The Overfield Family

Benjamin Overfield Jr. was born in 1774 in Northamption County, Pennsylvania (now Monroe County) to Benjamin and Maria Gonsales Overfield.

The Overfield family had emigrated from Stuttgart, Germany a generation before in 1722, where they spelled their name “Ueberfeldt.” The elder Benjamin was a blacksmith by trade and served as a scout in the Revolutionary War, crossing the Delaware River with General George Washington on Christmas Day, 1776.

As a young man, Benjamin Overfield Jr. traveled to Quebec, Canada, where he met and married Margaret Snow. In 1803, at the age of 29, Benjamin and his bride emigrated to what is today Miami County, then a part of Montgomery County, where they built a small one-room log home on the bank of the Great Miami River. The newlyweds soon started a family. Son John W. Overfield was born in the cabin in 1804 and daughter Harriet “Susan” Overfield was born two years later. On December 24, 1810, Margaret Overfield died, leaving Benjamin a widower at age 36, with two young children and a busy tavern to run. For a brief period of time, Sarah Tennery, a middle-aged widow, assumed the late Mrs. Overfield’s tavern duties and took care of the children.

During the War of 1812, Benjamin joined the 2nd Regiment of Ohio Militia, serving as a private at Camp Wayne in Greenville, Ohio, and at Fort Rowdy at Covington. During his absence, he rented the tavern to Thomas Oliver. On July 6, 1812, Benjamin married his second wife, Rebecca Sumption, in Greenville and shortly after returned with her to Troy, where the new couple resumed operation of the tavern.

In 1824, Benjamin and Rebecca moved their tavern business to a corner of the Public Square in order to be closer to the new brick courthouse, then under construction. They sold the tavern to his brother-in-law and sister, David and Elizabeth Daily, who had also emigrated to Ohio from Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, Mr. Overfield’s new tavern was destroyed by fire, forcing him to relocate his business to a third location at the corner of West Main and Cherry Streets (where the old Masonic lodge is now located). There he operated his tavern until his death on July 20, 1831.

In October 1831, shortly after the death of Benjamin, David Daily sold the tavern back to his widow, Rebecca, who continued to operate the tavern for several years. She evetually sold the tavern in 1834 and relocated to St. Joseph County, Indiana, where her brother resided.

Tavernkeeping became something of a tradition in the family. Benjamin’s son-in-law, Isaac Roll, operated a hotel on the Public Square from 1831 to 1841, while his nephew, William Daily, was granted a tavern license in Troy in 1833. His great-nephew, Benjamin O. Daily, also opened a saloon in Troy in 1855.