572 - THE COUNTY OF ROSS.
William Basil Lucas, a well known farmer of Concord township, traces his lineage to a very early period in the history of Ross county, being descended from the first white child born in Chillicothe. In the spring of 1800 a family by the name of Sturgeon came from Pennsylvania to Ross county and located on Kinnickinnick creek. Among their children was one named John, who was born in Pennsylvania November 1, 1796, and brought in infancy to the Western home of his parents. When John Sturgeon grew to manhood he married Margaret McCoy, whose name is historic as the first white child born in the city of Chillicothe. Her father was among the first to build a log cabin in the infant village, and many think that his was the first structure of the kind that appeared there. After his marriage John Sturgeon settled down to farm life and ever afterward made this his regular business until the time of his death in 1886. By his wife, Margaret (McCoy) Sturgeon, he had eight children, one of whom was named Phoebe Ann. When the latter grew to maturity she married Noah Lucas, a native of Ohio of Pennsylvania parentage, with whom she settled on a farm in Highland county and became the mother of three children. John S. Lucas, eldest of these, was reared in Highland county, married and died there in 1887, leaving two children. Margaret Ann, the only daughter, died in her thirteenth year. William B. Lucas, youngest of the family and only survivor, was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 4, 1846, and when about one year old was brought to Ross county to live with John Sturgeon and wife, the parents of his mother. The house in which he was eared for by his grandparents and where he grew to manhood is the same that constitutes his present residence. Though a mere boy at the time of the civil war he had a brief but spirited experience as a Union soldier with the Ohio National guards, who served four months in the spring and summer of 1864 with the troops who were contesting Early's advance on Washington. Mr. Lucas participated with his command in the bloody battle at Monocacy Junction, near Frederick, Md., which was fought July 9, 1864, between the forces under General Lew Wallace and a part of Early's army. Though his regular business has been that of farming, Mr. Lucas has occasionally been called on to fill public positions and received special commendation for the manner in which he discharged the duties of land appraiser, an office to which he was elected in 1899. In 1870, he was married to Adia,
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daughter of Dr. Robert Galbraith, a native of Ireland, who came to Ross county in boyhood. The wife died March 3, 1873, leaving two children, only one of whom, Mattie, is living, and she is the wife of Absalom Darby of Concord township. March 5, 1874, Mr. Lucas married Theresa, daughter of John P. Junk, who died in 1883, her death resulting from childbirth. She left no children. By a third marriage to Miss Mary D., daughter of William D. Mallow, Mr. Lucas had two children : Anna Louise and Phoebe Alice. The family is Presbyterian in religious affiliations and Mr. Lucas is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Isaac Lytel, a veteran of the civil war with a long and honorable record, and a well known farmer of Ross county, has a lineage traceable to a very early period of Ohio history. There were but few white people in Ross county when John and Elizabeth Lytel arrived one the banks of the Scioto. They came from old Virginia, when, they had been farmers in a small way, purchased some land in Huntington township and devoted the rest of their lives to clearing and cultivating the same. When the wife died she was ninety years old and her husband had reached the eightieth year at the time of his death. This worthy pioneer pair reared a family of seven children, all long since dead, whose names were Malon, George, Peter, Samuel, Jacob, Barbara and Elizabeth. Malon Lytel, the head of this list, was born in Virginia in 170S, about the time that Ross county was officially organized. In youth he learned the cooper's trade, which was a useful and valuable accomplishment in pioneer days, and this, together with farming, constituted his means of support throughout all of his active life. About the time he reached legal age, he was married to Nancy Knight, a native of Tennessee, then resident in Ross comity. He lived in Huntington township until 1854 and, after two rears spent in Twin township, removed to Pike county, Ohio, where he died in 1858. About one year later his widow settled in Paxton township, Ross county, where she resided until the time of her death in 1871. Malon and Nancy Lytel became the parents of five children : James, deceased, Isaac and Noah : Sarah, wife of Eli Sickles, of Pike county, and Nancy J., deceased. Isaac Lytel was born in Huntington township, Ross county, Ohio, October 18, 1841. He remained at home until the death of his father, after which he sought employment on neighboring farms and worked for several years by the month. In 1862 he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-fourth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, under Captain Howser, with which he subsequently saw much arduous service. Their first experience was at Fort Donelson, whence they were sent to Pittsburg Landing in time to take part in that desperate and bloody battle. Afterward Mr. Lytel participated with his regiment in the following named engagements and
574 - THE COUNTY OF ROSS.
campaigns: Yazoo Flats, Arkansas Post, Jackson, Black River, siege of Vicksburg, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, siege of Atlanta and Fort McCallister. An attack of measles held him in the hospital about four weeks, and receiving his discharge at Savannah in 1865, he returned home and resumed farm work. In 1867 Mr. Lytel was married to Eliza Robinson, a native of Ross county, and shortly thereafter settled on a farm in Twin township. There and in Paxton township the next thirteen years were spent in agricultural pursuits, after which Mr. Lytel purchased the farm of 190 acres in Huntington township, which has since been his place of residence. He carries on general farming, raises considerable stock, and has been successful in his operations. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and connected with Bourneville post, No. 530, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Lytel have had seven children, of whom Sarah E., Minnie and Nancy J. are dead. The living are John W., Alice, Lucinda M. and Cora C.
Phelix Burns Mace, a highly esteemed citizen, now deceased, was born in Twin township, Ross county, on what is known as the Dunlap farm, December 13, 1832. His father, Col. John Mace, was born in Ross county in 1795, and was a son of Jacob Mace. The latter's father, John Mace, emigrated to America with the Huguenots from France and settled in North Carolina. The family were all killed by the Indians except Jacob, who escaped and was taken to Virginia, where he was adopted by a family named Cunningham. He came to Ohio with a party of people and entered a large tract of government land. Before leaving Virginia he had married Bettie Fisher, who accompanied her husband on the somewhat venturesome trip to the wilds of Ohio. This couple had three children, whose names were John, Sarah and Isaac. Jacob's first wife died when quite young and he married twice afterward, by the three unions becoming father of eighteen children. He carried on farming and stockraising on a large scale and at his death left a very valuable estate, the home place being well known as the Hiram Mace farm. Col. John Mace, the son of Jacob, remained at home until he was seventeen, receiving his education in what was then known as a subscription school. At the age of seventeen he enlisted for the war of 1812 and remained in service until the end of hostilities. Shortly after his return home he married Nancy Dunlap, who became one of the last pensioners of the war of 1812. She was a daughter of Samuel Dunlap, one of the members of the first state legislature which convened in Chillicothe. The colonel and his bride went to housekeeping on the Dunlap farm and had three children. Of these, Sarah married Wilson Augustus. Elizabeth became the wife of William McCafferty, and John S. was sheriff of Ross county for
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two terms. Colonel Mace's wife died in 1826 and in 1828 he married Margaret Corbett. Shortly afterward, or in 1835, he bought the Tiffin property and the house still stands as one of the oldest landmarks in the country. By this second union there were five children, of whom David C. and Sandusky have passed away. The living children are Phelix Burns; Rebecca, who married Hiram Richard; and Scioto, who is the wife of John Jones, of Illinois. Colonel Mace raised stock on an extensive scale, sold cattle in large herds and shipped his grain by flatboat via New Orleans. About this period he often received premiums for the best exhibit at stock shows which were then held at stated times in the county. He died in 1858, his second wife surviving him until 1892. Their son, Phelix Burns, was educated by a governess and private tutors. While quite a young man he studied painting under the celebrated Beard, of Cincinnati, and developed talent of a high order in that line. In July, 1856, he married Miss Betta Alice, who was a descendant of colonial stock. Her great-geat-grandfather was given a tract of land embracing a township in Massachusetts, and her great-grandfather was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. Her father came from New York and was a superintendent of construction of the Ohio & Erie canal. Mr. and Mrs. Mace had seven children, who turned out to be a family of school teachers, all but one following that noble profession. Their names are John, Margaret, Minnie, Fannie, Effie, Harry and Sarah. The latter died while teaching in an Alabama college. John is at home and the others are all teachers. Mr. Mace served two terms as county sheriff, being elected the first time as a regular Democrat on the ticket of that party. Owing to his prohibition sentiments, he was defeated for a renomination but was put on an independent ticket and elected by 900 plurality. This was claimed to be the first Republican victory in Ross county. With the exception of a very short time, Mr. Mace lived on the home place. He was a member of the first Presbyterian church and an exemplary citizen in the best sense of that term. His death occurred December 26, 1891, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, much lamented by a large circle of acquaintances.
Fred C. Mader, of the Palace Grande studio, Chillicothe, was born in that city, August 29, 1867. His parents were William H. and Anna (Hemline) Mader, natives of the state of Baden in Germany. They were children at the period of their emigration to Chillicothe, in which city they were subsequently married. The father was a contractor, his work being principally in the building of roads, from which he retired on account of poor health and died in 1895 ; his wife surviving until 1897. They left a family of seven children, whose names and present status appear below :
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Barbara, the eldest, is the wife of Gregory Hagerman ; William J. is a salesman in Cincinnati; Charles F. is a professional musician who travels; John is mayor of Marion, Ohio; Jacob F. is a restaurant-keeper at Bucyrus, Ohio; Miss Lulu D. is employed in the business of her brother, Fred C. Mader, who is the subject of this sketch, and sixth born of the family. He was married November 30, 1898, to Jessie May Armstrong, who was born in Chillicothe and is a daughter of Arthur Armstrong, a merchant of that city. Mr. Mader learned the photographic art in Chillicothe and engaged in the business on his own account in 1890. He has the finest gallery in the city and is fully equipped for all kinds of business in his line. He employs three assistants and enjoys a large patronage from Chillicothe and contiguous territory. His establishment is up-to-date in every respect, Mr. Mader being content with none but the latest and most approved modern appliances and improvements in photography. Mr. Mader represents the fourth ward in the city council and is president of that body. He is a member of the lodge of Modern Woodmen, and the Eintracht singing society, and belongs to the German Lutheran church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal, and both are usually attendants at the last mentioned.
Nelson C. Maddux, veteran of the civil war and long prominent in the agricultural affairs of Deerfield township, is a descendant from one of the early settlers of Ross county. David and Elizabeth Maddux left their native state of Maryland during the earlier portion of the eighteenth century and were among the first to locate in the vicinity of Clarksburg. Both lived to an advanced age and in the fullness of years became tenants of the little cemetery near the village where repose the remains of so many pioneers of the past. They had a family of ten children, all now dead, their names being: Benjamin, Collins, Zachariah, William, Mitchell, John, Smith, Samuel, Sarah (wife of William Norris), and Mary. Smith, the seventh of these children, was born in Maryland, August 2, 1800, grew to manhood in Ross county and married Eleanor Norris. The latter, who was a daughter of Arnold Norris, a soldier of the Revolution, had recently come from Virginia with her parents. There were six children by this union : Harriet (deceased), William, John and Angeline (deceased), Nelson C., and Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Bates, of New Holland, Ohio. Nelson C. Maddux was born near Clarksburg, Ohio, December 18, 1838, and when two years old had the misfortune to lose his father by death. After this event, his mother became an inmate of the home of her brother Zachariah, who assisted in rearing the children, and Nelson C. remained with his uncle until he became of age. For a while thereafter he was engaged in farming, but this occupation was interrupted by the opening of the civil war and his enlistment in Company K, Eighty-ninth
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regiment Ohio infantry. This command was first sent to Kentucky and from there to the Kanawha valley in West Virginia where the "boys" got their first taste of fighting in a few small skirmishes. The next. move was to Tennessee and up the Cumberland river to Carthage, where Mr. Maddux became sick and had to be taken to the hospital at Gallatin. He was detained there three months, when he obtained a furlough of thirty days which was spent at home in recuperating his strength. He joined his regiment at Chickamauga, from which point it went with the army to Atlanta, participating in all the fighting incidental to that campaign. Mr. Maddux was one of the great force which made the famous "march to the sea," accompanying Sherman in his advance through Georgia to Savannah, thence into South Carolina and finally to Raleigh, N. C. From that point his route was overland to Washington, D. C., thence to Louisville, Ky., where he was discharged, and lastly up the river to his home. For four years after his return from the war, Mr. Maddux was engaged in farming. December 3, 1868, he was married to Miss Rhoda Blake, a native of Ross county of English descent, since which time, with the exception of ten years spent in Pickaway county, he has made his home in Deerfield township. Mr. Maddux carries on general farming and stock raising, has been successful in his operations and enjoys the esteem of all his neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Maddux have had ten children, of whom Mary E. and Eula, the eldest and youngest, are dead. The others in order of birth are : Melissa, Frances, John N., Elmer D., George W., Carson S., Jesse E. and Samuel R.
Samuel F. Maddux was born in Roxabell, Ross county, April 27, 1837. His father, John Maddux, was born near Frankfort in 1813 and was a son of David Maddux, a native of Delaware. The latter, a direct descendant of one of three brothers who emigrated to this country about the year 1600, married a Miss Lingo and came with his bride direct to Deerfield township, Ross county, where he engaged in farming and followed that occupation until his death. He had a family of nine children, all of whom are now dead. His son John remained at home until his marriage in 1836 to Susan Fisher. They went to housekeeping on a rented farm near Roxabell, where they remained two years and then removed to what was then known as the Fisher farm, which John Maddux subsequently bought. He died at the early age of thirty-nine, leaving an estate heavily encumbered, which his wife and only son, Samuel F., succeeded in freeing from debt by much hard work and good management. Mrs. Maddux, who was a woman of great force of character and strong intellect, passed away in 1887, at the age of seventy-seven. She had two children, one of whom died in infancy, and the other was Samuel F.,
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the subject of this sketch. School advantages were poor in his youth and he received but a meager education. He was only fifteen years old when his father died, leaving the place encumbered with debt, and only the widow and her boy to face the discouraging situation. They grappled with it bravely, however, and he performed a man's part in assisting his mother. Together they conducted the farm until he was thirty-seven years old, when, on April 16, 1874, he was married to Annie Porter. Mr. Maddux took his bride to the old home place which, under his industrious management, has been greatly improved and is now one of the cosiest and neatest places in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Maddux have six children : May, Grace, John, Samuel, Bonnie and Wright ; all at home except John, who lives in Springfield, Ohio. Mr. Maddux is a member of the Masonic lodge at Frankfort and belongs to the chapter and commandery at Chillicothe. His mother's ancestry is deserving of more than passing notice. She was a daughter of Jacob Fisher, who first visited Ross county in 1799 and later brought his wife from Virginia, built a log cabin and settled in Ross county in 1800. He owned two hundred acres of land in Concord township, served in the war of 1812, and in every way was a fine sample of the earliest and sturdiest of the pioneers. He married Barbara Kyle and by her had nine children who became the founders of some of the stanchest families in the Scioto valley. Mrs. Susan Maddux was the sixth of these children and torn in 1810. She had few equals and no superiors as wife, mother and business woman, combining strong mental and physical traits so characteristic of the old time matrons.
Russell Mains, of Lyndon, Ohio, is a worthy representative of what may be called the younger generation of Ross county farmers. The family has long, been settled in Buckskin township, the original founder being among the earliest arrivals in that part of Ross county. From the beginning the men of the family owned land and spent their lives in agricultural pursuits. John W. Mains, the father of Russell, was a veteran of the civil war, having served three years as a member of Company I, Eighty-first Ohio infantry. Before he entered the army and after his retirement therefrom until his death in 1877, he followed the occupation of farming and stock feeding in which he achieved success and prosperity. He was a son of Washington Mains, who, like himself, was a native of Buckskin township and spent his life as a tiller of the soil. He established himself as one of the successful farmers and substantial citizens of the town-ship and enjoyed general respect. John W. Mains married Nancy E. Harper, whose father, Robert Harper, was an early settler and much esteemed citizen of the county. They had three children, of whom Charles, the eldest son, is employed by the McClain Manufacturing company at Greenfield; Hannah is the wife of Seymour
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Irvin, and Russell is the subject of this sketch. The latter was born, bred and educated in Buckskin township. After the usual time spent in the district schools he finished his studies at the popular academy in South Salem. In 1892 Mr. Mains was married to Lula J., daughter of Crouthers Templeton, a native of Fayette county, who later removed to Greenfield, Ohio, where he now resides. There is no better farmer of his age in Ross county than Russell Mains, who has brought to hear on his business intelligent management and untiring industry. His specialty has been the raising and breeding of stock, in which pursuit he has achieved a most creditable success. Every year Mr. Mains sends to market at least five or six carloads of fat stock and he is well known to all the dealers in that line who buy or sell in Ross county. Mr. and Mrs. Mains are members of the Presbyterian church of Greenfield.
Jesse B. Mallow, an enterprising young farmer of Concord township, is a scion of one of the most numerous and longest settled of Ross county families. His local ancestry includes a great and great-great grandfather, both of whom came with their families from Virginia in 1806, and from that time on their descendants have been closely identified with the agricultural development of the county. As a detailed story of the early arrivals and their subsequent fortunes is given in connection with another sketch in this volume, it will only be necessary here to present a brief condensation. The patriarchal progenitor was Adam Mallow, born in Virginia in 1750 and died in Ross county in 1840. His eldest son, also named Adam, reared a large family, included in which was Simeon. The latter was born in 1810 on the farm now owned by his daughter, Armilda Johnson, besides whom he had three other children, named respectively Adam G., John and Lewis. Simeon Mallow was very successful in his farming operations and had accmnulated about 1,800 acres of land at the time of his death. Adam G. Mallow, his eldest child, was born in Concord township, Ross county, April 6, 1837. In early manhood he married Eliza Bush and engaged in farming on part of the estate of his wife's family which he afterward purchased. The first wife lived but a few years and Mr. Mallow married Jennie Galbraith, by whom he had four children: Eliza (wife of Solomon Darby), Jessie, Mattie (deceased) and Edgar, a physician in Dayton, Ohio. Adam G. Mallow was a man of means and influence in his township. He held the office of trustee for twenty consecutive years and was once a candidate for county commissioner. He was a member of the company of Captain McGinnis and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He was a successful breeder of Shorthorn cattle and took many first prizes at the largest stock shows in the country. His death occurred August 12, 1889, and that of his wife June 13, 1887. Their second child, Jesse B. Mallow, was born in
580 - THE COUNTY OF ROSS.
Concord township, Ross county, Ohio, August 12, 1870. He graduated at the Frankfort high school and spent two years at the Ohio State university in Columbus, taking the agricultural course. In 1890, he was married to Nannie James, a descendant of one of the first settlers of Ross county, with whom he settled near Austin and engaged in farming. He deals extensively in stock and is one of the representative young men of his township. Mr. Mallow is a member of Frankfort lodge, No. 309, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Chillicothe Commanders. Mr. and Mrs. Mallow have two children, Eula J. and Adam G., and are members of the Presbyterian church at Frankfort.
John E. Mallow, residing near New Rolland, is a representative farmer of the younger generation in Concord township, Ross county. His father, John Mallow, was a native of the same community, and spent his life in the occupation of general farming and stock-raising. He served as justice of the peace and gained general commendation for the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office. His first wife was Betsey Porter, member of a family long resident in Ross county. By this union there were eight children, four of whom are living: Anson, of Chillicothe; Bell, wife of Mack Clifton, of Fayette county, O.; Phoebe Josephine, wife of a Mr. Smith, of Lawrence, Kan. ; and William L., of New Holland, Ohio. Mr. Mallow contracted his second marriage with Maggie McKenzie, by whom he has an only son, John E. Mallow. The latter was born in Concord township, Ross county, Ohio, September 11, 1873. Besides the usual attendance at the district schools, Mr. Mallow spent three years in the high school at New Holland, and is an unusually well informed young man. As soon as he reached manhood, he engaged in the business which he purposed to follow throughout life, that of farming and stock-raising, in which he has met with a fair measure of success. October 3, 1893, he was married to Ida Bryant, daughter of Gideon Bryant, who has long been a resident of Deerfield township. The fruits of this marriage are two children, John Ray and Phoebe Josephine.
William Dice Mallow, deceased, lately one of the well known farmers of Concord township, came of pioneer ancestry dating from a very early period of Ross county's history. The first of this name known in the county were two Adam Mallows, father and son, who came with their families and made a settlement as far hack as 1806. The elder Adam Mallow was born in Pendleton county, W. Va., of German parentage, about the year 1750. During the French and Indian war, when he was six years old, the Indians made an incursion into Pendleton county, killed sixteen boys of the neighborhood and retreated with Adam Mallow and his mother as prisoners. They
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were kept by the savages until their subsequent wanderings brought them to the vicinity of New Orleans, when the mother was disposed of to the French but the boy retained. Afterward the mother managed to effect her escape and make her way back to the home in Virginia, but little Adam was kept by the Indians for six years. At the expiration of that time an exchange of prisoners was effected at Philadelphia, and among those surrendered by the Indians was Adam Mallow. When released he had forgotten not only his language but his name, having been completely Indianized by his long residence among the inhabitants of the wilderness. It so happened that when the boy was turned over to the whites, one of his father's neighbors was present and recognized the lad by certain scars upon his hand and head. The neighbor mentioned had gone to Philadelphia in search of his own son who was also a prisoner, and the father of young Mallow, knowing of his neighbor's intended visit, described the sears by which his son could be recognized and asked his neighbor to find his boy if possible. As a result the boy was found and this being reported to the parents, the father came and reclaimed his offspring who was taken back to his home in Pendleton county. e grew to manhood and fought with the Virginia troops in the war of the Revolution. After the cessation of hostilities he became a farmer in his native county and eventually married Sarah Bush, member of an old Virginia family, by whom he had four children that reached maturity. The eldest was named after the father and known in the family as Adam Mallow, Jr. He was born in Pendleton county, W. Va., in 1778, grew to manhood there and married Phoebe Dice. In 1800, the elder and junior Adam Mallow, accompanied by their families, made the then tedious and somewhat perilous journey across the mountains and rivers to Ross county. Of the three brothers and sisters of the younger Adam, Eve married William Dice and remained in Virginia. Another sister, whose name is not recorded, married a Mr. Kerr after arriving in Ross county. Henry, the other brother, came with the family to Ross county, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, married Sarah Popejoy and reared six children to maturity. Eve, the eldest, married Jacob Bush ; Nancy became the wife of William Bush: and Sarah married Archibald Pancake. The three sons were William, Adam and Owen, the two last mentioned being the only surviving members of the family. Both are residents of Ross county, Adam in Concord township and Owen at Bourneville. The elder Adam Mallow lived until 1840, his wife dying a few years later at the age of ninety-seven years. Adam Mallow, Jr., bought land in Ross county and was engaged in cultivating the same at the time of the war of 1812, in which he served with credit as a soldier and rose to the rank of major. After being discharged, he resumed his old occupation on the farm and continued in this peaceful vocation until his death, which occurred
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August 11, 1834, just a week subsequent to that of his wife. They had a family of five sons and four daughters, whose names are given below in order of birth: John, deceased; Rebecca, married Solomon Bush, and died subsequently ; Catherine became the wife of Charles Briggs, but she and also Simeon and Jesse are now dead; Sarah, who married David Corner, now lives in Concord. township; Delilah married John Shobe (deceased) and Gilead died in infancy. William Dice Mallow, youngest of the children, was born in Concord township, Ross county, Ohio, December 24, 1828. Being reared on a farm and taught from boyhood the details of that kind of work, he adopted the same pursuit on arrival at maturity and continued in that business all his life. In 1863, Mr. Mallow was elected to the ministry of the Dunkard church and devoted himself to the work until 1896, when he was compelled by sickness to retire from regular duties in that line though he continued to fill appointments occasionally. August 16, 1852, Mr. Mallow was married to Sarah J., daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Mallory) Rodgers, of Fayette county, Ohio. She died February 6, 1875, after becoming the mother of seven children, four of whom are living. Cordelia is the wife of Jonathan Irions, of Fayette county; Mary married William B. Lucas, of Concord township; Wilmina is at home; and Bartley R. resides in Frankfort, Ohio. On December 31, 1901, Mr. Mallow received a slight stroke of paralysis, but no serious results followed and he did not even take to his bed. His health continued to fail, however, and in the early part of March he took to his bed. A few days later, on March 12, he received a second paralytic stroke which resulted fatally, his death occurring on March 18, 1902. He was buried in the Mallow cemetery in Concord township.
Robert W. Manly, born in Portsmouth, Ohio, June 19, 1873, graduated from the law school of the University of Michigan in 1896. He entered the practice of his profession at Chillicothe, Ohio, in March, 1897. In 1900 he entered into partnership with John C. Entrekin, which partnership still continues.
Herbert H. Marsh, M D., of Halltown, is a native of Ross county, Ohio, born September 10, 1870. His parents were William and Lucy J. (Hallett) Marsh, both natives of Washington county, Ohio. William was the son of James B. and Sarah (Matthews) Marsh, and his wife's father was Zenas Hallett. William Marsh was born June 6, 1843, and during the civil war became a federal soldier. He enlisted at Camp Chase in Colonel Garfield's company of the Forty-second Ohio regiment, with which he served for three years. In 1865, shortly after the ending of the war, he came to Ross county but soon went back to Washington county where he married, and has since resided in Harrison township, Ross county. He has always
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been a farmer and owns 350 acres of land. He has been trustee of his township and member of the board of education. His wife died December 13, 1900, leaving four children. William Marsh's only brother served in the Twenty-second Ohio volunteers and died soon after the war. Dr. II. H. Marsh grew up on his father's farm and was educated in the common schools of Ross county. He studied medicine with Dr. J. T. Wills, of Mooresville, and was graduated from the Ohio Medical university on March 17, 1896. He entered upon the practice of his profession at home and has already built up a good patronage. Dr. Marsh is a member of the Ross County Medical association and of the alumni association of his college, and the order of Red Men, of Chillicothe.
Edgar J. Martin, M. D., a popular young physician of Greenfield, Ohio, comes of a family which for four generations has had representatives in the medical profession. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all doctors of eminence. The first mentioned, the late Dr. A. J. Martin, was for years one of the leading physicians of Wilmington, Ohio. He was educated at Norwalk and was graduated as M. D. at the Cleveland Medical college in 1859. He located without delay in Wilmington, and, with the exception of one year while he was with the Seventy-ninth Ohio regiment during the civil war, he was in continuous practice until his death in 1898. His son, E. J. Martin, inherited the family predilection for medicine and lost no time in preparing himself for the profession. He was born in Clinton county and educated in the public schools of Wilmington. With this literary equipment he entered the Medical college of Ohio and by diligent attendance and close study received his diploma as M. D. in 1889. Immediately after graduation, Dr. Martin located in Cincinnati, where he practiced five years, during most of that time being assistant surgeon of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad company. In 1894, he took up his residence at Greenfield where he has since remained with a widening patronage and increasing prospects of success.
William H. Martin, M. D., of Chillicothe, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on a farm near Yellowbud, August 25, 1871. His parents were Henry and Isadore (Harper) Martin. Henry Martin is a native of New Jersey, who came to Athens county, Chin, in early youth, and married there in 1869. His occupation throughout life has been farming and dairying. He has been successful in life, as the result of his own energy and perseverance, and now resides on his farm just outside the corporation of Athens. His wife was the daughter of Rev. R. C. Harper, a pioneer preacher of the Methodist church whose record is not surpassed by that of any itinerant. minister. The following facts, gleaned from the Northwestern Chris-
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thin Advocate of 1897, will give some conception of the vastness of the work done by this truly remarkable man. He was born September 16, 1824, on Wolf's Plains, near Athens, Ohio; joined the Methodist Episcopal church on probation in 1831, was received into full membership September 2, 1839, licensed to exhort September 16, 1852; ordained an elder September 11, 1854; engaged in active ministerial work the same year, and continued until his fatal sickness in 1900. At the suggestion of his mother, the Rev. Mr. Harper in 1837 adopted the practice of reading four chapters of the bible every day. He did this for six years, thus encompassing 8,760 chapters in that time. At the age of twenty-one, he increased his task to seven chapters daily and so continued adding on from year to year until he had reached sixteen chapters for each day of the year. A simple calculation will show that at the rate mentioned, Mr. Harper during his lifetime read 171,550 chapters, which is equivalent to going through the bible 144 times. This, of itself, was a gigantic task, and when added to his other work, the life's labors of this industrious man seem colossal. He received on probation in the church 3,483 persons, baptized 2,838, and preached 2,217 funeral sermons. Aside from the latter, he preached 8,839 times, making a grand total of 11,046 sermons, and he traveled an average of 43 miles per week for 42 years, which foots up a grand total of' 93,932 miles. It is safe to say this record can not be excelled in the whole experience of the itinerant ministry in Ohio or any other state. Notwithstanding all his religious work, Mr. Harper found time to attend to all his farming interests which he kept up throughout all his life. The record of Mr. Harper's busy life, sketched above, does not include the last three years before his death, and if the result of those were added to the ones previously estimated, it is safe to say the figures would be considerably increased. Thousands of people in Ross county knew Mr. Harper personally and all of them sincerely revere his memory. The family of Dr. Martin comprises six living brothers and sisters besides himself, whose names are Eleanor M., Catherine, Addie, Frederick, Peter, Maria and Robert Henry, Jr. Catherine is the wife of John Bull, a druggist of Columbus. The others are unmarried and residing at home, Eleanor M. being a teacher. Mr. Martin was educated in the public schools of Athens county and for a short time was employed in the Athens postoffice. He began the study of medicine in 1894 at Starling Medical college in Columbus, from which he was graduated in 1897. For two years he practiced at Pomeroy, in Meigs county, and came from there to Chillicothe in 1899. Already he has established a good general practice and is rapidly forging to the front as a popular and successful physician. He is well located in a handsome residence at No. 47 Bridge street. June 19, 1895, he was married to Vera, daughter of John T. Hope, a prosperous farmer of Athens county. The
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Doctor is a member of the Meigs County Medical society and the fraternity known as the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. He is examiner for several insurance companies and fraternal associations, and member of the board of trustees of the Disciples church. In polities he is Democratic. He is a member f the Chillicothe city council and chairman of the committee on claims and accounts, and Chairman of the board of health committee.
Paul Marzluff, who died at Chillicothe in the summer of 1901, generally lamented as one of the most esteemed citizens of the community, had an adventurous career finally crowned with financial success. He was born in Baden, Germany, June 29, 1826, and nine years later was brought to the United States by his parents, Xavier and Theressa M. ,Marzluff. They located in Chillicothe in 1836, where the father was employed as a contractor until his death by accidental drowning in the canal. The mother lived to advanced age, spending the close of her life with her son Paul. The latter had a hard struggle in youth on account of poverty, being compelled to do much hard labor of different kinds for very slender compensation. Long afterward, when surrounded by affluence, he used to tell how he husked corn all day and received in payment one bushel, which was worth twelve cents in the market. Beginning in 1844 he devoted three years to learning the molder's trade, at which he worked considerably in subsequent years, but he was destined to better fortune than depending for a living on day wages. In the spring of 1846, he located at Cincinnati, where he procured work as a molder, and there he also found a wife in the person of Mary Anna Heinlein, to whom he was married October 24, 1848. This lady was a native of Bavaria and came from there in 1832 with her parents, who settled in Cincinnati, where the father pursued the business of contracting and building. A year or two after marriage, Mr. Marzluff's health began to fail and in hopes of benefitting the same as well as his somewhat depleted exchequer, he determined to join the hosts then settling in from all directions for the golden shores of California. Paul Marzluff attached himself to an expedition which started April 15, 1852, for the distant goal by the overland route, at that time not only long and tedious but dangerous. It took his party six months to complete this journey over the dreary alkaline plains, beset by savages and wild beasts and the still worse enemies, hunger and thirst. They reached California in the middle of one of its coldest winters, when the snow was waist deep on the mountain sides, and were at times reduced to the verge of starvation. Mr. Marzluff liked to talk of those times, and used to recall the altitudinous prices of provisions due to scarcity on one hand and the desperate pressure for eatables by the hungry hordes then surging toward the gold fields. Tobacco was held at $12 a pound and the same amount was
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demanded for salt; black beans brought $1 a pound, flour 85 cents, and every other necessary was in proportion, as the demand was far in excess f the supply. Paul Marzluff, with the foresight characteristic of his people and the prudence which never seems to desert them, had brought with him a good supply of money, the results of his close saving, and this proved a "friend in need." With his small capital, he took advantage of the many opportunities for investment or speculation and in a year or two had added $7,000 in good California gold to his previous possessions. With this he set sail in 1855, and after the usual tiresome trip around Cape Horn arrived in December of the same year at his home in Cincinnati. In 1856, he returned to Chillicothe and purchasing property jointly with John Kaiser, opened a restaurant and cafe. This business he discontinued in 1863, when he purchased 200 acres of land overlooking the city, which he converted into one of the most picturesque places in the county and there made his permanent home. In 1865, he started the business which he was conducting at the time of his death, August 28, 1901. He was universally regarded as a man of strictest integrity and uprightness of character, tested and proved under the trying circumstances of a long and eventful life. One who had known him long and well thus spoke of him the day after his largely attended funeral: "There was never a more honorable man in Chillicothe than old Paul Marzluff ; warm in his friendships and charitable in his deeds, his loss will be one of deep regret to those who know him as I do." Of his nine children, Charles H., William A., Thomas E., Louisa E. and Joseph F. have passed away. The survivors are Francis D. and John R., of Chillicothe, and two married daughters, Mrs. Charles T. Kellehofer and Mrs. John Duffey, of St. Louis. Mr. Marzluff was a member of the Roman Catholic church and the interment took place at Sr. Margaret's cemetery, Father Dexter officiating. Since his death his widow, who is an excellent business woman, has had the management f the large estate.
Richard B. Marzluff, a successful manufacturer, of Kingston, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. March 28, 1852. He is of German lineage on the side of both father and mother, his parents; Ferdinand and Elizabeth (Armbruster) Marzluff, having come from the old country in 1836 and married in Chillicothe. The father worked at the milling trade in that city for twenty-four years, after which he bought a farm in Union township. On this estate he lived in retirement until his death in December, 1879, his wife surviving him until about 1891. The children of this worthy couple were eight in number. Of these, John, Louise and William are dead, the others being Ferdinand and Louis, of Chillicothe: Stephen, living at Dallas, Tex.; Mary, wife of Charles Dunlap, of Andersonville, and Richard
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B. Marzluff. The latter was brought up partly in Chillicothe and partly on the farm, during which time he went through the usual school routine. Upon reaching maturity he engaged in farming, which occupation he followed until 1892. In that year he located at Kingston and embarked in the manufacture of tile, a business which under his good management has proved remunerative and entirely satisfactory. He still retains his interest in farming, though somewhat subordinated to his manufacturing enterprise. Like his father, Mr. Marzluff is Democratic in his political views though conservative in their expression. He has neither time nor inclination to seek office, but held the position of city councilman for six years, and could always be depended upon to favor progressive measures of all kinds and the city's best interests. In 1879, he was married to Emma Cruther, a native of Ross county, who became the mother of six children and died July 3, 1894. Two of the children, Ferdinand and Lizzie, are dead; the others in order of birth, are Claud, Grace, Lawrence and Emma. On October 17, 1895, Mr. Marzluff was married to Mrs. Jennie Rose, widow of Ferdinand Rose, late f Kingston. She is the daughter of Joseph Hosselton, a former resident f Hocking county, and is the mother of two children, Burton Ferdinand Rose and Blanche Miller Rose. The family attend the Presbyterian church.
Nathaniel Massie, the leading pioneer of the Virginians in the settlement of Ohio, was born in Goochland county, Va., December 28, 1763. His father was a highly respected planter of that state, whose ancestors came originally from England. Young Massie received a good education, entered the Revolutionary army at the age f seventeen, and after the close of the war went to Kentucky, carrying with him valuable letters of introduction to many of its leading citizens. During the next few years he followed his profession of surveyor and land locator, and seems to have built up a fine reputation for skill in his calling as well as for courage and honesty. In 178S he made his first journey into the Virginia Military District of Ohio, which was the land lying northwest of the river Ohio and between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, and which had been reserved by Virginia for the purpose of paying her soldiers of the Revolutionary war. When she ceded her territory northwest of the river Ohio to the United States, Virginia gave to each f her soldiers a warrant for as much f this land as his services entitled him to receive. The holders of these warrants would then employ a surveyor to select a tract of land and survey it for them. The surveys were then entered at the land office in Richmond, and thereupon a patent or deed for the land included in such survey was issued by the United States to the owner of the warrants. Nathaniel Massie was a surveyor duly authorized to make such entries and
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surveys, and it was for this purpose that he first entered Ohio, which at that time was an unbroken wilderness inhabited only by hostile Indians. During the winter of 1790 he organized a colony f thirty families and made a settlement on the north bank f the Ohio river at the place where Manchester now stands, which was the first settlement within the Virginia Military District and the fourth within the bounds of Ohio. He continued making surveys until 1794, penetrating far up the rich and beautiful Scioto valley. These explorations and surveys were made "in the midst of the most appalling dangers" during the winter of 1795, and he and his party suffered great hardships on account of the depth of the snow and scarcity f wild game, on which they entirely depended for food. In the spring f that year Mr. Massie put into operation a long cherished plan. Organizing a body of men, he went up the Scioto valley for the purpose of founding a town near the month of Paint creek. They had two serious conflicts with the Indians, being victorious in Loth. They completed their explorations and returned to Manchester for the winter. About the first of March, 1796, another party was organized by Mr. Massie, and on the first day of April he encamped on the present site of Chillicothe, which Massie already owned and which be laid out for a town, giving to each settler an in-lot and an out-lot. Additions have been made to his original plat of this place, but it. has never been changed, the principal streets and alleys remaining exactly as he located them. The young town grew rapidly, attracting to it many families from Virginia and Kentucky, and soon became an important political factor in the Northwest Territory. Massie was elected a member of both the first and second legislatures of this Territory, and was one of the leaders of the movement for the admission of Ohio into the Union, being a bitter opponent of the Territorial governor, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, against whom he preferred charges to President Jefferson, which ultimately led to the removal f St. Clair from the office. Massie was elected a member of the convention which framed the first constitution of Ohio, and was largely instrumental in giving it a strong Democratic tendency. He was also elected a senator to the first and second general assemblies. In 1804 and in 1808 Mr. Massie was one of the three presidential electors selected in Ohio, voting for Jefferson and Madison respectively. In 1807 the was a candidate for governor, but was defeated by Return Jonathan Meigs, whose election Massie contested on the ground "that Meigs had not been a resident f this State for four years next preceding the election, as required by the constitution ;" and the general assembly in joint convention decided that Meigs was not eligible. Massie did not claim the office, "being of too magnanimous a nature to accept any offering that was not of the free will." For many years Mr. Massie was majorgeneral f the Ohio militia; and the last net f his public life was to raise a force
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of 500 men for the relief of General Harrison and his army at Fort Meigs in the spring of 1813. General Massie accumulated a large landed estate and engaged in many manufacturing enterprises for the good of the community. During the later years of his life he resided on his farm at the falls of Paint, creek, near Bainbridge, in Ross county. In 1800 he married Susan Meade, a daughter of Col. David Meade, of Kentucky, whose magnificent estate,--"Chaumiere," near Lexington--was famous through the Southwest for its social splendor and hospitality. General Massie died November 3, 1813, leaving, besides his widow, three sons and two daughters. In June, 1870, the remains of General Massie and his wife were removed from the old family burial-ground to the cemetery at Chillicothe, where they now rest under a handsome granite monument erected by his descendants, and which overlooks for miles the beautiful valley into which he first brought civilization.
Henry Massie, the youngest child of Gen. Nathaniel Massie, was born July 11, 1811, and was but two years f age when his father died. He was mainly reared by his maternal grandfather, Col. David Meade, of Kentucky. He graduated at. Transylvania university, at Lexington, Ky., in 1828, returned to Chillicothe, studied law and was admitted to the bar. The early death f his father, and bad management of those having charge of his large landed estate, had led to almost hopeless confusion in his affairs, to the disentanglement of which young Massie studiously devoted himself for many years, recovering much property for himself and brothers and sisters, at the same time acquiring a knowledge of the land laws in force in the Virginia Military District, which made him the best real-estate lawyer in all this region. He also enjoyed an excellent general practice, being for many years one of the leaders f the bar in southern Ohio. During the last years of his life he gave most of his time to the management. of the Chillicothe bank, of which he was president at the time of his death, which occurred March 10, 1862, at St. Paul, Minn., whither he had gone in search of health. He married Susan Burton Thompson, daughter of John B. Thompson, of Harrodsburg, Ky., and by this marriage there was one child, David Meade Massie.
David Meade Massie was born at Chillicothe, February 26, 1859, was graduated at. Princeton, N. J., in 1880, and at the Cincinnati Law school in 1882, and in the same year was admitted to the bar of Ohio. During the next two years he traveled extensively, both in this country and abroad. In 1883, according to the example set him by his father and grandfather, he went to Kentucky for a wife, marrying on November 6th of that year, Juliet S., the youngest daughter of the late Maj. Thomas A. Matthews, of Covington. Mrs. Massie's eldest brother, Claude Matthews, was governor of Indiana in 1892-1896. In 1881 he located permanently at Chillicothe and
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began the practice of his profession. In 1887 he was nominated as the Republican candidate for state senator from Ross and Highland counties, and elected over the Hon. Lawrence T. Neal, after a most vigorous and exciting campaign; and in 1889 he was re-elected, practically without opposition. While in the senate Mr. Massie was the author of several important laws, among which may be noted the law regulating the contest of the election of presidential electors, and the law prescribing the fees charged in this state for articles of incorporation. The latter measure, commonly called the "Massie law," has added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the revenues of the state. While in the senate Mr. Massie also acted as chairman of the joint committee on taxation, which introduced many new ideas on that subject, notably the taxation of collateral inheritances, and the Massachusetts system of taxing certain corporations, both of which have since become laws. Most of the tax reform ideas now (1902) being urged in Ohio by the Republicans as party measures were first advocated by Mr. Massie in his report on the subject of taxation to the Sixty-eighth general assembly in 1889. In 1888 Mr. Massie was appointed by Governor Foraker a trustee of the Ohio State university; in 1892 was re-appointed to the same position by Governor McKinley, and in 1901 was re-appointed by Governor Nash. Mr. Massie has served as a member of the Republican state executive committee, and in 1896 was a delegate to the national convention at St. Louis which nominated McKinley for president. He has for many years been a director f the First National bank of Chillicothe, and also a director in several other business corporations, and is largely interested in agriculture and real estate.
Frank Grant Mattox, the popular justice f the peace for Scioto township, with residence at Chillicothe, has had a varied business experience as lawyer, court clerk and incumbent f various official positions. His father, Absalom Mattox, though a native of Greene, has spent most f his life in Clark county, Ohio, where he rose to positions of influence. He was one f the first sheriffs of Clark county and also filled the office of county clerk. He married Drusilla Ann Heiskell, a native of Romney, W. Va., who came with her parents to Springfield, Ohio, when but six years old. Both husband and wife departed this life some years ago. Their son, Frank Grant Mattox, was born at Springfield, Ohio, July 15, 1851, and after going through the city schools was graduated at Wittenburg college. He assisted his father for a while in the county clerk's office, read considerably in the elementary text books of the legal profession and entered the Cincinnati Law college, where he was graduated with the class of 1872. Immediately thereafter he returned to Springfield, practiced law a short time and accepted a position in the insurance department pf the state government at Columbus. Later he
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was appointed superintendent of weights in the Ohio penitentiary, held that place two years and then accepted employment in the county auditor's office at Cincinnati, which, however, was soon abandoned for the position of auditor of the carriers' department in the Cincinnati postoffice. After occupying this office for two years, Mr. Mattox was appointed resident. clerk of the United States court at Columbus, being the first to fill the position in that city. The duties of this office, which occupied his time over three years, proved exacting, and the overwork resulted in a stroke of paralysis which rendered him helpless for more than a year and necessitated his resignation. As soon as his strength was sufficiently restored, he came to Chillicothe and was employed for ten years as a writer on the Daily News. He also worked for short periods of time on the Gazette, the Daily Appeal and the Advertiser, and for years has been a correspondent for many of the leading papers throughout the country. In the spring of 1899, Mr. Mattox received the nomination on the Republican ticket as candidate for justice of the peace and was elected by a majority of 369, carrying every ward in the city but one and losing that by only five votes. In 1880 he was married to Magdalena M. Schuh, of Columbus, by whom he has three children, Earl, Frank, Jr., and Edna. The parents and children are communicants of the Walnut street Methodist Episcopal church.
Frank B. Maullar, of Gillespieville, is a native of Perry county, Ohio, born February 24, 1874. His parents were George W. and Sarah (Waterhouse) Maullar, and his paternal grandparents were George W. and Elizabeth (Davis) Maullar, both of Pennsylvania, who settled in Belmont county, Ohio. He died in 1844 and his wife in 1898. The originator of this family in this country was Morris Maullar, who came from Germany to Pennsylvania in an early day and spent the rest of his life in that state. The paternal grandmother of Frank B. Mannar was a daughter of john and Elizabeth (Collins) Davis, the former of Scotland and the latter of Germany, who came to Pennsylvania and subsequently settled in Belmont county, Ohio, where both died in the early forties. George W., the father of Frank B. Mannar, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on July 4, 1844. He resided in Morgan county about eight years, came to Ross county in 1876 and removed to Gillespieville in 1895. At that point he has since carried on a successful real estate business. He was married on February 5, 1871, to Miss Sarah Virginia Waterhouse, of Morgan county, Ohio, and the union resulted in the birth of five children. Those living are Frank B., James A., and Bertha A., while the dead are Mary O., and John J. The father enlisted on December 29, 1861, in Company E, Seventy-eighth Ohio regiment and served until September 12, 1862, taking part in the
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battles f Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing and Corinth. His son, Frank B. Maullar, was educated in the common schools of Gillespieville and the Ohio university at Athens. During the last six years he has devoted his time to teaching in Liberty township and for three years he has been principal f the high school at Londonderry, Ohio. He is one f the most successful teachers in Ross county and his friends predict that he is destined to become one of the leading educators f the State. e takes an active interest in polities and has served three years on the Republican county committee. Mr. Maullar served one term as clerk f his township. He is a member of Garfield lodge, No. 710, I. O. O. F., of Richmond Dale.
John W. Maxwell, M. D., of Chillicothe, is a native of Green township, Ross county, Ohio, born July 27, 1872. His father Robert S. Maxwell, a native of Virginia, came to Ross county when twelve years old, and spent the balance of his life fanning in Green township, in which he was reasonably successful. He died in March, 1889, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Murray. survives as a resident on the home farm. They had a family of three children, of whom Dr. Maxwell is the youngest. Austin, the eldest son, operates the home farm for the heirs. The sister, whose name is Mary, married William Gildersleeve, son of the late Dr. Gildersleeve, of Ross county, and they live at Denver, Col., where Mr. Gildersleeve is engaged in mercantile business. Dr. John W. Maxwell received his elementary education in the public schools of his township, and in 1890 entered Heidelberg university at Tiffin, O., where he completed his classical course and was graduated with the degree f A. B. He then entered Bellevue Hospital Medical college of New York city, where he completed a four years' course in 1900. Immediately after leaving this school, Dr. Maxwell began practice in Chillicothe, establishing his office in the Nipgen block. He has more than realized his highest hopes as a beginner in the profession. He is well educated, naturally of bright mind, and these, combined with good habits and industry, promise a successful future. He is a member f the Reformed church and of the Knights f the Ancient Essenic Order. The Maxwell family trace their genealogy to Scotch-Irish ancestry, whose first American establishment was in Virginia at a very early period.
William A. Maxwell, of Richmond Dale, Ohio, was born in Jefferson township, Ross county, July 14, 1863. His parents were Henry W. and Julia A. (Dray) Maxwell, both natives f Ross county. The grandfather, James Maxwell, was born in King William county, Va., in 1795, served in the war f 1812 and came to Ross county in 1830, where he lived until his death in 1860. He married Frances Hughes, who was born in Virginia in 1797 and
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died in 1867. The mother of W. A. Maxwell was the daughter of James and Elizabeth (Oleacre) Dray, the former a Pennsylvanian of a large family, who settled in Trumbull county, O., and died in 1860, at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. His wife died in 1845. Henry W. Maxwell was a brick mason by trade, has followed farming as a general thing, but was in the mercantile business for about twelve years. He has held the offices of trustee and assessor and is a member of Garfield lodge, No. 710, I.. O. O. F. He and wife have a family of five children as follows: Alice C., Wesley T., William A., Edgar E. and Annie L. William A. Maxwell went into business with his father. After less than two years, the latter disposed of his interests to W. J. Haynes and the new firm of Maxwell & Haynes ran the business for a year and a half. At the expiration of that time, Mr. Haynes sold out to his partner, and since 1891 W. A. Maxwell has carried on a successful mercantile business at Richmond Dale, having the largest f its kind in the place. Though taking an active interest in politics and influential in his party, Mr. Maxwell has never desired office and has refused nominations. For seventeen years past he has been a member of Garfield lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 710. In 188 7 he was married to Lucy Orr, daughter of Wesley Orr, a wealthy farmer of Ross county, Ohio. They have two sons living whose names are Eugene Orr and Harry Fay. Two other sons, Howard W. and Walter Orr, were lost by death.
J. Myron May, president f the Scioto Valley bank, at Kingston, and long prominent in the business and financial circles of Green township, comes of a family which was identified at an early period with the history of that portion of Ross county. Great-grandfather James May came to the United States from the north of Ireland and settled in Virginia in 1787. His son, Henry May, Sr., left Virginia early in the nineteenth century and settled in Chillicothe, O., where he resided a number of years and then removed to a farm about three miles north of the city, now owned by John McRoberts. Shortly afterward, in 1821, he located in Pickaway county immediately north of Kingston, where for many years he was prominent as a farmer and tanner, being quite influential also both in affairs of church and state. He married Susanna McCutcheon, a native of Kentucky, by whom he had four sons and three daughters, one of each sex dying youth. The surviving sons were Henry, John M. and James, all f whom married, settled in and around Kingston and reared large families. Harriet, the eldest daughter, married Dr. George A. Wilson, one of the prominent physicians of Kingston at that time, now residing near Decatur, Ill., and they became the parents of a large family. Mary A., the other daughter, married John D. Mundell, of Commercial Point in Pickaway county, but
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had no children. Henry May, Sr., died December 9, 1851, and his wife, February 2, 1850. James May, the youngest of their surviving sons, was born November 17, 1821, while his parents were living on the farm north of Chillicothe. His life after reaching maturity was almost exclusively devoted to mercantile affairs. So early as his seventeenth year he was installed as clerk in the store f May & Benton, the May of the firm being his father, and after one year's service as a subordinate became a part proprietor by purchasing his father's interest. From that time on for thirty-seven years until his retirement in 1876; he retained his connection with this establishment under various partnerships, one of which was composed of himself and his brother, John M.. and continued for many years. While he gave close attention to his business affairs, James May always found time to devote to public affairs and was alert to every movement calculated to benefit the community in which he spent his long and useful life. He was an ardent friend of religion and education, working zealously for the first as elder in the Presbyterian church and for the other as trustee for many years of the Mount Pleasant academy. In 1882 he helped to organize the Scioto Valley bank, was chosen its first president and served in that capacity with the devotedness to duty and scrupulous integrity that had always distinguished his discharge of a trust. At his own request he was eventually relieved of the cares incident to the presidency f such an institution, but remained as one of the directors until his death, which occurred May 11, 1893. In early manhood he married Eliza A. Taylor, a woman well deserving of more than a passing word. She was born in Athens, O., January 29, 1825, being a descendant of Capt. Isaac and Lydia (Perkins) Taylor, pioneers of that part of the State. For a number of years they kept the principal hotel in Athens, finally losing a lifetime's accumulations by a fire which completely destroyed building and contents. Of their seven children, one son and two daughters died before reaching maturity. The two surviving sons, Chauncey P. and Henry Taylor, entered the Presbyterian ministry and became well known throughout Ohio. Catherine married the Rev. Timothy Stearns, prominent in Presbyterian ministerial circles, and the other daughter became the wife of James May. The latter's children were nine in number and consisted of seven sons and two daughters, three f the former dying in infancy and leaving the following six survivors: Chauncey T., J. Myron, Clarence E., Willis, Carrie L. and Mary B. This happy family circle, one of unusual affection for each other, was sadly broken by the death of the devoted mother which occurred September 9, 1878. For his second wife James May selected Hannah E. Davis, to whom he was married August 21, 1881, the result f the union being the birth of a daughter who died in infancy. Chauncey T. and Clarence E. had taken charge of the mercantile
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business in 1876 under the firm name of May Brothers, and this partnership continued until 1890, when Clarence's failing health caused him to sell his interest to his brother and seek relief in California. He died in Loss Angeles, April 2, 1891, leaving a wife, formerly Roberta S. Shannon; one son, Robert S., and two daughters, Mary T. and Ada S. Chauncey T. succeeded his father as director f the Scioto Valley bank and served as such until his death, which occurred February 7, 1897, leaving a wife, formerly Nannie Cordrey, a daughter named Lida T., and a son, Ralph B. Willis, fourth son of James and Eliza May, who was associated with the Scioto Gazette for many years as local writer, died June 3, 1893. Mary Belle, one of the daughters, died June 7, 1882, at the age of seventeen years, and her sister Carrie L., who married a Mr. Carpenter, died in Columbus, Ohio, September 28, 1895. J. Myron May, second f the sons, was born in Kingston, Ross county, November 5, 1848. He has spent the most of his life in his native town, where he received a fair education in the old Mount Pleasant academy and later spent a year at the Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware. He recalls with interest that here in 1868 he first met Senator Joseph B. Foraker, and at that early date recognized in him a born leader of men destined for great eminence. After leaving Delaware, Mr. May spent the four years, 1870-74, in Kansas, during the greater part of that. time being in the employment f the Sante Fe railway company. Returning to Kingston in 1875 he engaged in farming until the fall of 1879, when he and Mr. N. P. Rodgers embarked in the hardware, drug and grocery business, the partnership continuing until 1891. In January, 1892, Mr. May succeeded his brother Chauncey T. in the old business of their father and continued the same until December, 1897. He remarks that had he remained until the spring of 1898 the "corner store," as it is known, would have been in the May family unbroken for sixty years. In 1897 Mr. May was elected a director of the Scioto Valley bank, and in January, 1898, was elected president, a position which he has since held. In 1900 he was the decennial land appraiser of Green township and in the same year was made the county's nominee before the district convention for membership of the state board of equalization, but was defeated for the nomination. Mr. May, like his paternal ancestors, has always been a zealous advocate of the principles of the Republican party and takes an eager interest in all the current political questions. He ranks high as a business man, his qualifications in that line, added to his reputation as a man of strict integrity, causing him to he much sought after in the settlement of estates. October 26, 1882, he was united in marriage to Lovetta, daughter of Abraham Holman, a prominent farmer of Green township. They have three children : Carroll H., born September 15, 1883, is now a junior at the Ohio Wesleyan univer-
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sity; James Floyd, born in March, 1885, is a senior in the Kingston high school, and Florence E., born in March, 1890, is attending the preparatory department of the local schools.
Robert H. McCrackin was born at Bourneville, Ohio, November 14, 1867. His parents were W. W. and Sarah (Hanawalt) McCrackin, the former a son of Robert P. McCrackin, who was born in Virginia in 1815. Robert P. came with his parents to Bourneville when a boy and lived at home until his marriage with Hulda McMillen ; then went to housekeeping on a farm now owned by John Schlagel, lived there and at other places in Twin township for several years and finally removing to Illinois. Robert P. McCrackin was married twice, his first wife dying before he departed for the west. By her he had eight children, one of whom died in infancy unnamed, the others being William ( now dead ), Robert, of Illinois ; John and James, of Iowa ; Minnesota, of Missouri ; and Anna, of Ohio. The second wife was Sarah Roe, by whom there were five children, of whom Edith, Theodocia, Nathaniel and Edward live in Illinois and Susan in Indiana. When W. W. McCrackin was nineteen years old, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-nine Ohio infantry and at the battle of Monocacy, in 1864, was taken prisoner. He was confined for about eight months, when he obtained an exchange and returned home. His treatment during his confinement in the rebel prison was cruel beyond description and when he got back to Ohio he was little better than a wreck. After his marriage to Sarah Hanawalt, he engaged in the general mercantile business at Bourneville, which was his occupation during most of his life. In 1879, he removed to Springfield, where he conducted a grocery store, and his death occurred there in 1886, after which the family returned to Bourneville. Mr. and Mrs. McCrackin became the parents of six children, of whom Minnesota, Julia, and an unnamed infant are dead, the living being Robert H., William and James. In July, 1898, Robert H. McCrackin was married to Elizabeth Findley, of Kirkwood, Ill. Previous to that time he had been engaged in business with his brother and this has since contined under the firm name of McCrackin Bros. They carry on a business as dealers in grain, coal and merchandise. In 1891, Mr. MeCrackin's mother died at Bourneville, and he engaged in business at Storms Station in 1897. Mr. and Mrs. McCrackin are the parents of two children, whose names are Julia and Mary.
David H. McDaniel is a native of Jackson county, Ohio, born in 1856. While he was still quite young, his parents removed to Scioto county, where he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools. In 1876 he came to Franklin township, Ross county, and worked as a farm hand for a couple of years. In
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1879 he began farming for himself in the same locality and has followed that occupation ever since. He has never sought office, but for some time has been a member of the township board of education. His fraternal connection is confined to membership in the order of Odd Fellows. In August, 1878, he was married to Malinda Vanscoy, of Ross county, by whom he has four children : Charles, Maud, Jackson and Roxie. Mrs. McDaniel was the daughter of Jackson and Malinda Vanscoy, who were natives of Jackson county. They settled in Ross county in 1854 and spent the remainder of their lives in Franklin township ; were farmers and highly respected in the community. Mrs. Vanscoy died in 1882 and her husband in 1897. Five children survive them, among the number being Mrs. McDaniel. The families o the Vanscoys and McDaniels are of that class who go through the world without much noise or attracting public notice, but who constitute the very backbone of the communities where they reside and make up the most substantial part of its citizenship.
Joshua M. McKenzie was born in Twin township, Ross county, Ohio, where he now resides, December 11, 1848. His father, Eli McKenzie, was born in Maryland and was the son of Joshua McKenzie, who emigrated from Scotland. Eli McKenzie married Mary Kemper, of Ross county, and after marriage they settled in Twin township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, her death occurring in 1850 and his in 1874. Their three children were Mary J., Joshua M. and Ada. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the career of Joshua M. McKenzie from youth to manhood. He worked on the farm in season, attended the school in winter days and otherwise enacted the role usually assigned to the country boy. On December 16, 1869, he was married to Mary J. Coover, of Ross county, who died on January 1, 1870, after giving birth to two children, named Bertha and Edith, both of whom died in childhood. August 29, 1882, Mr. McKenzie took a second wife in the person of Mattie J. Newman, daughter f the late Howard Newman, who removed from Virginia to Paxton township, Ross county. By this marriage there were five children, whose names are Jessie, Edna, Florence, Wilbur and James Glenn. During much the larger portion of his life Mr. McKenzie has been engaged in farming in Twin township. e has never been an office seeker, but is not lacking in interest when important political campaigns are pending and usually votes with the Democratic party. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the latter being a very active church worker.
John McNally, late an esteemed citizen of Ross county, Ohio, was born in Templemoil, Londonderry, Ireland, on June 20, 1798.
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Owing to the fact that his father was a fine scholar and school teacher, young McNally had fine educational advantages at home, which his natural tastes and brightness of mind enabled him to improve to the utmost. Like most Irish families, however, that of the McNally's was both large and poor, a fact which necessitated endless drudgery and toil to make both ends meet. When John McNally came of age he turned his eyes, as had thousands of his fellow compatriots before him, to the land of the free across the great water. With him to resolve was to do and the year 1820 found him on board an emigrant ship bound for North America. He first landed in Canada and made his way to Quebec, owing to the fact that he Lore a letter of introduction to a prominent citizen (Gen. Gillespie) of that place. He obtained precarious employment there for a while, but soon became dissatisfied and determined to push his way south into the states. It so happened that three of his schoolmates by the name of Edwards had preceded him from the old country and settled in Chillicothe, Ohio. To them John McNally determined to come. There is an element of the pathetic in the spectacle f this Irish Loy, poor and friendless, starting to walk all the weary distance from Quebec to Ross county. With genuine Irish pluck, however, which was about all his capital, he set forth on this toilsome journey and in due time arrived at Chillicothe weary, footsore and "broke." His last half-dollar was used up in payment for lodging and breakfast at the place of his destination, and without a penny he started out to seek his old schoolmates for advice and assistance. Both were forthcoming and, thanks to his previously acquired education, John was soon installed as master over a school and afterward taught for years in Concord township, near the farm which he subsequently owned. With bright, sober and industrious young men who are willing to work, one success usually follows another and increases in value by an ascending ratio. The first money he saved, amounting to seventy-five dollars, he remitted with a devotion truly touching to his aged and needy parents in old Ireland. In time, wearying f the schoolhouse, young McNally obtained a clerkship with John Bush and later engaged in the mercantile business at Frankfort. By 1828, he was able to purchase the good will and stock of this store, which stood where Robert Fulton &. Sons were afterward located, and here he enjoyed prosperous trade for years. Subsequently he was in the wholesale and retail grocery business at Chillicothe for twelve years. In 1831, eleven years after he left Ireland a poor boy, he had purchased the 250 acres of valuable land near Frankfort which afterward became the home of his declining years. In 1850, he retired from the mercantile business and went to his farm for permanent residence. Being unmarried, he lived in the household f George M. Dexter, his brother-in-law. This gentleman, and in after years his son, assisted Mr. McNally in the man-
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agement and development of his farm into the valuable estate it subsequently became. For a while, Mr. McNally had other and outside business such as stock-dealing and pork-packing in New York city. Eventually, however, he gave up all this and spent his time on the farm with his friends and his books, enjoying life quietly and helping to confer pleasure on others. During the latter years of the seventies his health failed rapidly and on December 27, 1879, he passed away after a two-weeks illness. He willed his property to the children of his sister, the principal heir being his nephew, James A. Dexter, of whom a sketch appears in this work. Mr. McNally was a very devout Roman Catholic, and devoutly attached to the faith of his fathers. He contributed with munificent liberality to the church, at one time donating $6,000 to build a fine brick edifice in Frankfort for the occupancy of the congregation. He also paid the necessary expense of educating a nephew for the priesthood and contributed liberally towards the education f a niece, who spent twenty years of her life as a Sister of Charity. The esteem in which Mr. McNally was held needed no stronger proof than that afforded by the attendance at his funeral, which was one of the largest ever seen at Frankfort.
Ambrose McNeill, long identified with the agricultural interests of Concord township, is descended from one of the earliest settlers as well as most extensive and prosperous farmers in that portion f Ross county. His grandparents were John and Gertrude (Roseboom) McNeill, West Virginians who came to Ohio in 1809 and purchased about 4,000 acres f wild land in Concord township. Included in this tract was the site of the present village of Frank, fort, the land for which was subsequently deeded by Mr. McNeill in sufficient quantity for the purposes of incorporation. Besides his large real estate interests, John McNeill was in the mercantile business at Frankfort and also an extensive dealer in stock. As life's shadows lengthened, the old pioneer realized the necessity of rest and while all his faculties were still sound made a division of his property and retired from active business. His wife departed this life in 1855, and ten years later John McNeill surrendered to the great conqueror after a long and useful career. All f his seven children who grew to maturity have long since died, but their names are preserved in the family records as follows : John, Rachel (wife of Osmus Rowe), Strother, Mary (married William Harvey and after his death Dr. Joseph Sanford), Andrew R,, Rhesy and Gertrude (wife of Tillman Porter). John McNeill, eldest son and namesake of his father, was born near Moorefield, Hardy county, W. Va., in 1807, two years before his parents started on their journey to the West. In early manhood he married Rebecca Wiley, a Ross county girl, with whom he went to housekeeping on one of his father's
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places and farmed the same until the time of his death, which occurred in 1873, his wife surviving him five years. Of their five children, Corbin, William W. and Henrietta G. are dead, the living ones being Eliza J., who married Dr. Mayne, and Ambrose. The latter was born in Concord township, Ross county, on the farm where he now resides, January 4, 1835. He remained at home until his twenty-third year and was married May 27, 1858, to Elizabeth Claypool, of Frankfort, Ohio. Within a year or two afterward, he located on the place of 128 acres where he has since made his home, and engaged in general farming and stock-raising. During the civil war he was a member of the Home Guards and joined in the movements to check those bold raiders, Kirby Smith and John Morgan. Aside from his own business, Mr. McNeill has often been called on to fill township offices, such as trustee, supervisor and member of the school board. Mr. and Mrs. McNeill have five children, whose names are thus given in order of birth : Frank, at home: Ruth, wife of Charles Cox, of Chillicothe; Mary, at home; Kate, wife of Ernest Johnson, of Columbus; Maria, wife of William Edmiston, who is connected with the business college at Columbus.
Edward Meggenhofen, M. D., of Chillicothe, was born at Anderson Station, Ross county, Ohio, May 18, 1S57. His parents were Louis and Katherine (Paulus) Meggenhofen, both natives of Germany and of pure German stock. The mother of Dr. Meggenhofen came with her parents to Chillicothe in her infancy. His father was a young man when he came to Ohio. They were married in Chillicothe. Louis Meggenhofen was a man of broad culture and public spirit. He was a teacher in the public schools of Ross county, having had the benefit of a liberal education in his native land ; was one of the first park commissioners in Chillicothe and was always interested in beautifying and improving the city. e was a botanist of some note, and hence was specially fitted to serve as a member of the board having charge of parks. He died in 1885 at the age of sixty-two, but his wife survives and resides with her son in Columbus. Charles W., the second son, is a prominent business man of Columbus, a druggist by profession and unmarried. Dr. Meggenhofen, the eldest son, received the ordinary education in Chillicothe schools and was engaged in the drug business from 1876 to 1891. He then took up the study of medicine and was graduated from the Kentucky School f Medicine in 1893. After leaving college, he formed a partnership in the drug business with the widow of his former employer, the business being conducted under the name of Dr. Meggenhofen. Three years later he disposed of his interest in this venture and has since devoted himself entirely to his medical practice. He enjoys a good patronage in Chillicothe and vicinity and stands high in his profession. Being a registered pharmacist, he dispenses
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his own medicines, of which he keeps an ample supply on hand. September 8, 1881, Dr. Maggenhofen was married to Louise Kirk, a native of Chillicothe and daughter of Bud Kirk, who died in the army during the civil war. The Doctor and his wife have three children, of whom Laura is now Mrs. William Greenbaum, of Chillicothe ; Anna and Katherine are students in school.
The Mendenhall family, as is well known to all students of United States history, is one of the most extensive as well as one of the most enterprising in the Union. Probably not one f the forty-five states but has representatives of this family, whose members have risen to prominence in the professions, business, polities and all other avenues to fame or fortune. They go back, too, to the very fountain source of American ''blue blood," as the first of the Mendenhalls came over in the Mayflower in 1620. These were three brothers named Isaac, Thomas and Joseph ; two of whom settled in South Carolina while all record of the other was lost subsequent. to his arrival. A descendant of one of these brothers, Joseph by name, served with distinction as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and it is said he lived so close to the battlefield of Brandywine that a cannon ball fired in that. engagement took off a corner of his house. This veteran left a son named Thomas, who was born in Fayette county, Pa., in 1760, married Peggie Jeems and migrated to Washington county, Ohio, where he died in 1852, aged ninety-two years. Six children, all long since dead, are accredited to Thomas and Peggie Mendenhall, appearing thus on the family register: Joseph, Thomas, John, Pattie, Jane and Margaret. John Mendenhall, third of these children married Experience Craft in Pennsylvania, which was the native state of both of them, and subsequently settled in Guernsey county, Ohio. In 1846 he came to Ross county and located in Huntington township, where he became prosperous and influential as a farmer and stock-dealer. The memorials in Denver cemetery, where their remains have long reposed, inform the inquirer that John Mendenhall reached the age f ninety-four years before his death and that his "beloved wife, Experience," died in her seventy-third year. Their family consisted of the following named children: William, Thomas J., Craft, Israel L., Joseph, John and Delilah. All these are dead except Craft, who lives in Illinois, Israel L., of Denver, Ohio, and Joseph, who is a resident of Iowa. Thomas J. Mendenhall, second of the foregoing list in order of birth, was a farmer and merchant by occupation and made a success in both lines. His real estate holdings amounted to over 700 acres of land, and for many years he conducted a general store at Denver which was a source of profit. He was often called on by his fellow citizens to fill the various offices, such as justice of the peace, post-master, trustee and others. In addition to his other cares, he was
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engaged in the timber business at the time of his death, which occurred January 24, 1889. He married Julia Haynes, born in Ross county in 1835, and by her had the following named children: Anna, deceased; Hannah L., wife of W. D. Weltner, of Summit Hill, Ohio; Josie, deceased; Hugh B., of Denver ; Robert W., of Waverly, Ohio; Ida, wife of A. C. Yoakem, of Vigo, Ohio; Eva, wife of O. W. Guth, of Waverly, now deceased ; John T., of Denver; Lillian wife of F. A. Guth, Jr., of Waverly; Lenore, at home. Since the death of their father, his sons Hugh B., Robert W. and John T. have been conducting and managing the business for their mother, who is administratrix of the estate. These gentlemen also have a business of their own at Waverly, which is conducted under the firm name of Mendenhall Brothers & Guth.
Charles Metzger was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, June 15, 1846. His father, Frederick Metzger, was born in Germany in 1812 and emigrated to this country in 1839, coming over in a sailing ship which took three months to cross the Atlantic. After reaching these shores, he made his way to St. Louis and from there to northern Ohio, eventually arriving at Chillicothe in 1842. Being a poor man, he sought employment as a common laborer and assisted in the construction of the Marietta railroad. Before leaving Germany Frederick Metzger married his wife Christina and by her he had eight children. Two died in infancy; Christ and George (twins) are living, the former in Iowa and the latter in Pickaway county, Ohio; Mary married Jack Bookmiller, of Chillicothe; Charles is in Union township, Ross county; Jacob and Henry in Chillicothe. The father continued to reside in Chillicothe until his death, which occurred in 1898, the mother having passed away in 1874. When the civil war opened in 1861, Charles Metzger was working peacefully on an Ohio farm. Boy as he was, being less than fifteen years old, he was impatient to he a soldier and in the following year enlisted in Company F, Hundred and Sixth Ohio infantry. The command was sent from Camp Dennison on gunboats up the Ohio to Maysville, Ky., with a view to heading of the notorious General Morgan. After this maneuver was accomplished, they went to Frankfort and from there to Bowling Green, Ky., later participating in the battle at Hartsville, Tenn. Mr. Metzger was sent from there to the hospital. Afterward he was with his command at various points in Tennessee, part of the time guarding railroads. He was discharged at Nashville June 27, 1865, and immediately returned to Chillicothe. He learned the trade of a brickmason, which he followed for some time, but eventually became engaged in farm work. On September 30, 1867, he married Lizzie Ebenour, after which he rented land and settled clown to business for himself. Industry and close application brought a reasonable measure of suc-
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cess, until Mr. Metzger finds himself possessed of 240 acres of good farm land. His marriage resulted in the birth of six children. Of these, Barbara married Carrie Short, of Pickaway county; Anna, the second born, is dead ; Edward lives in Union township and William is at home; Lizzie became the wife of Edward Rector, of Pickaway county, and Ira, the youngest, is still at home. The wife of Mr. Metzger died March 20, 1887. He is a member of the G. A. R. post, No. 338, at Yellowbud.
Theron O. Middleton, prominent in church work at Fruitdale and vicinity, comes of a family which furnished three out of five children as soldiers of the Union during the civil war. His father, James Middleton, was a native of Pennsylvania who came to Ross county about 1832 and settled in Paint township, where he rose to prominence in political and business circles and died in 1874. He married Elizabeth Pemberton, of Connecticut, by whom he had seven children, of whom the following are brief biographical sketches : Rev. John H. Middleton, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, served in Company I, Eighty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, meeting with an accident while on a march in Tennessee which crippled him for life and eventually caused his death May 14, 1900. Ardon P. Middleton, of Greenfield, Ohio, was also a member of Company I, Eighty-first. Ohio volunteer infantry, spent three years in the service and contracted disease from which he never recovered. Rev. Homer C. Middleton, also a Methodist minister, has for six years had charge of a church at Leesburg, Ohio. Celestia F., the only daughter, became the wife of Lawson Smalley, of Fruitdale. Two sons, Edmund O. and Jonathan, are dead, the former dying at the age of twenty-two and Jonathan when but two years old. Theron O. Middleton was born in Paint township, Ross county, in 1839. He received his education in the schools f his native locality and had just reached full manhood at the outbreak of the civil war. His father and children were intensely patriotic and, like his two brothers mentioned, Theron determined to tender his services in behalf of the Union cause. He therefore became a member of Company I, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth regiment of Ohio infantry, which was mustered into the service at Camp Chase and later stationed at Owensboro, Ky. Mr. Middleton received his discharge from the army at Lexington. Shortly after the close of the war, he was married to Sarah E. Zink, a school teacher of Ross county, who lived only five years thereafter and died without leaving any children. Mr. Middleton is a member of the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Greenfield, Ohio. He has been connected with the Methodist Episcopal church over forty-eight years, and has long been one of the most enthusiastic and efficient in church work. His
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main occupation is that of farming but he is influential in all movements to advance any good cause and improve the public morals.
Henry Miller, an extensive land-owner and stock-raiser, and regarded as one f the model farmers of Scioto township, is a worthy representative of Ross county's German born citizens. From extreme poverty, without influential friends and with no other resources than his sturdy industry, endless patience and sound judgment, he has risen to the influence which accompanies the accumulation of property and its attendant "privilege of being independent." His father, Frederick Miller, was a farmer in Germany, married Magdelina Ernst and died of typhoid fever when forty-three years old. About fifteen years previous to this event, the parents of his wife had emigrated to Ohio and settled in Pike county. Within a year after her husband's death, the widow decided to cross the ocean and landed in New York in 1855 after a tedious voyage of forty-three days. She went directly to Ohio, was reunited with her parents in Pike county, and remained with them until their deaths, which occurred but. a short time after her arrival. About four years after her parents died, she married Philip Rickard, with whom she settled permanently in Pike county and there lived until her death at the age of seventy-six years. By her first marriage she had seven children, all of whom that were living at the time came with her to the United States, their names in order of birth being as follows: Frederick, resident of Chicago; Henry, subject of this sketch; George, died in infancy ; Catherine, living in Illinois ; Sophia and Margaret, residents of Portsmouth, Ohio; Magdelena (deceased). Henry Miller was born in Germany, near the river Rhine, October 8, 1845, and was ten years old when brought to America by his mother. What little education he received in youth was obtained in Germany as he was compelled to go to work for a living in Ohio before he had reached his fourteenth year. He continued farm labor by the month until his marriage in Pike county to Elizabeth Hammon, which occurred January 17, 1869, when he was about twenty-three years old. Shortly after this event, Mr. Miller located at High Banks in Liberty township, Ross county, where he spent four years and then took charge f the Scott Cook farm in Scioto township which he managed for the ten succeeding years. At the expiration of that time, he purchased the 243 acres in Scioto township where he has since resided. This farm, which has been greatly improved by Mr. Miller since it came into his possession, is now regarded as one of the best of its size in the county. In addition to this homestead, Mr. Miller owns 276 1/2 acres of land in Deerfield township, and for a number of years was extensively engaged in stock-raising. His methods are those of the up-to-date farmer, operating on strictly business principles, and he keeps in touch with the
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latest improvements and discoveries affecting the agricultural industry. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had eleven children : George W., of Deerfield township ; Magdelena, wife of George Fry, of Pickaway county; Henry C., of Frankfort, Ohio; Benjamin F., of Scioto township ; Mary E., John F., Carl E. and Alvah L., at home ; Philip, Leroy and Laura died in infancy. Mrs. Miller and her children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
John Miller, member of the school board of Chillicothe, and long identified with the city's interests in various capacities, is an American citizen of German origin. His father, Antone Miller, was born in Germany in 1831, grew to manhood there, and when about twenty-one years old set out for America to seek his fortune. Joining the stream of emigrants then westward bound in large numbers, he stopped in Ohio and selected the beautiful county of Ross as his abiding place. Being well pleased with his new home, he persuaded his father and other relatives to come over and participate in the opportunities then offered the settler in the boundless west. After locating permanently, Antone Miller, with the thrift and industry characteristic of his race, turned his hand to different kinds of employment as chance or good fortune brought it his way. After several years' experience in a distillery, he farmed a short time in 1865; and then worked for three years as a fireman and engineer. In 1868 he became a cigar-maker, but later abandoned that to enter the saloon business, which he followed until his death, November 3, 1878. About 1888 he was married to Katherine Griesheimer, also a native of Germany, whence she had come with her parents some years previous. Antone Miller and wife had twelve children, of whom the nine following are living: Emma, wife f Jacob Wetzel, of Chillicothe; John, subject of this sketch: Louis, cigar manufacturer at Chillicothe; Jacob, saloonist in Chillicothe; Lizzie, wife of George Scheeler, of Chillicothe ; William, blacksmith in Chillicothe; George, an engineer in Chillicothe; Katharina, wife of Oliver Vonclausburg, of Chillicothe; and Charles A., of the same city. John Miller, second of the children, was born in Chillicothe October 23, 1858. In 1874 he secured employment as a cigar-maker and worked for three years with various firms until his father entered that business when he became one of his employees. In 1886, he embarked in the cigar industry on his own account and continued it until May, 1891, when he disposed of his interests and spent the next ten years in gardening and tricking, in the winter seasons working at his trade f cigar making. In 1901, he resumed cigar manufacturing and has since adhered to that business. In the spring of 1901, Mr. Miller was elected a member of the school board to represent the Sixth ward and he has paid considerable attention to the educational affairs f the city. In 1880 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob
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Wetzel, an old resident f Chillicothe, by whom he has had three sons: Oscar George, Carl Jacob and Roy Antone (deceased). Mr. Miller is a member of the German Salem church in Chillicothe.
John H. Miller, manager of the Western Union telegraph company at Chillicothe, is a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, born May 8, 1852. His parents were John and Mary (Demuth) Miller, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Pickaway county, where they subsequently married and spent their lives. The father was a merchant in Circleville for many years and was also interested in the manufacture of hats. The mother died in 1870, at the age f fifty years, and the father passed away in 1878 when seventy-two years old. They had three children, of whom John H. Miller is the only survivor, Otis dying in infancy and Louisa at the age of fifteen. By a previous marriage the father had two children, William and Margaret, the former now carrying on the business established by his father, the latter deceased at the age of seventeen. John H. Miller was educated in the public schools of Circleville, where he also learned telegraphy and became an operator at the age of eighteen. For eight years he served in the office of the train dispatcher at Chillicothe, from which he was promoted in 1880 to the managership of the Western Union office, the position he now holds. Mr. Miller is a good Republican and has received honors at the hands of his party. He served two terms as a member of the Chillicothe city council. September 12, 1901, he was nominated by the Republicans as their candidate for the office of auditor of Ross county and, after a hot and vigorous campaign, he was elected in the November following. In October, 1902, he will enter into this office for a term of three years. October 22, 1879, he was married to Lida Scholderer, of Chillicothe. Her parents were John F. and Sophia Scholderer. The latter came from Germany to Chillicothe in early childhood, and the father, now dead, was a native of Chillicothe, where, in the last years of his life, he was a member of the firm of Ireland & Seholderer, dealers in stoves and tinware. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members f the first Presbyterian church, he being a member of the board of trustees and clerk f the session and both zealous in religious work. Mr. Miller is prominently associated with the Masonic fraternity, having attained the commandery degrees, and for the last fifteen years has been recorder of Chillicothe commandery, No. 8.
Ludlow D. Miller, a well known farmer of Buckskin township, Ross county, comes of a family noted for strength f character and success in business. His father, Aylett Miller, a native of Culpeper county, Va., came to Ohio about 1820 and settled in New Petersburg, Highland county. After a short stay there he removed to Greenfield, where he embarked in the mercantile business and fol-
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lowed that occupation until a few years before his death in 1860. He left a family of seven children, five boys and two girls. Robert H. Miller, the oldest of the sons, established the first bank in Greenfield, Ohio, and was conspicuous in the city's business affairs until his death in 1900. His brother, James A. Miller, went to Dubuque, Iowa, where he rose to prominence in the business world as an expert accountant and died in 1888. Edward Hamilton Miller, third son of this bright family, also exhibited financial talent at an early age, being one of the incorporators of the Highland County bank, of Greenfield, in 1867, and its president for many years. He was a member of the Seventy-third Ohio regiment during the civil war and was wounded at the first battle of Bull Run. Maxwell Miller, youngest of the brothers, was also a soldier and served in the Eighteenth Ohio during the civil war. He became a farmer in Illinois and died in 1900. Ellen, the eldest of the two sisters, married Seth Langdon, who died in the early sixties. Alice became the wife of H. S. Fullerton, who joined the First regiment of Ohio artillery and while in service contracted a disease that caused his death. Ludlow D. Miller, the subject of this sketch, was born in Greenfield and was attending the South Salem academy when the civil war opened in the spring of 1861. He enlisted in the First regiment Ohio heavy artillery which was first sent to Kentucky and afterward located at Johnson's Island as guard for the prisoners at that place. Mr. Miller has a distinct recollection f the time spent there, as it included the famous cold New Year's day of 1864, which became historic throughout the Union on account of the wide prevalence of an exceedingly severe temperature. To his exposure on that memorable day Mr. Miller attributes the severe attack of rheumatism from which he never entirely recovered. Within a few weeks after his return from the war, he was married to Mary M., daughter of Samuel Hitchcock, a native of Berkshire county, Mass., who came to Ohio about 1840 and engaged in farming on the land now occupied by Mr. Miller. The family of Mrs. Miller can trace their ancestry back to the early half of the seventeenth century, when Luke Hitchcock came from Warwick county, Eng., and founded the American branch. His descendants include many names prominent in the history of the colonies and the states, both in war and peace. Among these may be mentioned Charles Dudley Warner, the noted writer; Grover Cleveland, ex-president of the Union, and Ethan Allen Hitchcock, secretary of the interior in the present administration. Luke Hitchcock, great-grandfather of Mrs. Miller, held a commission as captain in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. On her mother's side, also, Mrs. Miller has every reason to be proud of her ancestry. Her grandfather, John Proud, came from his native state of New Jersey in the latter part of the eighteenth century and bought government land, the family tradition being that he paid for most of
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it in deerskins. However this may be, his daughter Matilda married Samuel Hitchcock and became the mother of Mrs. Ludlow D. Miller, who inherited the homestead of her parents and made it the subsequent residence of herself and husband. After his marriage, Mr. Ludlow D. Miller located in Springfield, Ohio, where he was engaged in the mercantile business for about ten years. Afterward he was in business for a while at Cincinnati, but finally abandoned the mercantile field and settled down permanently on the old Hitchcock homestead where he embarked in farming and stock-raising. Mr. Miller has served as a member of the board of trustees of Buck-skin township. As a veteran of the civil war, he fraternizes with his old comrades at the Grand Army post in South Salem, and the religious connections of the family are with the Presbyterian church of the same place.
William L. Miller, who ranks as Ross county's leading stockman and agriculturist, was born on the old ancestral homestead, which he owns and where he now resides, on the 25th of January, 1837. His parents were Abraham and Lydia (Herbert) Miller, the former born on this same homestead October 25, 1805, and the latter in Pickaway county, Ohio, April 22, 1810. The paternal grandparents of William L. Miller were Abraham and Elizabeth (Pigman) Miller, who were both natives of Kentucky, the birth of the former occurring in that state June 22, 1769, and of the latter April 13, 1772. It was about the year 1800 and after their marriage that they emigrated from Kentucky to Ross county. For a short time they located at what was then known as Chillicothe Station but subsequently the grandfather purchased section twenty-six in Green township and immediately removed his family to this forest home. He was a man of great force of character and at the time of his accidental death, which occurred October 22, 1806, he was actively engaged in constructing a tannery near his log cabin and was allied with various other enterprises of a valuable nature to the pioneer. His widow continued to reside on the homestead and there, amid the hardships incident to those trying times, she succeeded in raising her family of eight children. After a long and useful life she passed away September 19, 1851. The youngest child in this family of eight was Abraham, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was reared and schooled in conformity to the usages of that day and spent his entire life at the home of his birth. On February 9, 1834, he was married to Lydia Herbert, and to this union were born ten children. George W., November 19, 1834 ; Hezekiah, December 17, 1835 ; William L., the subject of this sketch, January 25, 1837 ; Mary E., August 4, 1838 ; Anna C., March 28, 1840; Isaac B., August 22, 1841; Jesse, March 11, 1843; James, January 30, 1845 ; Joseph, April 1, 1848, and Amos B., May 7, 1850, all of whom grew to maturity except
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Isaac. The father continued to reside on the old homestead until his death, which occurred January 13, 1856. The wife and mother survived him until July 1, 1872, when she also passed away. William L. Miller spent his youth on the farm, attending the district school in the winter, and thus secured a fair education. He soon developed an aptitude for handling stock and to this branch of rural life he has devoted the most of his attention. Today he is reckoned as one f the most successful as well as extensive stock dealers in southern Ohio. The writer of this sketch found him busily engaged in classifying a herd of 500 hogs, and was told that he is also an extensive dealer in cattle. He is also the owner of thousands of acres of real estate in this and other states, and is apparently in the prime of his activities, for the years have dealt lightly with him, and he bids fair to remain an active factor in the industrial life of Ross county for many years to come. On April 28, 1860, he was united in marriage with Rosanna Betz, daughter of John and Eliza (Baker) Betz, the former born in Union county, Pa., December 2, 1810, and the latter in the same county September 15, 1816. Mrs. Miller was born in Union county, Pa., November 10, 1834, and emigrated to Ross county with her parents and later accompanied them to Woodford county, Ill., where she was residing at the time of her marriage. To this union were born two children : William B. Elsworth, who died in infancy, and Ida May, born February 4, 1864, who was married to John J. Oliver October 28, 1880. Mr. Oliver is a native of Ross county, Ohio, born August 20, 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver have four children: Louis M., born January 4, 1882; Clem. J., born January 4, 1881; Ola M., born July 23, 1886, and Rosanna J., born June 6, 1889. Mrs. Miller, the wife and mother, died February 27, 1899. She was a lady of exceptional virtues and a lifelong member of the German Reformed church. This sketch would not be complete without due reference to Mr. Miller's private and public life. After the death of his father he ably assisted his mother in the management f the large estate. Later he began to deal extensively in live stock and his excellent judgment and skill in this line of work not only brought him wealth but also attracted attention all over the state and as a result in 1893 Governor McKinley appointed and commissioned him as one of the three members of the Board of Live Stock Commissioners of Ohio, for a term of three years, and his superior services in that official position have been acknowledged by each succeeding governor down to and including Governor Nash, all of whom have reappointed him as his terms of office have expired and at this writing he is a member of that honorable board. During the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, he was appointed to represent Ohio as a member of the Advisory Council of World's Congress Auxiliary on farm culture. Politically he is a
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Republican. In Freemasonry he has taken all the degrees from entered apprentice up to and including the 32d degree, including the Knight Templar and Scottish Rite degrees. He is also a member of the order of Elks. His home and surroundings are of a substantial character, well adapted and equipped as an up-to-date stock farm. As a citizen, Mr. Miller stands high in the estimation of his friends and neighbors.
Ephraim H. Minear was born in Yellowbud, Ross county, Ohio, November 25, 1840. His parents were William and Margaret (Hobbs) Minear, the former of whom was born in Union township in 1815. He was a farmer by occupation and spent his whole life on the same place. Besides Ephraim Minear, the subject of this sketch, there were two other children, Elizabeth and Pelitha, both of whom died in infancy. The father died at the early age of twenty-five, his widow surviving until 1868. Their son Ephraim lived in Yellowbud for five years and then went to work in the country at a salary of some twelve or fifteen dollars a year. August. 11, 1862, he enlisted at Yellowbud in Company K, Eighty-ninth Ohio infantry, as a musician. After serving one year, he was discharged for disability and returned to his home in Ohio. He then learned the carpenter's trade, which was his means of livelihood for many years thereafter. On March 18, 1868, he was married to Ellen Gamble, of whose three children two died in infancy and Fletcher, the only survivor, lives in Chillicothe. The first wife died March 18, 1881, and Mr. Minear married Ida Madden September 26, 1885. Their only child is named Belle and lives at home-with her parents. In 1886, Mr. Minear removed to Andersonville, Ross county, of which place he was appointed postmaster in 1889. He held this place for two years and in 1898 was reappointed by President McKinley. In 1886, he was elected clerk of his township and has retained that position ever since. In politics he is a stanch Republican and he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since 1857.
Thaddeus A. Minshall, of Chillicothe, former chief justice of the supreme court of Ohio and an eminent jurist, was born in Ross county, Ohio, January 19, 1834. His ancestors were of English origin and accompanied William Penn to this country as devout Quakers. A branch of the family subsequently settled in Virginia, whence Ellis Minshall, the grandfather, removed to Ohio about the year 1800, and served through the war of 1812 as a soldier from this state. After the death of his mother in 1841 the subject of this sketch spent about five years working in a woolen factory, after which he attended Mt. Pleasant Academy as opportunity afforded until 1854. At the age of twenty he was a teacher in the public schools and in this capacity he divided his time by studying law. His earlier
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legal training was obtained in the law office of S. L. Wallace, of Chillicothe, and he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court in 1861. Almost immediately thereafter Ft. Sumter was fired upon, and President Lincoln called for volunteers. Young Minshall was one of the first to respond and on April 20, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-second regiment Ohio volunteers, for the three months' service, and by the time he was mustered out on August 29 following he had been promoted to sergeant-major of the regiment. He immediately returned home and began raising Company H, Thirty-third regiment, and on October 14, 1861, re-entered the service of his country, this time as captain of infantry, and continued to serve in this capacity for the full period of his enlistment until mustered out in October, 1864. His regiment was assigned to the Fourteenth army corps, and he was with his command in the hotly contested battles of Perryville, Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peachtree Creek, and in many minor engagements of the Atlanta campaign as well as Jonesboro and the siege of Atlanta. For some time prior to the capture of Atlanta he had held command of his regiment. After the expiration of his term of service he returned to Chillicothe and resumed the practice of law, and in the fall of 1864 he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney f Ross county but at the expiration f his term he declined a renomination in order that he might devote all his time and energy to civil practice in which he became very successful. In 1876 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas in the Ross, Highland and Fayette subdivision f the Fifth judicial circuit to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Thomas Gray, and was re-elected for the full term in 1878 and again in 1883. In 1885 he was elected to the supreme bench and in 1890 was again nominated by his party and elected; and in 1895, the term having been changed to six years, he was re-elected for the term ending in 1902, serving the last year of this term as chief justice. His opinions were of a high order and are to be found in Volumes 44 to 65, inclusive, f the Ohio State Reports. Judge Minshall has now retired from the more active duties of life and is taking the rest he has so honorably earned. Few of Ohio's noble sons have done more to leave their impress upon the state and the present generation than he. A man of retiring disposition, unassuming habits and strict integrity, he has justly earned the esteem f his fellow men in every effort of his long and useful life. On the 9th of April, 1873, he was united in marriage with Julia Ewing Pearson, of Chillicothe, where he has resided since 1861.
Jacob B. Moomaw, a veteran of the civil war and substantial farmer, was born in Ross county, Ohio, near Fruitdale, in 1827.
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His father, Henry Moomaw, a native of Virginia, born in 1791, came to Ross county about the year 1813 ; settled in Paint township where he cultivated a farm until the time of his death, which occurred in 1871 ; and reared a family of twelve children, f whom seven were sons and only two of these are still living. Those called away were George W., John H., Allen, Henry and Nelson B. The second of these gave three sons to the Union army to uphold the cause of the government during the civil war. Silas Moomaw, the fourth son in order of birth, is at present occupying the old home-stead place. Jacob B. Moomaw grew to manhood in Paint township and was educated in the common schools of that locality. From his earliest, boyhood he was accustomed to work on the farm and that has been his occupation throughout life. About 1852 he was married to Vashti C., daughter of John Morton, of Buckskin township. Mr. and Mrs. Moomaw became the parents of four children, of whom all are living except William Henry, the second born. John A. Moomaw, the eldest son, married Sarah Reighle and is a leading farmer of Paint township. Anna Eliza is the wife of Albert Ellenberger, of Fayette county. Franklin M. married Ida, daughter of George Curry, member of an old family of Twin township. In 1862, Jacob B. Moomaw enlisted in Company H Eighty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry. This command was mustered into the service at Camp Dennison and was sent from there directly to Kentucky. Later it. was ordered into West Virginia and took part in the campaigns of that period in the mountainous regions south of the Ohio. Mr. Moomaw's health broke down as the result of continued exposure, and in 1863 he was discharged on account of disability from which he never afterward entirely recovered. After retiring from the army, he settled down upon his farm and spent all of the subsequent years in its care and cultivation. Mr. Moomaw is a member of the Presbyterian church at South Salem and J. C. Irwin post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
John A. Moomaw, trustee of Paint township, has long been conspicuously identified with the educational interests of Ross county. He is a son of Jacob B. Moomaw, a veteran of the civil war and much esteemed citizen. His mother, whose maiden name was Vashti C. Morton, was the daughter f natives of South Carolina, of the noted Morton family of that. state, that took a prominent part on the patriot side of the Revolutionary war. The family originally came from Ireland as a result of religious persecutions, and after the Revolution migrated to the Northwest Territory to get away from the curse of human slavery. John A. Moomaw received his elementary education in the common schools and subsequently took a course at the Salem academy. At a very early age he had become interested in the cause f education and conceived an honorable ambition to be
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one of the grand army engaged in its advancement. In 1873 he took charge of a school which he taught with success and since then has been in constant touch with teachers and their work. He is known all over the county as a successful and enthusiastic educator, having had charge of schools in many different townships. Nor have his efforts in this useful calling been confined to his native county. The neighboring county of Fayette has had the benefit of Mr. Moomaw's skill and experience, with the result of extending and confirming his reputation as a teacher. As the township trustees in Ohio are intimately connected with the schools, it was natural that when a vacancy occurred in this office in Paint township, Mr. Moomaw's name should be suggested for the place. He was accordingly appointed and in 1899 was regularly elected to the position by the popular vote. Since then, as trustee of his native township, he has been able to demonstrate his administrative ability and familiarity with the needs of the school system. Still other and higher recognition in the same line came to Mr. Moomaw when he was elected by the Chillicothe presbytery to membership of the board of education of the Salem academy. He has also found time to pay some attention to politics and is regarded as one of the sensible advisers in all that concerns the local organization of his party. In 1881, Mr. Moomaw was married to Sarah Reighle, of Bainbridge, whose mother was a member of the well known Dewey family of Pennsylvania origin. Their eldest son, who gives promise of great future usefulness, is one of the brightest students at the Salem academy, of which institution he will soon become a graduate. Mr. Moomaw is a member f the Royal Arcanum and Modern Woodmen of America. The entire family are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Moomaw has long been an elder.
George Bernard Moore, of Chillicothe, is one of the representative business men of that thriving city. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, born December 3, 1854. On the paternal side he is of Irish descent. His grandfather Moore, a native of the County Donegal, Ireland, emigrated with ten brothers and one sister to America in the early part of the last century, and located in Philadelphia, where he met and married a young lady who was born and reared in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. In the city of Philadelphia, in March, 1835, there was born to this union a son, George B. Moore, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was reared in the city of Philadelphia, after maturity was married in St. Louis, Mo., and died at Cincinnati in 1895. His wife, Elizabeth Warren, was born in Melbourne, Derbyshire, England, in 1837. Six of their children are living, namely : Mrs. Emma Webb, of Cincinnati ; Mrs. Annie Price of Cincinnati, and four brothers, George B., the subject of this sketch, Charles, Edward and John. George B. spent his boy-
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hood days in Cincinnati, attended the city schools, and when quite young entered the firm of J. R. Mills & Co., and perfected his knowledge of the printer's trade, serving three years as foreman in that establishment. This firm going out of business compelled Mr. Moore to seek employment elsewhere, and as a result he entered the employ of the well known firm of A. H. Pugh & Co., of Cincinnati, who remained with them until 1882, when impaired health required him to seek a change and he located permanently in Chillicothe. Here he has met with marked success in his printing and stationary establishment and today stands second to none in the estimation of the people, not only as to the excellent character of his line of work but also as an estimable citizen. In 1881 he was married to Mary Laurentine Poland, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth (Ripley) Poland, old and respected residents of Chillicothe. Her father was born near Dublin, Ireland, and died some years ago after a long and useful life as an honored citizen. Her mother was a native of Zanesville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have four children : Elizabeth Poland, Mary Agnes, Edgar Vincent, and Marguerite Mary. Socially the family stands high, and all are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Moore is a member of the order of Elks, Modern Woodman of America, and the A. O. H. By perseverance and industry he has achieved success in his chosen profession and a secure place in the high regard of his friends and neighbors.
Noah B. Moore, a popular young railroad employe at Chillicothe, for ten years with the Baltimore & Ohio, is a native of Ross county, as were his parents before him. His grandfather, known as Col. Taylor W. Moore, was brought to Ross county by his parents in infancy and subsequently became quite noted in connection with public affairs. Though a farmer by occupation he had a natural fondness for polities and participated vigorously in the local campaigns as manager and canvasser. Colonel Moore gained considerable fame in this way and was often urged to become a candidate but would never accept office. He married Harriet Kaus, member of an old Ross county family, by whom he had a family of five sons and one daughter. Among the former was one named Joseph who was born, bred and educated in Ross county and spent his whole life as one of her citizens. Like his father, his main occupation was that of farming, but in addition to this he did much work as a contractor and builder. Joseph Moore married Mary Wheeler and they became the parents of four children, of whom Frederick is a railroad fireman at Chillicothe, Albert resides in Fisher, Ill., and Anna is the wife of Elersie Dresbach, of Hallsville, O. Noah B. Moore, the eldest of these children, was born in Green township, Ross county, December 4, 1871. He attended the neighborhood schools and assisted with the farm work until his twentieth year was reached, when he decided
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to devote his life to the railroad service. He obtained employment in an humble capacity with the Baltimore & Ohio company, with which he has since continued, working his way up until he reached the position of freight conductor. He is regarded as a safe and faithful employe, enjoying the confidence of those above and the good will of those below him in the service. That he has the esteem of his fellow workmen is shown by the fact that he was elected secretary of lodge No. 243, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. November 29, 1893, he was married to Ella McKenna, a young lady of Cincinnati, and their children are Carl, Lucile and Cecil.
Henry V. Morris, land-owner and dealer in stock on an extensive scale, with residence at Adelphi, has led an active and strenuous life from the period of his boyhood. His efforts have been crowned with success and few men of his age can point to more accomplished in the same length of time. He is a grandson of Henry O. and Charity (Shelby) Morris, who settled in Pickaway county in the early part of the nineteenth century. Henry O. Morris was a farmer and stockraiser and accumulated a body of land amounting to some eight hundred acres. He was highly esteemed as a citizen, held various township offices and exercised an influence which always attends upon probity of character. Both he and wife were members of the United Brethren church, and each lived to an unusually advanced age, he dying in 1869, when eighty-six years old, and his wife in 1875 while completing her ninety-second year. They had seven sons and three daughters, none of whom are now living with the exception of Reason Morris. The latter was born in Pickaway county, October 8, 1827, and followed in the footsteps of his father as a farmer and stockraiser. In his youth, before the advancing railroads destroyed that business in Ohio, he drove cattle over the mountains to the eastern markets and later joined the herders in the West. His life of activity and adventure brought him some accumulations. He married Harriet, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Metzger) Pontious, natives of Pennsylvania, who became pioneers of Pickaway and reared a family of eight children of whom three are living. By a coincidence often remarked upon, Reason Morris had the same number of children as his father and also divided similarly as to sex. His seven sons and three daughters are all living and have become useful men and women in their different spheres of life. Henry V. was born in the county and township of Pickaway January 9, 1863. He was eager to meet the duties and risks of life and began business for himself at the age of nineteen. From that time on he has given his attention to farming in all its branches, with especial care to raising, breeding, buying and selling of stock. He has been a handler of horses nearly all his life, not only by purchase and sale but by utilizing them in livery and transportation.
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Mr. Morris was not neglectful of realty as he went along, but has invested in land from time to time until his holdings amount to 471 acres, lying partly in Ross and partly in Pickaway counties. He came to Adelphi in 1896, where he owns a fine residence and livery barn, being one of the well-to-do men of the place, and feeling a justifiable pride in the fact that he made his own property. His real estate in Ross county consists of 271 acres of land in different tracts, lying in Colerain township on the Adelphi and Hallsville turnpike, and he also has 200 acres in Pickaway county. Mr. Morris, like his father and grandfather, is Democratic in politics. e finds relaxation from business by membership of Adelphi lodge, No. 675, Knights of Pythias. January 22, 1885, he was married to Eva, daughter of Abraham and Mary (Bartey) Long, of Westerville, O. They have had six children, of whom Iva and Nolan L., the first and fifth in order of birth, are dead, the others being Clifton H., Fannie E., Henry W., and Mary E.
James R. Motter, M. D., of Gillespieville, is a native of Liberty township, Ross county, born March 18, 1853. His parents were Austin and Jane (Williamson) Motter, both natives f Ross county. Austin was a son of George and Mary K. (Knowls) Motter, both natives of Virginia, who came to Ross county about the year 1800 and spent the rest f their lives there. George Motter dealt in fine horses on an extensive scale and had a great reputation as a judge f those animals. He died in Ross county about 1830 and his wife followed him about two years later. Austin Motter was born in Ross county in 1822, became a merchant in Chillicothe and Londonderry, and died at the latter place in 1879. His wife was a daughter of John W. and Willie (Hagley) Williamson, the former of New Jersey and the latter of Greenbrier county, W. Va., who came to Ross county in 1814 and ended their days here. John W. Williamson was a notable and influential man ; built the first hotel at Londonderry, and was very successful in that business ; was shrewd and tactful and accumulated wealth, and was postmaster under Jackson and other presidents, holding that office about twenty-two years. He was intimate with Allen G. Thurman, Governor Allen and other prominent men of his clay. His wife died in 1874, but he survived until the year 1897. Austin Motter held the office of deputy sheriff for four years, his chief duty being to look after the prisoners. He died in 1879, but his wife survives. They had a family of six children, of whom four are living. Dr. Motter was reared in Londonderry and educated in the Chillicothe high school. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas Farabee and, in 1873, was graduated from the Ohio Medical college in Cincinnati, since which time he has been in active practice at Londonderry. In 1883 he was married to Ida M., daughter of Joseph and Abigail
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(King) Faust, the former of Germany and the latter a descendant of Ross county pioneers. The mother of Mr. Faust settled at Lancaster, Ohio, and died at the extreme old age of one hundred and one years. Dr. Motter and wife have two children, Edwin Cameron and Jettie M. The Doctor has taken an active interest in educational matters and has been a member of the school board for sixteen years, serving as president most of the time. He now owns the old homestead of Dr. James Gillespie, who was an uncle of James G. Blaine. Dr. Gillespie kept the first postoffice at the place and it was named in his honor.
Thomas I. Murphy, of the wholesale liquor firm of Frank Murphy & Co., was born in Chillicothe August 15, 1856. His parents were Patrick and Mary (King) Murphy, both natives f Ireland. The father came to America in 1846 and settled in Chillicothe, the mother not arriving until four years later. They were married in their native country, where Frank, Mary and Lizzie were born before the emigration. The other three children, Kate, Thomas and John, were born after the arrival in Chillicothe Patrick Murphy engaged in the grocery business with his half-brother, Martin O'Neil, on Water street. All their stock, however, was consumed in the disastrous fire of 1852, and after this, Patrick was employed in various ways for ten or twelve years, working most, of the time as a common laborer. He died May 17 , 1874, at the age of sixty-four years, his wife surviving him until April 7, 1881, when she expired in her seventy-first year. Of their six children, four are still living. John died in 1880, at the age of twenty-two. Frank, in early youth, engaged as a clerk with the firm of James Boulger & Co., wholesale grocers and liquor dealers; remained with this house for twelve years; then purchased the grocery and liquor business owned by Hugh McCurry and conducted it until his death, on September 6, 1901, the day f the assassination of President McKinley. In 1882, Thomas I. Murphy, the subject of this sketch, became a partner in the business, and since Frank's death he has continued the same. In the spring of 1890, the firm purchased the building now occupied by their large stock. Frank married Miss Piatt, of West Liberty, who only survived about a year after marriage. Thomas I. Murphy was educated in the Chillicothe public schools. When fifteen years old he engaged as a clerk with his brother Frank and has always followed this line of work. Both he and his brother Frank were successful business men, possessing universal confidence and the esteem of all who knew them. Mr. Murphy married Miss Annie Hydell, daughter of Anton and Annie Hydell, both natives of Germany. Her father, who was a moulder by trade, died in Chillicothe, but the mother is still living. Mrs. Murphy only lived a couple of years after her marriage when she died, leaving one child
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which lived only about a year after its mother's death. Mr. Murphy is a leader of recognized influence in the Democratic party, has held various official positions and served eight years as a member of the city board of elections. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. Of the sisters of Mr. Murphy, Kate resides in his own household ; Mary is the widow of William Rusk, a real estate dealer of Cincinnati; Lizzie is the wife of Thomas Surran, a machinist of Cincinnati.
Thomas Murray, lately of Buckskin township, was long and conspicuously identified with the political and agricultural affairs of that section f Ross county. His life extended over a period of seventy-seven years, from the time of his birth in 1819 until his lamented death in 1896. He took much interest in the local political contests and served on the township board of trustees several terms. Entertaining strong religious convictions he was a consistent member of the First Presbyterian church at Greenfield and never failed to inculcate in his children the precepts of morality. He married a daughter of George Parrett, the latter being a member f a numerous and influential family long prominent in the development of Buckskin township. The progenitors were of Virginia origin and were numbered among the earliest arrivals in the Paint Creek valley. Mr. and Mrs. Murray became the parents of five children. Of these, George A. is living at Austin, Ross county; Anna is the wife of George Cope, of Missouri ; Charles is at home and Frank E. is in the government service at Omaha, Neb. T. Arthur Murray, third of the children in order f birth, grew up on his father's farm and received a training that fitted him for future work in that line. He attended the common schools of Buckskin township and after reaching suitable age engaged in agricultural pursuits. Though not neglecting the general features, he has paid special attention to live stock and deals in the famous breed f cattle known as Shorthorns. He has achieved a flattering measure f success as a breeder and feeder and is well known to those connected with the local live stock industry. Mr. Murray has a taste for politics and has "had a hand" in all the township contests of late years, being recognized by his party associates as a safe counselor. He is also prominent in fraternal circles, being connected with several of the most popular orders. He is a member of the Knights Templar and McClain lodge Knights of Pythias at Greenfield. Inheriting his religious conviction of his good father, he is a communicant in the Presbyterian church.
Joseph B. Nelson, one of the most prominent farmers in Huntington township and for many years officially connected with its public business as incumbent of various offices, is descended from a man
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who came into Ohio with the pioneer vanguard. It is not definitely ascertained where Ross Nelson originated, but it is known that he came west at a very early day, and became domiciled in Jackson county, Ohio. His main business was farming, but he also conducted a salt mill for the benefit of the settlers when that article of prime necessity was hard to get and very costly. Ross Nelson ended his days in Jackson county, but his widow survived for some years and eventually died while visiting her son in Ross county. Their family, which has long since passed away, consisted of the following named children : John, Oliver, Samuel, David and Sarah. For the purposes of this sketch only the fortunes of David, the fourth son, will be followed. He was born in Jackson county, Ohio, in 1804, and about the time he reached twenty-one years of age settled in Colerain township, Ross county. He there met and married Hannah Bunn, a native of Pennsylvania, with whom he spent three more years in Colerain and then removed to Huntington township for permanent residence on a farm of 104 acres which he had recently purchased. He conducted his operations with success, dealt extensively in stock and became widely known both in Ross and adjoining counties. He added to his real estate holdings by several subsequent purchases, but in 1875 abandoned farming to engage in the hotel business at Chillicothe, which he followed twelve years and retired, his death occurring no great while afterward. His first wife had died during his residence in the country and he contracted a second marriage with Mary Ann Whitcombe, a native of Ross county, who is now a resident of Chillicothe. By the first marriage there were two children, William G., of Clark county, and Joseph B. The latter's birth occurred December 28, 1834, in Ross county, during his father's residence in Colerain township. He grew up in Huntington township and about the time he reached manhood was married to Sarah F. Thompson, a native of Ireland. This lady died about two years after marriage and several years subsequently Mr. Nelson married Jane E., daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Trego, old residents of Scioto township. He then located in the farm on which he has since lived continuously and cultivated with such success as to give him rank among the leading agriculturists in the county. May 2, 1864, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Forty-ninth regiment, Ohio National Guard, which was organized at Camp Dennison, ordered to Baltimore, May 11, and on its arrival assigned to duty at different points. The principal service of the regiment during its absence was the part it took in the battle of July 9th at Monocacy Junction, where it acquitted itself most creditably. After considerable marching in Maryland and Virginia, the regiment was returned to Ohio and mustered out in August. Immediately thereafter Mr. Nelson came directly home and resumed operations on his farm. For five years Mr. Nelson was assessor of
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his township, member of the school board for a long period, township trustee for three years, clerk two years and road supervisor for long periods continuously. In fact, few f its citizens have had so much to do with the township's affairs, and Mr. Nelson discharged all his duties with a fidelity and business sense that commended his work to every taxpayer. By his first wife Mr. Nelson had one child named Florence, who died. By his second marriage there are three children Anna, wife pf H. Darlington of Catlettsburg, Ky.; Mary A., wife of William Acord, of Huntington township ; Elizabeth, wife of A. Hinckleman, of Scioto township. Mrs. Nelson is a member of the Baptist church.
W. Guy Nelson, postmaster f South Salem, was born near Hillsbor in Highland county, March 3, 1863. His grandfather, John Nelson, who founded the family in Ross county, came there from Virginia in the early part of the nineteenth century. Marshall T. Nelson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Hillsboro in 1824, graduated at the Marietta (Ohio) college, studied law in early life and was admitted to the bar, but abandoned the legal profession to engage in the hardware business. After ten years in mercantile pursuits he retired from that business and followed farming as an occupation until his death in 1883. W. Guy Nelson was educated mainly at Hillsboro, Ohio, and after leaving school spent. two years in Kansas as a dealer in hay. Returning to Ohio he farmed for a while in Highland county and in 1888 settled at South Salem. He was elected clerk of Buckskin township in 1894 and appointed postmaster of South Salem in 1897, Loth of which positions he has since retained. Mr. Nelson is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America and the Presbyterian church. In 1887, he was married to a daughter of Levi Pricer, a merchant of South Salem, who is a member of one of the oldest families in Ross county. His father, John Pricer, came from Pennsylvania to Ross county and settled on what afterward became known as Pricer Ridge, in Paint township. There Levi Pricer was born in the year 1829. After receiving his education in the common schools and at the South Salem academy, he followed various pursuits, including the management of a flour mill, teaching school and clerking in a store. In 1856, he engaged in general merchandising at South Salem and has continued that business up to the present time, being also interested in agriculture. Mr. Pricer was postmaster at South Salem for more than thirty years, being first appointed by President Pierce. In 1849, he was married to Melvina M. Robertson, a native of Virginia, who died in 1892. Mr. Pricer has three living children. Robert A., the eldest, holds a position in a railroad office at Cincinnati. The second son, Dr. W. E. Pricer, a practicing physician at Ironton, O., is a graduate of Starling Medical college at Columbus and the
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noted medical college of Philadelphia. Emily V., the only daughter, is the wife of W. Guy Nelson, as previously stated. Mr. Pricer is a member f the Presbyterian church at South Salem, of which he has been an elder for twenty-five years.
William C. Newell, postmaster and mayor of Bainbridge, is a native of Highland county, born in 1841. His father, Samuel Newell, was a native f Belmont county, Ohio, and for many years was proprietor of the old Foraker mills in Highland county. He died in Bainbridge in 1895. William C. Newell, the only son, was educated in Highland county and had not reached his majority when the civil war broke out. He enlisted in the Sixtieth Ohio infantry, with which he served several months, and then obtained a transfer to the Twenty-fourth Ohio battery, of which he was sergeant, continuing with that organization until the close of the war. His whole service with the two commands footed up a period of twenty-seven months. Returning from the army, Mr. Newell engaged in the milling business with his father and so continued for a number of years. In 1876, he was elected sheriff of Highland county, and served in that capacity until 1880. In the spring of 1889 he disposed of his milling interests, removed to Bainbridge, Ross county, and there resumed the same occupation. After a continuance in the milling business for three or four years, Mr. Newell was in 1897 appointed postmaster at Bainbridge, which office he has since continuously held. He has also been honored by election as justice f the peace and mayor of Bainbridge and is serving his fourth term as mayor and second term as justice of the peace. In 1882, Mr. Newell was married to Margaret R. Foraker, sister of Ohio's eloquent son and distinguished United States senator, Hon. Joseph B. Foraker. They have two sons, whom they have named Frank Foraker and Joseph Benson Newell, respectively. The religious affiliations of the family are with the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Newell is a Knight Templar and for some years served as commander of the Grand Army Post at Bainbridge.
News-Advertiser:--The first number of the Chillicothe Advertiser was issued on June 11, 1831, a copy of which is now on file in the office. It is a four page paper with six columns to the page, and was owned and edited by John Hough. In 1840 Dr. C. W. Pine was taken into partnership. From that time the paper had various editors. Samuel W. Halsey succeeded Hough & Pine; Eshelman & Ballmyer came next, the latter firm conducted the paper during the war between the states, after which Mr. Eshelman moved to Wooster, Ohio, where he purchased the Wayne County Democrat, and the Advertiser passed into the hands f Hon. James Emmitt, then a candidate for congress. Under Mr. Emmitt's ownership it was
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first edited by Sam Pike and later by Hon. John Putnam, who came to Chillicothe upon retiring from the state legislature, where he represented Licking county. Mr. Putnam soon after purchased the plant and under his ownership the Advertiser enjoyed more prosperity and wielded a greater influence than under any previous regime. In 1873 Mr. Putnam leased the Advertiser to become the private secretary of Gov. Wm. Allen. In his absence the paper was edited first by S. L. Everet and later by Sam Kilvert and Hon. Arch. Mayo. Mr. Putnam finally disposed of the paper to W. R. Browniee, who was succeeded in 1877 by John Wiseman. Mr. Wiseman conducted the paper with average success until 1882, when it was purchased by Frank Harper and Geo. F. Hunter, both young men from Eastern Ohio. Since the ownership f John Putnam the paper had gradually gone from bad to worse, and when Messrs. Harper & Hunter took possession there were less than 400 paying subscribers on the books. From that day, however, the Advertiser began to prosper, and the old name of Chillicothe Advertiser again commanded respect. In 1894 Mr. Harper retired to take charge of the Mt. Vernon Banner, which had been left him on the death f his father. Mr. Hunter, who had then been connected with the Advertiser longer than any other editor since its founding, continued the business alone, and in December, 1896, added a daily edition. This made three daily papers in Chillicothe, and after a fierce competition for three years a proposition to consolidate, made on behalf of the New-Register Co., was accepted, and in October, 1899, the Advertiser, daily and weekly, and the Daily News and the Ross County Weekly Register, then owned by C. C. Waddle, doing business as the News-Register Co., were combined. The two interests were incorporated in the name of the News-Advertiser Co., of which Geo. F. Hunter was president and C. C. Waddle secretary. In 1900, Mr. Waddle's interest was purchased by Mr. Hunter's brother, W. H. Hunter, formerly of the Steubenville (O.) Gazette, a gentleman of considerable ability as an editor and historian. The consolidation proved to be a wise move not only for the interests involved, but also for the city. The advertising patrons were enabled to reach double the number of people for the same cost, while the increased number f subscribers enabled the management to add every modern facility for getting out a first class, up-to-date daily, far ahead of any other paper published in Ohio in cities the size of Chillicothe. It now enjoys a circulation and advertising patronage never before attained by a Chillicothe newspaper. The force as now organized is as follows: Manager, George F. Hunter; editor, W. H. Hunter; city editor, A. R. Wolfe; society reporter, Anna Swill; reporter, Miles Townsend; prof reader, Phil Hunter; artist, Dard Hunter; bookkeeper, Margaret Scheehan ; collectors, George Ulmaier and John M. Dawley ; foreman, Chas. S. Vogel ; machine operators, Mar-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - 623
garet Rupel and Herbert Gardner ; machinist and pressman, Wm. Teigart; devil, Lewis Henn.
James D. Nichols was born in Ross county, Ohio, July 8, 1830. His father, James Nichols, was a native of Maryland, who came to Ohio in 1800 and settled in Ross county. He was a miller by trade and worked at that occupation for about thirty years. Before he left Maryland he married Martha Beard, by whom he had twelve children, of whom only two survive, James D., who is the subject of this sketch, and John T., who is living in Texas. The names f the others are as follows : Addison, Lucretia, William, Elizabeth, Margery, Effie J., Charlotte, William H., Miranda and Victoria. Besides the milling business, which was his specialty, the father also carried .on farming in a general way, being regarded as an industrious and upright citizen. His death occurred in 1863, his wife only surviving him about one year and dying in 1864. James D., who was the eighth f the twelve children, attended the schools of his district and obtained the kind of education common to the youth of those days. He remained at home until he reached twenty-three, after which he taught school for five years. November 19, 1859, he was married to Susan Augusta, by whom he had two children, Melvin and Philena, both of whom are living at home. After marriage Mr. Nichols settled down to farming, which he has since followed, having lived on the same place for sixty-eight years. In politics Mr. Nichols is Democratic and his religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal church.
Joseph Nichols was born in Scioto township, Ross county, Ohio, July 17, 1831. His father, Joseph Nichols. a native of Washington county, Md., born May 10, 1797, was married May 30, 1822, to Elizabeth Ann Mossburgh, who was born in Maryland on February 8, 1800. In the year 1827 they came to Ohio and settled near Chillicothe, where Mr. Nichols worked at his trade as a cooper for sometime. Eventually, however, he abandoned that line of work and having purchased land, devoted himself to farming until his death on April 1, 1858. Before leaving Maryland, three children had been born, of whom Henry and James are dead and Mahala is living in Illinois. During the residence in Ohio, the family was increased by the birth of four more children, f whom Charlotte was born in Scioto and Elizabeth and Matilda in Union township. Joseph Nichols, the fifth in order of birth, received the ordinary common school education of that day, and remained at home and assisted his father until his marriage to Alice Mary Bateman, which occurred on November 10, 185 3. He first started out on a rented farm, but as prosperity visited him he from time to time bought land until he owned the 169 acres which constitute his present homestead. Mr.
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Nichols has greatly improved the surroundings, since his first occupancy in 1858, and has a very pretty home overlooking the adjacent valley. He carries on general farming and raises stock, and pays considerable attention to fruit, among his possessions being a fine peach orchard of 1,200 trees. By his first marriage Mr. Nichols had four children : Legrand B. and William F., of Van Wert county ; Alice E., who married Levi Rose of Union county ; and Myrtie B., who is the wife of Thomas J. Good of Clermont county. The mother of these children died in 1863, and on November 13, 1870, Mr. Nichols remarried, his second wife being Nancy O. Huhn. Only one child, Joseph Howard, was born to this union, and he lives on his father's place. His mother died in 1887 and his father's third matrimonial union was with Mary C. Flesher, on December 29, 1889. Mr. Nichols in polities is Democratic and he has held the offices of to township trustee, township assessor, and justice of the peace. His religious affiliations are with the Christian Union, of which he has been a preacher for thirty-six years.
Charles H. Noble, a representative farmer f Deerfield township, belongs to the generation who have grown up in Ross county since the civil war and carried on agricultural operations by modern methods. He is a son of Joshua Noble, who was born November 18, 1822, in Ross county, and here received his education and training for the pursuit which was to constitute his life-long business. Joshua Noble embarked in farming at an early age and obtained success in that line, besides achieving a position of prominence and influence in his community. The public regard was shown by his frequent summons to hold various township offices and he was generally at the front when movements were on foot to introduce improvements of any kind. In 1844 he was married to Lavina Wright, with whom he lived most affectionately until her death in 1888, he surviving her three years and passing away in 1891. They became the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living: John, Peter (deceased), George, Milton, Lafayette, of Deerfield township, Nannie, Dora, and Charles H. Charles H. Noble was born in Deerfield township, Ross county, March 29, 1865 ; was educated in the district schools and trained to farm work from boyhood to maturity. In due time he had a farm of his own and has devoted all f his working life to agricultural pursuits. January 15, 1891, he was married to Allie, daughter of David Speakman, an old resident of Deerfield township. The union has resulted in the birth of four children : Roy, Dora, John and George.
Weden Kelley Orr, breeder of registered swine, Shorthorn cattle and other fine stock in Green township, is connected by his family history with some of the strongest and earliest established of Ross
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county's citizenship. The ancestral tree first took root in the "Emerald Isle," the land whose brilliant and devoted children have made it famous both in story and in song. During the latter half of the eighteenth century, five brothers were born and bred near Belfast, whose names were James Thomas, Alexander, William and John. William became involved in the rebellion of the Irish against English tyranny, which took place in the closing years of the century, and was the first of the patriots executed in 1797. He was falsely charged with treason, found guilty by a drunken jury and sentenced to die by a hypocritical judge. His accuser afterwards acknowledged that he swore falsely, and Orr was offered a reprieve if he would confess his guilt. This he scornfully declined to do and was accordingly executed. This excited such indignation that "Remember Orr'" was the rallying cry of the united Irishmen in the struggle that followed. "The Wake of William Orr," by one of the standard authors, is a beautiful poem which this cruel execution inspired. Thomas Orr, another of the brothers, by taking a position less radical managed to save his property from confiscation. He owned an extensive bleaching green and linen factories near Belfast. Preferring to live in America and enjoy freedom he came here, and it is supposed that his property in Ireland reverted to the church, and to this day it is believed to be in the possession of the same. James Orr left his native land about 1770 and made his way across the ocean out of reach of the oppressors of Ireland. He located in South Carolina, went into business and accumulated some property, but his health became poor and hoping to improve it he removed to the mountainous regions west of Virginia. He settled near Moorefield, in Hardy county, at a place still called Orr's mountain and there remained until 1797. In that year he decided to emigrate farther west, and came with his family to Ross county, where they settled first near the High Banks prairie and afterward on Dry Run about six miles above. James Orr was a man f good education, as well as an accomplished surveyor, and these qualifications made him very useful in the newly settled and poorly organized communities. For a number of years he kept a private school and the ancestors of some of the most prominent families in Ross county were taught by this Irish immigrant. The maiden name of the wife of James Orr was Sarah Eyemon, and her sister Deborah was also a member f the family. All three of these pioneers died in 1802 and their remains were deposited in one of the rude cemeteries of that early day, since known as the Schooly graveyard. James Orr and wife left four children, Zebulon, William, James and Thomas, but this chronicle is principally concerned with the last mentioned. Thomas Orr was born in Virginia and was with his father in the emigration to Ohio. He and his brother Zebulon
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did the first plowing in Liberty township, which entitles them to rank as the first agriculturists of that community afterward so famous as a farming region. Thomas acted as a chain-carrier when the road from Chillicothe to Gallipolis was being surveyed by the famous Nathaniel Massie. The chain used on the occasion was presented by Colonel Massie to the faithful Thomas Orr, and this is now in the possession of his grandson, Weden K. Orr, who cherishes it as a precious heirloom. Thomas Orr was a farmer y occupation and noted for his strict integrity in all business transactions, preferring the solace of a good conscience to any pleasures to he derived from money made by questionable methods. A Democrat in early life, he was converted y a speech of William Henry Harrison and ever afterward voted the Whig and Republican tickets. His first wife was Rebecca Alexander, who died two years after marriage, and the second was Mary Jones, a native of New Jersey of Welsh descent. By this last marriage Thomas Orr had eleven children: Rebecca, Elizabeth and Thomas ( deceased), Sarah, William, Jeremiah, Presley, Zebulon, Simeon (deceased), Wesley and Mary A. Jeremiah Orr was born in Springfield township, Ross county, November 22, 1825. He had poor educational opportunities in youth, but was fond of study and by much reading became in after life a well informed man. He became one of the representative farmers of Ross county and at one time owned 200 acres of good land which was obtained by his own exertions. He was appointed treasurer of the school land fund for Green township, and though not a seeker after office, was always to be relied on in every movement that promised to improve conditions and make for progress. He enlisted under the call for what was known as the "hundred days' men," and draws from the government a liberal pension in recognition of his services. In 1854, he was married to Maria, daughter of John and granddaughter of William Kelley, the latter a pioneer of Ross county. Three children resulted from this union. The eldest, Harriet, who was educated in Chillicothe and at the National Normal university of Lebanon, married Professor A. L. Ellis, and has one child, A. Dane. Mary N., second of the daughters, after her education at Kingston and the National normal, became the wife of J. M. Spence of Cleveland, and has four children : Weden O., Mary B., Dorcas M. and Harry W.