BRINEY-William S. - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

William S. BRINEY, who has long been one of the prosperous farmers of Shawnee Twp his homestead being on Sec 29 is one of the old inhabitants of Fountain County. He came here when a boy and has aided in its agricultural development as well as witnessed the most of its growth from the wilderness in which his parents settled. His father was Mark Briney an early settler of the county who was born in Westmoreland Co PA. He was of German parentage and when the family removed to Butler Co OH when he was 10he could not speak a word of English. When a young man he fought in the War of 1812 and was present at the siege of Ft. Meigs, which had been built and was commanded by Gen. Harrison whom the English general, Proctor, tried in vain to make surrender. Mark Briney was married during his residence in Butler County (where he had grown to manhood) to Miss Phoebe Stephenson (note married Sarah Stephenson according to Butler Co OH records 16 Aug 1810). She was a daughter of Cornelius Stephenson of Butler County who had gone there in the early years of its settlement from Trenton NJ. After marriage the Brineys lived in Darke County Ohio 5 years the husband being engaged in clearing land. Returning to Butler County, they remained until 1831, and on the 6th of October that year, started Westward to cast in their fortunes with the pioneers of Indiana, traveling hither with horses and wagons. They located near Covington, buying land of the Government and in the busy years that followed Mr. Briney cleared and improved a good farm and with the cheerful assistances of his wife, built up one of the most comfortable homes of the township. For many years he belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church held various offices therein and was one of its most exemplary members and one who was greatly missed at the time of his death, Oct 7, 1862. His wife survived him until 1867 and then she too passed away. They were the parents of 12 children (those still living): William S; Annie Catherine, wife of William A. Barey (sic - Berry?); Lydia who was first married to William Blue and after his demise John Blue who lives near Covington; and Margaret who is the wife of Charles Heidson who is engaged in the butcher business at Covington. The subject of this sketch was born Jan 21, 1815 in Butler County, Ohio and was 16 when he accompanied his parents to their new home in this county. His early life here was passed amid rude pioneer surroundings, and he is mainly a self-educated man as he had but few opportunities to attend school. He remembers, however, the primitive building in which he obtained the rudiments of learning, which was a log cabin with a dirt floor, rude homemade furniture and none of the attractions of the pleasant modern school rooms. In 1833 Mr. Briney took a wise step whereby he secured a good wife in the person of Miss Ellen McMillan, daughter of Daniel McMillan one of the early settlers of the county who came here in 1824 or 1826 and was the proprietor of a mill at Rob Roy. For a short time after his marriage our subject lived near his father-in-law's mill and then came to his present place of residence in Shawnee Township. He has met with more than ordinary success in his calling, although he had to begin at the very beginning as a pioneer. As his means increased he purchased more land, paying form $15 to $100 an acre on each purchase until he had 700 acres. He has disposed of much of this at a high price, but retains 271 acre sin two tracts - one of 140 acres and the other of 131 acres which is a part of the old family homestead. All of the improvements which are of a substantial order, were made by our subject and include a well-built residence, erected in 1875 and supplied with modern conveniences. Our subject remembers distinctly the wild appearance of this part of the country when he first set foot on its soil of which but very little had been cleared and put under cultivation. Lofty primeval forests of untold age prevailed and in their depths wild beasts lurked and the scarcely less savage Indians. He can related many interesting incidents connected with the early years of the settlement of the county and among them several disturbances with the red men. Rob Roy was a lively little place in his boyhood and there John I. Foster built a railway, running in a circle and operated upon it the first steam engine used in the county. Our subject is a man of high moral character whose exemplary life has been guided by true Christian principles, and he occupies an honored place in the community as a member of the Presbyterian Church and of the association known as the Sons of Temperance. He is a very strong advocate of temperance, but he does not carry his views so far as to desert the grand old Democratic party to which he has faithfully clung through the chances and changes of the years that have elapsed since he cast his first vote. His father was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican Party, when he joined the Republican standard. Mr. and Mrs. Briney have had 4 children: Daniel F who lives near Covington; Mark B, who lives on the home farm; William A, the third in order of birth who died at the age of 30 years and Sarah E, the wife of Oliver Marshall.