John Williamson Kincaid
John Williamson Kincaid was born March 29, 1837, in Sprigg Township, near the Col. Hugh Means residence. He received his first Christian name for his grandfather, Col. John Kincaid, Associate Judge and the second for the Reverend William Williamson, who died in the same year in which he was born. His father, John H. Kincaid, was at that time a staunch Presbyterian. When he was but three years of age, his father removed to the home in Liberty Township where he resided until his death.
Our subject obtained such schooling as the District schools afforded and has been a farmer all his Hfe. On the twenty-eighth of March, 1860, he was married to Esther J. McConneil, daughter of Alexander McConnell. The writer remembers the marriage. They began life together with great hopes and enthusiasm and with a world of love, and their happy relations continued until her death on April 24, 1891.
John W. Kincaid volunteered in the service of his country on the eleventh day of August, 1862, in Company E, 91st O. V. I. He was made a Corporal of his company August 12, 1862. He is proud of his record as a soldier and has every reason to be. The regiment was in fifteen battles and engagements with the enemy and he was in every one of them. The first was October 26, 1862, and the last November 18, 1864. Men were wounded and killed by his side but he escaped unscathed, and was able at all times to keep right along with his command. This is a remarkable record for a service which continued almost three years. He was honorably discharged June 24, 1865. The children of his marriage are Oscar B., a farmer living in Greene County, Ohio; Sarah H., married to John Beheimer, and residing in Bethel, Clermont County, Ohio; Hattie M., married to Franklin Robe, and residing near Hills Fork in Liberty Township, and Minnie Bell, who married Walter Riffle, and keeps the home for her father and her own family.
Our subject has always been a Republican. He has held the office of Assessor and Trustee of his Township, and in 1891 was elected Infirmary Director for three years. In 1894, he was re-elected and served the full term. Of all the votes he ever cast (and he never failed to vote'), he is proudest of that cast in 1864 for Abraham Lincoln for President, which was cast in front of Gen. Jubal Early's arm. Mr. Kincaid is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of a long line of ancestry noted for their interest in public affairs and in the welfare of the country, he has aimed, in all his life, to act well his part, and it is the vedict of all who know him that he has succeeded. He is respected by all as a model citizen and an honorable and upright man.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time"- by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900