My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Portrait and Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio published by Chapman Bros., in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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NIMROD TROLLINGER is the owner and occupant of a farm which is probably not surpassed by any of equal extent in Greene County, and certainly by none in Bath Township. It comprises two hundred and fifteen acres on section 7, and has been so well managed as to secure for its owner an independent fortune which enables him to spend his declining years in ease and enjoyment, unincumbered by anxiety regarding the future. The place is located on the Clifton and Yellow Springs Pike, the Xenia Pike also running through the place; the owner helped to build the latter highway.

Mr. Trollinger is of German descent in the paternal line, his grandfather, Jacob Trollinger, having been born in the Fatherland. Upon emigrating to America he located in Alleghany County, Md., where he operated a farm and also ran a still house. He died there after having reached a comfortable financial standing. His son Jacob was born in that county and followed farming successfully until seriously affected by the asthma, by which he was incapacitated from labor for forty years. In 1853 he accompanied his son, our subject, to Ohio, residing with him until his death in 1868. His political affiliation was with the Democratic party.

The mother of our subject was in her maidenhood Miss Sarah Jacobs. She was born in Allegany County, Md., to which her father, Jacob Jacobs, had accompanied his parents when quite small, New Jersey having been his native State. He and his father became the owners of seven farms in Maryland and very successful in agricultural work, acquiring considerable means. Mrs. Sarah Trollinger died in her native State, leaving six children of the nine whom she had borne. The first-born was Emily, Mrs. Jacobs, who died in Miami Township, Greene County; the next in order of birth is our subject; Drusilla resides in Darke County; Mrs. Mary Duckworth lives in West Virginia; Mrs. Sarah Mosier lives in Mad River Township, Clark County; Christina, Mrs. Funderburg, lives in Darke County.

Nimrod Trollinger was born near Barton, Allegany County, Md., August 12, 1827, and reared on a farm, early in life beginning to bear a share in the work done upon the place. When ten years old he began plowing and doing other work, and in his fifteenth year he took charge of the place, which comprised two hundred and thirty-six acres, a part of which was yet uncleared. The lad had clearing done, himself wielding an ax with energy far beyond his years, and not only carrying on farming but also raising stock to a considerable extent. His education was not neglected, but he availed himself of the advantages which the neighborhood afforded. The schools were kept up by subscription and were held in a log building, into which the light entered through greased paper windows, and which was furnished with puncheon seats and slab desks. Attendance of school was generally limited to three months during the winter.

In May, 1853, young Trollinger came to Ohio, and made his arrangements for the purchase of property in Bath Township, Greene County. In August he made a payment, after which he returned to the East and near his former home was united in marriage with Miss Martha Shaw, the ceremony taking place September 15. Sending his wife and father to the new home, he drove through with a four-horse team, bringing the household goods and being two weeks on the way. The farm upon which he located was purchased of John Folck for $33 per acre and was partly cleared and had an old log building upon it. The efforts of our subject ere long made of it a finely improved estate, marked with the modern conveniences and producing first-class crops, principally wheat, although a variety of grain is raised. During the war Mr. Trollinger also raised stock successfully. In 1871 he built a large barn, and in 1879 a more modern residence. Water is forced where needed by a windmill which, with its large tank, is a somewhat prominent feature in the landscape. In 1864 Mr. Trollinger bought eighty acres of improved land at Portland, Jay County, Ind., having previously purchased the old Joseph Folck place of thirty-three acres near his home. He is now retired from active duties although still occupying the farm which is in the care of his twin sons, Jacob and John, who are following worthily in their father’s footsteps as enterprising and progressive farmers and good citizens.

Mrs. Trollinger was born in Barton, Md., May 31, 1831, and in addition to the book knowledge which could be obtained in the neighborhood of her home, she acquired the homely domestic arts of spinning, weaving, knitting and housewifery, practicing them under the parental roof until her marriage. She is the tenth in a family of fifteen children, all of whom reached maturity except Harriet, the seventh, who died when eighteen months old. The record of the others is as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth Neff lives in Barton, Md.; Joseph died in Iowa; Mrs. Jane Barnes died in Maryland; Mrs. Louisa Humbleson lives in Pennsylvania; John resides on the home place in Barton, Md.; Mrs. Charlotte Jacobs is deceased; Thompson died in Iowa; the home of William is in Evansville, W. Va.; Mrs. Mary Michaels died in Maryland; Mrs. Hila Koontz lives in Iowa; Mrs. Sidney Waters lives in West Virginia; Mrs. Sarah A. Swindler died in Kansas; Mrs. Almira Roise lives in Arkansas. Thompson was a teamster in the Union army throughout the Civil War.

Mrs. Trollinger is a granddaughter of William Shaw, a native of Merrie England, who came to Maryland alone when a boy. Having been well educated in his native land, he ere long engaged in school teaching, although his first employment in America was farm labor. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preaching some and also operating a farm which he owned and upon which he died. His son Henry was born in Allegany County, Md., and became a carpenter, doing contracting and building throughout the county and on the National pike. He was a good mechanic and in addition to his carpenter’s trade was a cabinet-maker and undertaker. He owned a farm, which he rented in 1855, removing to Evansville, Preston County, Va., where he lived some time.

He finally returned to his former home, where he breathed his last. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife was Sydney Thompson, a native of Loudoun County, Va.; she died in West Virginia.

The family of Nimrod Trollinger and his estimable wife comprises nine children, of whom we note the following: Sarah married Frank Batdorf, a farmer whose home is near Fairfield; Jane became the wife of Martin Paxton, who owns and occupies a farm in Indiana; Elizabeth is still with her parents; Emma married C. Horner, of Beaver Creek; James lives on his father’s farm of thirty-three acres, which is the old Joseph Folck place; Julia married James C. Wolf, whose home is near Byron; Annie married Howard Flatter, who lives in Miami Township; the next on the family roll are the twin sons who carry on the home farm; Charles died when a babe.

For twenty-five years Mr. Trollinger held the position of School Director, after which he resigned the office in which he had so long and faithfully served; he was also Supervisor of Roads one year. No more public-spirited man is to be found in the vicinity than he, and none who have manifested a greater degree of enterprise in the conduct of their worldly affairs. He is good natured, inclined to take the world easy, and quite jolly, proving an entertaining companion and winning friends for these qualities as well as for the more sturdy traits of his character. He votes the straight Democratic ticket. Mrs. Trollinger belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Yellow Springs, in which she has good standing, while throughout her extended circle of acquaintances she is esteemed for her kindly nature and upright character.

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This family biography is one of the many biographies included in Portrait and Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio published by Chapman Bros., in 1890. 

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