Union County, Ohio Biographies Project - Joseph Cameron
JOSEPH CAMERON
Among the pioneers of Union County there are none
whose memory is more worthy of perpetuation in the history of our
county than the subject of this sketch. He was born in
Pennsylvania January 3,1807, and was a son of John and Dorotha
Cameron. His father and two brothers were soldiers in the
Revolutionary war. On March 26, 1829, he was united in marriage
with Miss Sarah Reed, who was born April 1809, in Virginia. She
was a daughter of Jesse Reed, a soldier of the war of 1812, and
Christiana Reed. When nineteen years of age, accompanied with her
two brothers, Jacob and William Reed, she rode on horseback a distance
of 250 miles, from Virginia to Champaign County, Ohio, where, in the
following spring, she wedded our subject. By this union there has
been an issue of thirteen children, seven of whom are now living, viz.,
Erastus R., Eliza O., Elvira M., William D., Jesse L., Frank M. and
Carrie; Harvey A. (deceased), one of their sons, was a soldier in the
late war of the rebellion, and the first white child born in Jackson
Township. In 1830, they came to Union County and located in the
southern portion of Jackson Township, until 1852, when they settled
where the widow now resides. Our subject had seen much of pioneer
life, and endured many hardships and trials. It is said that the first
public prayer in Jackson Township was offered in his cabin home in the
southern portion of the township. He was deeply imbued with the
spirit of uprightness and Christianity, having been a zealous member of
the Christian Church, with which denomination he also officiated as
local preacher. After devoting a life of usefulness to both
church and State he quietly and peacefully, on June 20, 1872, passed
away. By his death, his family lost a faithful husband and
father, and Union County one of her best citizens. He left to his
widow, now in her seventy-fourth year, eighty-seven acres of land.
JOSEPH CAMERON
The permanent arrival of Joseph Cameron in the
township also was in the year 1830. He accompanied his
brother-in-law, Jacob Reed, to the site he had selected for his forest
home in the fall of 1829, and likewise built himself a cabin about
three miles from Essex, and voted at the first election in Jackson
Township. He was born in Philadelphia County, Penn., in 1807, and
four years later emigrated with his father, John Cameron, to Champaign
County, and was there reared to manhood. He was married to Sarah
Reed, March 26, 1829; she was born in Harrison County, Va., in
1809. Mr. Cameron continued his residence in this township up to
the date of his decease, which occurred in June 1872.
**The History of Union County
gives two accounts for Joseph Cameron.**