Nature seemed to specially
favor
George Tope in the way of posterity; for, having two wives
that were both good
bearers, even at single births his family
would
have been large, but the
prolificacy was enchanced by four pairs of
twins.
The numerosity of all this
multiplied offspring and our extensive
knowledge
of them make it expedient
for us to put the account in two
chapters. The children by the first
wife and the different generations down
naturally come in for first
consideration.
1. George Tope (who might be called
George the 2nd) was born in 1782 . He
married Mrs. Elizabeth Allbaugh, of
Jefferson county, Ohio, about the year
1809. She was a sister of Jacob
Everhart, Sr. There were born to them six
children—five boys and one
girl: Henry, Catharine, George W. and Jacob
were born in Jefferson county. In
about 1822 they moved to Harrison county
(now Carroll) four miles south of
Centerville (now Carrollton) near Tope's
Mills, and here were born two
children more: Stephen and John.
Soon after John was born, in about
1828, (according to Geo. W. Tope of
Gallia county; but in 1832 by Dr. H.
G. Tope, of Perrysville), George (2nd)
died of canal fever. (Sarah Davis
thinks it was cramp colic), and was buried in
the Capper's grave-yard (now Mt.
Pleasant), by the side of which is an M. P.
church, in Union township, Carroll
county, 0. Elizabeth Tope, the widow, re-
mained at the same place, and, with
the help of the children, kept them
together until they went to do for
themselves. She died in 1855, and is buried in
Franklin cemetery. Franklin county,
0.
(a) Henry, the oldest son, learned
the gun-smith trade with John M. Holmes, of Carrollton. After
completing his apprenticeship, he worked a while at it at
Tope's Mills, and was
here married to Miss Catharine Croghan, daughter of William
Croghan, of the
same county. From this marriage there were four children:
William A.,
Hiram G., John H. and Catharine M.
In about 1844 they moved to
Hennepin, La Salle county, 111., and soon after moved to Peru,
same State. Here the
parents both died of cholera but two days apart, in July 1849,
and were buried
there. The four children were brought back to New Hagerstown,
Carroll
county, 0., where they were cared for by their grand-mother,
who was
familiarly called "Granny" Tope.
Of these children, William A. (born
1837) went to the Civil War, and died at Nashville, Tenn.,
April 24, 1862,
while serving as a member of Company C, 69th 0. V. I.—Hiram
G.
(born July 1, 1839) grew to manhood at New Hagerstown,
meanwhile attending
public school and the New Hagerstown Academy. Choosing the
medical
profession as his life work, he went to Columbus at 19 years of age and
attended college for four years, teaching school at intervals
to pay expenses. On
receiving his diploma he practiced a year in the western part
of Ohio, and then moved
to Perrysville, Carroll county 0 where he still resides. In
1862 he
was married to Mary A. Shultz, daughter of Solomon and Rachel
Shultz, of
Harrison county. To this union there were born two children:
Cadmus Ambrose
and Ulysses I. The elder of these was married to Ella Beamer
and they have
two daughters: Mary Ethel and Sarah Leona. He taught school
for several
years and at present is recorder of Carroll county. The
younger brother is at
home, practicing medicine with his father having graduated in
medicine at
Columbus, 0. He is unmarried. In 1862