Hanby Family History Briefs
by Pam Allen
Last updated: 7/23/2011
To learn more about a family member, click on the name:
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Hanby Family circa 1859 |
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William Hanby was born April 8, 1808 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. At age 9, he was bound to a Quaker family to learn how to farm. At age 16, he was bound to Jacob Good of Beallsville, Pennsylvania, to learn the trade of saddle and harness making. After serving 3 of 5 years with the abusive Mr. Good, young William ran away to Ohio. Under Pennsylvania law, he was basically considered a runaway slave. William reached Rushville, Ohio in April 1828 and was employed by Samuel Miller. He met and later married Samuel’s daughter, Ann Miller, on October 17, 1830. He was active in the Underground Railroad at his Rushville home. From 1837-1845, William and his family lived in Circleville, Ohio as he edited The Religious Telescope, the newspaper of the United Brethren Church. Again he participated in Underground Railroad activities. In 1845 he was elected as 15th Bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1847, William was one of three trustees appointed by the church to open Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. He bought a home in Westerville in 1853 and moved his family there in 1854, where his Underground Railroad work continued. In his later years, Bishop Hanby actively crusaded for Temperance and was involved in the ”Whiskey Wars” of Westerville in 1875-1879. He died in Westerville on May 17, 1880 and was buried in the Otterbein Cemetery there.
Ann Miller was born September 13, 1807 in Fairfield County, Ohio to Samuel and Mary Miller. She died June 8, 1879 in Westerville, Ohio and was buried in the Otterbein Cemetery there.
Benjamin was born July 22, 1833 in Rushville, Ohio. Ben published his first song, Darling Nelly Gray in 1856. He was in the second graduating class of Otterbein College in 1858. He married Mary Katherine “Kate” Winter on June 24, 1858. After graduation, he worked as an agent for Otterbein College. In January 1859, he was granted a license to preach for the United Brethren Church. In 1860, he became principal of Seven Mile Academy in Hamilton, Ohio. His first pastorate was in Lewisburg in 1862. Due to his controversial views about slavery, music in church, and worship for children, his time there was not peaceful. The year 1863 saw Ben and his family living in New Paris, Ohio while he preached at churches in Preble and Darke counties. By Christmas 1864, Ben was no longer working as a pastor, but operating a singing school in New Paris. Here he wrote his Christmas song, Santa Claus (now known as Up on the Housetop). He moved his family to Chicago to work for George F. Root music publishing company. He died of tuberculosis in Chicago on March 18, 1867. His body was returned to Westerville for burial in the family plot.
Amanda was born on September 4, 1834. She graduated from Otterbein Academy in 1858. On June 11, 1862, she married the Reverend Jacob Kemp Billheimer (known as Kemp). In October 1862, Amanda and Kemp sailed for Africa as missionaries. Amanda served in Africa during two different trips; Kemp served during five different trips. They had five children: Cyrus, Winnie, Lulu, Fred and Daisy. Cyrus was born in Africa. Lulu would later marry Reuchlin Wright, brother of Wilbur and Orville Wright, son of Bishop Milton Wright. Amanda later served as general agent for the Women's Missionary Association, organizing missionary societies in many of the United Brethren's forty confrences at that time. In 1886 Amanda and Kemp moved south with their daughter Winnie who suffered from frail health. They worked amoung churches in Tennessee and later were incharge of a convict school in Alabama. She died October 24, 1926 in Jefferson County, Alabama.
Cyrus was born May 3, 1837. He graduated from Otterbein College in 1858. He did not serve in the Civil War due to delicate health. Cyrus married Fredrica H. Schutte of Chillicothe, Ohio on October 18, 1866. He worked in banking in Chillicothe. He was exempt from military duty during the Civil War because of his poor health.. He and his wife had one child: Bertha. Cyrus died July 31, 1868 in Chillicothe and was buried in the Schutte family plot at Grandview Cemetery.
Anna Hanby was born in 1840. She studied music. Anna graduated from Otterbein Academy in 1857. She was married June 5, 1873 in the Otterbein College Chapel to Francis A. Ramsey. They had no children together. She died in Ravenna, Ohio on March 29, 1919.
Sarah Jane, known as “Jennie,” was born September 10, 1843. She was an accomplished organist and sometimes played in churches for her father, even though the use of musical instruments in worship was controversial. She worked as a nurse and a dressmaker. She married Cecil C. Hewitt sometime in April 1868. Hewitt died in August 1869 in Missouri and Jennie returned to Westerville with her infant son, William Cecil Hewitt. She later married Charles A. Bedell, about 1881. Jenny and Charles lived in the Dayton area. She was socially connected with Bishop Milton Wright and frequently visited the Wright family at Hawthorne Hill. She died February 22, 1915 in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. She is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton.
William was born March 30, 1847. He graduated from Otterbein College in June 1867. He went on to graduate from Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, where he practiced medicine for two years. He moved to Osceola, Ohio and opened a practice. On June 7, 1876, he married Rachel Jane Chambers of Bucyrus, Ohio. His only child, Celestia Willo Hanby, was born October 10, 1879, just eight days before her father’s death on October 18, 1879. Dr. William Hanby’s body was returned to Westerville for burial in the family plot. He is remembered in song as “Little Will” in Up on the Housetop.
Ruth Elizabeth, known as “Lizzie” was born November 26, 1849 in Circleville, Ohio. Lizzie graduated from Otterbein College in 1872. She married the Reverend Samuel C. Collier on October 20, 1887. Reverend Collier was a Methodist minister. She worked as a teacher and a nurse, as well as performing the many duties of a minister’s wife. She had no children. She died May 16, 1930 in Ravenna, Ohio.
Samuel Miller was born in 1853. He attended but did not graduate from Otterbein University. He was in the saddle and harness trade in Westerville. Apparently after his father’s death, he moved his family to Birmingham, Alabama, and established himself in business there. He married Hattie Hudson. They had two children, Edith and Jessie. He died December 8, 1922 in Jefferson County, Alabama and was buried there. |
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