Allen H. Miars
The late Allen H. Miars, who died at his farm home in Spring Valley township in the spring of 1916, and whose son, Fremont Miars, now owns and occupies the place, was a native "Buckeye"' and all his life was spent in this state. He was born on a farm in Union township, five miles north of Wilmington, in the neighboring county of Clinton, April 21, 1828, a son of Samuel and Hannah (Haines) Miars, the latter of whom was born in the same county, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Leonard) Haines, who had come to the then Territory of Ohio in 1800 and had become pioneers of the Waynesville neighborhood. Jacob Haines was a Pennsylvanian and his wife was born at Guilford Court House, in North Carolina. She was a girl when the battle was fought at that place during the Revolution and recalled that after the battle a couple of soldiers entered the Leonard home and asked for something to eat, seating themselves at the fireplace while the meal was being prepared. When they were called to partake of the meal it was found that one of the soldiers had meanwhile died while sitting there. According to Cartmell's "History of the Shenandoah Valley," the Miars family were among the pioneers of that valley, having bought their lands from Lord Fairfax. Capt. John Miars, a brother of Martin Miars, grandfather of the subject of this memorial sketch, served through the Revolution. Capt. Jacob Miars also served through the Revolution and afterward founded the town of Myersdale, Pennsylvania. This family was largely represented in the army during the Civil War, serving on both sides. Six of the name lie buried in the Confederate cemetery at Winchester, Virginia, while just over the wall in the Federal cemetery are the graves of five of the name. William H. Miars is mentioned as a gallant officer in the Laurel Brigade and Samuel D. Miars served with "Stonewall" Jackson. Capt. Jack Miars, son of William H. Miars, led the first company of soldiers through the breach in the wall of the city of Pekin to the relief of the besieged legations during the Boxer rebellion in China in 1900. Allen H. Miars was a member of a military company before the Civil War and responded to the call to help repel the Morgan invasion of the state. When that call came it found him cradling wheat in a field nearby his home. Hanging his cradle in a tree, he went to the house, got a blanket and a tincup, said goodby to his family and joined his company at Deserted Camp. Jacob Haines was a son of Joshua Haines and wife, the latter of whom was a Rich, and was a descendant of the nobility of Scotland. Upon coming to Ohio he settled on a tract of sixty acres in the vicinitv of Center meeting house, accumulated there in time a large estate, died on that farm and was buried in Center graveyard. He had four brothers, Joseph, John, Israel and Job, and a sister, Mrs. Lydia Reese, and he and his wife had seven children, Jonathan, Joshua, Isaac, Zimri, Hannah, Abigail and Lydia.
Samuel Miars was born in Frederick county, Virginia, October 29, 1799, and was about twelve years of age when he came with his parents, Martin and Jane (Summers) Miars, to Ohio in 1810 or 1811, the family settling near Center church in the Wilmington neighborhood, in Clinton county. Martin Miars and his wife, both of whom were native Virginians and Quakers, established their home there and there spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of eight children, those besides Samuel having been David, John, Martin, Jacob, Elizabeth, Mary and Jane, the descendants of whom in the present generation form a numerous connection in this part of Ohio. Samuel Miars grew to manhood on that pioneer farm in the neighborhood of Center meeting house and after his marriage to Hannah Haines established his home on a farm in that vicinity, but later moved to another place on the Burlington and Wilmington pike, near Antrim's Corner, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, both dying in April, 1874, within four days, Samuel Miars then being seventy-five years of age. He was the owner of eight hundred acres of land. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, three of whom died in infancy, the others besides Allen H., the eldest, having been Mary Jane, who married William F. Oglesbee; Martin H., who continued to farm the old home place; Isaac, whose last days were spent on a farm two miles east of Wilmington; John Milton, whose last days were spent in California, and Sarah Louise, who married Alfred McKay, of Wilmington.
Reared on the farm, Allen H. Miars received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained at home until after his marriage in the spring of 1859, after which he located on the Hazard farm two miles east of Wilmington and there began farming on his own account. There he remained for twenty-three years, or until 1882, when he bought the Gest farm of three hundred and twenty-one acres three-quarters of a mile west of the village of Spring Valley and moved into Greene county, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. In addition to his general farming Mr. Miars had given considerable attention to the raising of high grade cattle. He had maintained his birthright interest in the Friends church and by political affiliation was a Republican.
It was in March, 1859, that Allen H. Miars was united in marriage to Mary Melinda Stump, who was born in Warren county October 28, 1829, a daughter of Jonas and Prudence (Smalley) Stump, the latter of whom was a daughter of William Smalley, an old Indian fighter who had helped build the first house in Cincinnati and was the first settler in the section that came to be organized as Clinton and Warren counties. William Smalley was born in New Jersey in 1761 and was at Ft. Du Quesne when the Indians made a raid on the fort, his father being among those slain. Young Smalley then was fifteen years of age. He was taken into captivity by the Indians and for seven years was thus held, during that time being compelled to witness many an act of cruel savagery on the part of his captors, several white prisoners having been burned at the stake during that period, and on one occasion he saw an infant torn from its mother's arms and thrown into the flames. He left camp to keep from seeing Colonel Crawford burned. In 1784 he escaped from his captors and returned to Pittsburgh, a few years later coming down the river and locating at Ft. Washington, where Cincinnati came to be established. He took part in the campaigns against the Indians up in this section of Ohio with General Harmar and with General St. Clair and was later in charge of sharpshooters in Wayne's army in the Auglaize country and was present when Colonels Lynch and Truman were killed. He took part in Perry's battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812 and using his rifle, he fired thirty-three shots, twenty-nine of which took effect. Mrs. Prudence Stump, daughter of this pioneer and mother of Mrs. Miars, lived to the great age of ninety-two years, her death occurring in November, 1902. Allen H. Miars died on March 15, 1916, and his widow survived him less than a year, her death occurring on January 16, 1917. Her father, Jonas Stump, was a son of Daniel and Mary (Ramey) Stump, Virginians, who in 1817 liberated their slaves and came to the free state of Ohio, leaving their home in Frederick county, in the Old Dominion, on account of their antipathy to the institution of slavery. Daniel Stump was a son of Capt. John Stump, of the German navy, who married Margaret Lynx, gave up his seafaring life, came to the American colonies and settled in the Shenandoah valley, his wife, it being said, forfeiting her right to a large estate by coming to this country. Three of the sons of Capt. John Stump served seven years as soldiers of the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, attached to Company 4, Morgan's Regiment. It is related that at the siege of Yorktown, Jacob Stump remarked to a comrade, "See me shoot the epaulet off that British officer's shoulder." He fired and the epaulet was torn from the shoulder of the officer. To Allen H. and Mary Melinda (Stump) Miars was born one child, a son, Fremont, who owns and occupies the old home place.
Fremont Miars, son and only child of Allen H. and Mary Melinda (Stump) Miars, was born in Clinton county on September 17, 1861, on the Hazard farm, and received his early schooling in the Hazard school in the vicinity of his boyhood home, supplementing the same by attendance at the Wilmington schools, after which he entered Wilmington College and later received further instruction in the college at Lebanon and at Delaware College. For two years after leaving college Mr. Miars was engaged in mercantile pursuits at Hartmonsville, West Virginia, and then returned home, his presence on the farm being necessary in order to relieve his father of the further responsibility of the farm management. After his marriage in 1893 he established his home in the home of his parents and has since continued to make that his place of residence, now the proprietor of a farm of more than three hundred acres.
On February 8, 1893, Fremont Miars was united in marriage to Cora Bryce, who was born in the village of Spring Valley, this county, daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Irvine) Bryce, residents of that village. Alexander Bryce was born at Paisley, Scotland, and was there trained in the art of shawl weaving. In 1849 he came to the United States and became employed in the woolen mills at Urbana, this state, later coming to Greene county, making his home at Alpha and at Spring Valley, in which latter village he died at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife was eighty at the time of her death. They were members of the Methodist Protestant church and were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Miars was the fifth in order of birth, the others being the following: Catherine D., who is living at Xenia; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Stiles, a Xenia township farmer; James Irvine, who became a resident of Dayton, where he died, and Anna, who married Walter Barley and is now living at Portland, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Miars have one child, a daughter, Mary Margaret, born on March 1, 1900, who attended the Spring Valley schools and Xenia high school and is now a student in Ohio State University. They are members of the Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Miars is a Republican.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918