Silas Hale (1803 - 1889)

Born 26 Aug 1803 in Sugar Creek Township, Greene, Ohio, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 20 Jun 1889 at age 85 in Greene, Ohio, USA

Biography

Birth and Early Life

Silas Hale was born on August 26, 1803 in Sugar Creek Township, Greene, Ohio to John and Sarah (Bowen) Hale.

He grew up in typical pioneer conditions and was very helpful to his father in his tannery.^[1]

Marriage and Family

Silas married Miriam Opdyke on July 20, 1830 in Greene County, Ohio.^[2][3] Throughout their marriage, the couple would have ten children: Francis, Dorinda, John C., Mary Jane, Henry H., Bowen, Angeline, James R., Melancthon, and Silas. ^[4]

He and his family appeared on the 1850 Census together, living in Sugar Creek, Greene, Ohio, United States.^[5]

The family lived in Sugar Creek Township, Greene, Ohio, United States in 1860.^[6]

In 1870, they were recorded on the census in Ohio.^[7]

Occupations and Services

At the age of seventeen, Silas moved to Wilmington for three years, where he learned cabinet making. Once finished, he returned to Bellbrook and opened his own cabinet-making shop, where he made furniture and coffins.^[8]

In 1833, Silas and his father, John, opened a general store in Bellbrook, where he worked the rest of his life. He became the sole proprietor when his father moved to Indiana five years after the opening.^[9]

In 1839, Silas was elected treasurer of Sugar Creek and served in that capacity for more than forty years.^[10]

Silas became a member of the board of trustees and stewards of the Methodist Church in Bellbrook in the year 1840.^[11]

In 1854, he was elected justice of the peace and served for several years as such.^[12]

In 1855, he was appointed postmaster of Bellbrook. He held that commission for thirty-one years and two months.^[13]

He also was a Mason and an Odd Fellow, which improved his relationships in all aspects of his life.^[14]

Death

Silas passed away at the age of 86 on June 20, 1889 in Greene, Ohio. At his death, there were many tributes paid to his memory from the community for which he labored.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2]"Silas Hale, son of John and Sarah (Bowen) Hale, the pioneers, was born on the home place in the neighborhood of where Bellbrook later came to be established, August 26, 1803, and there grew up amid typical pioneer conditions, helpful as a boy in his father's tanyard."
2. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...On July 20, 1830, in his home township, Silas Hale was united in marriage to Miriam Opdyke..."
3. ↑ [Ohio County Marriages] Silas Hale, Event Type: Marriage, Event Date: 20 Jul 1830, Event Place: Greene, Ohio, United States, Spouse's Name: Miriam Opdyke
4. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...To Silas and Miriam (Opdyke) Hale were born ten children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the last born, the others being as follows: Dorinda, who married Dr. J. R. Brelsford; John C., who moved to Indiana and made his home on a farm in Adams county, that state; Mary Jane, who married James Hartsook, of Caesarscreek township; Henry H., a veteran of the Civil War and formerly engaged in the mercantile business at Bellbrook, now living retired at Xenia; Bowen, who went to the front as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, a member of Company D, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died at Camp Chase, while in service, April 22, 1862; Angeline, who died in 1848, at the age of three years; James R., formerly editor of the Spring Valley Blade, and now document clerk in the state library at Columbus, Ohio, and Melancthon, who died in the fall of 1872, he than being twenty-two years of age. Silas Opdyke Hale, last born of the children of Silas and Miriam (Opdyke) Hale, was born at Bellbrook on March 9, 1858,..."
5. ↑ [1850 US Federal Census] Silas Hale, Event Type: Census, Event Year: 1850, Event Place: Sugar Creek, Greene, Ohio, United States, Gender: Male, Age: 47, Race: White, Birth Year (Estimated): 1803, Birthplace: Ohio, House Number: 1229
6. ↑ [1860 US Federal Census] Silas Hale, Sugar Creek Township, Greene, Ohio, United States, Male, Age: 56, White, Birth Year (Estimated): 1804, Birthplace: Ohio
7. ↑ [1870 US Federal Census] Silas Hale, Event Type: Census, Event Year: 1870, Event Place: Ohio, United States, Gender: Male, Age: 66, Race: White, Race (Original): W, Birth Year (Estimated): 1803-1804, Birthplace: Ohio, United States
8. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2]"When seventeen years of age he went to Wilmington, where he learned the cabinet-making trade, and three years later returned to Bellbrook and there set up a cabinet-making shop of his own, making a general line of furniture and also making the coffins needful in the community."
9. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2]"Ten years later, in 1833, in association with his father, he started a general store at Bellbrook and when five years later his father moved to Indiana he became sole proprietor of the store and thus continued in business at that place practically all the rest of his life..."
10. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...Silas Hale had served his community in various official capacities. In 1839 he was elected treasurer of Sugarcreek township and for more than forty years held that office, finally resigning the same..."
11. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...In 1840 he united with the Methodist Protestant communion and was for years a member of the board of trustees and also a member of the board of stewards of his local congregation at Bellbrook...."
12. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...In 1854 he was elected justice of the peace in and for his home township and for some years served in that important magisterial capacity. ..."
13. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...In 1855, during the administration of Franklin Pierce, he was appointed postmaster of Bellbrook and held that commission for thirty-one years and two months, or until retired during the first Cleveland administration..."
14. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...Fraternally, he was a Mason and an Odd Fellow and in these relations took the same earnest and serviceable interest that marked all his relations with his fellow men..."
15. ↑ [Broadstone, Michael A, 1918 History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and ..., Volume 2, Part 2] "...his death occurring there, June 20, 1889... and when he died at the ripe old age of eighty-six years there were many warm tributes paid to his memory in the community in which he had so long and so faithfully labored...."

• [Ohio Wills and Probates (Ancestry.com)] Silas Hale, Probate Date: 21 Jul 1889, Probate Place: Greene, Ohio, USA, Inferred Death Year: Abt 1889, Inferred Death Place: Ohio, USA, Item Description: Administrators Bonds and Letters, Vol 6-8, 1879-1894

Acknowledgements

• Luci Goodman created this profile and wrote the biography based on sources she found. She is Silas Hale's first cousin, six-times removed