John Sollars
John Sollars, farmer, is a son of Samuel Sollars, an early settler, who was born February 9, 1806, in Alleghany County. In the fall of 1808, he removed with his parents to this state, and landed in this county, one mile southeast of Good Hope. He was the oldest child and reared by his parents, remaining on the farm till twenty-four years of age. He began attending school in 1813, in an old cabin south of the present residence of Judson McCoy, taking a blazed road which his father cut from the house to the school. His teacher was William Records, who is remembered as a good scribe and mathematician, and somewhat of a poet; was tall in stature and somewhat eccentric. The cabin in which the school was held, was built by John Davis, a squatter, and occupied as a school after his death. This cabin, and another built some years later, were the only institutions of learning attended by him. His teacher, in 1814, was Bazzle Musset. September 20, 1832, he married Nancy, daughter of John McWilliams, of Clermont County, who was an old pioneer and surveyed land near Cincinnati, in 1796.
Our subject's grandfather, Isaac Sollars, came from Maryland to Pennsylvania, prior to the war of the revolution, and his ancestors may truly be called pioneers. The marriage was blessed by eight children: Lucy, John, Samuel, Ann, Frank, William, Nancy, and Elizabeth; those dead, are Lucy, Samuel, Ann, and Frank.
Samuel enlisted in Company C, 54th O. V. I., June 11, 1864. During the battle at Pittsburg Landing, a branch from a tree struck and disabled him, and he was discharged. He re-enlisted in the one hundred days service, in Company I, 160th O. V. N. G., and received a mortal wound at Cynthiana. Franklin was in Company E, 122d O. V. I, enlisted June 2, 1864, was taken ill with typhoid fever at Washington, and died at Jarvis Hospital, Baltimore. He was engaged in the battles of Monacacy, in front of Petersburg, and Richland (on skirmish line two days). John assisted in driving the Morgan raiders from our borders. All three were brave and daring soldiers, and beloved by comrades and officers; two gave up their lives in the cause, and we gladly pen this small tribune to their memory.
Our subject settled on this farm with his father, in 1816, and took possession in 1832, and has lived here since. He assisted in changing the wild state of the land to one of high cultivation. He owns one hundred acres in this township, one hundred and fifty in Perry Township, and seven hundred and twenty acres of woodland in Illinois. He is a pioneer, successful farmer, retains an excellent memory, and is beloved and esteemed by all who know him.
From R. S. Dills' History of Fayette County
This venerable and honored gentleman is one of the oldest citizens living within the borders of Fayette County, the most of whose growth he has witnessed, as he is a son of one of its early pioneer families, and for sixty years he has been a landholder here, owning and occupjing a farm of one hundred acres in Wayne Township, that he reclaimed from the forest wilds.
Our subject was born in St. Clair, Allegheny County, Pa., in 1806. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth Sollars. Samuel Sollars was born in the same place as his son, January 12, 1784, in the home of Isaac and Elizabeth (Blackinore) Sollars, who were natives respectively of England and Maryland. The latter was a daughter of Samuel Blackrnore, who was of English birth. Isaac Sollars was of Revolutionary fame, and was located at Ft. Mcintosh during the struggle of the Americans for freedom from the mother country. Some time after marriage, be removed to Kentucky, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and settled in the forests of that State, and he was there killed by the Indians in 1792.
Samuel Sollars was very young when the family went to Kentucky, and was but eight years of age when his father was killed. He continued to live with his mother and relatives in the Kentucky home until he grew to manhood. His education was quite limited, owing to the absence of schools in that part of the country. He was married to Elizabeth Train, September 20, 1803, in Pennsylvania, whither he had returned. She was a daughter of John and Joan (Weiley) Train, who were natives respectively of Scotland and Pennsylvania. John Train came to America after he had attained manhood, and married in Pennsylvania. In 1808, Samuel Sollars brought his family to this part of Ohio, which has since become known as Fayette County, and established a home in the woods within two miles of where his son, of whom we write, now lives. He purchased two hundred acres of land, to which he afterwards added two hundred and fifty acres, and in due time had hewed out a goodly farm. His first house was like all early dwellings of that day, constructed of logs, but was warm and comfortable. He was one of the first to settle in this region, and had no neighbors except the Indians, who were numerous. Wild game was plentiful in the forests, and as he was a good marksman, he had no ditticulty in providing plenty of venison and turkey for the table. He and his wife reared eight children, named as follows: John, Isaac (deceased), Hiram (deceased), Allen (deceased), Samuel, Jacob (deceased), Matilda, widow of Hamilton Rogers, and Mary (deceased). The father served in the War of 1812 two months. He was a Democrat in early life, but later joined the Whigs, and was a conspicuous figure in public life, having been Commissioner of Fayette County nine years, and at different times held most of the township offices.
Our subject labored hard to acquire an education, spending his school days in the old log schoolhouse of pioneer times, that was furnished with split log seats, and lighted by greased paper instead of glass. He has always been fond of books, and has supplemented his early education by a wide range of reading, including much that bears on the topics of the day, and he is especially fond of history, in which he is well posted. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age, and then went into the timber to cut cord-wood. At the age of twenty-six, he took unto himself a wife in the person of Nancy, daughter of John and Nancy (McCulloch) McWilliams, who were natives respectively of Scotland and Pennsylvania, and early pioneers of Belmont County when Ohio was a Territory. John McWilliams was a man of solid attainments, and a school teacher by profession. He arose to prominence in his county, which he represented in the Territorial Legislature of Ohio. He served his county as Auditor a number of years and in 1796 was engaged by the Government as a civil engineer to survey land near Cincinnati.
Our subject bought one hundred acres of his present farm in Wayne Township in 1832, and has since made it his home. He now owns nine hundred and fifty acres of land in this county and in Illinois, and his means are ample to enable him and his wife to enjoy a serene old age in quietness and comfort. He was formerly active in local public life, and has held most of the township offices, in which he used his influence to forward every useful measure planned for the benefit of the community. Politically, he is a Republican of long standing.
Mr. and Mrs. Sollars have had eight children: John, Jr.; Samuel and Franklin, deceased, the latter having been a member of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Infantry; William, who married for his first wife Anna Crosby, and for his second Neonla Culy; Lucy and Anna, deceased; Nancy, wife of Samuel Hoppes; and Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of George Blackman. Samuel Sollars gave up his life for his country during the late war. He first enlisted in Company E, Fifty-fourth Ohio Infantiy, and subsequently re-enlisted in the one hundred days' service, was wounded in Kentucky by Morgan's men, and died in the hospital at Covington, that State. Our subject and his wife have sixteen grandchildren to gladden their hearts.
From PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF FAYETTE, PICKAWAY AND MADISON COUNTIES, OHIO - Chapman Bros. [Chicago, 1892]