paternal ancestors were French Huguenots, who emigrated to the northern part of Ireland in 1568, 4 years before the massacre of St. Bartholomew. As early as 1515 the principles of Luther and Zwinglius had gained an entrance into France (especially that part bordering on Switzerland), as well as the doctrines of Calvin, which were embraced by the PatchellS, a very numerous and influential family living near Vassey. In the struggle between the Bourbons and the 5 princes of Guise, they espoused the cause of the former; but it was not until 1560 that there was anything like an armed opposition to the tyranny of the latter. A plan was agreed upon by the Huguenots to seize the Guises on a certain day, when a number of them were to present a petition to the king in person (who then lived at Blois), asking him to grant them the right of free exercise of their worship. The plan was betrayed and 1200 Huguenots were executed. Of that number 7 were PatchellS, where the name first occurred in French history. Bloody scenes were the result, and the massacre of Vassey in 1562 was the immediate cause of a continued civil war between the Catholics and Protestants in that part of France for over a century.
In leaving France and settling in Ireland, the Patchells did not better their condition, for the same bloody scenes were there enacted, though of a local and not a national character. His 4th-great grandfather was one of the gallant few who served under that famous Protestant clergyman, George Walker, in the heroic defense of Derry Against King James. For bravery in the battle of Boyne, he was presented with a gold medal, now in the possession of Samuel Patchell. His grandfather, Edward Patchell, was keeper of the forest under Lord Fitzgerald. This nobleman was killed by the Catholic tenantry, in the insurrection of 1788, in Derry County. He also owned a large farm 5 miles from Londonderry, and would have shared the fate of his lordship had he not been secretly released by a man named Dunbar, whom he had befriended in several ways.
In 1792 he emigrated to America, settling in PA. In 1800 he bought 1000 acres of land of the Holland Land Company, through which Oil Creek runs, on which are some of the largest oil-wells in the state. His father, James Patchell, was next to the youngest of a family of 2 sons and 3 daughters and was born in the county of Derry, Ireland in 1772, and married Elizabeth Cannon in 1800. She was also a native of Ireland, and was born in the county of Tyrone, in 1783. By this union there were 8 children: Edward, William, Mary A., Jane, Eliza, Jemima, James, and Joseph, all of whom are now dead but James, who resides at Port Union.
In the war of 1812 he was a major in the PA militia, and during the winter of 1814 was stationed at Erie, PA. His brother Edward was a brigadier-general in the PA line during the war of 1812. He was also appointed by President Jackson, during his second term, the issuing commissary-general of the Army of the Southwest, with head-quarters at New Orleans, which position he held for 3 years, when he resigned on account of ill health. At the time of his death he was one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Pittsburg.
In the Spring of 1816 James Patchell, in company with several other families, descended the Alleghany and Ohio Rivers to Neville, Clermont County , OH, in a keel-boat. He was driven to this course on account of going on the official bond of his friend Samuel Plumer, as sheriff of Venango County. He defaulted in office, for a large sum, and his security could not pay this without selling his farm, which he had inherited from his father. He left it in the hands of his brother Edward, to sell and pay the debt. A short time after coming to Clermont County he purchased a farm in Tate Township, where he resided until 1830, when he removed to Butler County, where he died in 1844, and his wife in 1846. He was a man of great energy and strong will-power. Although a Democrat in a Democratic county and township, and possessed of a good education, he would never consent to be a candidate for any office. These, combined with honesty and good judgment, made him a man of more than ordinary ability.
James Patchell, the son, was born on the 9th of July, 1814 at Oil Creek, Venango County, PA and removed with his parents to Clermont County, OH in 1816. He came to Union Township in 1830. On Aug 28, 1842 he was married at Port Union to Mrs. Belinda McClellan Smith, widow of Dr. G.M. Smith. Her maiden name was McClellan, being the daughter of James McClellan and Anna Giffin, and she was born in Hamilton County, OH, Oct 8, 1815. Her father was a great-uncle of General George B. McClellan. They have 6 children. Joseph C. Was born Dec 14, 1843; E. Jennie, Aug 4, 1847; James E., Aug 29, 1850; Stephen C., Jan 29, 1853; Edward W., Aug 14, 1855; and Rosalinda, Dec 6, 1858. Joseph C., who is married to Lizzie Gerwig, now lives in Cincinnati, and is a dentist in good practice; E. Jennie is married to Samuel B. Dean, and lives at Collinsville; James is married to Ollie Cutler, and lives at Port Union; Stephen is married to Jennie Easton; Edward W. Is married to Mollie Howard; Rosalinda was married Sep 28, 1881, to George Milton Rodebush, of Newtonville, Clermont County.
Mr. Patchell began with about 80 acres of land, but has since added steadily to it, until he now has 246 acres in a state of high cultivation. He was trustee of Union Township from 1843 to 1849; justice of the peace from Nov 3, 1849 to Dec 13, 1846 in all 15 years; postmaster of Port Union from May 11, 1850, to Oct 1865, and notary public since Jan 25, 1866. He was assessor of real estate in the township in 1859 and also in 1880, and revalued them in both years. From 1855 to 1877 he settled nearly all the estates of deceased persons as administrator, and acted as guardian of minors within the township, their estates amounting in gross to nearly $200,000. His family has had a long and honorable connection with the history of this valley.
From A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers, Western Biographical Publishing Company, Cincinnati Ohio, 1882.