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JACOB MILLAR.
Page 357-358

(Illustration)

The subject of this sketch is a native of Madison township, having been born there November 5, 1817. His father was Isaac Millar, and his mother, Susan Decker, to whom he was married in Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1811 or 1812, in which year he brought her to Ohio to begin a pioneer's life. He bought three hundred and twenty acres of land in section twenty-eight, Madison township, on which he built a log cabin, and made a clearing of twenty or thirty acres. The first year of his arrival he spent with his brother, William Millar, in Harrison township, by whom his land in Madison was first entered. The cabin in which he lived after marriage, and in which Jacob Millar was born, was built of logs, with puncheon floor. The logs of which the old cabin was built are still in use in a smaller cabin on a part of the old farm.

The first child born to Isaac Millar and his wife, was Rebecca, in 1813. She married William Short, and moved to Illinois, where she died. John D. was the second child. He married Ann Amelia Jones, and died in Harrison. The following children came after: Jacob, Michael, Susan, Franklin--the three latter being deceased; Hannah became the wife of George W. Brown, of Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth married Jesse Musselman, and lives in Harrison township.

Jacob Millar, from his earliest boyhood, worked at the hard work of clearing the land, and raising crops among the stumps in the new country. His father was always a hard worker, and the sons were not behind him. The assistance given by the boys from the time they could do the smallest chores, was not to be despised. His opportunities for obtaining an education at school, were very limited, and generally consisted of two or three months' attendance at such schools as were then taught, during the winter months, for a few years. Since his manhood he has made good use of the opportunities he has had, and is one of the substantial men of his township. He remained at his father's house until his marriage.

He was married, November 12, 1854, to Miss Florentine Kauffman, of Bloom township, Fairfield county. They immediately began housekeeping on the farm they now occupy, though not in the same house. His father and mother remained in the same house until the death of the latter, June 13, 1858. After the death of his mother, his father gave each of his children a share of property, the sons receiving land and the daughters a money share. Jacob Millar received two hundred and sixty eight acres in Madison, and one hundred acres in Harrison township. He has since bought an additional forty acres in Harrison. In 1867 they built their present beautiful and commodious brick residence, on the bank of Walnut creek.

During their married life there have been born to them seven children: Susan Elizabeth, who married Edwin A. Peters, and lives in Franklin county; DeWitt Clinton, Mary Frances, Hannah Rebecca, Cora Bell, Lucretia, and John Decker. All, with the exception of Elizabeth, remain at home. Mr. Millar and his wife have always been hard workers, and their home, with its many comforts and conveniences, ia a constant reminder of the toil during the past. Their children are growing up around them, a comfort to them in their later life, while plenty surrounds them.