(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)

350 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIEs flower wagon, and, in fact, everything that goes with an up-to-date business of this kind. The company is prepared to do carriage painting, trimming and repair work and are recognized as progressive, successful business men. Mr. T. P. White established a carriage manufacturing business in 1865, conducting the business for many years most successfully, thus gaining an enviable reputation in the commercial world of this section. T. P. White was born at Bantam, Clermont county, Ohio, March 1, 1837, his parents being Forman and Mary (Rogers) White, the former a veteran of the War of 1812, and the latter a sister of the late Dr. John G. Rogers, a prominent physician of this county for many years. She was also an aunt of Mr. Frank White, of Batavia, Ohio, mentioned elsewhere in these volumes. The early education of Mr. White was acquired in the schools of Clermont county at the same time assisting on the farm. He afterward learned the trade of carriage builder with his brother, Levi, a manufacturer at Bantam. He attended the first school of embalming at Cincinnati, which was the first school of its kind west of the New England States and still has the diploma received at that time. He served during the closing year of the Civil war in Company L, Ninth Ohio cavalry, and was many years an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post at New Richmond. Mr. White was united in marriage to Flora, a daughter of Thomas L. and Evaline (Donham) Nichols, in 1865. The Nichols and Donham families were early and prominent representatives residents of Clermont county. Mr. and Mrs. White have the following children to bless their union : Lew F., junior member of the firm of T. P. White & Son, who was born August t, 1866, at New Richmond, and there received his early education, following which he attended the commercial college at Cincinnati. He then worked with his father for some years, becoming junior partner in 1991, and has since devoted his entire attention to the extensive business of the firm. From 1899 to 1990, Lew F. was an officer in the United States army transport service, on board the transport "Thomas," from the close of the Spanish-American war, in the Philippine insurrection. During his service, he twice circumnavigated the globe, spending nearly two years in the army service. When quite a young man Mr. L. F. White took a complete course in embalming at the New York Embalming CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 351 College, and has passed examinations in both Ohio and Kentucky, where he practices. He married Miss Belle, daughter of C. W. and Mary (Walker) Short, in 1892. Mrs. White's mother was a daughter of Caleb Walker, a kinsman of the Ashburn family. Mrs. White was born and reared at New Richmond, and is the mother of three children—Irene E., Pauline J., and Lewellyn T. Eva, is the wife of F. A. Roberts, a successful lawyer of Missoula, Mont., and they have two sons. Clifford L., who married Miss Minnie Winspear, of Ten Mile, this county, is engaged in the livery and auto business at New Richmond, Ohio. They are the parents of one son, Clifford W. John R., is a commercial traveler for the Crane & Breed Manufacturing Company, of Cincinnati, residing at New Richmond, Ohio. He married Miss Dora Darkin, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, and they have one son and two daughters. Jeanette is the wife of Harry Shaw, a hardware merchant of Texas. They have one son. Both Mr. T. P. White and his son are Republicans, the latter having taken an active part in the party councils, and has served in the various local offices. The elder Mr. White served as treasurer of Ohio township, and as a councilman of New Richmond several terms, and from 1884-86 was treasurer of Clermont county. These gentlemen hold membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias lodges, the latter being a member of the Modern Woodmen of America in addition. The families are members of the Presbyterian church. The paternal great-grandfather of T. P. White operated a transport during the Revolution. The paternal grandfather of L. F. White served in the War of 1812; his maternal grandfather, Thomas L. Nichols, was a naval officer in the Civil war, and his own service is already chronicled. The family has thus been well represented in the various conflicts of our country. Mr. White and his sons are interested in all matters pertaining to the material, political, social, intellectual and moral progress of the community, and have co-cperated in many movements for the public good, while in business affairs they manifest that keen discernment and unfaltering diligence that are necessary concomitants to a prosperous career. 352 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES THE PARK FAMILY. As with most of their fellow people, the story of the Park family is one of frequent migration for many and long stay for only a few. Even the name has changed in form, but not in sound. Under an Act of Congress, June 1, 1832, a pension was granted August 9, 1833, for service in the Virginia militia, to John Parke, then for a time living in Brown county, who was the founder of his family in Ohio. His wifels maiden name was Lettice Moseley, who was the only child of a widow, Helen Moseley. Back of that no name has been kept. Heads of families with the names of Parke and Moseley which came from a stay of quite a hundred years in Windham county, Connecticut, and farther back from England, were associated in the Wyoming Enterprise. That enterprise, from the origin and through a fierce contention, not of State, but of Colony rights, including the "Pennite and Yankee War," until the close in the most awful of all Indian massacres, forms the most tragic episode of all the English settlements. Many refugees from the ill-fated valley boated down the Susquehanna river, with little sympathy from the peaceful Pennites, and found protection south of the Potomac, and along the Shenandoah. A presumption that the Parkes and Moseleys were in the southward flight from the havoc of that first week of July, 1778, is strengthened by the fact that, after much search, no concurrent mention of the names has been found except in the annals of Windham county, Connecticut, the story of Wyoming, and in Hampshire county, Virginia, where John and Lettice Parke partly raised their family. Their sons were Enos, Jesse, David and John. The daughters were Leah, Sarah, Rachel, Lydia, Phoebe and Elizabeth. Lydia was born June 23, 1792, and in her infancy, 1793, the family moved to Tennessee, where they settled near Greenville, Green county, and kept a ferry on the Nollichucky river. There Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, was born, April 20, 1800, and John, the youngest son, just two years later. They were prosperous in Virginia and Tennessee. But they hated slavery so that rumors of freedom and fertility brought them in 1805, to settle in Highland county on Paint Creek, near Iron Furnace. There the family, transferred from mountain airs, suffered so much from fever and ague, that before the War of 1812, the father, with weakened means, brought the younger part of the family to the highlands of Clermont, about Amelia, where CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 353 the Malicks, their former neighbors in Virginia, had come. There Leah married David Malick, and Lydia, John Malick, whence a worthy connection in Clermont still continues. The presence of the family then and there is proved by several graves in the Christian Chapel cemetery, at Mt. Holly, on the Ohio Pike, a little east of Amelia. That cemetery began on the land of Michael Roseberry, with the grave, of his wife, Betsey, who died June 14, 1819, the oldest burial date extant in that vicinity. Nearby, the letters H. M. and the figures 1823 can still be deciphered in the inscription on a slab of native limestone. Another similar stone alongside more plainly shows L. Parke, October 5, 1823. They mark the end of the wanderings of Lettice Parke and the Widow Moseley. As described by some aged grandchildren now also long gone, Helen Moseley was "very old" and "upwards of ninety," so that she was a mother of the Revolution. The name is far from frequent. But whether she was one of the small, yet decidedly fine, families of Connecticut or from a line that will never be found, I still like to ponder her marches with the wandering brood of Parkes that made the world for her. "Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing onward through life," she went with those ten grandchildren, like Ruth of old, going as they did go, lodging where they lodged, with their people for her people. And when the youngest was reared and they were married and when the mother of them was near to death, she died and they were buried together. From the marriage record of Brown county, John Parke was married to Margaret Darrell, April I, 1824, and there was his home until induced by his oldest son, Enos, once more to migrate, in 1834, to Wea Wea, near Lafayette, Ind., where he died, in 1835, leaving other children by his second wife. Of the other first children, David married Matilda Taliaferro and moved near Urbana, whence his children went to Knox county, Illinois. John married Susan Rounds and moved to Griggsville, Pike county, Illinois. Rachel married George Hunt, son of Levi Hunt, a pioneer of Tate township. They and theirs went to Illinois. Sarah married John Allen and died soon after. Phoebe married Christopher Ault and went to Indiana. Elizabeth married Jacob Hair and raised a family on Upper Five Mile, in Brown county. David and Leah Parke Malick eventually settled with their children at and near North Vernon, Jennings county, Indiana. Lydia Parke Malick, after passing into her ninety-seventh year, died November 1o, 1888, 354 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIEs at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Maria Baldwin, of Baldwin Station, or East Liberty, northwest of Batavia. Jesse, the second son of John and Lettice Parke, married Catherine Zimmerman, who had come from Pennsylvania. They remained a while after the rest of the family started north. Their first son, named Lamanda, married Sarah Willis, of Bethel, Ohio, who lived and raised a family in Clermont county. Mary, the only daughter of Jesse Park, married James Vanosdol, in Clermont, and later moved to Jennings county, Indiana, and raised four children. On the way to Ohio, Jesse found fine work at his trade as a wheelwright at Lexington, Ky.; and, while living there, his second son was born, January 22, 1815, and named John. About a year later, Jesse Parke sickened and died rather suddenly, leaving his wife and three small children among strangers. As soon as those slow times permitted, Jesse's brother, Enos, took the widow and little ones to his home between Rainsborough and Bainbridge. After while, the widow of Jesse Parke married a farmer, Isaac Stewart, with whom she had five sons-Daniel, William, Isaac, Barney and James, and one daughter, Ellen. Isaac Stewart died leaving his children well grown, who came with their mother to her first children near Bethel, where Daniel married Hulda Fred, and then Hulda's father married Daniel's mother in 1856, when both couples moved to Perry, Pike county, Illinois, where, shortly after, Catherine Fred, who had been the wife of the early-fated Jesse Parke, forty years before, died from a fall through a trap door of a cellar. The children of Jesse Parke found early homes with their uncles and aunts in Clermont county. About 1831 Thomas Hunt, the noted rifle maker of that period, and before in Brown and Clermont, and a brother of young John Parke's uncle, George Hunt, took the bright, clear-eyed lad into his gun shop, east of Bethel, and thoroughly taught him gunsmithing, the most exact and best paid art of the time, and an art not then gathered into large factories. On reaching manhood and noting a confused use of the name, such as Parkes, Parker or Parks, he conferred with his brother, Lamanda, and they decided to drop the silent e and use the simple and not easily mistaken form of Park. Late in 1837 John Park opened a gunsmith shop in Williamsburg, where on Wednesday morning, July 25, 1838, he and Elizabeth Ann Wright were married in the large frame house CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 355 of her stepfather and mother, George and Susanna Jenkins Peterson, which they had built diagonally beyond the crossing of the streets from the Williamsburg Flour Mill, then owned by them. Elizabeth A. Wright was the elder daughter of Robert and Susanna Jenkins Wright. Susanna, born February 5, 1798, was a daughter of John and Catherine Vaughan Jenkins, noted in the sketch of the Jenkins Family. Several sons of John Jenkins went to work for Samuel Perin in the enterprise that resulted in Perin's Mills, or Perintown, and their sister, Susanna, also went as their housekeeper. The Wright family coming from Virginia and settled about Lexington, Ky., furnished several for the same enterprise, among whom was Robert Wright, with his sisters, Sarah and Margaret. His brothers, William, Richard and Zephaniah, either remained in or returned to Lexington. But Sarah married Joseph Harvey, of Miami township, and mothered a fine posterity, including the names of Gatch, McGrew, Lemming and Cazel. Margaret Wright married Christopher Clark and lived about Bantam. Robert and Susanna Wright were married in February, 1818, and settled at Milford, where he was employed in the mill. Their children were : Joseph W., born January 9, 1819, and died April 9, 1822 ; Elizabeth Ann, born May 1o, 1821 ; John Harvey, born October 29, 1823 ; and Nancy R., born December 4, 1825, who married Andrew V. Boulware, a noted chair maker, and died December 15, 1891. John Harvey Wright married Mary Ann McNutt, mentioned with the McNutt family and in the sketch of Thomas K. Ellis. In 1825 Robert Wright gathered all his means, making quite a sum for the time and, taking a partner, loaded a boat for a trip to New Orleans. At Natchez, on August 11, 1825, because of overwork, he died suddenly—so the report came. But no report was ever made of his considerable financial share in the boat load, except a cast iron mess kettle still preserved. The young widow, with three infants, and overcast with suspicion that her husband had been murdered, was taken to her father's home near Bantam. There, on August 7, 1828, she married George Peterson, who owned the Williamsburg Mills, and much wealth for that day. With him she had five children : Charles, who was a soldier from Louisville, and killed in the Mexican war, Angie, Judith, Atlanta and Catherine. Susanna, the mother of these and the children of Robert Wright, died April 10, 1842, and is buried in Williamsburg cemetery. 356 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES After living across Front street from the parental home a few months, John and Elizabeth Park moved to Ripley, where their first child, Mary Eliza, was born, June 9, 1839, and died April 9, 1841; and the second, Kirrilla, was born May 16, 1841. They then returned to Williamsburg, and bought the eastern halves of In Lots No. 267 and No. 269 on Main street, that had been the home of Capt. Jacob Boersttler when he went to his death in the War of 1812. And that for over fifty years was to be the Park home, where eight more children were born in the same room. In order of birth they were named : John Quincy A., Katherine, Dora Belle, Elizabeth, Judith Anna, Georgia, Lincoln, and Mary F. Kirrilla married Thomas K. Nichols in De Soto, Iowa, November 17, 1878. They moved to Des Moines, where she died March 2, 1905, and he, five years before, leaving one child, Stella. John Quincy A., Katherine married to Byron Williams, Elizabeth married to Leroy W. Garoutte, Georgia married to Dr. D. C. Bice, and Mary married to Frank P. Ellis, are all five elsewhere sketched. Dora Belle married E. J. Wade, and died in Cincinnati, December 25, 1888, leaving Eva, Stella, Grace, Ada and Stephen. Judith married Frank Simms, whose children are Flora, Edith, Jessie, Elizabeth and Lela. Judith is living with her daughters in Salt Lake City. Lincoln, living with his children in Chicago, married Emma West, who died in Williamsburg, July 16, 1911, leaving Wilbur, Beatrice, Carl and Helen. John Park had few rivals and no superior in making the old-fashioned "Squirrel Hunter's Rifle." The quality of his personal hand work is shown in a much admired specimen, now owned by the writer, that took many premiums at the once all popular "fairs." When the gun trade was taken up by the great arsenals during and after the Civil war, he fitted his shop for heavier lathe work, in iron for the manufacture and repair of light machinery, and thus instituted a business of much important convenience for the farms and factories of central Brown and Clermont. He also did much special tool work, among which in particular, in connection with Oscar Snell and Byron Williams, he perfected and patented, in 1872, an improvement known as the American pruner, which was sold with pleasant profit by special agents to many thousands of satisfied purchasers. His quiet life and modest unto diffidence was an every day benefit to his family and community. He was often elected to the council and board of education. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 357 He was a Freemason, and for forty-eight years a member of the Methodist church, in which he was a class leader ; and on February 22, 1895, he died in that faith. The wife with whom he lived nearly fifty-seven years, was the mother of a home ruled with love, kept in order and sweetly clean. Despite the care of a large family, she lived with a tender courage and a helping hand that were the first thought of many a neighbor in her hours of trial. In the days of a beautiful girlhood she was quick to learn, and certain to keep the floor to the last of every spelling match. Love for her children's welfare went beyond her own, and joy grew full as they reached a more ample plane of living than was possible among the needs of her large family. Yet, in the final balancings, none of those children have succeeded better or even so well as the parents who raised them to useful lives. After her husband's death Mrs. Park lingered awhile alone in the old home, and then consented to a round of lengthy visits with her children, during which she died on March 29, 1907, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Georgia Bice. Thence she was brought to the home of her daughter, Katherine, for a funeral in the Methodist church at Williamsburg, where she had been a member for seventy-three years, and for many years, the oldest member of that congregation. Then she was buried there, with her daughter, Belle, and with her husband. The golden wedding of John and Elizabeth Park, to which all their children but Quincy came, from far, was a holiday for the neighborhood about the old home, where several came to tell that their wedding fifty years before was another holiday, when all the town came to look at the procession then in vogue. But the funeral of the aged woman was largely attended by those who learned her worth from others. MRS. ELIZABETH PARK GAROUTTE Elizabeth, the fifth daughter of John and Elizabeth Park, born October 7, 1851, was trained in the public schools of Williamsburg, which in her time there, without Latin, comprised more of mathematics and science than is reached in the present high school work. On Thanksgiving Eve, November 27, 1872, in the Methodist church that was crowded with the old and young friends of her girlhood, she was married by Rev. Frank G. Mitchell to Leroy W. Garoutte. Leroy W., born January 27, 185o, and his sister, Lizzie, mar- 358 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES ried to Capt. Thomas Montgomery, of the Forty-eighth Ohio infantry, in the Civil war, and residents of Lynchburg, Ohio, are the children of Archibald and May N. Swadley Garoutte. Archibald Garoutte was born in Marietta, Ohio, July 25, 1820, and died December 8, 1900. His wife died in Lincoln in 1891, and both are buried at Lynchburg, Ohio. Soon after their marriage, in 1842, in Clinton county, Ohio, they moved to Cincinnati, where he held various offices. At the outbreak of the War for the Union, he was appointed a captain in the quartermaster's department by President Lincoln. His military service is the subject of a most honorable public document, including an Act of Congress and bears the title of Report No. 438, to the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress, June 28, 1876. During this service, which was emphatically endorsed by Generals Fremont, Cox, Schofield and Sherman, Captain Garoutte bought and sold and was responsible for millions of dollars' worth of military property. Through all, he kept his habits of Spartan simplicity and lived and died a poor man. From the beginning, in 1861, to the close of special service, some five years later, Captain Garoutte kept his son, Leroy W., with him at headquarters, where the uniformed lad acted as an orderly, and was much noticed by various generals. The life was a wonderful experience for a boy from eleven to sixteen, and what was lost from schools was rapidly learned later on. In 1873 Leroy and Lizzie Garoutte went to De Soto and Adel, Dallas county, Iowa, and later to Lincoln, Neb., when that city was only beginning its fine growth. They have shared the prosperity and now own a fine, large, up-to-date city home, in a choice residence section, with other supporting properties. They have three children. Park Bice Garoutte, born October to, 1874, was married December 22, 1898, to Myra Dewey, whose four children are, Charles Dewey, Grace Elizabeth, Frances and Olive, and they live in Chicago. Scott J. Garoutte, born July 17, 1881, was married June 6, 1935, to India Bartley, of Lincoln, where they live and have two sons, Scott and Richard Bartley. Gladys Lucille Garoutte was married October 11, 1911, to Frederick Austin Wiebe, and they live in Grand Island, Neb. For some years Leroy W. has had the rank of colonel and aide on the military staff of the governor of Nebraska. Colonel Garoutte has been in the wire fence trade from the early sales of the Baker barbed wire, a generation ago, to the pres- CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 359 ent business of the American Steel & Wire Company, with which he, his two sons, his son-in-law, and his brother-in-law, Captain Quincy Park, hold fine positions. Since the marriage of her children, Mrs. Lizzie Garoutte has spent much of the time in traveling. MRS. GEORGIA PARK BICE. Georgia, the seventh daughter of John and Elizabeth Park, was born March 19, 1857, and made such excellent use of her time in the public schools of Williamsburg, that she was employed as one of the teachers for 1875-76. Her teaching was done with a finish that won favor, and she was elected for 1876-77 with an advance in position and salary, and again, the same for 1877-78. Her fine success as a teacher was assured, but fate willed otherwise. In the summer vacation of 1877, she visited her sisters, Mrs. L. W. Garoutte, and Kirrilla, at De Soto, Iowa, where she met a young physician, who persuaded her to consider a partnership with him. She returned to her engagement for the school year in Williamsburg ; and on May 8, 1878, she was married to Dr. David Corwin Bice, and returned with him to De Soto, where they lived for seventeen years, in an ideal felicity amid much prosperity. Then, in May, 1895, they moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and there for fifteen years more enjoyed financial gain, social position and high respect, only tinged by apprehension of failing health. In February, 191o, they went to a beautiful home in Denver, Colo., with another enchanting summer home in the not distant mountains. But all this condition, brighter perhaps than he once dared to expect, was darkened in Denver, on November 25, 1911, by the death of Dr. Bice, Dr. Bice was born April 26, 1852, in Fultonham, Scoharie county, New York. He was the fourth among the six sons and one daughter of Jeremiah and Amy J. Bice, with whom he came, in 1867, to Dallas county, Iowa, He graduated from the medical department of the Iowa State University, in 1876, and began to practice in De Soto. That practice, together with his fine presence, genial manner and nice perception, resulted in rare and gratifying success. The only child of Dr. D. C. and Georgia Park Rice is Beatrice. born in De Soto, February 16, 1880, and graduated from Des Moines High School, in June, 1899. In June, 1932, she graduated from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. She 360 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES then took one year of post-graduate work in Wellesley College ; and, on September 6, 1904, she was married to Kay William Hunt, of Omaha, Neb.; and they have since resided in Denver. Kay William is a son of Carey McClennan and Katherine Buel Hunt. He was born March 29, 1871, graduated from Drake University in June, 1892, and then graduated in law at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Kay W. and Beatrice Hunt have one son, born August 10, 1910, and named Buel Bice Hunt. SAMUEL F. PETERSON. Samuel F. Peterson, one of the prominent Civil war veterans of Clermont county, and a highly esteemed citizen of Williamsburg, Ohio, was born one mile southwest of his present home, March 21, 1836, and is a son of George A. and Rebecca (Cade) Peterson. George A. Peterson, an enterprising and versatile business man of Clermont county, was born near Egg Harbor, N. J., December 2, 1812, and at the age of thirteen years was brought to Clermont county by his parents, John and Sophia (Goforth) Peterson. John Peterson was born at the old home in New Jersey, March 23, 1788, and died September 21, 1854. He was a son of Charles and Judith Peterson, who came to Clermont county in 1829. Charles Peterson died in New Jersey while there on business, and his wife died at the old home farm near Williamsburg, Ohio. John Peterson purchased a farm of two hundred and twenty-four acres on the East Fork bottoms, just southwest of Williamsburg, for which he exchanged a team of horses brought from New Jersey, and five hundred dollars in money. He also purchased a half interest in a store at Williamsburg and at Bethel and for a time did the hauling for both stores. He soon sold out his store interests that he might devote his entire, time to the development of his farm, and in a few years had one of the most highly improved farms in the county. A few years after his decease, this farm was sold for ten thousand dollars. During the War of 1812, he was a captain of a patrol boat and won much praise for his gallant service. He was a prominent Methodist and a local preacher for many years. His wife, Sophia (Goforth) Peter- CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 361 son, was born in New Jersey, May 13, 1794, and died August 8, 1875. George A. Peterson was a stone mason by trade, which he followed in connection with his farming for a number of years. Later, however, he devoted most of his time to his trade, being associated with a brother, Samuel G. Peterson. From 1836 to 1839, Mr. Peterson was connected with the Cincinnati Coal & Fuel Company, as foreman, after which he brought his family to Williamsburg. He then became associated with his brother-in-law, Mr. George Everhart, in the saw mill business, conducting a saw mill near Williamsburg. At the end of one year he sold his interest to a cousin and followed his trade of stone mason continuously for many years. He helped to build the abutments for the first bridge at Williamsburg and built many of the stone houses and foundations in and near Williamsburg. He was a most excellent workman and a skilled stone cutter. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church, and also of the Masonic lodge. In politics he was a "Know Nothing." In 1834, he was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Cade, and to their union were born eleven children, Samuel F., of this mention, being the eldest and one of the four still living. The others are : E. Lake, a farmer residing eight miles from Fort Collins, Colo., was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Company B, Eighty-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. After the war he engaged with his brother, Samuel F., in a chair shop, which the latter had rented, but remained in this connection but a short time, being one of a party to take up government land in Colorado. He secured one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he has placed in a state of high cultivation, and which is a fine paying property. He returned to Williamsburg and married Miss Mary Foster, a daughter of Israel Foster, and they have reared a fine family. Joseph T., of Rockford, Ill., is foreman in a large wholesale harness factory. He married Sophronia Greenwald, of Marathon, Clermont county, and he has three children. Erulia, who is the wife of Nicholas Shafer, Of Fort Thomas, Ky. They have reared four children, and one died in childhood. Two daughters are with the Bell Telephone Company, Miss Edith being an expert in the business. Of the seven children of George A. Peterson who are deceased, James and John lived to reach maturity, the others dying in infancy. 362 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES Rebecca (Cade) Peterson was born in Clermont county, November 1, 1814, and died in Williamsburg, January 6, 1889. She was a daughter of Samuel Cade and wife, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey, coming to Clermont county as a young man. He followed the occupation of shoemaker during his active life, and is buried at Williamsburg, Ohio. Samuel F. Peterson has spent most of his life thus far at Williamsburg, Ohio, where his parents removed when he was three years of age ; and he is at present occupying the room in which he was placed at that time. After school days, he learned the trade of stone mason from his father and uncle and for some years followed this line of work, but later devoted most of his attention to brick and concrete work. In 1858, Mr. Peterson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Rogers, who was born in 1839, near Amelia, Ohio, where her parents, Charles and Mary (Selvidge) Rogers, formerly from near Lexington, Ky., carried on general farming. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were both born in 1801, and their marriage occurred in 1820. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are laid to rest in the Williamsburg cemetery. To Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Peterson were born six children, three of whom died in infancy. Those who lived to mature years are as follows : Harry G. was born September 18, 1859, and died December 25, 1905. He married Miss Eliza Meeker, and to them were born three children : Edith is married and has one daughter ; Miss Laura, and Roy. Harry G. Peterson purchased a drug store and the old stone house on Front street near Main, built in 1805 by Mr. Samuel W. Davies. This home was previously owned by his grandfather and great-grandfather, and is still well preserved. May, was born July 7, 1863, and married Edward Snell, who now resides at Philadelphia, Pa. They had one child, who died at the age of one year and three days. Mrs. Snell died at Williamsburg, Ohio, July 13, 1885. Laura was born June 1o, 1874, and died October 3o, 1895. She married Charles Hammond, a reporter on the "Enquirer" of Cincinnati. He is also deceased. They left no children. Mrs. Mary Rogers Peterson died at Williamsburg in 1886. She was a devout member of the Methodist church from the age of twelve years. Mr. Peterson was married April 7, 1889, to Miss Mary Ellen Snell, who was born at Williamsburg, August 19, 1845, a CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 363 daughter of Peter M. Snell and wife. Mr. Snell was a carpenter and builder at Williamsburg, and also conducted a chair factory for years. A son, Oscar Snell, together with Byron Williams, erected a general wood working plant. Mrs. Mary Ellen Peterson died February 19, 1898. On September 4, 1861, Mr. Peterson enlisted in the Twenty-seventh regimental band of Ohio, playing a bass horn. By a special act of Congress, he left the service in which he had lost his health. For some twenty years after the close of the war, Mr. Peterson was in very poor health. For many years Mr. Peterson has been prominent in fraternal circles, and in remembrance of his long membership, regular attendance and most efficient official service of the Clermont Social Lodge, No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, was presented by the officers of that lodge with a handsome twenty-five dollar gold-headed cane in 1907. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held all the offices and is at present serving as quartermaster of J. H. Jenkins Post, No. 242. The ladies of Winona Lodge, No. 134, and the Order of Good Templars presented him with a handsome Bible. In January, 1912, Mr. Peterson was elected city marshal of Williamsburg for two years and is also serving as curfew officer. Mr. Peterson embraces the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is active in all affairs of that denomination. He is a man who is very much respected by all who know him, and in every sense is a good citizen. FRANCIS POHL. Mr. Francis Pohl, a veteran of the Civil war, died at his home in Williamsburg, September 7, 1911, and his death removed from Clermont county one of its most highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Pohl was a native of Austria, his birth having occurred near Vienna, December 13, 1843, his parents being Dr. Michael and Theresa (Siegle) Pohl, the latter a second cousin of General Siegel, who was prominent during the Civil war. Dr. Michael Pohl conducted a water resort at Vienna, Austria, and came to America in 1851, locating first in Brown 364 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES county, Ohio, near Sardinia, and three years later settling at Williamsburg, which was their home until their decease. Dr. Michael Pohl practiced his profession at Sardinia, and later at Williamsburg, his wife also being a physician and midwife. They were the parents of three sons, Francis, Joseph, and Anthony, and one daughter, Theresa, who married Mr. Myers. All are now deceased. Francis Pohl pursued his education in the schools of Clermont county, where he was reared to manhood. He learned the trade of chair maker and also sold chairs throughout the country in the vicinity of his home. On August 16, 1861, Mr. Pohl enlisted in Company K, Twenty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and served for nearly four years, being mustered out July 11, 1865. He acted as scout many times in the most dangerous of battle times. He was with the army of the Tennessee, under Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, from September 1, 1861, to October 16, 1863 ; from October 19, 1863, to March 12, 1864, he was under Maj-Gen. W. T. Sherman ; from March 12, 1864, to July 22, 1864, he served under Maj.-Gen. James B. McPherson ; from July 22, 1864, to July 27, 1864, he was under Maj.-Gen. John A. Logan, who was in temporary command ; from July 27, 1864, to May 12, 1865, under Maj-Gen. 0. 0. Howard, and from May 12, 1865, to July 13, 1865, he served under John A. Logan. Mr. Pohl served in many important engagements and was on the famous "March to the Sea." After three years of service, he veteranized and served until after the close of the war. He was an orderly tinder General Sherman and others, and had a conspicuous career as a soldier. On May 29, 1866, Mr. Pohl was united in marriage to Miss Mary Krieger, who was born at Milford, Clermont county, September 17, 1844, a daughter of Christian and Mary Margaret (Fox) Krieger, who came to this county from Prussia, and were farmers living near Batavia, where they both died. Mrs. Pohl had two brothers and two sisters : Jacob, deceased. Frank, of Williamsburg, served for three years in the Civil war, enlisting September 29, 1862, in Company D, Seventh Ohio cavalry, and was honorably discharged July 23, 1865. He was a farmer by business and married Miss Mary Babler, deceased. He was formerly a member of the Grand Army of the Republic of Westchester, Butler county, Ohio, and a member of the Lutheran church. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 365 Mrs. Elizabeth Knauer, of Highland county, Ohio. Mrs. Adeline Walters, of Cincinnati. Mrs. Pohl was reared and educated in Clermont county, where she has spent her life thus far. She is a devoted member of the Methodist church, and of the Ladies' Aid Society, taking an active part in all religious affairs, also being a member of the Women's Relief Corps. Mr. Pohl was at one time a member of the fraternal organization of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was prominent in the J. H. Jenkins Post, No. 242, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Pohl was a typical business man, quiet, conservative and industrious, and as quick to grasp as to see an opportunity. He was a man of highest integrity and his whole life was marked with actions of an upright and honest public spirited citizen. The war record of Mr. Pohl, measured by patriotism, is excelled by few, and Clermont county is proud to number him among its honored dead. CHARLES P. McKEVER. Mr. Charles P. McKever, a leading farmer and stockman, residing at "Fairview Farm," a splendidly improved farm of ninety-one and one-half acres, south of Williamsburg, Ohio, was born at the old home farm two miles north of Williamsburg, September 7, 1854, his father being Lewis McKever, who is mentioned elsewhere in these volumes. Charles P. McKever acquired a good education in the common schools of his vicinity and has followed farming and stock raising since he entered the business world. For twenty-five years, he has been associated with his three brothers, James E., William E., and E. C., all being interested in the raising of fine stock at the old home farm of two hundred and seventy-seven acres. During the past five years, he has handled nothing but registered Jersey stock, with which he is very successful. In 1902, Mr. Charles McKever sold out his interests to his brothers, who in turn sold to Col. Ernest Ruffner, of the United States army, now of Newport, Ky. The farm is being operated by a son, Arthur Ruffner. After the sale of his interests in the old homestead, Mr. McKever leased his mother's farm for a term of five years, and 366 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES before his lease expired he purchased a farm in Brown county, which he sold soon after. In the fall of 1905, the present farm was purchased at an administrator's sale. This is the old Rowan Lytle farm, Rowan being a son of John Lytle, and a nephew of Gen. William Lytle. Mr. McKever has remodeled the house and has had a new barn erected, removing all of the other buildings and putting up new fences, which has made it one of the finest home farms in this section of the country. He has another farm of seventy-five acres on the Chillicothe pike, not far from Williamsburg, and his entire attention is turned to the management of his farm and tenants. He buys and feeds stock, which he holds until he can sell at a good profit. Mr. McKever was married December 29, 1878, to Miss Matilda Jane Creager, who was born in Brown county, a daughter of Elisha and Mary (Reddick) Creager, the latter passing from this life at the home of Mr. McKever, in March, 1912, where she had resided for the past sixteen years. Elisha and Mary (Reddick) Creager were resident farmers of Brown county from about 1853, the former being a native of New Jersey, and was a son of 'William and Katie (Knitter) Creagor, who brought the family to Ohio very early, locating near Loveland. He secured several farms in the county and resided there until his death. Katie (Knitzer) Creager was also a native of New Jersey, and came to Ohio, with her parents, when she was a child. To this couple were born fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters, all now deceased. Elisha was educated in the schools near Loveland, and as a young man engaged in teaming about the wharves of Cincinnati. He returned to Loveland for a period and located in Brown county about 1853, and there lived until his death. Mrs. McKever has four brothers and one sister living: Richard P., of Logansport, Ind. Jerome B., of Tonica, Ill. Robert A., of Brown county, Ohio. John H., of Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. Fannie, married Samuel Cobb, of Williamsburg township. Mr. and Mrs. McKever had one daughter, Birdie May, born in 1881, and died March 6, 19o5. She married John Mehl, a farmer of near Mt. Orab. Mr. McKever is a Democrat and has served on the school board, and Mrs. McKever is a member of the United Brethren church of Williamsburg. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 367 Mr. McKever is numbered among the substantial citizens of the county, having concentrated his energies on his business affairs with exceptionally good results. WILLIAM E. McKEEVER. Faithfulness to duty and strict adherence to a fixed purpose in life will do more to advance a man's interests than wealth or advantageous circumstances. The successful men of today are those who have planned their own advancement, and have accomplished it in spite of obstacles. Mr. William E. McKeever began his business career at the early age of thirteen years, when he began buying horses, in which occupation he has continued for forty years. He has made a specialty of high-action harness and saddle horses ; for many years training them, having for associates in business, three of his brothers. Believing that he was capable of attending to more than one style of work, he has also followed real estate, as a dealer, with great success. Mr. McKeever was born in Williamsburg, Ohio, October 9, 1857, and with the exception of twelve years spent in Cincinnati, where he and his brother, E. C. McKeever, conducted a livery and sales stable on Sixth street, between Sycamore and Main streets, he has resided in the town of his birth. The marriage of Mr. McKeever to Miss Ollie Runyan, occurred in Williamsburg, November 7, 1880. Mrs. McKeever is a daughter of James, Sr., and Laura (Style) Runyan, both of whom were of early Brown county families. Mr. Runyan was a successful farmer, and at the time of his decease, owned a finely improved farm of two hundred acres. Mrs. McKeever was born in Brown county, Ohio, September 23, 1859, and is one of eleven children, of whom five sons and two daughers are living: Henry Runyan, James Runyan, Peter Runyan, Hiram Runyan, all farmers of Brown county, Ohio ; William Runyan, a carpenter and builder, of Norwood, Ohio, and Hattie is the wife of George Schilling. Mr. and Mrs. McKeever are the parents of two children, the elder of whom died in infancy. The younger is Miss Laura Frances, who is a graduate of the Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio, class of 1909. After spending one year at home after her graduation, Miss Laura accepted a position as teacher 368 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES of science, in the high school in Lovington, Ill. She has held this position for two years, with such satisfaction that she has been engaged for the coming two years. In political views, Mr. McKeever is a Democrat, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias of Williamsburg. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. McKeever is a member. In 1908, Mr. McKeever purchased the beautiful home known as the Amon Reece home, at the corner of Third and Gay streets. It can be said of the subject of this review, that his life record is one of energy and industry, and his diligence has constituted the basis of his success, which is as admirable as it is gratifying. He early realized that if he would work persistently and earnestly he might hope to attain success. With this belief he has carefully directed his labors, and is today counted as one of the prominent men of the county. MILTON JAMIESON. A history of Clermont county would not be complete without an authentic record of the life of Milton Jamieson, widely known as a banker and business man. He was a native of Clermont county, having been born at Williamsburg, October 2, 1825, the son of John and Catherine (Perrine) Jamieson. His father was one of the earliest settlers of Clermont county, coming early in the Nineteenth century from Cynthiana, Ky., and was for over sixty years a prominent and influential resident and active business man of the county. He died in 1889, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Milton Jamieson came to Batavia with his parents when a child and while still a mere boy was an apprentice in the "Courier" office. Nearly all the type for the first number of that paper was set by him, and for many years almost unaided set the type for its issues. After diligent and conscientious work he eventually became the paper's owner, and for several years its editor. He always looked upon his early training in that office as the most valuable of his life. At the age of eighteen he began the study of law with R. W. Clarke and completed his preparatory education with a course at the Cincinnati Law School, conducted at that time by C. L. Tilford and W. S. Grosebeck, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 369 One of the greatest deeds of Milton Jamieson's life and for which his memory will always be revered by his countrymen was his enlisting as a private in the military service, July 28, 1847, later being honored by being chosen as second lieutenant of his company, which was attached to the Second Ohio regiment with the army of occupation under General Scott in the city of Mexico. At the close of the Mexican war he returned to Batavia and resumed the practice of law, being associated for a time with his former preceptor, Mr. Clarke. At the suggestion of friends he wrote and published a book of reminiscences relative to his experiences during the Mexican war. He was one of the youngest commissioned officers in the army at that time. In 1865 he entered the business world in a manner that was subsequently to make his name known throughout this portion of the State, as one of the most conservative and sound bankers of his time. In that year, together with William Megrue, W. N. Megrue, R. W. Clarke, S. F. Dowdney, A. M. Sinks, J. S. Dustin, T. M. Lewis, P. B. Swing, J. S. Griffith and George W. Hulick, he organized the First National Bank of Batavia, in which enterprise he was the chief promoter and its guiding spirit. Mr. Jamieson was the first cashier of the institution and in July, 1868, was elected a director and its president, succeeding William Megrue. He continued as its president by successive annual elections until a month before his death, in 1907, when he voluntarily retired on account of poor health. His life as a banker was characterized by his conservatism and far-sightedness. In 1876, Mr. Jamieson was one of the prime movers in getting a railroad connection for Batavia with the outside world, giving freely of his time and putting in hazard his personal means in the construction of the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad, now known as the Norfolk & Western. Later in life he financed the brickyard enterprise, converting it into a paying property, and was also associated in the establishment of the Carroll-Jamieson Machine Tool Company and other local enterprises. Although a thorough man of business Mr. Jamieson found time in his busy life to devote to religious and social organizations, and through them gave freely of his talent "to serve the present age." In 1867 he united with the Presbyterian church of Batavia, and served as a ruling elder during most of the forty years of his membership. He was also a teacher and 370 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES superintendent in the Sunday school. He was made a Mason in Batavia Lodge, No. 104, February 16, 1847, and died on his sixtieth Masonic anniversary. He was probably the oldest Mason in Clermont county, and among the oldest in the State. Milton Jamieson was united in marriage in 1854 to Maria Titus, to which union four children were born ; one dying in infancy and three surviving him : Charles T., Mrs. C. E. Belt, and P. F. Jamieson. Mrs. Jamieson died in 1869. In 1873 he was again united in marriage, his bride being Miss Kate Buvinger, who died in 1889, leaving no children. When ill health foreshadowed his passing, Mr. Jamieson withdrew from active business and spent his latter days in reading, a favorite pastime with him at all times. In his demise, February 16, 1937, Clermont county lost a most active and enterprising citizen. His life was marked by constant effort to make his personality and gifts yield the best results for the benefit of his fellow men. In business and religion he was positive, aggressive and effective. Among the masses he may pass as most of us do, into the region of the partially forgotten, but his work for his age was well done and will abide through generations. GEORGE W. MOYER. George W. Moyer, a retired farmer, residing at Williamsburg for a number of years, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, June 27, 1838, and is a son of Henry and Sarah Jane (Johnson) Moyer. Henry Moyer, the father of our subject, was born in Clermont county, March 27, 1812, and died in 1893, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a son of John and Salome (Ear-hart) Moyer, the former a native of New Jersey and came to Clermont county in the early days, where he followed the occupation of farming. Sarah Jane (Johnson) Moyer was born in New Jersey, February 20, 1812, and died in 1896. She was a daughter of Isaiah and Mary (Soah) Johnson, who were the founders of the Johnson family in Clermont county. Soon after his arrival in Clermont, Isaiah Johnson purchased land in Williamsburg township, along Todd's Run, and being successful along lines of agriculture became very wealthy. Later he purchased an- CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 371 other tract of land in Jackson township and gave his entire time to the cultivation of these farms. He was active in the Methodist church in its beginning. Isaiah and Mary (Soah) Johnson became the parents of five sons and five daughters : Jonathan was a farmer and served as a commissioner. Joseph was a farmer and with his brother, Jonathan, conducted a hotel at Batavia, being also a director of the infirmary. Isaiah, who was a farmer, sold out and removed to Wisconsin, where he died. Benjamin operated the old farm until his death. Charles was a farmer and died at a comparatively early age. Mary, who married Wesley Smith, resided in Williamsburg township. Jemimah married George Moyer, uncle of the present subject, and resided in Brown county. Elizabeth married Joseph Kain and resided in Williamsburg. Lucy Ann married Seth Maker and resided at Cincinnati and various other places. Sarah Jane, who became Mrs. Henry Moyer. The wedding ceremony of Mr. Henry Moyer and Miss Sarah Jane Johnson took place on December 31, 1833, and to their union were born four sons : Mortimer J. was a Federal soldier in the Civil war, and died at La Grange, Tenn., during the war. E. R., an expert machinist of Cincinnati. B. F., a retired farmer, residing at Hamlet, this county. George W., the subject of this mention. George W. Moyer acquired a good education in the schools of Williamsburg township, which when completed, gave him the opportunity to become a teacher and for six years he followed this profession, from 1856 to 1862. He enlisted in the army of the Civil war from Williamsburg in 1862, in the Fourth independent cavalry, and served four months as a private soldier. Although he was a commissioned officer he did not serve in his official capacity. The marriage of Mr. Moyer to Miss Elizabeth Weaver was celebrated in 1863. She was born in 1843, near Batavia, where she was reared and educated, and was a daughter of Samuel Weaver, being the youngest of eleven children. Her death occurred March 28, 1911. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Moyer was blessed with two children : Frank H., a druggist at Cincinnati, was a graduate of the 372 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES Cincinnati School of Pharmacy, and died at the age of twenty-five years. Hattie, is the widow of John S. Davidson, former prosecuting attorney of Clermont county. She is the mother of one son, Hugh, who is a student at the University of Cincinnati, class of 1913, preparing for the practice of law. Politically, Mr. Moyer is a Republican, and is a devoted member of the Methodist church. He has always taken a very active part in church work, and has served as treasurer for a number of years. For the past four years, Mr. Moyer has been retired from active life, and is enjoying the fruits of his former labors. He and his daughter, Mrs. Davidson, own considerable property in Williamsburg. Mr. Moyer has had no exciting chapters in his life record, his time being fully occupied with business cares and his courage and determination to face life's obstacles have won universal respect of his fellowmen. JOHN S. DAVIDSON. Williamsburg has been called upon on more than one occasion to part with citizens of the very highest type of usefulness, and to hold only in memory, those who, for years, had been familiar figures and closely identified with her dearest interests. This was notably the case when the last dread summons came to that distinguished representative of one of the oldest of Clermont county families, John S. Davidson, who passed to his eternal reward on June 28, 1936. Mr. Davidson had just completed a term as prosecuting attorney of Clermont county, on January 1, 1906. The birth of John S. Davidson occurred February 16, 1866, near Boston (now Owensville), Clermont county, a son of James and Martha (Summers) Davidson. James Davidson was born in Batavia township, and has followed the occupation of farming all of his life until his retirement five years since. He still retains his farm, but is residing at Bethel, where he is enjoying the fruits of his former years of labor. He is a member of the Methodist church and in politics, is an advocate of the Democratic principles, and in former years served in the various local offices. His father, John Davidson, was a son of James Davidson, who was CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 373 born in Ireland, and upon coming to America settled in Kentucky, where he was married and where John was born in 1799. About 1807, the family located in Clermont county, and became resident farmers. Martha (Summers) Davidson was born in 1832, in Hamilton county, at Columbia, which is now a part of Cincinnati, her parents being John and (Trump) Summers. Mr. John Summers was born in England, and when about twenty years of age immigrated to America, where he was married in Philadelphia to Miss Trump, shortly after which he came to the vicinity of Cincinnati. He was a teacher and in later years purchased a farm in Batavia township, which he operated. Martha Summers taught school prior to her marriage, and her death occurred in 1897, in her sixty-fifth year. To the union of James and Martha (Summers) Davidson were born nine children : Joseph M., who was born in Batavia township, is a general merchant of Williamsburg, proprietor of the "Economy" store, located on Main street, between Second and Third streets. He was born June 12, 186o, and remained on the home farm in Batavia township until he was fifteen years of age, when his parents removed to Williamsburg township, which has since been his home. After receiving the preliminary education of the schools of his vicinity, he attended the Lebanon Normal School, and for sixteen years following, taught in his home county. About 1899, Joseph M. Davidson embarked in the mercantile business at Williamsburg and has conducted a thoroughly up-to-date store. In politics, Joseph M. Davidson is a Democrat, and has served in the various local offices, as town treasurer and as a member of the school board. He has membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and Mrs. Davidson are members of the Methodist church. Joseph M. Davidson was united in marriage to Carrie Kanauer, daughter of J. W. Kanauer, a former resident of this county, who died in Highland county, Ohio. To the union of Joseph and Carrie (Kanauer) Davidson have been born the following children : Idelbert B., a graduate of the Y. M. C. A. Law School, has practiced his profession at that place for the past year ; Mrs. Roy Fuhr, of Williamsburg, Ohio ; Mrs. D. F. Dunham, of Cincinnati, whose husband is in the auto business ; Bessie, is at home with her parents ; Theresa, at the parental home, and Julius, at home also. Charles, of Northeast Kansas, is a farmer of that State. Thomas is a farmer of Williamsburg township. 374 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES John S., the subject of this mention. Emma, who became the wife of John Burnside, of Williamsburg township. Herman, a farmer of Williamsburg township. Nellie, of Bethel, is at home with her father, James Davidson. Alice, is also at home with her father. Harvey is a farmer of Colorado. John S. Davidson pursued his preliminary education in the schools of his vicinity and later was a member of the first class graduating from the Williamsburg High School in 1886, under Superintendent Byron Williams, the author of this work. Following his graduation, Mr. Davidson taught school for three or four years. In 1890, John S. Davidson was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Moyer, and soon after this event, entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1893. He at once began the practice of his profession at Williamsburg, continuing until his death. He left one son, Hugh Moyer Davidson, who was born in 1891, and who makes his home with his mother and his grandfather, at Williamsburg. He and his mother are members of the Methodist church, as was his father. Mr. John S. Davidson had, in addition to his splendid law practice, a half interest in the feed business at Williamsburg, and owned a fine farm in Brown county. He was a well known practical farmer, as well as lawyer and was a shrewd, successful business man. In fraternal organizations, Mr. Davidson was a prominent member of the Clermont Social Lodge, No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and of the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Davidson is a member of the Rebekah lodge of Williamsburg, and her son, Hugh Moyer Davidson, is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. REV. ISAAC NEWTON RHOADES. Rev. Isaac Newton Rhoades, deceased, was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal ministry in Ohio, and although he has departed this life, his influence yet remains a potent element for good and his memory is yet a blessed bene- CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 375 diction to those who knew him. He was born near Lebanon, Ohio, March 12, 1835, a son of Isaac and Tamson (Roberts) Rhoades. Isaac Rhoades was from New Jersey and came with his widowed mother and the family to Ohio, where they purchased a section of school land, some ten miles north of Lebanon. They brought their possessions in a wagon, with others who came to this locality at that time. He was the oldest child and with the help of his brothers, managed the farm, which they afterward gave to the mother. Isaac later secured a fine farm of his own. He was prominent as a class leader in the Methodist church. He died during the Civil war and left a large family, which is scattered, and but two brothers are now living. Tamson (Roberts) Rhoades was born in the East and survived her husband about thirty years. They became the parents of twelve children, two of whom are now living. Rev. Isaac N. Rhoades was reared in Warren county, Ohio, and there began in the public school to lay the foundation of his education. He graduated from the Lebanon College and began teaching his home school at the age of sixteen years. As a young man, he was a local preacher, and in 1867 or 1869, entered the West Virginia Conference, devoting his life until his retirement, to the ministry. In the fall of 1872, he entered the Illinois Conference, becoming a member in 1873. About the year 1877, he was transferred to the Northern Indiana Conference, continuing there until his throat gave out, when he partially retired, in 1886. He then located in Williamsburg and did a great deal of ministerial work as his health permitted. He could easily claim that he was instrumental in bringing some fifteen hundred souls into the kingdom, seven of whom were active ministers and some are still in the service. On December 25, 1861, Rev. Mr. Rhoades was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Young, who was born in Clermont county in 1841, three miles from Williamsburg, and is a daughter of Orson and Hannah (Burnett) Young, the latter being born in New Jersey and came to Clermont with her parents as a child. She died when Sarah was five years of age. Orson Young was a native of New England, and after the death of his wife he married Miss Sarah Hall, of Williamsburg, and went to Illinois, where they had six children. He 376 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES died in Nebraska, at an advanced age. Mrs. Rhoades had one sister and two brothers who died in infancy, and two sisters who grew to maturity, one of these, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Jenkins, resides at the Rhoades home at Williamsburg. Rev. I. N. Rhoades owned a nice farm near Batavia, which his widow still retains, and which has been leased for several years. He also owned considerable property in Illinois. He had two brothers in the Methodist ministry, one, Rev. Joseph F. Rhoades, is deceased, and the other, Rev. Leonidas Rhoades, is now in the Southern Kansas Conference. The entire family were active workers in the church. Rev. Rhoades voted the Republican ticket. Mrs. Rhoades joined the Methodist church when she was thirteen years of age, and has always taken a most active part in church work. She still teaches a large Sabbath school class at Williamsburg. JUDGE WILLIAM R. WALKER. William R. Walker, probate judge of Clermont county, Ohio, is a representative of one of the oldest families of Brown county, Ohio. He is well and favorably known in the business circles of Clermont county and Batavia, where he has been a leading factor in many and varied progressive enterprises, for the past thirty-eight years. He has won an enviable reputation as an organizer and promoter, as well as in his chosen profession, showing great versatility and efficiency in all that he deemed worthy of his consideration. On September 12, 1853, at New Hope, in Brown county, occurred the birth of William R. Walker. a son of James and Mary Jane (Dowdney) Walker. James Walker was born at Geogetown, Ohio, in 1821, and was a harness maker and saddler of New Hope for many years. He had several brothers, one of whom was Thomas, a soldier, the father of Capt. John Walker, who was a nephew of Colonel Fyffe, and a West Point student and Federal officer. James Walker was a staunch Democrat, although he never accepted of any office for the party. Of fraternal orders he was a member of two ; the Masonic and the Odd Fellows. For many years he was a consistent member of the Christian Union church. Mary Jane (Dowdney) Walker was born at Bethel, Ohio, in 1824, and was a daughter of William CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 377 O. Dowdney, whose mother was a Reed, and who was a native of Philadelphia, Pa., who came to old Clermont county in pioneer days. The grandfather of Judge William R. Walker. John Walker, was a native of New Jersey. He was a merchant of Bethel, and latterly of Georgetown, and in both of these places he conducted a hotel in addition to his regular business. Mrs. Walker had three brothers : Judge Samuel Dowdney, who was a prominent lawyer and politician, serving as probate judge and State Senator for two terms, having been elected by the Democratic party ; a younger brother was a soldier of the Civil war, and Christopher Dowdney, of Georgetown, Ohio. Mrs. Walker was a devoted member of the Christian Union church. Her death occurred in 190o, in her seventy-sixth year, her husband having passed away in 1891. John Walker was a pioneer of Texas, and located there in the early 40's. He owned many thousand acres of land in Texas and conducted an extensive merchandise business, transporting to New Orleans. As the traveling facilities of those days were very poor it was necessary to walk the distance on the return trip. He married a Miss Graham, whose father was a Frenchman and whose mother was from Pennsylvania. John Walker was a contemporary of General Grant's father and his son, James, and General Grant were boyhood friends. Judge William R. Walker was reared and educated in Brown county until he was twenty years of age. He received a good schooling and when prepared, read law with Judge Dowdney, being admitted to the bar in 1878. He has practiced law continuously since with the exception of the years spent in office. He filled the unexpired term of Sheriff Burvingcr, and has filled the office of probate judge since 19o9. His services in the latter capacity have been satisfactory in all respects, having the commendation of his fellow citizens. Besides his professional interests, Judge Walker has given his attention to many commercial enterprises. He organized the Building & Loan Company of Batavia, of which he served as secretary and attorney for twenty-four years. He also helped to organize the Jones Heel Manufacturing Company of Batavia, and in this concern he has large holdings. This company has, beside the plant at Batavia, factories at Williamsburg and Dayton, Ohio. At present, he is president and a stockholder on the Batavia Realty Company, who have recently completed the finest brick business block in Batavia. 378 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES William R. Walker has one brother and one sister living: A. R. Walker, who was a lawyer, instructor and merchant for many years before he retired from active service, and Miss Nellie E. Walker, who lives at Felicity, Ohio. The marriage of Judge Walker to Miss Anna Ashburn, a sister of Dr. A. W. Ashburn, occurred in Clermont county in 1879. Mrs. Walker is a native of Clermont county, having been born at Batavia. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are the parents of four children : Miss Elizabeth, who is living at home. Mary Louise, who is the wife of A. E. Keen, residing at North College Hill. Miss Marjorie A., graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1912. Penn A. is attending the Ohio Wesleyan University. Judge Walker has always been a Democrat, and is a member and a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is an active worker. Judge Walker is a popular citizen, having many warm friends, both socially and in business circles. FLETCHER BUSHMAN. Mr. Fletcher Bushman is well and favorably known in Clermont county, Ohio, because of his activities along the lines of general farming and stock raising, and as a carpenter and builder. He resides on a fine farm near Point Pleasant, in Monroe township. He is a native of the county, his birth having taken place on June 13, 1855, and with the exception of seven years spent in Shelby county, Ohio, he has been a resident here. He is a son of William Henry and Drucilla (Houseman) Bushman. The former was a contracting carpenter and boat builder. William Henry Bushman was born in Campbell county, Kentucky, near Belmont (now Mentor), in 1812, and passed from this life in 1882. His parents, Henry and Sophia (De Moss) Bushman, came to Clermont county between the years of 1800 and 1812, locating in Monroe township. They came, early in 1800, down the Ohio by flat boat, stopping at Belmont (now Mentor), Ky., where he was employed building water wheels, dams and mill races ; also cut stones for grinding grain. They secured many hundreds of acres of what was called CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 379 "Military Land," and there they resided until the death of Henry, which occurred in 1835, in the sixty-ninth year of his life. His wife died in 1837. William H. Bushman had the following brothers and sisters: David, Daniel, John, Lewis, Isaac, Abraham, Katherine (Clark), Elizabeth (Leyfield), and Barbara (Seaton). Drucilla (Houseman) Bushman was a native born Virginian, her birth occurring March 17, 1815, and her death in 1899. She was a daughter of David Houseman, and was one of six children, five daughters and one son. The names of the others are, John Peter, Mary, Barbara, Susan and Millie. David Houseman had one sister, Catherine, who married Peter DeMoss. Fletcher Bushman was one of nine children : Millie Ann, married Franklin Fridman, mentioned elsewhere in these volumes. Miss Frances, who was born in 1836, died in September, 1884. David H., a resident farmer of Shelby county, Ohio, where he has lived since 1865, He was born January 9, 1840 ; married Catherine Elliott. David H. and wife have one son and three daughters, Joseph, Mary, Ida and Clara. Isaac Benton, was born October 21, 1842, and died January 12, 1901. William Albert was born March 25, 1846, and is residing at the Fletcher Bushman home in Monroe township. Clayton, died in infancy on July 1, 1851, aged ten months and eleven days. Mary L. was born June 13, 1852, and died November 23, 1878. Fletcher, of this mention. Elon, born August 25, 1859, died October 14, 1883. Fletcher Bushman acquired his mental training in the public schools and at Parker's Academy, after which he spent seven years in Shelby county, Ohio, where he was married to Miss Ida Burmeister, February 27, 1884. Her birth took place at New Bremen, Auglaise county, Ohio, September 2, 1863, she being a daughter of Henry and Louise (Teabusch) Burmeister, both of whom were born at Rehna Mechlinburg Schrewen, Germany. They came to America in 1862, soon after their marriage, and settled in Auglaise county, Ohio. The father was born July 27, 1837, and is residing near Piqua, Miami county, Ohio. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in 380 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES the Federal army. The mother was born August 8, 1836, and died October 29, 1898. They were the parents of seven children, three of whom are still living: Mrs. Bushman ; George, a farmer of Miami county, Ohio, and Tillie, who married Pat- rich Mulligan, a farmer of Miami county, Ohio. Mrs. Bushman received her education in Shelby county, Ohio, where she was reared to young womanhood. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Bushman there have been seven children : Bessie, who was born December xo, 1884, at Point Pleasant, Clermont county, is the wife of John Thomas West, a farmer residing in Warren county, Ohio, near Loveland. They have one daughter, Mary Gladys, born April 6, 1909, at Wyatt, Mo. Sidney M., who was born two miles southwest of Anna, Ohio, August 26, 1886, is at home. Bonnie Blanche, born near Anna, Shelby county, Ohio, March 18, 1888, is the wife of John Sylvester, of Valparaiso, Ind.. They were married June 12, 1912. Elsie Floy, was born near Anna, Shelby county, Ohio, October 22, 1890. Louise Charlotte, born at 1209 Main avenue, Sidney, Ohio, April 5, 1892, at home. Matilda Ann, born at Point Pleasant, Clermont county, October 18, 1894, is the wife of Irwin Guynn, and they have one daughter, Lenora Margaret. Leonidas Henry, born at the old home farm in Monroe township, March 15, 1909, is at home. Mr. Bushman is an independent, progressive Democrat, and has served his township as justice of the peace for two terms, also as notary public for three terms. He is a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, Oken Council, No. 228, of Moscow, Ohio. Mrs. Bushman is a member of the Daughters of America, Magnolia Council, No. 36, of Moscow, Ohio. They are both members of the Mt. Zion Christian Church, to which Mr. Bushman has contributed largely. When Mr. Bushman's grandfather left 'West Virginia on a flat boat, floating down the Ohio river, their intended destination was Bowling Green, Warren county, Kentucky, but on account of sickness they stopped at Belmont, Ky. The grandfather bought and received a deed for six hundred and forty acres of land, where Bowling Green now stands. On this he paid taxes many years. Some times there would come along a traveler and tell him the land was worthless, and he would CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 381 quit paying the taxes. Another would come along and tell him the land was valuable and he would then redeem it and pay the taxes again. After the death of the grandfather no one would pay the taxes for a number of years. Later when the heirs concluded to pay the taxes they found it had been sold and had been neglected so long that it could not be redeemed. Mr. Bushman in looking over his father's day-book notes a few entries that shows that the prices of coffins in the earlier days ranged from $2.5o to $8.00. He also remembers well when the cooking for the family was done by the open fireplace of early times. Pots and kettles hung over the fire by a long, swinging, iron crane, and the baking was done by means of the "Old Dutch Oven," and he remembers well when the first cook stove was brought home to take the place of the brick ovens. The family raised the flax and the wool from which the clothing and necessary bedding was made, being made up almost entirely by the members of the household, his mother being an expert in spinning with the large wheel, as well as the small flax wheel. She was also an expert knitter and nearly up to the time of her death did the knitting for the family. She made her own tallow candles and used the old grease lamp. In the preparation of the flax it had to be threshed, then the straw spread out to rot, then put through the breaking machine, hackled, carded, spun and woven into cloth. Mr. Bushman also furnishes the following family record : Henry Bushman, born March 14, 1768, died April 18, 1835. Sophia (DeMoss) Bushman, born February 14, 1769, died May 27, 1837. They left Martinsburg, Berkeley county, West Virginia, between the years 1800 and 1812. Peter DeMoss and Catherine Houseman were married May 27, 1777. He was born November II, 1752, and she was born September 16, 1758. She was a sister of David Houseman, whose son, John J. Houseman, died November 16, 1854. Catherine (Bushman) Clark was the grandmother of Col. Henry C. Corbin. Millie Houseman was married twice, first to a Mr. Stevens, second to a Mr. Clawson, of Booneville, Cooper county, Missouri. Mary Houseman married Christopher Pampell, of Port Jefferson, Shelby county, Ohio. They have the following living 382 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIEs children : G. W. Pampell, Kansas City, Mo.; Dr. Leonidas Pampell, Vermilion, Kan.; John Pampell, Detroit, Mich.; P. H. Pampell, Galena, Mo., and Mrs. Drucilla Bercaw, Mason, Warren county, Ohio. Barbara Houseman, who died December 3o, 1878, was never married. Susan Houseman, who died March t 1, 1847, was married first to a Mr. Foulder, by whom she had one daughter, Addie, who married L. M. Crawn, Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. Susan, second husband was a Mr. Brenner, by whom one daughter, Elizabeth, who married G. W. Rails, of Nicholsville, Clermont county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Rails have three daughters, Grace, Addie and Minerva, the last mentioned marrying Charles Calhoun, of Bethel, Clermont county, Ohio. David H. Bushman, brother of Fletcher Bushman, married Catharine Elliott, March to, 1865, of Shelby county, Ohio. He died very suddenly at his home, Sidney, Shelby county, Ohio, Sunday morning, June 8, 1913, aged seventy-three years and six months. JOHN COSLETT. For many years the late Mr. John Coslett, whose death occurred April 13, 191o, was prominently identified with the agricultural interests of Brown county, Ohio. He was a native of Brown county, his birth having occurred May 2, 1839, in Union township, where, in 1831, his parents, John and Sarah (Potts) Coslett, settled. John Coslett, Sr., was a native of Pennsylvania and was by occupation a miller. From 1855, he owned and operated a mill known as the "Franklin Mill," which, after his demise, was operated by his son, John, Jr. His wife, Sarah (Potts) Coslett, was a native of Brown county. John Coslett, the subject of this review, was reared and resided on the farm in Union township during his entire life, and was well educated. After his father's death, he conducted the mill until September, 1903, when it was destroyed by fire. After this event, Mr. Coslett devoted his entire attention to the farm, which since his death, is operated by his widow and the family. On November 17, 1871, Mr. John Coslett was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Hannah Haas, who was born in CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 383 Adams county and is a daughter of Gottlief and Hannah (Plummer) Haas, who were of German nativity, and their marriage took place in the old country. They came to America, locating first in Adams county, Ohio, where they remained for some years, and later settled in Brown county. Mrs. Coslett was but ten years of age when she was deprived of her mother. Her father died in the year 1895, at the age of seventy-five years. She has three brothers living ; one in Brown county ; one in Adams. county, and one at Columbus. In 1863, Mr. John Coslett entered Company I, Eleventh regiment, Ohio cavalry, in the defense of his country, at the time of the Civil war, and at the close of his services was given an honorable discharge at Fort Laramie. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. John Coslett were eleven children, and with the exception of one in the West, all are residents of Brown county. Mr.. Coslett was a Democrat in politics, and was always active in the interests of his party. He was at one time candidate for sheriff of Brown county, and also served on the board of education. His fraternal connections were with the Knights Pythias, and the Grand Army of the Republic. The religious belief of the members of Mr. Coslett's family were of the Methodist faith. HON. JAMES E. McKEVER. One of the most prominent, and at the same time versatile business men of Clermont county, is Hon. James E. McKever, who is the alert, courteous cashier of the Williamsburg First National Bank, which organization was opened for business, April 19, 1911, with the following officers : President, N. T. Dailey ; Vice-President. J. H. White ; Cashier, James E. McKever ; Board of Directors, N. T. Dailey, J. H. White, M. N. Glancy, L. F. Hulick, J. A. Hugo, Dr. J. P. Allen, J. M. Davidson, G. H. Leeds, J. A. Dyer. This is the first National bank established in Williamsburg and it is capitalized at $25,000. The banking company erected the building which, with the two lots, is owned by the company. Hon. James E. McKever was born February 18, 1856, and and was educated in this county, also taking a business course at Lebanon, Ohio. He entered upon his career in the busi- 384 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES ness world as a farmer and trader, in connection with his brothers, Charles P. McK ever, William E. McKever and E. C. McKever, and was thus occupied until he engaged with them in the stock business, in which they made a specialty of fine horses. For three years Mr. McKever was engaged in the real estate business, being associated with Mr. C. H. Lock wood. In the fall of 1879 Mr. McKever was united in marriage to Miss Ann E. Steward, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, and is a daughter of W. N. and Melissa (Malott) Steward, residents of Brown county, near Williamsburg. Mr. Steward was a general merchant at Crosstown and the mother is deceased. In political matters Mr. McKever is a Democrat and has served as supervisor and is now president of the Board of Affairs, of which he has been a member for the past six years. He was elected to the legislature in 1885 to 1887. Mr. McKever is a member of Clermont Lodge No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a past worshipful master. He is also past worthy patron of the Eastern Star, and in November, 1912, was elected for a third term, Mrs. McKever is also a member of that organization. Both Mr. and Mrs. McKever are widely and favorably known in the community where they make their home and a friendly spirit has rendered their home a hospitable one, its good cheer being greatly enjoyed by many who know them. GEORGE W. SLADE. Mr. George W. Slade, a most highly esteemed resident of Williamsburg, Ohio, where he now lives a retired life, enjoying the fruits of years of industry and frugality, is one of the best known farmers of Clermont county, Ohio. He was born near Batavia, this county, September 25, 1841, his parents being Ezekiel and Susanna (Monday) Slade. Ezekiel Slade was born in Brown county, at Georgetown, in 1819, and removed to Clermont county as a young man, following the occupation of farming until his marriage, after which event he engaged in the mercantile business, at Concord, Williamsburg township, being thus employed until the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted in and recruited CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 385 Company B, Eighty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and was appointed lieutenant on the 9th of August, 1862, serving until he became ill, and was discharged on account of disability. As soon as he was able he recruited another, Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and served from May 2, 1864, to September 9, 1864, at which time he was discharged, having served during the One Hundred Day Service as first lieutenant of his company. He took part in many important engagements, but was so fortunate as never to have been wounded. Returning from the war, Ezekiel Slade traded his mercantile business for a farm in Batavia township, which was practically his home until his demise, which occurred at Williamsburg, March 5, 1900, past eighty years of age. He was a Republican, serving as trustee of the township and as justice of the peace for over twenty years. He was also an active member of the Methodist church for many years. His father was a farmer, living in Kentucky. Susanna (Monday) Slade was born in Clermont county, Ohio; March 7, 1823, and died August 18, 1897, at Batavia. She was prominent in the Methodist church and was a daughter of James Monday, a native of New Jersey. He was orphaned at an early age, his parents dying from yellow fever. He was bound out as a child and was too young to remember his proper name. He ran away from his master and hid on board a ship, probably in New York harbor, and was later discovered by the captain, who was kind to him, naming him "Monday" because of the day on which he was found. Later he was taken by another man and his family, who reared him. He married and resided in New Jersey, later removing to Clermont county, where he was a successful farmer. His daughter, Susanna (Monday) was one of several children, of whom now living is Mrs. Ann Willis, of Williamsburg. Mr. George W. Slade is one of six children, one of whom died in infancy. James H. was born April 3, 1843, of Batavia township, and was a member of the Fifty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving three years during the Civil war. He was never seriously injured, although he had the tip of one finger shot off. John William, was born March 14, 1845, and died May 4, 1848. Sarah Elizabeth, was born July 26, 1849, became the wife of F. M. Duckwall, residing now at Abilene, Kan. Andrew M., was born August 3, 1854, a resident of Brown county, Ohio. 386 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES Our subject was reared mainly in Williamsburg township, his home at the beginning of the Civil war, and he enlisted at the first call for three years' service, in Company C, Twelfth Ohio volunteer infantry, being mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, in 1864. He was in different corps and participated in many engagements, among them being Scary Creek, West Virginia ; Carnifex Ferry ; the second battle of Bull Run ; South Mountain ; Antietam ; Cloyd Mountain ; and many others. He never received a wound, although his clothing was pierced with bullets. Returning from the war to his home, he, with a brother, operated the home farm, finally purchasing it and for over forty years farmed at this place. His brother, J. H., still operates it. The marriage of Mr. G. W. Slade to Miss Olive Wilson occurred in Batavia township, September 3, 1874. Miss Wilson was born in Clermont county, January II, 1847, and died May 8, 1891. She was a daughter of Joseph and Alice Wilson, both natives of this county. Mrs. Slade had two brothers and one sister, John, Arthur and Lavancia, all now deceased. She was an active Methodist. On October 2, 1892, occurred the second marriage of Mr. Slade to Miss Georgia Fitzwater, who was born at Batavia, and is a daughter of Albert and Sarah (Davis) Fitzwater. Mrs. Slade has one brother, Mark, a resident of Clermont county, living between Williamsburg and Batavia, and one sister, Mrs. J. H. Burnett, of Clermont, and one sister, living in Brown county, Ohio, Mrs. G. W. McCollum ; and another sister, Mrs. Rufus Davison, of Afton, Clermont county. Of the first union of Mr. Slade there were five children, all born in Batavia township, Clermont county : Otis A., was born on August 5, 1875. He is a street car conductor, and married Miss Bessie Shields and they are the parents of three children. Thomas M., was born September 3o, 1876, is a farmer of Batavia township. He married Miss Emma Bell Marsh, and has one daughter. Jacob R., was born October I, 1878, and is a farmer of Batavia township. He married Miss Lodi Brown. Albertine, was born June 1, 188o, is the wife of Roscoe Shaw, of Williamsburg township, and has one child by a former marriage. Susanna, was born May 30, 1883, and is the wife of Otis Kain, a farmer of Williamsburg township, and has three daughters. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 387 One son was born to the second union of Mr. Slade, but died in infancy. Mr. Slade is an active Republican, and is a member of the J. H. Jenkins Post, No. 242, Grand Army of the Republic, being now senior vice-commander. He is in addition, a member of the Social Lodge, No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, and has filled various chairs. Mrs. Slade is a devoted member of the Methodist church. Mr. Slade retired from the farm and removed to Williamsburg in 1904, where he is now enjoying the peace and quiet of home life after a long term spent in fruitful labor. In personal character he has always been one to command respect, and is numbered among the most honorable and upright men of Williamsburg. WILLIAM D. SIMMONS. William D. Simmons, a farmer residing at Laurel, Monroe township, is a typical and representative citizen of Clermont county, and possesses the enterprise which has made him a dominant factor in the upbuilding of the country. He was born near Laurel, July 9, 1839; and is a son of Hatton and Esther (Nichols) Simmons, the latter being a grand-aunt of the late Judge Perry H. Nichols, mentioned elsewhere in this work. She was born in 1797, in what is now the city of Cincinnati, and passed away February 16, 1864. She was thirteen years of age when her parents removed to Clermont county. Hatton Simmons was born on Bull Skin creek, Franklin township, in 1800, and was a son of James and Sarah Simmons, the former of whom came to this locality with his father, Adam Simmons, settling in what is now Monroe township. James was a farmer and a prominent Methodist, having the pleasure of entertaining the first minister of this circuit. He died in 1855, in the seventy-fifth year of his life. To the union of James and Sarah Simmons were born ten children. The following is a genealogy of the Simmons family in America : John Simmons was born in England and came to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania, where he had many children born unto him, Adam being the youngest. Adam Sim- 388 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES mons was born in Pennsylvania, January 15, 1747. Mary Hatton was born in Pennsylvania, December 1, 1753. Adam Simmons and Mary Hatton were married November 13, 177o, in Pennsylvania. John Simmons was born November 13, 1771 ; Leonard Simmons was born December 15, 1773; Benjamin Simmons was born May 31, 1776; James Simmons was born July 30, 1778; Margaret (Lakin) was born September 25, 1780; Mary (DeBruler) was born February 25, 1783; Elenor (DeBruler) was born November 29, 1785 ; Adam Simmons, Jr., was born July 9, 1788; Sarah (Lakin) was born October 3o, 1790; Nancy (Hitch) was born October 10, 1793 ; Elizabeth (Lakin) was born July 15, 1797. Sarah Evans was born in May, 1775, and married to James Simmons. William Simmons was born June 2, 1798 ; Hatton Simmons was born July 26, 1800; Mary (Nichols) was born December 22, 1802; Elisha B. Simmons was born February 13, 1805 ; James Simmons was born June 15, 1807; Leonard Simmons was born January 3, 1810; Elenor A. Simmons was born April ion, 1812; John B. Simmons was born June 15, 1814; Benjamin H. Simmons was born May 12, 1819. William D. Simmons is one of five children, of which but one sister, Hannah E., who resides at Laurel, is living. The others were, James Robert Hobson, Nathan Nichols, and Sarah Ann. William D. Simmons was reared to young manhood in Monroe township, and received a good common school education. Having been trained to farm life he has followed that line of occupation to the present time. Until recently he owned some one hundred acres of fine farm land near Laurel. Mr. Simmons was married in 1867 to Miss Mary Elizabeth Allen, who was born July 4, 1848, in Oxford, Butler county, Ohio, a daughter of Simeon and Rebecca (Ross) Allen, the latter of whom was born in 1824, and was a daughter of James and Vashti (Bowers) Ross, who came to this locality early in the Nineteenth century. Rebecca was the youngest of thirteen children and died in 1901. Simeon Allen was born in Massachusetts, September 3, 1819, and died in 1869. He came with his parents to the vicinity of Cincinnati, where he passed away. Mrs. W. D. Simmons is one of three children : Harriet, married George Price, and died in 1879. Charles J. has been in the mining business for many years in Portland, Ore. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 389 Mrs. Simmons has resided in Clermont county since she was sixteen years of age, attending the schools of the county and at Cincinnati, having as a teacher, the late John Hancock. She taught seevral terms of school in Clermont county. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons has been blessed by four children : Bertha Allen, who is the wife of Morton H. McNeill, a farmer of Monroe township. They have two daughters— Ruth Winnifred and Dorothy Allen. Charles, a farmer of Laurel, married Elizabeth McNeill. They have one son, Charles, Jr. Harriet Esther, married George Mofford, of Milford, Ohio. They are the parents of one daughter, Gladys Evelyn. Anna Rebecca is Mrs. Franklin Tatman, of Salt Air, Clermont county. Mr. Simmons is a staunch Republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He was a member of the State guard, subject to call at any time during the War of 1861-65, being called out in 1864 and served through the remainder of the war in Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. Archie McNair. In religious matters, Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are devoted members of the Methodist church, he being a steward and trustee of the Laurel church. He is also a member of the Sailors' and Soldiers' Association at Laurel, which was organized in the early '60s. The success in the battle of life which Mr. Simmons has achieved is due to his strict attention to whatever business he had to do, and with the help of his estimable wife has been rewarded with a substantial competence. His dealings with his fellowmen are just and honorable, and he is a gentleman in every sense of the word. NATHANIEL T. DAILEY. Williamsburg takes pride in including among its foremost citizens the subject of this sketch, Mr. Nathaniel T. Dailey, who, for the past twenty-seven years has been most prominent in the business circles of the town, where he has conducted a finely and fully equipped undertaking business. He is a native son of Clermont county, his birth having occurred 390 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES in Monroe township, six miles northeast of New Richmond, in 1856, a son of Rev. Nathaniel and Emeline Dailey. Rev. Nathaniel Dailey was born in New Jersey in 1808 and died in 1885 in Clermont county. He came with his father, Rev. Evi Dailey, to Clermont county in 1814, where the family settled on a farm near Batavia. Rev. Nathaniel Dailey was a local minister of the Methodist church and an ordained elder for life, and from the age of twenty-three years to his death, at the age of seventy-seven years, he was actively engaged in preaching the Gospel. During his ministry he preached more funeral sermons than any other minister in this section of the country. In connection with the ministry Rev. Dailey was an active agriculturalist, having secured a fine farm in the county. He was thrice married and was the father of twelve children. The first union was to Elizabeth Winans, and to them were born eight children, of whom two sons and one daughter are now living. Mr. O. W. Dailey, of Williamsburg. Benjamin Dailey, of Ringgold, Ga. Mrs. Mollie Rogers, a widow residing at Bethel, Ohio. The second union was with Emeline Dailey, very distantly related. She was born in New Jersey, January 23, 1819, and accompanied her parents, Rev. David and Mary (Driver) Dailey, to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1821. Rev. David Dailey was born April 3, 1761, and on February 14, 1799, married Mary Driver, who was born January 2, 1781. They are buried at Cheviot cemetery, near Cincinnati, their home for years. They were the parents of nine children, Emeline being the youngest. She died died about 187o, having been the mother of four children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are : Nathaniel T. Dailey, of this mention. Mrs. Emma D. Baber, a resident of California. Mr. Baber was a teacher at Lebanon, Ohio, as was his wife. Rev. Nathaniel Dailey was a son of Rev. Evi Dailey, also a Methodist minister, who was born in 1774 and died at the age of fifty-five years, in 1829. He is buried at Old Bethel cemetery, having spent fifteen years in the county. He was a carpenter and builder, also a brick-mason, being a fine mechanic. He was also an energetic farmer, securing a splendid farm in the county. After he had received a preliminary education in the common schools of the county, Nathaniel T. Dailey learned the carriage painting trade, which he followed for eight years with CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 391 great success. He then embarked in the undertaking business at Nicholsville, and has taken courses of study in undertaking under F. A. Sullivan, J. H. Clark and Dr. Carl Barnes, and received a State license. On October 15, 1885, Mr. Dailey came to Williamsburg, where he has had a better opportunity for advancement in his line of work. He has here builded a most flattering patronage and has one of the best and most fully equipped establishments in this part of the State. He is president of the First National Bank, of 'Williamsburg, being one of the organizers, in April, 1911. On March 22, 1877, Mr. Dailey was united in marriage to Miss Louie Banks, who was born in Clermont county, and is a daughter of Houghton and Frances (Smith) Banks. The latter was born June .5, 1836, and resides at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dailey. Mr. and Mrs. Banks were of the early settlers of Hamilton and Clermont counties, and Mr. Banks passed away several years since. Mrs. Dailey is one of three children : Mrs. Anne Hancock, of Lebanon, Ohio. Walter, died in boyhood. Mrs. Dailey was reared and educated in Hamilton county, Ohio. An uncle of our subject, Dr. David T. Dailey, of Cincinnati, was born June 26, 1809, and practiced at 365 West Court street, Cincinnati, for many years. During the Civil war he was a medical student and practitioner and gave his services throughout the entire war. He received his diploma in February, 1865. In politics, Mr. Dailey is a staunch Republican, and has served two terms as councilman. He is a staunch advocate of temperance and is very active in all movements for the cause of temperance. In fraternal circles, Mr. Dailey is widely and favorably known, having connection with numerous orders. He has membership in the Angola Lodge No. 231 and Angola Encampment No. 248, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is past grand chief patriarch and past deputy chief patriarch. He is past district deputy grand master of District C, Clermont county. He holds membership in the Clermont Social Lodge No. 29, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dailey are members of the Order of Eastern Star, Celestine chapter No. 185, of Williamsburg, Mrs. Dailey having filled 392 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES some of the chairs. Mrs. Dailey is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah, Lodge No. 203, and of the Woman's. Relief Corps, No. 117, of Williamsburg, having served as president of the latter organization. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Dailey is an energetic worker and supporter. Mr. Dailey has one of, if not the most complete collection of horns in the country, one that would be the pride of any natural history society or museum. Among this interesting collection are three magnificent pairs of elk horns, twelve-prong ; one pair of sacred cow ; two pairs of Mexican lambs ; one pair of Mazama or Rocky Mountain sheep ; several native and one pair of wild goat horns from Africa, Alaska, Switzerland and elsewhere ; one pair of Buffalo horns measuring thirty-two inches ; horns of water buffalo, deer from the Philippines, our native deer, antelope, and cattle of many kinds. Among Texas cattle are horns measuring nearly four feet, and one pair of Brazilian steer horns that measures seven feet and two inches from tip to tip. In Mr. Daileyls collection are many interesting Indian tools and weapons. He has also a fine collection of swords, pistols and muskets. PHILIP CHATTERTON. The death of Mr. Philip Chatterton, at his home in Williamsburg, Ohio, in 1897, removed from Clermont county a man who had been identified with its interests for more than three-quarters of a century, and was one of the most prominent and useful citizens of the great State of Ohio. Mr. Chatterton was a native of New York, his birth having taken place there in 1806, his parents being Jacob and Abigail (Bates) Chatterton. Jacob Chatterton was born in New York, in 1780, and was a militiaman before the war of 1812, in which he served for about one year. When he was called for the war of 1812 his wife decided that he must have a new suit, and in accordance with the methods of those days, a dark sheep was caught, the wool washed and carded, and being spun into yarn, was woven into cloth. A suit was then made, the good wife having worked day and night to finish the garments in time. In 1815 Jacob brought his family to Ohio, coming down the CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 393 Ohio river by flatboat, and landing at Chilo, Clermont county. A few years later he secured one hundred and twelve acres of land between Williamsburg and Bethel, which he cleared and developed, and followed farming as an occupation during his active life. In later life, however, Jacob retired and built a comfortable home on the pike at Clover Church, where he and his wife spent their declining years. They were devout members of the Chirstian church, Mrs. Chatterton being a great reader of the Bible, in which she was extremely well informed. Mr. Chatterton passed away in August, 1860, in the eightieth year of his life. They became the parents of Abigail, Philip, James, Alvin, Benjamin, Aaron and Horatio. Philip Chatterton spent the first nine years of his life in New York and came with his parents to Ohio in 1815 and received the education accorded the children of those days, after which he engaged in teaching for a number of years, at twelve dollars per month. He later secured and cleared a large farm near his father's, and during the remainder of his active life followed the business of farming most successfully, becoming one of the substantial men of the county. In 1832, Mr. Chatterton married Miss Mary Ann Reed, who was born near Bethel, this county, in 1810, and was a daughter of John and Mehetable (Kanaam) Reed, old residents of Clermont, who came from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively. In the family of Philip and Mary Ann (Reed) Chatterton were ten children : William, who was born in 1833, died in 1910. He was a soldier in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-third regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and served in the one hundred-day service. He was a resident farmer of Williamsburg township and married Lavancha Poole, now deceased. They became the parents of three daughters, who also are deceased. Alvin, who until his retirement was a farmer, died at his home at Fairfield, Iowa, April to, 1913. He was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in the First Iowa cavalry, and spent four years in the service. He married Miss Sherman, of Ohio, and they had five children, four of whom are still living. Ezra, of Williamsburg, was also a soldier, and served exactly thirty-seven months, having enlisted in Company E, Fifty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River. Chickamauga and 394 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES others. A more complete mention appears elsewhere in these volumes. Orlestus served three years in the Civil war, in Company E, Fifty-ninth Ohio volunteers, and was for many years a resident of Clermont county, but during the last fifteen years of his life made his home at Salt Lake City. He never married. John R. was a soldier in Company H, Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteers, and was taken ill and died at Nashville, Tenn., in 1864. Amanda died in 1862, as a young lady, and was not married. Mehetable married Benton H. Medary, both now deceased. They resided on the old home farm and left a family of five children, four of whom are residing near. Lucinda died in infancy. Barton married Sophronia Burk and they became the parents of one daughter, Ethel, who is the wife of William Elrod, the druggist, of Williamsburg. Charles P., whose sketch will appear elsewhere. Mr. Philip Chatterton, like his father, was a strong Abolitionist, and was one of the operators of the famous "underground railroad." He was a Whig in politics early in life, but became a Republican in later years. He served as township trustee and retired from the farm and active labors, residing during his declining years at Williamsburg. Mr. Chatterton was devoted to his family and his home and was esteemed by his friends and neighbors. CHARLES P. CHATTERTON. Mr. Charles P. Chatterton, who for many years has been prominently identified with the business life of Williamsburg, Ohio, is a general merchant of that place, handling groceries, hardware and queensware.. He has been in business for the past twenty-five years and enjoys a liberal patronage. He was born in Williamsburg township, Clermont county, September 8, 1854, and is a son of Philip and Mary Ann (Reed) Chatterton. Mr. Charles Chatterton was reared on the parental farm and was properly educated in the common schools of the vicinity of his home, after which he attended the Lebanon, Ohio, Normal School. When twenty years of age he entered upon CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 395 the business of farming for himself and for four years continued along these lines. In 1875 Mr. Chatterton became the husband of Miss Lorisa Kain, a daughter of J. W. Kain, and then engaged in the management of the home farm, continuing until in 1878, when he removed to Williamsburg, engaging in the flouring-mill business, associated first with three others, his father, Philip Chatterton, W. L. and W. A. Kain, and later with the late Dan K. Peterson. In 1887 Mr. Chatterton sold out his mill interests and engaged in the mercantile business, which has occupied his attention to the present time, buying out Mr. D. K. Peterson. He has increased his business and is assisted by his son. Mr. and Mrs. Chatterton are the parents of four children : Orlestus, who is his father's assistant, married Bertha Wean, and they have two sons, Victor, aged sixteen years, and Harold W., aged ten years. Estelle died at the age of sixteen months. Edna died at the age of two and one-half years. Ramona is fifteen years of age and is at home attending school. Politically, Mr. Chatterton is always Republican. Socially, a member of the Masonic order and of the Eastern Star, of which he went through the chairs and was worshipful master three years and district lecturer for Brown and Clermont counties for three years. He was first worthy patron of Eastern Star, Chapter Celestine, No. 185, of which Mrs. Chatterton is also a member, and religiously both are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Chatterton is well known in Williamsburg as an energetic and reliable business man, well qualified to conduct his extensive business affairs. While devoting his energies to the welfare of his family. he has never been found wanting in public spirit, and is rightly judged one of the representative men. EZRA CHATTERTON. Mr. Ezra Chatterton, who has been a valued citizen of Williamsburg, Ohio, since July 25, 1908, has been a resident of Clermont county since his birth, January 31, 1837, and belongs to a family which has long been conspicuous for its extensive 396 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES agricultural operations. His parents were Philip and Mary Ann (Reed) Chatterton. The education of Mr. Chatterton was acquired in the schools of Clermont county and also at the academy at College Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. He decided on agriculture as an occupation early in life and immediately after the close of the Civil war purchased a farm adjoining the home farm, where he resided until his removal to Williamsburg. On January 27, 1865, Mr. Chatterton was united in marriage to Miss Isaphine Everhart, who was born at Williamsburg, January 27, 1845, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Peterson) Everhart, both natives of Clermont county, the former having been born in 1805 and died in 1853, and the latter, whose birth occurred in 1806, died in 1870. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are : John, who was a soldier in the Civil war, in Company K, Twenty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, served about one year, when he lost his health and died about 1869, at Williamsburg. Ora was in the three months' service in the Civil war, in the Twenty-second regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. He is a shoe merchant at Lafayette, Ind. Mary, deceased, married Dolph Peterson, who is now a resident of Salt Lake City. Isaphine, who is Mrs. Ezra Chatterton. Fountain, a mute, who died many years ago in Cincinnati. He was married there. Mr. and Mrs. Chatterton have had four children in their family, who are : Harry E., who was born February 7, 1866. married Miss Sarah Moyer, of Lancaster, Ohio. He died in December, 1896, leaving a widow and two daughters, Bertha and Lucile, all now living at Delaware, Ohio. George Philip, born November 22, 1867, is the principal of the Youngstown, Ohio, High School, where he is a resident. He is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University, of Delaware, Ohio. He was united in marriage to Miss May Abernathy, who was an Ohio lady, a daughter of a Methodist minister. Bertha was born October 20, 1869, married John Moyer, and they are operating the farm of our subject. They have two sons, Richard E. and Robert C. CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 397 Leona, who was born November 6, 1872, married Rev. William E. Shriver, who is the pastor of the Methodist church, of Rainsboro, Ohio. Their only child died in infancy. In politics, Mr. Chatterton is in unison with the Republican party and served for six years as township trustee. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist church. He is an example of the sturdy business man and upright citizen, and to such as he Clermont county owes its prestige. O. L. PAGE. Among the native sons of Clermont county who have found here good business opportunity, which, improved, have led to success, is numbered 0. L. Page, who has been county recorder of Clermont county since 1908. That he was re-elected in 1910 is a tribute to his efficiency and popularity. Mr. Page was born in Tate township, Clermont county, January 6, 1874, being a son of S. A. and Mary E. (Kennedy) Page, the latter being a native of Clermont county, a daughter of Samuel Kennedy. Her birth occurred in 1846, she passing away in 1878. Mr. S. A. Page is a native of Union county, Ohio, though most of his life has been spent in Clermont county. The first fourteen years of Mr. Page's life was spent on the farm of his father in Tate township, where he obtained his early education in the district and public schools. In 1888, the the family moved to Felicity, which is still the home of the father. After the completion of his education, Mr. Page was connected with. the Cincinnati shoe concern and with other activities until his marriage, April 4, 1897, to Miss Carrie L. Homan, a daughter of Louis and Elizabeth (Layfield) Homan, the latter residing in Bethel. Mr. Homan died several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Page have two children, who were born in Bethel : Mary Lucile, born March 28, 1899. Julia Elizabeth, born May 2, 1902. After his marriage, Mr. Page located in Bethel, where he engaged in the real estate and insurance business until he accepted his present office, handling a general line of life and fire insurance, and real estate business. 398 - CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES Mr. O. L. Page has one brother, John E., of Connersville, Ind., a sales manager for the Connersville Furniture Manufacturing Company, having resided there for the past twenty years. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati Business College, and accepted his present position immediately after his graduation. Mr. John E. Page married a daughter of Prof. Saunders, now superintendent of schools in Connersville. They have two children—Elizabeth Ann and Mary Frances. A baby sister of Mr. 0. L. Page died in infancy. In political views, Mr. Page is a Democrat, and has served his party in the various local offices, in the capacity of a member of the school board and of public affairs. Mr. Page is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Bethel. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is loyal in citizenship at all times, reliable in business and faithful in friendship. The strong and salient traits of his character are those which in every land and clime awaken confidence and respect. JOSEPH F. KNIGHT. Joseph F. Knight, who is actively interested in several important enterprises at Williamsburg, Ohio, was born in Clermont county, near Branch Hill, Batavia township, September 4, 1849. He is one of the three children born to John and Catherine (Ogden) Knight, the other two being George 'L., who is a contractor and general mechanic in Pleasant Ridge, Ohio, and Mrs. Martha McNutt, who died leaving her husband, Obediah McNutt, and two daughters, Mrs. Dr. Frank McLean, of Columbus, Ohio, and Mrs. John Hamilton, of St. Louis, Mo. John Knight was born in 1817 at Frederick, Md. With his twin brother, Joseph, he went to Texas, where they were in the government employ among the Indians. Joseph remained in Texas, where his descendants still are located, but John went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he married and located on a farm in what is now Batavia township, where he was very successful and soon acquired a farm. To John and Mary (Davis) Knight one son was born, William Knight, who died when about sixty-five years of age, leaving a widow in Sardinia, Ohio, who still carries on the undertaking and furnish- CLERMONT AND BROWN COUNTIES - 399 ing business, in which he was engaged ; also two sons and four daughters who reside in Clermont and Brown counties. Catherine (Rogers) Ogden, who, as before mentioned, was the second wife of John Knight, was also formerly married, her first husband being Daniel Ogden. To this union two children were born : Ormel Ogden, who died in the army, and Mrs. Ella Hines, of Williamsburg, widow of Rev: William E. Hines, former minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of the Cincinnati conference until his death in June, 1892. Joseph F. Knight, our subject, has resided at or near Williamsburg since he was four years of age, except the two years he farmed in Preble county, Ohio. He followed the farming business until he was twenty-five years of age. Since then he has made himself very prominent as a business man. He spent some fifteen years in the mercantile business at Williamsburg. He was interested for eight years in the brick plant and has been president of the Williamsburg Furniture Company for years, of which company he was also manager until recently. He has been one of the six owners and directors of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, of Williamsburg, a private institution, since its organization as the successor of the Lockard Banking Company. He is also interested in and is a director of the Building & Loan Company, and also of the Williamsburg Home Telephone Company. He has also been engaged in the real estate business for years, and owns property in Norwood and Pleasant Ridge and elsewhere. Mr. T. G. Foster was associated with him in the real estate business. Our subject was married at Williamsburg to Ella M. Stockton, daughter of Volney Stockton, an early resident and chair manufacturer of Williamsburg. She died in 1881, leaving one daughter, Mrs. George Frazier, whose husband is in the mail service. In 1884 he was again married to Mrs. Centrilla (McMillan) Frazier, who by her first marriage was the mother of Charles Frazier, who is engaged with our subject in the chair business at Williamsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Knight are the parents of one daughter, Edna B., who is a graduate of the Williamsburg schools, and is now at home. Politically, Mr. Knight is a Republican. He has served as city alderman several years, and was for seven years a member of the board of education. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his wife is a member of the Rebekahs. They are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church.