Oliver Ewing
1834
– 25 Mar 1924
Oliver Ewing was the father of four children and was married four times. He was born in Logan County, Ohio.[1] His parents were John Ewing and Deborah Mathis of Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Deborah’s family is well documented. John Mathis and Deborah Grant, Deborah Mathis Ewing’s father and mother, were Quakers who received permission from the Society of Friends to move to Ohio on 12 Aug 1818. They were members of 1st Friends Church established in Logan County, Ohio, where they lived out the remainder of their days. Deborah Grant Mathis is buried in Darby Creek Cemetery, Logan County, Ohio. (Also known as Curl Cemetery) John Ewing and Deborah Mathis were married in Logan County on 24 Apr 1817. Little is known about Oliver’s father John Ewing[2].
Census records and the Historical Review indicate John Ewing was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio at an early age. He died, most likely in 1840, but no earlier than March of 1839. His wife, Deborah, filed a guardianship request on 5 May 1840 with the Logan County Ohio Probate Court. At this time, one of the children was six months old.[3] It is believed that one of John and Deborah’s other children, Elizabeth, was born in 1824. Elizabeth married Dr. J. W. Johnson who died in 1850. She then married a pastor named Jabez Blair who is the subject of the Historical Review noted in the footnotes. According to the Historical Review, John and Deborah had nine children, however, it appears that there were only eight. James Ewing was born in 1827, John Randolph Ewing in 1832, Oliver in 1834, Milton Ewing and Martha Jane Ewing in 1835, Sherman Ewing in 1836 and Mary Eliz Ewing in 1839. It is believed that Randolph Ewing and John R. Ewing are the same person but referred to by different names in different sources.
Deborah, John Ewing’s widow, married Job Garwood on 14 Sep 1842. It appears they had three children. Judge Levi Garwood, born 23 Jun 1843, Napoleon Bonaparte Garwood, born 10 Mar 1847 and Levi Garwood (Caleb Garwood?) whose birth date is unknown. The 1850 Logan County, Perry Township, census reveals Job’s children by his first marriage and Deborah’s children from her first marriage to John Ewing; Randolph, Oliver, Sherman and Mary Ewing in the same household. Nothing is known of James and Martha Jane. In this 1850 census, Oliver was listed as a shoemaker. Earlier history of East Liberty shows a John Ewing as having owned a shoe shop in the 1830’s, probably referring to John, Oliver’s father. The 1860 census pictures Job and Deborah accompanied by Judge and Napoleon Garwood and Sherman Ewing, then 23 years old. A John (Randolph?) Ewing and wife, Francis, from England, and their three children are shown next door. Records show that a Randolph (probably John R) Ewing married Fanny Appleton (Frances?) of England 20 Aug 1851. One of the children in the John and Frances Ewing household was a boy named Charles Ewing, 2 years old at the time of the 1860 Census. As will be shown later, it is likely that this child is Charles born of Oliver and Anna Brown Ewing. It is a puzzle why Charles would be living with his uncle, especially when it appears Oliver had another child named Franklin Ewing after 1860. Charles does not appear in the 1870 Census household of John Ewing. 1870 census records also show a Charles and Franklin living with another family. It is likely that Franklin Ewing is the other son of Oliver.
Marriage records show Oliver was first married to Sarah L. (Louisa) Vaughn on 26 July 1851. Of this union was born Azetta Jane Ewing 11 Nov 1852. She married Dennis T. Riddle on 25 Jul 1872. Azetta Riddle died 1 Mar 1936 in Dayton, Ohio. Her death certificate lists Oliver Ewing as her father and Louisa Vaughn as her mother. Oliver’s son, Charles Ewing, was born 7 Oct 1857 in East Liberty, Ohio and died 23 Nov 1935. His obituary shows his sister as Mrs. D. T. Riddle, who lived in Dayton, Ohio, and his father and mother as Oliver Ewing and Anna Brown of East Liberty, Ohio. This link makes it clear that Oliver was married to Anna Brown after Sarah Louisa Vaughn.
Charles’ obituary indicates that he had two other siblings who were deceased prior to 1936. 1870 census records show a Zettie and Lettie Ewing each living with other families. Zettie appears to be Azetta. Lettie is not known, however, she may be Oliver’s other daughter. Records show that Oliver married Mary Budd (Beed) (Bead) on 5 Oct 1862. Nothing is known of this union. Oliver then married Elizabeth Glendenning Wilson, widow of J. W. Glendenning, 18 Feb 1866. 1870 census records show Oliver and Elizabeth living in Rush Township, Champaign County, Ohio, but living apart. Oliver was living with Daniel Harris and his wife, while Elizabeth resided with children who were apparently from her prior marriage. 1880 census records show Oliver and Elizabeth living with Harrison Apple and his wife in North Lewisburg, Ohio. Records show they divorced on 21 May 1886. The History of Ohio, Champaign County, shows Oliver Ewing as Marshal of North Lewisburg, Ohio 1872 and 1873. [4]
Some confusion and possible conflict exists because the 1880 census records show Oliver’s father as being born in Virginia, while John Ewing, Oliver’s natural father, was possibly born in Pennsylvania. In light of the information above, it is likely that the census records refer to Oliver’s stepfather, Job Garwood, who was born in Culpepper, Virginia. Later census records for Elizabeth, John’s daughter married to Jabez Blair, show John as being born in Ohio. No other Logan or Champaign County records refer to an Oliver Ewing. It is highly unlikely that there was more than one Oliver Ewing in those counties during that time frame.
1920 census records of Montgomery County, Ohio, show an Oliver Ewing as an inmate of the Montgomery County Infirmary. It is not known for certain that this is the same Oliver. However, Census records show that his oldest daughter lived in Montgomery County, Dayton, Ohio at that time. Also, the age (86) given is consistent with Oliver’s birth date (1834) and no other Oliver appears in other records at that time. It is not known why he was an inmate. The county infirmary served as a home for the poor, sick or insane. Infirmary records at the Ohio Historical Society show Oliver as having been admitted about a week before his death, listed as 25 Mar 1924. The records show he is buried in grave #8 at the Infirmary. There is no death certificate on file with the State of Ohio. It is likely that he was an inmate due to illness or poverty.
Chuck Ewing Email cwewing@ameritech.net
5375 Cosgray Rd. Modified December 17, 2004
Dublin, OH 43016-9634 Phone and Fax 614 771 7161 Home
[1] Kennedy, Robert P., The Historical Review of Logan County, Ohio: together with biographical sketches, (Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1903.), 550
[2] A theory, which is not fully researched, is that there is a connection to a John Hoge Ewing, a noted name in Pennsylvania born in 1796, and this John Ewing. It is a possibility because a Solomon Hoge was security for Deborah Ewing’s guardianship application. Solomon was born 13 Mar 1803 in Greene, Pennsylvania. His father was Solomon Hoge whose father was William Hoge and whose mother was Esther Ewing of Pennsylvania. Since Deborah’s parents were practicing Quakers, it is improbable that she would marry outside of the faith or family connections within a year of moving to Ohio. (It appears that John Hoge Ewing was named Hoge for a friend of his father named William Hoge. Little is known about Esther Ewing.) Another theory is that John Ewing is related to the Ewing, McNutt, Blair families in Virginia.
[3] Application for Guardianship Deborah Ewing, p4."Application by Deborah Ewing for Guardianship of James 13, Randolph 9, Oliver 7, Martha Jane 5, Sherman 4 and Mary Eliza 6 months dated 5 May, 1840 Champaign County, Ohio Joseph Garwood and Soloman Hoge sureties." John Ewing was alive no less than 15 months before this date.
[4] History of Ohio, Champaign County, (CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS 1880), p576.