SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 275 in 1879, at the age of sixty-two years, his wife, Margaret, having passed away at the age of thirty-nine years, in 1861, and their remains being interred in Greenmount Cemetery. Their son, William H. H., who eventually established his home at Lansing, capital of the State of Michigan, served as a member of Ohio commands during four years of the Civil war and gained the rank of second lieutenant. He first enlisted in Company E, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and later was in service with the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry and the Eighth Ohio Cavalry. Joseph S., another of the sons, enlisted in Company A, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed in battle in Kentucky in 1862. George W. and Louis H., two other sons, became residents of Missouri. Margaret, one of the two daughters who attained to maturity, became the wife of Anson Smith, of Tremont, Ohio, and Mary Jane was the wife of John Rice. Of the immediate family James C., of this sketch, is now the only remaining representative in Clark County. Captain James C. Walker was reared and educated in Clark County, and in his youth here learned the carpenter's trade at Springfield. He was seventeen years of age at the inception of the Civil war, and he forthwith gave evidence of his youthful patriotism by enlisting August 1, 1861, as a member of Company K, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was made color-bearer of his command, and retained this office from November, 1863, until the close of the war. After the expiration of his original term he re-enlisted as a veteran in January, 1864, and though he took part in eighty-one engagements, including a number of major battles, he was fortunate in having never received a wound. He took part in the conflicts at Mills Springs, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Brown's Ferry and Missionary Ridge—all engagements of important order. As color-bearer of his regiment he led the command in the fierce battle at Missionary Ridge, the flag which he bore having been riddled by eighty-nine bullets and the staff with ten bullets, and the United States Congress awarded him a medal for the gallantry which he displayed in the capture of the colors of the Forty-first Alabama Regiment while upholding the colors of his own regiment at Missionary Ridge, and it was in this connection that General Thomas conferred upon him the title of captain, though he did not receive a commission as such. After re-enlistment and a furlough home Captain Walker was with Sherman's forces in the battle of Resaca and other engagements of the Atlanta campaign, and he participated in the historic march from Atlanta to the sea, and eventually took part in the Grand Review in the City of Washington at the close of the war, he having carried in this review the tattered colors of his gallant regiment. It is a notable fact that Captain Walker remained with Gen. George H. Thomas all through the war, first in his brigade, then division, then his corps, and later, his department. After the close of his most commendable military career Captain Walker was for several years employed in the building of railroad bridges on the Vandalia Railroad through Indiana and Illinois, and later in Ohio. From 1874 to 1883 he was engaged in cabinet work in various industrial plants in his home county, and eventually he became chief of the Springfield Police Department, of which he had previously been assistant chief. He continued as chief for eighteen months, and from 1892 to 276 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 1900 he held the office of constable. As a contractor and builder he occupied himself effectively for a number of years prior to his retirement from active business, at the age of seventy years. The year 1922 finds Captain Walker in effective service as township trustee of Springfield Township, and since 1908 he has given much of his time to the obtaining of pensions for worthy comrades who served in the Civil war. He has obtained pensions for a number of old soldiers who had been previously unsuccessful in gaining such merited recognition on the part of the Government, and he took particular satisfaction in winning a pension for a member of his own company whose service he had known personally and whose record was found to be unblemished, though this comrade had been recorded as a deserter. The Captain has served five terms as commander of Mitchell Post No. 485, Grand Army of the Republic, and is the incumbent of this office at the time of this writing, in 1922, as successor of James T. Lott, who died while holding the office. Of the charter members of this post only two are now living, Captain Walker and T. M. Gugenheim. In politics Captain Walker has ever given loyal allegiance to the republican party. December 24, 1873, recorded the marriage of Captain Walker and Miss Susie P. Llewellyn, who was born at Columbia, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1852, a daughter of Stephen L. Llewellyn, who died in that state and whose widow later returned with her children to her old home in Ohio. Captain and Mrs. Walker have five children : Frank L., Harry L., Wilbur L., M. Nellie and Lillian. Frank L. married Grace Bechtol, and they have one child, James E. Wilbur L. married Miss Wilda Powell, and has two children, Ruth and Bettie. Lillian married Virgil Baker, and they have one child, Martha Louise. GLENN RUSSELL, who formerly made a record of successful achievement in connection with farm enterprise is now engaged in a general contracting enterprise, in construction work of varied order, and maintains his business headquarters in the City of Springfield. Mr. Russell was born and reared in North Carolina, and has been a resident of Clark County since 1911. Here in 1915 was solemnized his marriage with Miss Daisy Kobelanz, daughter of the late Henry Kobelanz, the old Kobelanz homestead being now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Russell. The mother of Mrs. Russell is likewise deceased. Since 1920 Mr. Russell has been successfully engaged in general contracting, in connection with which he owns and operates a gravel pit and supplies all gravel and sand utilized in his various contracting operations. At the time of this writing, in the early summer of 1922, he has in hand a contract for excavation work preparatory to the erection of a new dormitory building at Wittenberg College, Springfield. He is one of the alert and progressive young business men of Clark County, and here he and his wife have a wide circle of friends. They have no children. STANFORD J. PERROTT, the efficient and popular superintendent of beautiful Ferncliff Cemetery at Springfield, claims the old Wolverine State as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Jackson County, Michigan, where he was reared and educated. He gained his SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 277 initial experience in cemetery work in Dayton, Ohio, in which he has become an authority. In March, 1893, he became associated with the management of Woodland Cemetery at Dayton, Ohio, where he remained until March, 1909, he having in the meanwhile won advancement to the position of assistant superintendent. In the spring of 1909 he became assistant superintendent of Woodlawn Cemetery at Toledo, Ohio, where he continued his effective service until April 1, 1916, when he was called to the superintendency of Ferncliff Cemetery at Springfield, the executive board having learned of his ability and having tendered him this office, in which he has made a record of splendid and loyal administration. Under the direction of Mr. Perrott has been effected for record purposes a replatting of Ferncliff, and a complete card index of lot owners has been made, while he has had direct supervision of the development of the fourteen-acre extension of the cemetery. This beautiful cemetery is owned and controlled by the Springfield Cemetery Association and comprises about 250 acres of land bordering on Lagonda Creek along which extends a line of cliffs varying in height from thirty to sixty feet, with many isolated rocks that seem to stand as sturdy and faithful sentinels keeping guard over the peaceful and picturesque "God's Acre" that constitutes one of the most beautiful cemeteries in America. The varied landscape of the cemetery grounds has been admirably adapted to the improvement of the property, and the great forest trees lend their idyllic charm to the sacred spot. In the maintaining of Ferncliff at its high standard a corps of forty employes is retained, and all of them work under the direct supervision of the able superintendent. At Dayton, this state, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Perrott and Miss Mary E. Gardner, daughter of John Gardner of Springfield, who is now living retired in this city, where occurred the birth of his daughter Mary E. Mr. and Mrs. Perrott have two children, Ruth V. and Orrin J. OWEN L. CORNWELL. Some men are taken away when still in the prime of life, and yet, although their span of years is not complete, a review of their work will show that they accomplished much more than some whose years far outrun the biblical limit of three score and ten. After all it is the sum total and not the length of time required to execute the work that is important. Mr. Cornwell was a man who sought to make each action amount to something worth while and to do well whatever he undertook, and was rewarded by material success and the confidence and respect of his associates. Born in Madison County, Ohio, March 14, 1864, Owen L. Cornwell confined his field of operation to his native state, of which he was always justly proud and was ever one of its most worthy sons. His parents, Addison and Tabitha (Flemming) Cornwell, were born near Richmond, Virginia, where they were reared, educated and married. Addison Cornwell attended the famous Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, but did not follow a professional career, preferring agricultural pursuits. Coming to Madison County, Ohio, he bought a farm, and continued to operate it until he died. The youngest of thirteen children, Owen L. Cornwell had the misfortune to lose his mother when a small boy, and he was reared by a 278 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY sister, Mrs. John Goodfellow, who lived in the vicinity of Vienna, Ohio, with whom he remained until his marriage, which occurred in 1888, after which he lived for one year at Vienna, and then spent three years in Madison County, Ohio. Going then to Charlestown, Ohio, he was in the employ of the Houston Company for many years and became one of its most valued men and skilled employes. In November, 1919, Mr. Cornwell saw fit to retire from his long connection with this company, and moved to Springfield, buying a fine, modern residence at 817 South Limestone Avenue, and planned to enjoy life in it and the city of his choice. Fate decreed otherwise, and he died January 12, 1920, and in his passing his community lost a good citizen. On February 22, 1888, Mr. Cornwell married Mary Peters, who was born at South Charlestown, Ohio, April 8, 1870. She is a daughter of Oliver K. and Susan (Way) Peters, he born in South Vienna, Ohio, and she in South Charlestown, Ohio. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Cornwell were Samuel and Nancy (Weaver) Peters, natives of Virginia. The Weaver family moved to Clark County, Ohio, when Nancy Weaver was four years old. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Cornwell were Michael and Sarah (Hinkle) Way. Michael Way was brought when an infant by his parents to Springfield, Ohio. His wife was born in Springfield, Ohio, to which city the Hinkles came at a very early day and invested heavily in land, some of which was located just outside of the eastern limits of Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Cornwell had the following children born to them: Arthur P., who lives at Cincinnati, Ohio ; Laura W., who is Mrs. Howard Strain, of Selma, Ohio, and is a public school teacher ; Elizabeth 0., who is also a public school teacher ; Oliver K., who is a high school teacher, living at Springfield ; and Samuel A., who is at home. Mr. Cornwell attended the public schools of Vienna, and his wife those of Charlestown. The Methodist Episcopal Church had in him an earnest and sincere member. He belonged to the Junior Order United American Mechanics. He was a strong republican, and Mrs. Cornwell adheres to the same political faith. Mr. Cornwell never sought the limelight, but he never evaded a responsibility nor failed to do his duty or to render a generous assistance to those less fortunate than he. AUGUSTUS B. NOLTE, a resident of Springfield for thirty years, is a brass founder, a leader in the manufacturing circles of the city, and well established in the confidence and esteem of his many friends here. Mr. Nolte was born at Cincinnati, July 26, 1855. His father, Francis Nolte, was born in Germany, was a stone mason by trade, and found a more congenial home and better opportunities in a business way in America. He spent the rest of his life in Cincinnati. Augustus B. Nolte had only limited opportunities to secure an education as a youth. When about seventeen he went to work as an office clerk in his native city, and subsequently was a bookkeeper in a tobacco warehouse. Mr. Nolte came to Springfield in 1888. In the meantime he had laboriously developed some financial interests, represented chiefly by the stock he held in the brass foundry of McGregor Brothers and Company. On removing to Springfield he bought the interest of the other partners, and in time he changed the name to the Nolte Brass Company. This is SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 279 one of the leading brass foundries of the Springfield Industrial District and is a highly prosperous business. Mr. Nolte is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine and the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. In 1878 he married Miss Katherine Wurster, of Covington, Kentucky. Their two children are : Estelle flay and Allan A. The son Allan is general manager of the Nolte Brass Company. He married Corinne, daughter of Dr. S. A. Ort, former president of Wittenberg College, and they are the parents of two children, Samuel 0. and Corinne. EDGAR E. PARSONS. That all individuals do not find the niche for which they consider themselves especially fitted is largely attributable to their inability to fit themselves for those niches which they could occupy with profit and honor. They do not concentrate upon that which they understand and for which nature and training have made them ready, but diffuses themselves over too wide a territory and in the end accomplish little or nothing. The successful man in any line is he who develops his latent strength by the use of vigorous fitness, innate powers and expert knowledge, gradually attaining to an efficiency not possible in the beginning. Each line of endeavor demands special qualifications. Some men are born executives, being able to direct others to carry out plans which are formulated in the active brain of the leader, and an individual who possesses this ability to plan and direct should bend all his energies toward obtaining an executive position. Edgar E. Parsons during his incumbency of the office of city manager of Springfield has shown himself by nature and training an executive, and his labors and achievements have been of great benefit to his city. Mr. Parsons was born August 5, 1878, at Detroit, Michigan, but belongs to a family that has resided in Clark County, Ohio, for several generations. His great-grandfather was Israel Parsons, a native of Frederick County, Maryland, who was a pioneer of Clark County and has long since passed to his final rest. He settled at Springfield about 1828, coming here from Harpers Ferry, Virginia, to which place he had gone after his marriage. His brother Samuel, who came to this city about the same time as he, was the first city clerk of Springfield and in later years became a prosperous citizen, owning a large part of the land upon which the city now stands. Israel Parsons, upon his arrival, established himself in business as the proprietor of a butcher shop, and continued in the same line during the remainder of his life. He was one of the organizers of Clark Lodge No. 101, F. and A. M., having been made a Mason in 1824, and for many years was tyler of the lodge. He was born in 1799, and July 2, 1828, married at Baltimore, Maryland, Miss Ann Cox, they becoming the parents of nine children. He died November 11, 1883, in the faith of the Methodist Church, leaving a host of friends. George W. Parsons, a son of Israel Parsons and grandfather of Edgar E. Parsons, was born August 1, 1833, at Springfield, and as a young man learned the trade of plasterer. He was thus employed until the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Union Army and rose to the noncommissioned rank of sergeant. At the close of his military career he 280 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY returned to Springfield, where he resumed work as a plasterer and was so engaged until his death in 1879. He married Anna Krumbelholm, a Catholic, of English parentage, and they became the parents of five children. John C. Parsons, a son of George W. Parsons and father of Edgar E. Parsons, was born at Springfield, and in early life learned the trade of machinist, to which he devoted a number of years. During the past ten years he has been superintendent of the Juvenile Home of Springfield. He formerly served as township constable and as juvenile officer, and has an excellent public record. His political tendencies make him a republican and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church, while as a fraternalist he affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Golden Eagle and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Parsons married Miss Cora Gram, and they had two children : Edgar E. and Walter, the latter of whom died in early youth. Edgar E. Parsons was reared at Springfield, where he attended the public schools, following which he pursued a course at Wittenberg College, and while at that institution was well known in athletics, being quarterback on the varsity football team of 1901. Later, to further prepare himself, he attended a business college and took courses in engineering through the Scranton Correspondence Schools and law through the De La Salle Extension University. For twelve years he was a civil engineer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and as such had charge of the track elevation work for this company at Chicago, in a \project that cost $8,000,000. In 1917 Mr. Parsons enlisted for service in the United States Army, entering the Officers' Training Camp at Camp Lee, Virginia, where he was granted a captain's commission in the Fifty-fifth Engineers. He sailed for France June 30, 1918, and his work abroad consisted of building hospitals for the American Expeditionary Forces. He returned to the United States August 10, 1919, and was honorably discharged September 5, 1919. On his return Mr. Parsons made application for the office of city manager of Springfield, to which he was appointed July 1, 1920. He has proven capable and energetic, and his work has received much commendation from the citizens of Springfield. On October 31, 1901, Mr. Parsons was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Crawford, at Bristol, Tennessee. and they have one daughter, Virginia Lee, born on Decoration Day, 1918. Mr. Parsons has a number of business, social and civic connections, and is a member of Clark Lodge No. 101, A. F. and A. M., of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and of the Knights of Pythias. EDWARD HARFORD, president of the Springfield Savings Society, has long been active in all matters pertaining to the best interests of Springfield, and is recognized as one of the most representative citizens of Clark County. In his efforts along all lines he has not striven merely for personal advancement, but for the more worthy object of bettering existing conditions, and he is held today in high regard by all who know him and of his work. Mr. Harford was born at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, November 16, 1853, a son of John and Caroline (Roberts) Harf ord. In 1856 the Harford family came to the United SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 281 States, and located at once at Springfield, where John Harford worked at various things, principally as a carpenter, and he continued to be a resident of Springfield the remainder of his life. The second of a family of six children, Edward Harford has never known any home but Springfield, and was educated in the common and high schools of the city. For several years he was employed in a drug store. On May 1, 1876, he became a clerk in the Springfield Savings Society, and in July, 1880, owing to the death of John C. Buxton, he succeeded him as cashier and treasurer of the society. Until March 13, 1916, he continued to hold these positions, but was then elected president, and has since served in that capacity. For years he has been a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, of which he is a director and treasurer. During the late war he was a member and vice chairman of the executive committee of the Liberty Loan drives. For many years he held membership in the First Presbyterian Church and later, when that church merged with the Second Presbyterian Church what is now the Covenant Presbyterian Church of Springfield, he became a member and is now a member and president of its Board of Trustees. He is secretary and treasurer of the Springfield Masonic Temple Association ; a past master of Clark Lodge No. 101, F. and A. M. ; past high priest of Springfield Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., and past eminent commander of Palestine Commandery No. 33, K. T. ; is also a thirty-second degree A. A. O. R. Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He was a trustee of the Ohio Masonic Home from the time of its establishment in Springfield in 1891, until 1918, and has served as treasurer of the Home since 1901. On May 16, 1882, Mr. Harf ord married Miss Nellie R. Le Clercq, and they have two children. Frederick L. was top sergeant in the Ordnance Department and served a year in France. He married Helen Freeborn, of Seattle, Washington, and he is now a resident of Seattle. Katherine Harford is the wife of Dr. Emery Dibert, of Springfield, Ohio, and they are the parents of two children, Marjorie and William Edward Dibert. EDGAR A. FAY, secretary of the Merchants and Mechanics Savings and Loan Association and one of the thoroughly capable and highly esteemed business men of Springfield, has passed his active career in this city, the most of it in connection with the concern with which he is at present identified. He was born at Marietta, Ohio, June 19, 1860, and is a son of Samuel E. and Miriam E. (Long) Fay. The Fay family traces its ancestry back to John Fay, who came to America in the good ship "Speedwell" in early Colonial times, and from whom Edgar A. Fay is a descendant. Benjamin Fay, the great-grandfather of Edgar A. Fay, f ought as a soldier in the Continental Line during the Revolutionary war, while his son, William Fay, the grandfather of Edgar A., was a soldier in the American Army during the War of 1812. The family has long been identified with the Congregational Church, and for a large part the male members have followed the pursuits of agriculture. Samuel E. Fay resided at Marietta, Ohio, until February, 1871, at which time he brought his family to Springfield, and for five years thereaf ter operated a farm in Springfield Township. 282 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY He then disposed of his land and bought a monument business at Springfield, of which he was the proprietor until his death. Edgar A. Fay was about ten years of age when brought by his parents to Springfield, which, with the exception of a short period, has been his home ever since. He acquired his education in the public graded and high schools, and of ter his graduation from the latter secured employment in the postoffice as a clerk. When he resigned this position he decided to see something of the opportunities offered by the western country, but after six months returned to Springfield and began clerking in a store, a vocation which he followed until 1885. Having mastered shorthand, he became stenographer and bookkeeper for the Tricycle Manufacturing Company, and during the period of his employment with that concern filled about every office position at the company's bestowal. In the meantime the Merchants and Mechanics Savings and Loan Association had become organized, and in February, 1893, Mr. Fay was elected secretary, a position in which he served until September 29, 1894. During this short period the business grew by leaps and bounds, and it was necessary to seek larger quarters in order to handle the great volume of transactions flowing in. In 1894 Mr. Fay severed his connection with the secretarial office, but remained with the concern as a member of the Board of Directors. In 1902 he resigned as a director and resumed his duties as secretary, and in the discharge of the responsibilities of this office he has remained to the present, having been largely instrumental in building up the association's great prosperity. On October 4, 1889, Mr. Fay was united in marriage with Miss Alice W. Guthrie, of Springfield, and they are the parents of nine children : Eunice M., who is the wife of Raymond E. Boller ; Benjamin Guthrie, who is a missionary in South America ; Capt. Cyril E., who gained that rank during the course of the World's war, in which he was an active participant ; Harriet L., twin of Cyril E. ; William S., who served in the United States Navy during the World war ; James L. ; George A. and Miriam A., twins and Allen U. Mr. and Mrs. Fay are consistent members of the Congregational Church, in the faith of which their children have been reared. Mr. Fay is a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and has a number of social and civic connections. HARLEY G. ROOT. Close competition and able competitors in every line make heavy demands upon the physical strength, nervous energy and business sagacity of every business man of importance today. The call is made on his good judgment as well as his favorable financial standing, hence it really means something worth while when a man is able to meet this situation successfully and competently direct, organize and manage large enterprises in which vast capital is invested and many diverging interests concerned. A representative business man of Springfield, Ohio, who is prominently identified with important business concerns, is Harley G. Root, president and treasurer of the H. G. Root Company of Springfield and Columbus, wholesale and retail dealers in automobile accessories, and president and treasurer of the Automotive Parts Company, operating stores in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Harley G. Root was born at Marietta, Ohio, September 19, 1882, and is a son of George G. and Barbara (Bennett) Root, both of whom SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 283 belonged to pioneer families of Washington County. His grandfather, Tomas Root, served as a soldier in the Union Army through the Civil war. In large measure Harley G. Root is a self-made man. He was educated in the public schools, and after completing his high school course at the age of seventeen years, taught his first term of school in Washington County, and continued to teach for the next three years, in the meanwhile learning the art of telegraphy. He then secured a position with the Big Four Railroad Company as a telegrapher in the Cincinnati office, and eventually became chief clerk. In 1909 he came from there to Springfield as chief clerk to the general passenger and freight agent of the Ohio traction lines. In 1910 Mr. Root started in business for himself, organizing the Springfield Vulcanizing Company, which under his able direction has been developed into a large enterprise, the H. G. Root Company, extensive dealers, both wholesale and retail, in automobile accessories. On August 4, 1914, Mr. Root went to Richmond, Indiana, to become general manager of the Westcott Motor Car Company, subsequently moving with it to Springfield, and was the active directing head of this concern, also its secretary and treasurer, until March 1, 1922, when he resigned to give his entire attention to his own expanding affairs. Mr. Root married, June 30, 1906, Miss Edith Lawwill, of Washington Court House, Ohio, and they have one son, Gordon. Mr. Root and his family are members of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, of which he is a trustee, and chairman of its New Church Building Committee, and is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Wittenberg College and of the Board of Trustees of the Springfield City Hospital. He has served as president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, of the Manufacturers Association, of the Automobile Club and the Rotary Club. BROWN BURLEIGH. The modern young American business man with his energy, vitality and clear vision, has many remarkable achievements to his credit, and a community is fortunate, on many occasions, if given the opportunity to follow his clear-sighted leadership along many lines of effort. One of the younger business men of Springfield, who has come rapidly to the front in commercial life, is Brown Burleigh, who is identified with a number of important enterprises here. Brown Burleigh was born at Springfield, Ohio, February 27, 1883, and is a son of Harry West and Frances (Brown) Burleigh. Harry West Burleigh was born at Greencastle, Indiana, and was a son of John Burleigh, a native of Indiana but of Kentucky parentage. For a number of years Harry W. Burleigh was a traveling salesman, and was well and favorably known over a wide territory. His death occurred in 1917. He was a Mason of high degree. The mother of Brown Burleigh still resides at Springfield, which is her native place, her father, the late Major Luther Brown, having been a hardware merchant and prominent citizen here for many years. Major Brown served with distinction in the Civil war. He entered the Union Army as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on December 12, 1862, and was commissioned captain two days later. He served on the staff of Gen. J. Warren 284 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Keifer until the end of the war and was mustered out on June 26, 1865, with the rank of major, by brevet. He was active in state politics and influential at Springfield. Brown Burleigh completed the public school course in his native city and was graduated from the high school in 1901, and afterward for a time continued his studies in Wittenberg College. In 1902, impatient to enter upon a business career, he accepted the position of timekeeper and paymaster for the Superior Drill Company, now the American Seeding Machine Company, and continued in that relation until 1905, when he went with the D. L. Auld Jewelry Company of Columbus, Ohio. In 1908 he returned to Springfield, and in December of that year became a member of the Kissell Real Estate Company of this city, of which he is vice president, additionally being secretary of the Kissell Improvement Company, secretary and treasurer of the Kissell Development Company, and president of the Members' Real Estate Company. The Kissell interests are extensive and the Kissell Real Estate Company is the largest and most prosperous organization of its kind at Springfield, a well financed, well managed and well officered body. Mr. Burleigh not only has been active and thorough-going in his personal and company's business affairs, but has been a real moving force in all that concerns the substantial welfare of the city, an important factor in the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, of which he formerly was a director. Mr. Burleigh married on November 14, 1914, Miss May S. Fait, who was born at Baltimore, Maryland, and is a daughter of Mrs. William Fait, of Springfield. They have one daughter, Sybel Louise, who was born January 14, 1921. Mr. and Mrs. Burleigh are members of Christ Episcopal Church. They take part in the pleasant social life of the city and have a wide acquaintance, and Mr. Burleigh belongs to the leading clubs, including the Lagonda, Country and Rotary. He is a charter member of St. Andrew's Lodge No. 619, F. and A. M. ISAAC ZIMMERMAN was for a long period of years a substantial factor in the agricultural interests of Clark County. He came from Pennsylvania in 1848, and in the following year bought and settled on what has long been known as the Zimmerman farm, just outside the city limits of Springfield. He was a man of industry and fine character, and he especially contributed to the citizenship of Clark County a family of children whose records can only be briefly reviewed in this account. Isaac Zimmerman was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1823, son of Henry and Barbara (Greiner) Zimmerman. Henry Zimmerman was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1786. He was the son of Peter and grandson of Peter Zimmerman. Peter Zimmerman, Sr., whose ancestor came to this country from Germany and founded the family in Lancaster County in Colonial times, was a Revolutionary soldier. After making his preliminary investigations in Clark County Isaac Zimmerman returned to Pennsylvania in 1849 and married Anna Christiana Ober. She was born in Lancaster County, December 20, 1829, daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Coble) Ober. Both of her grandfathers, Christian Ober and David Coble, were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 285 When Isaac Zimmerman and his bride returned to Clark County from Pennsylvania they made the journey overland, bringing with them all their possessions. At that time Springfield was a town, with a small population and few industries. After purchasing his farm Isaac Zimmerman cultivated it and improved it from year to year, and from his farming activities generously provided for his family and discharged those duties and obligations incumbent upon good citizenship. He was a most upright man, a strict member of the United Brethren Church and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him. He died at his home farm July 14, 1871, and his wife passed away May 18, 1876. The following is a brief account of their children and also some of their grandchildren. Cyrus Zimmerman, oldest son of Isaac Zimmerman and wife, was born October 12, 1850. He was educated in the public schools and Wittenberg College and became a farmer and a man of prominence in Union County, Ohio, where he died June 15, 1915. He married Lydia E. Low, of Springfield. Of their children Albert I. is now manager of the American Security and Trust Company of Kansas City, Missouri : Walter A. is a bank cashier at Volmer, Idaho ; Joseph is a farmer in Clark County ; Cyrus Edwin died in France while serving with the Ambulance Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces ; and Ralph is operating the home farm in Union County. Barbara Ellen, oldest daughter, was born November 26, 1852, and married John Crabill, of Clark County. Their children are : Ida Irene, wife of William Y. Mahar, a Springfield attorney ; Clark R., a farmer in Clark County ; and Pearl Preston, who is president of the Central Brass & Fixtures Company of Springfield. Agnes Zimmerman, born August 7,. 1854, married William S. Welsh, a native of Hedgesville, West Virginia, and who for many years was superintendent of Mast, Foos and Company of Springfield. Her only son, James Winfield Welsh, is now executive secretary of the American Electric Railway Association, with headquarters in New York City. James W. Welsh married Ada Clement, of Pittsburgh, and they have two sons, James W., Jr., and Clement William. William Joseph Zimmerman, who died September 30, 1918, was a farmer near South Charleston in Clark County. He married Ida Way. Ida Flora Zimmerman became the wife of Samuel S. Spencer, an attorney at Emporia, Kansas. Their children are : John W., who is now the forest supervisor of Big Horn Forest for the United States Government and is stationed at Sheridan, Wyoming; Dorothy was a missionary four years in St. Mary's Parish at Kyoto, Japan, and at this writing (1922) is home on a leave of absence ; Ruth, also an educator, taught one year in the Boys' Commercial School at Kyoto, Japan, and is now teacher in a high school in California. The three younger chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer are Robert, Louise Christine and Ober, all in school. Effie Jane Zimmerman, sixth child of this family, married Dr. L. E. Custer, of Dayton, Ohio, and their son, L. Luzern Custer, is an inventor and is president of the Custer Specialty Company, manufacturing his own patents. 286 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Miss Carrie May Zimmerman, youngest of the children of Isaac Zimmerman, has long been prominent in the educational affairs of Springfield. She was educated in the local high school, is a graduate of Wittenberg College, did post-graduate work in the University of Chicago and Wellesley College ; studied abroad in the University of Jena, and passed the examinations at the University of Grenoble, France, in 1910. She was at one time a teacher in the Springfield Seminary, and is now head of the department of modern languages in the Springfield High School. Miss Zimmerman is active in the Methodist Church, the Woman's Club, and belongs to the Lagonda Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having four direct ancestors who were in that war. EDWIN S. HOUCK. When the pioneers of a hundred years ago built their cabins in what is now the busy, prosperous city of Springfield, Ohio, it is not probable that they were searching for the easy things of life or expected other than the hardships they encountered. In large measure they were hardy, practical people, hopeful for the future but meeting it with fortitude, and carrying on their undertakings with industry and resourcefulness. From such stock came the early builders of Springfield, a sturdy example of whom was George Houck. His descendants have belonged to Springfield ever since, and one of these is found in Edwin S. Houck, able lawyer and prominent and useful citizen. George Houck was born in Pennsylvania. The original home of the Houcks was the Province of Wurttemberg, Germany. This particular branch of the family came to the United States in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and many of the name may be found among the substantial people of this country today. George Houck's wif e was a member of the old Pennsylvania Dutch family of Snyder, still numerous in the vicinity of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. For a time they lived in Maryland, where, presumably, their six children were born, and from that state the family set out in 1836 for Springfield. They traveled by stage coach on the old National Road and were ferried across the Ohio River at Wheeling. At Springfield George Houck engaged in brickmaking, an occupation that had been followed in his family for 250 years. He became a citizen of recognized worth, a stern advocate of law and order and an honest supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Edwin L. Houck, the youngest of the sons of George Houck, was six years old when he accompanied his parents to Clark County, and he grew to manhood with many of his father's sterling qualities. He was well educated for his times, having attended the old Springfield Seminary that stood on the present site of the Y. W. C. A. Building, and in the course of time learned the family trade, and, later, in association with his brother, William H. Houck, became wealthy. Early investments in land that at first would be utilized in brickmaking and later, as Springfield rapidly expanded, would be platted and sold, contributed greatly to this result. In 1853 Mr. Houck became a member of a company commanded by his brother, Samuel Houck, organized to cross the plains to California. Although he survived the hardships, dangers and disasters of this expedition, it was a wild adventure and memorable in SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 287 every way. The thrilling events of this journey included battles with wild beasts and with Indians, but the most serious disaster, a visitation of Asiatic cholera on the banks of the Platte River, on the old Oregon Trail, served to almost decimate the company. Edwin L. Houck escaped, but his brother, Samuel Houck, fell a victim to the epidemic. Mr. Houck became acquainted with many of the conspicuous plainsmen of the Far West and knew Bridger and Kit Carson well. He remained in the mining regions until he met with more than moderate success, and then returned home by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Edwin L. Houck married in Clark County Mary Osborne, daughter of Joseph and Sophia Osborne, who had come here in 1836 from Baltimore, Maryland, largely led here because of a hatred of slavery and desire to rear their children in a free state. Mr. and Mrs. Houck had one daughter and three sons. The daughter, who was the wife of George M. Leffel, died in August, 1921, leaving one son, James 0. Leffel. The three sons are : Samuel M., who is a farmer in Mad River Township, Edwin S., and Ernest 0., who is a prosperous sheep rancher near Casper, Wyoming. The mother of the above family died in 1904 and the father in 1909. Their acquaintance was wide and esteem universal. Edwin S. Houck was born at Springfield, Ohio, March 3, 1868. He attended the public schools and subsequently Wittenberg College, from which he was graduated in 1886, then entered upon the study of law in the office of Goode & Scott, and was admitted to the bar in 1891. Mr. Houck has an established reputation as an able and honorable member of his profession, and has been identified with a large amount of important litigation in this section of Ohio in the last quarter of a century. From preference he has always made his home at Springfield, and his wise, conservative helpfulness in civic affairs has been of incalculable value. He served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Springfield Hospital Endowment Fund, and also of the Springfield Sinking Fund Board and City Commission. In political sentiment he is a democrat. During college days he belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta, and has ever since maintained an interest in the fraternity. He is unmarried. JOHN MILLER was one of Springfield's merchants, and had founded a successful business before his death, which took him away in the prime of his years and usefulness. He was born at Springfield, January 27, 1857, son of John and Agnes Miller, early settlers in the city. Mr. Miller was educated in the public schools and also attended Wittenberg College. As a young man he engaged in the grocery business, and was located on West Main Street for two years, after which he moved his establishment to 2415 East High Street. He bought the store building there, and had active charge of the growing business until his death on September 21, 1883. In March, 1879, Mr. Miller married Mary Cramer. She was born in Springfield, August 11, 1857, daughter of George and Catherine (Hefner) Cramer, natives of Germany, who came to Springfield in 1852 and soon settled on a farm in Springfield Township, where they lived the rest of their lives. Her father died April 10, 1911, and her mother, April 10, 1916. 288 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Mrs. Miller has one son, Walter John, born August 2, 1883. Since he left school he has been associated with his mother in managing the grocery business at 2415 East High Street, and is one of the very energetic and successul young business men of the city. Mrs. Miller is a member of St. John's Church. ARTHUR W. FINFROCK since coming to Springfield has been identified with several lines of useful service, and is now engaged in the floral business, managing one of the most popular establishments of the kind in the city. Mr. Finfrock represents an old family of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and was born near Winchester, that state, December 14, 1872, son of Benjamin C. and Anna Marie (Hubbard) Finfrock. His father was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, and his mother, at Winchester, Virginia. He died in 1910, at the age of eighty-three, and his wife, in 1915, aged eighty-six. Benjamin Finfrock never lived in Ohio, though he visited in Clark County in 1865. Benjamin C. Finfrock, Jr., a brother of A. W., was engaged in the cigar business at Springfield, and died when forty-six years of age. Arthur W. Finf rock was educated 'in the district school of Virginia, and at the age of ten years began working at odd jobs and partly paying his own way. At the age of sixteen he began operating a traction engine for his father, and this was his work largely until he came to Springfield. For six months in this city he was engaged in the building of road rollers, then for six months was a motorman with the Springfield Railway, following which he was with the Kelly Monument Works, and six years later was promoted to shop foreman. On account of an injury he resigned in 1917, and since then has been manager of the Ferncliff Floral Company at 437 McCreight Avenue. This company handles all kinds of cut flowers, plants and general designs, and for the production of flowers has about seven thousand square .feet under glass. The founder of the business in 1913 was Alfred S. Finfrock, who died December 29, 1917. Mr. Finfrock married in February, 1902, Miss Delia Baker, who was born near Winchester, Virginia, September 13, 1885, daughter of John and Susan (Miller) Baker, both natives of Shenandoah County, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Finfrock have two children, Ruth Austin, born June 28, 1903, and Charles Seward, born August 17, 1909. Mrs. Finfrock was educated in the public schools of Virginia. They attended St. John's Lutheran Church. Mr. Finfrock is independent in politics, and is now affiliated with Springfield Lodge No. 33, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was first initiated in that Order in Madison Lodge No. 6, at Winchester, Virginia. He is a member of Fraternal Order of Eagles, No. 397, and Mrs. Finfrock is treasurer and for two years was trustee of. the Woman's Auxiliary of the Eagles. WILLIAM HARMON SLOUGH. For the greater part of a half century William Harmon Slough had interests and activities to identify him usefully with the citizenship of Springfield. His chief business for a number of years, until he retired, was operating a truck farm and greenhouse, one of the leading industries of the kind in the city. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 289 Mr. Slough was born and grew up on a farm that is now included within the city limits of Springfield. He was born February 27, 1853, son of George and Elizabeth (Seibert) Slough. His grandparents, George and Catherine (Shenk) Slough, were natives of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father, George Slough, was born in Lancaster August 27, 1821, and in 1846 married Elizabeth Seibert. She was born in Germany September 15, 1828, and her parents, George and Eva Catherine (Bangert) Seibert, came to this country in 1830 and settled on East Main Street in Springfield. George Seibert owned a farm of sixty acres there which was operated by his son-in-law, George Slough, and a portion of this land is now the property of William Harmon Slough. George Slough after his marriage lived on this sixty-acre farm in Springfield Township. A cooper by trade, he devoted most of his years to agriculture. About 1858 he moved to Richland County, Illinois, remaining there only a year, when he returned to his old home in Clark County, where his wife died on May 16, 1859. He survived her many years and passed away March 9, 1898. Their children were : Leonard, of Fristoe, Benton County, Missouri ; William Harmon ; Eva Catherine, deceased wife of Mark Livingston, by which union there were seven children ; Margaret, Mrs. John Remsberg, of South Center Street, Springfield. William Harmon Slough was about six years of age when his mother died, arid of ter that his father's home was broken up and he lived for a time with an uncle at Springfield, and also with another uncle around Dayton, Ohio. He acquired his education in the Snow Hill and Gray Hill district schools, and when he returned to Clark County at the age of fifteen he went to work on the farm of David B. Way. He was a worker on the Way place until he was twenty, and then sought new opportunities in the West, going to Clinton, Douglas County, Kansas, where he worked until the following fall on farms. Coming back to Clark County he resumed farm work and the next spring took charge of the sixty-acre place that had belonged to his grandmother Seibert. In 1880 Mr. Slough again went West, to Abilene, Kansas, bought a farm, but on account of hot winds and cyclones stayed there only a year. Once more back in Clark County, Mr. Slough was employed for three or four years in the Rhinehart & Ballard Shop. He then bought a tract of land in Mad River Township and did truck growing for two years. He then resumed employment in the same shop as before but now under the proprietorship of 0. S. Kelley, and was an employe in the Kelley Foundry for fifteen years. Mr. Slough in 1901 bought ten acres of the old Seibert farm, which in the meantime had been acquired by his father. On this land he put up a home and other buildings, started the growing of vegetables and truck crops, with Springfield as his immediate market, and in that business was associated with his son William H., Jr. In 1904 they erected a large greenhouse, and the business has since been conducted as a year round proposition. In 1918 Mr. Slough turned over the business to his son and has since lived retired, his home being at 2016 North Limestone Street. March 22, 1877, Mr. Slough married Christina W. Hoechamer. She was born at Moulton, in Auglaize County, Ohio, September 1, 1859, daughter of John F. and A. Regina (Trunk) Hoechamer. Her parents were born in Bavaria, Germany. Mrs. Slough was educated in public Vol. II-19 290 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY schools of Auglaize County. Of their children the oldest is Eva Catherine, who was educated in grammar and high schools, took special work in Wittenberg College at Springfield, and is now a teacher in the Jefferson School of Springfield. The second child, John F., who lives at 220 May Street, Springfield, married Amelia Menz, and their three children are Paul Luther, J. Frederick and A. Elizabeth. William H., Jr., whose home adjoins his father's, married Elsie Ihrig and has five children, E. Catherine, William Henry, Elsie R., George E. and Ethel C. The youngest child, Anna Elizabeth, died at the age of twenty-three months. Mr. and Mrs. Slough are members of Zion Lutheran Church, which he served as elder four years, and he is a democrat in politics. GEORGE W. WINGER, vice president of the First National Bank of Springfield, is a native son of Clark County and a representative of a family whose name has been linked with the history of this county for more than eighty years. Mr. Winger was born in this county on the 22d of February, 1844, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Trout) Winger, whose marriage was solemnized December 27, 1832, both having been born and reared in the State of Pennsylvania. The following record is of definite historic interest and is properly reproduced in this connection : "The widespread persecution of the Protestants of France and Central Europe by the Jesuits in the early part of the eighteenth century, whereby France lost more than a million of her most enterprising and industrious citizens, resulted, in connection with the general devastation of Central Europe, in a large emigration from continental Europe, and specially from among the liberty-loving Swiss. About this time great inducements were offered to Europeans by William Penn in the peaceful province of Pennsylvania, where all could worship God according to the dictates of conscience, and many families and colonies from Switzerland, particularly those of the Mennonite cult, left their vine-clad hills and valleys and settled in the fertile country in Eastern Pennsylvania. Among the number was Karl Michael Wenger, who came to America from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1736, and who settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He was twice married, and of the three sons of the second union Jacob was born in 1783. This son eventually changed the spelling of the family name to make it conform to the English pronunciation, and succeeding generations have retained the orthography which he thus adopted, that of 'Winger. Jacob Winger married Eliza Weaver, and their second son, Jacob, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1810. It was this son Jacob who became the pioneer representative of the family in Clark County, Ohio. "In the spring of 1837 Jacob Winger, in company with Isaac Jacobs (who became a pioneer farmer) and their small families, made their way over the mountains and across the country with teams and wagons and settled in Clark County, Ohio. At Springfield, then a mere village, Mr. Winger began to ply his trade, that of carpenter and house-builder, and success attended his activities. In 1843 he purchased and removed to a f arm one mile east of town, and this tract is now a part of the beautiful suburb of Elmwood. In 1850 he sold his farm to Algernon Paige and returned to Springfield to resume the work of his trade. In 1852, SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 291 in company with William Whitely and others, he erected shops at the northwest corner of Limestone and Washington streets for the purpose of building freight cars. The financial depression of 1853 put the railroads temporarily out of expansive operation, and during the ensuing fourteen years Mr. Winger was actively identified with other manufacturing enterprises." As the original religious faith of the Winger family in Pennsylvania was that of the Mennonite Church, which is opposed to warfare, no representatives of the family served as soldiers in the Revolution. Jacob Winger was a sterling citizen whose constructive activities did much to further the civic and industrial advancement of Springfield and Clark County, and he was one of the honored pioneer citizens of the county at the time of his death, in 1885, at the age of seventy-five years. His first two children, Mary Elizabeth and Amaziah, were born in Pennsylvania, and after the family home had been established in Clark County, Ohio, eight other children were born, namely : Catherine Ann, Hezekiah, Hannah, George W., Winfield Scott, Susanette, John Moore and Mary Cotes. Amaziah served as a gallant soldier of the Union throughout the Civil war, and was captain of Company A, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Hezekiah, as lieutenant and captain, was in service with Company I, Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the Eighth Ohio Cavalry, was wounded in a charge upon the enemy at Lynchburg, Virginia, and as a result of this injury he died in February, 1866. Jacob Winger had not formally united with any religious body at the time of his immigration to Ohio, but on the 21st of April, 1841, during a series of revival meetings held in the old courthouse at Springfield, he and his wife united with the First Baptist Church, in which they continued zealous workers during the remainder of their lives. George W. Winger had attended the common schools and was a student in Wittenberg College at the time of the Civil war. Before graduating he left college, in 1864, and enlisted as a private in Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his regiment having been one of the few emergency organizations that saw active service. After the close of the war Mr. Winger attended the first business college established at Springfield, the same having been conducted by Edward Harrison. Thereafter he was bookkeeper and salesman in the clothing store of Matthew Oates, and later he became bookkeeper and teller in the old Second National Bank of Springfield. He entered this service September 6, 1866, and on August 1, 1874, he resigned to enter the service of the First National Bank, with which he has continued his active executive association during the long intervening period and of which he has been the active vice president for many years. He and his wife are earnest members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is generally a republican. He has been active and influential in the promotion of the interests of the local Young Men's Christian Association, has served two intervals as president of the same and is the incumbent of this position at the present time, his interest in the organization having been marked by close alliance with the work since shortly after the Civil war. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. 292 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY November 14, 1877, recorded the marriage of Mr. Winger and Miss Julia Schenck, of Warren County, and they have four children : Stanley DuBois, Helen, Ruth (Mrs. Thomas F. Anderson, of Sidney, Ohio), and Alice. GEORGE R. PROUT was a prominent factor in the civic and industrial life of the City of Springfield, where he was president of James Leffel & Company, of the Bookwalter Hotel Company, and vice president of the Citizens National Bank. Mr. Prout was born at Sandusky, Ohio, September 30, 1868, a son of Andrew and Sarah M. (Richmond) Prout. Andrew W. Prout, who was born at Bloomingville, this state, was for forty-seven years actively identified with banking enterprise in Ohio. Mrs. Prout was a daughter of Colonel David C. Richmond, who was in command of a regiment of Ohio militia in the Civil war, he having traveled extensively in foreign lands and having become one of the foremost horticulturists of his day in Ohio. He married Sarah Burr, a distant relative of Aaron Burr. David Prout, a native of London, England, married a daughter of Admiral Hawkins, of the British Navy, and he immigrated to America in 1640. He established his residence in New York City and was the progenitor of the Prout family in this country. He became prominently concerned in the shipping trade between New York and the West Indies. His son Degory was a drummer in the army of General Washington in the War of the Revolution, and for his services was given a large grant of land near Waterloo, New York. George R. Prout, the elder in a family of two children, took a preparatory course in Phillips-Exeter Academy and successfully passed the examination for entrance into Yale University, but impaired eyesight caused him to relinquish further study along higher academic lines. He took a course in the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and thereafter he was for some time associated with manufacturing enterprise in his native city of Sandusky. There he later was engaged in the retail hardware business, and upon coming to Springfield he became associated with the Superior Drill Company, in which he continued as sales manager until 1919. Prior to this he had acquired an interest in the business of James Leffel & Company, of which corporation he was president from 1917 until his death, March 17, 1922. His influence and financial co-operation were given also in the development and upbuilding of other important concerns in Springfield, and he was known and valued as one of the substantial business men and progressive citizens of the judicial center of Clark County. Mr. Prout served as master of the local lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and as commander of the Sandusky, Ohio, Commandery of Knights Templar, his Masonic affiliations including also his reception of the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and his membership in the Mystic Shrine. He was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. On the 27th of September, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Prout and Miss May Louise Bookwalter, daughter of Francis M. Bookwalter, of Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Prout became the parents of two children, Harold Andrew and Elizabeth Bookwalter. In connection with the World war Harold A. Prout became first lieutenant of Company SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 293 C, Three Hundred and Twentieth Infantry, Eighty-third Division, his preliminary training having been received at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, and he having been in service with the American Expeditionary Forces in France from June, 1917, until his discharge in February, 1919. Since then he has been connected with James Leffel & Company, of which he is now vice president. On September 11, 1920, Mr. Prout married Miss Marge Adelaide Johnson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Johnson, of Springfield, Ohio, and they are the parents of one daughter, Joanne Louise. WILLIAM D. MCINTIRE. A well-known figure in business circles of Springfield is William D. McIntire, who has made a marked success of his activities in the insurance field, and who has also been prominent in civic and fraternal matters. Mr. McIntire was born at Springfield, March 3. 1861. and is a son of the late Albert M. and Anna M. (Peck) McIntire. For six generations the members of the old and honored family of McIntire have participated in events of Clark County and the City of Springfield. The family was founded in this county by William McIntire, a native of Scotland, who immigrated to America prior to the War of the Revolution, with a brother, and took part in the winning of American independence as a member of the Virginia line. At the close of the struggle he married the widow of his brother and came to Ohio, settling in what is now Clark County, a region of which he was a pioneer. Here his son Samuel was born and later figured as an early farmer of German Township. He reared a family of several sons and daughters, one of whom, William T., was for twenty-five years prominent in the public affairs of Clark County. Another son, Joseph McIntire, served with great ability as sheriff of the county, while a third son, John McIntire, was a successful general contractor of Springfield. Albert M. McIntire, father of William D. McIntire, was born at Springfield in 1835, and died in 1903. He removed to the State of Kansas in 1865, but ten years later returned to Springfield, and, again taking up the contracting business continued to be engaged therein until his retirement from active life some years before his death. His wife, who was the daughter of David Peck, died in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. McIntire were the parents of the following children : William D., of this review ; Prof. Benjamin Butler, principal of the Washington School, Springfield ; Lillie May, deceased, who was the wife of James Dick ; Dr. Albert H., a successful practicing physician and surgeon of Springfield ; Ada, who is deceased ; Edwin K., of Springfield ; Samuel, who is deceased ; Jane, who became the wife of A. A. Wright, of Springfield ; Sarah, who became the wife of Walter F. Kitchin, of Springfield ; John D., a resident of the same city ; and Pearl, who is deceased. William D. McIntire was a small boy when his parents moved to Kansas, and the next ten years of his life were spent on a farm on the wild prairies of frontier days. With the family he suffered the privations of pioneer life, particularly in the winters, and made a regular hand on the farm, handling the stock and following the plow. His early education he received from his mother, who was a well-educated woman, and in the "soddy" schoolhouse of the neighborhood of the farm home, 294 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY and he also obtained six months of schooling at the home of his maternal grandparents in Illinois. At the age of fifteen years he entered the Springfield graded schools but an accident shortened his school days for all time, although he continued his private studies by lessons taken under Professor Rowe, an old school teacher of those days, to whom Mr. McIntire went several times a week, paying this old instructor ten cents a lesson. Later he took a course in bookkeeping at the Nelson Business College, then recently opened at Springfield, and on leaving that institution became bookkeeper for C. C. Funk & Company, wholesale and retail grocers on South Fountain Avenue, near Main Street. A year later he gave up bookkeeping and went to work for his father in the contracting business, but following his marriage, in 1884, he went to work as a machinist for the Thomas Manufacturing Company, where he put in three years. He was next with the 0. S. Kelly Company for seven years, but f ailing health necessitated his giving up work in the shops and in order that he might have out-door employment he entered the employ of the Home (Fire) Insurance Company, establishing a farm department through the local agency of that company. In 1896 he established his own insurance business and since that year has been owner of the W. D. McIntire Insurance Agency, handling a general line of fire, health, accident and other insurance, with offices in the Odd Fellows Building on South Fountain Avenue. Mr. McIntire is a member of all branches of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has passed through all the chairs of the various branches. Since 1905 he has been treasurer of the Ohio I: 0. 0. F. Christmas Committee and handles all of the funds donated by the lodges of the state and by individuals for the purpose of giving Christmas cheer and entertainment to the residents of the State I. 0. 0. F. Home at Springfield. In 1884 Mr. McIntire married Miss Margaret Fahl, who was born at Donnelsville, Clark County, Ohio, daughter of Nicholas Fahl, and to this union there have been born two sons and two daughters. Raymond L., identified with the Citizens National Bank of Springfield, married Grace Circle, of near New Carlisle, Ohio. William R., attending high school, resides with his parents in the comfortable family home. The two daughters, Ada V. and Olive E., both promising young ladies, are deceased. CHARLES FRANKLIN JACKSON is one of the older business men of Springfield, and for over thirty years has been actively associated with the profession and business of a funeral director. Successive changes and developments have occurred in his business affairs until today he owns one of the most complete and perfectly equipped organizations of the kind in the state. Charles Franklin Jackson was born on the home farm in Moorefield Township of Clark County, June 12, 1873, son of John M. and Kate (Kraft) Jackson, and grandson of John Jackson, a representative of the distinguished Jackson family of old Virginia, one of whose members was General Stonewall Jackson. John M. Jackson was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1834, and was left an orphan at the age of eighteen months and soon afterward was brought to Moorefield Township, Clark SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 295 County, by his uncle, William Moore, in whose home he was reared. John M. Jackson was possessed of a most adventuresome spirit, which led him to nearly all parts of the world. As a youth of sixteen he joined in the rush to the California gold field in 1849. In his pursuit of excitement and wealth he went on to the gold fields of Australia, where he met with success and accumulated a considerable fortune. Following this he traveled all over the world and in the course of his travels he learned to speak seven different languages. Finally he returned to Clark County, Ohio, bought the farm on which he was reared, and he lived there a contented and prosperous farmer until his death in 1890. His wife, Kate Kraft, was born in Springfield, daughter of Jacob Kraft, one of the early manufacturers of the city, who came here from Baltimore. Mrs. John M. Jackson is still living. Charles F. Jackson spent his early life on the farm, was educated in the common schools and in the Springfield High School, but did not go on further with his education on account of his father's death. He was then about seventeen and he began learning the undertaking business with W. A. Gross & Company, spending five years with that concern. Following that he went on the road as demonstrator of anatomy for the Champion College of Embalming, and subsequently was a road salesman for a funeral and embalming supply house. Mr. Jackson in 1906 established himself in the undertaking business at Springfield as a member of the firm Myers & Jackson. .Later he became sole owner of this business, and he bought the old Pursell residence on West High Street, converting it into a suitable place for his business. Subsequently he sold this property to the Crowell Publishing Company and the site is now covered with the mammoth plant of that publishing house. He then secured the beautiful William S. Foos residence property on East High Street, there being five acres of ground. The fine old home has been remodeled into what is probably the largest and most beautiful undertaking establishment in the State. Mr. Jackson's individual home is at 640 North Fountain Avenue. Among other business interests Mr. Jackson is vice president of the Trump Manufacturing Company, and is treasurer of the Superior Refrigerator Company. He is active in the fraternal life of Springfield, being affiliated with Clark Lodge No. 101, F. and A. M., Dayton Consistory of the Scottish Rite, Antioch Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Dayton, Ephraim Lodge No. 384, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Canton Occidental No. 21, Patriarchs Militant ; Springfield Lodge No. 51, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Red Star Lodge No. 205, Knights of Pythias ; Junior Order United American Mechanics, Yolo Tribe No. 90 of the Improved Order of Red Men, and is also a member of the Lagonda Club, Lions Club and the First Lutheran Church. Mr. Jackson married Miss Ada H. Hughes, daughter of J. Harvey Hughes, of the well-known family of that name in Springfield. They have two daughters, Courteney C., who graduated from high school in 1922, and Jean R., attending the Ridgewood private school for girls. HOMER W. BALLINGER, general manager and treasurer of the Clark County Lumber Company and one of the prominent men of the younger generation at Springfield, was born at Versailles, Ohio, March 22, 1888, 296 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY a son of Dr. John B. and Mary Louise (Worch) Ballinger. His entire carrer has been devoted to the lumber business, in which he has centered his interests, although he has also found time to devote to the promulgation and advancement of movements having for their object the welfare of the city and its institutions and interests. Dr. John B. Ballinger was born on the old family homestead, located near Versailles, a son of Elam Ballinger, the latter a son of Jacob Ballinger, one of two Quaker brothers who came to America from England and settled in South Carolina. Jacob became the Ohio pioneer of the Ballinger family, and settled on Ballinger Run, named after him, which crosses the line of Darke and Miami counties, east and west. Dr. Ballinger early decided upon a medical career, and after preparatory work entered the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, from which he was graduated with his degree. He has been a practitioner at Versailles for many years and is still active in his profession, having a large and lucrative clientele and standing high in the ranks of his calling. His wife, Mary Louise Worch, was born near New Madison, Ohio, a daughter of Sebastian Worch, a native of Germany. Mrs. Ballinger died at Versailles in 1920. Homer W. Ballinger attended the public schools of Versailles, and after graduating from the high school of that place in 1906 enrolled as a student at Miami University, where he received his degree as Master of Arts with the graduating class of 1910. On leaving college he entered the employ of his uncle, George H. Worch, a well-known lumber dealer of Versailles, where he received his introduction to the business and became acquainted with many of its methods. In December, 1911, he came to Springfield as manager of the Clark County Lumber Company, one of the largest concerns in its line in Ohio. In 1917 he was made manager and treasurer of the concern, positions which he has retained to the present. During his career Mr. Ballinger has been called upon to fill a number of positions in the business world for which his executive ability and other qualifications equip him admirably. He is a director of the Ohio Association of Retail Lumber Dealers and of the Hoo-Hoos, the lumber dealers' society. He formerly served as president of the Young Business Men's Club and as a director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and at present is president of the Springfield Automobile Club and a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield. As a fraternalist he is a charter member of H. S. Kissell Lodge, F. and A. M., of which he is senior warden, and belongs to Dayton Consistory, thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, and to Antioch Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Dayton. He likewise holds membership in the Delta Epsilon college fraternity. With Mrs. Ballinger he belongs to the First Lutheran Church. On October 12, 1912, Mr. Ballinger was united in marriage with Miss Nellie W. Herron, who was born on the Herron farm in Butler County, Ohio, a daughter of L. D. Herron, a well-known agriculturist of that county. JEROME P. COURLAS, a successful manufacturer of and dealer in candies and a recognized leader in the affairs of the appreciable Greek contingent of citizens in this community, has been for the past decade SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 297 specially active and influential in civic affairs in the metropolis and county seat of Clark County. Mr. Courlas was born in the City of Philicion, District of Sparta, Greece, on the 12th of October, 1889, and is a son of Peter and Catherine Courlas, who likewise were born in that city. When he came to the United States Peter Courlas left his family in his native land until such time as he should have established himself effectively in the land of his adoption. He passed several months in the City of Chicago, and finally established himself in the candy business in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, where his son Jerome P. joined him in 1903, the son Harry coming over from the old home in Greece in the following year. The year 1905 recorded the arrival of the beloved wife and mother, and thus the family was reunited. In 1910 Peter Courlas and his wife returned to their native land, where Mrs. Courlas still remains, her husband having come back to the United States in 1914. Jerome P. Courlas gained his early education in the schools of his native city and was fourteen years old when he joined his father in Cincinnati, as noted above. He attended the graded and high schools in that city and later made a special study of the English language in the City of Cincinnati. In his father's establishment he gained practical knowledge of the manufacturing of high grades of candy, and in 1907 he established himself in the candy business on West Main Street in the City of Springfield, Ohio, where he began operations on a modest scale. About one year later he returned to Cincinnati, but in 1910 he established his permanent home at Springfield, where for one year he was manager of the Majestic Theater, a position which he resigned to establish himself in the restaurant business in rooms adjacent to the Fountain Hotel. When the nation became involved in the World war he sold his restaurant, and while waiting call to the military service of the country, under the draft provisions, he found employment in the Crystal Restaurant. He was not called into active service, but in 1918, when the "fight or work" order was issued, he became foreman in the tool supply department of the Robbins & Myers Manufacturing Company, where he remained thus engaged for a period of fourteen months. After the close of the war he resigned this position and purchased the Arcade Confectionery, which he has since successfully conducted, in the manufacturing and sale of candies of fine grade and also in conducting an excellent restaurant in connection. On the 23d of September, 1920, through regular naturalization procedure, Mr. Courlas became a full-fledged citizen of the United States, and even before this he had become loyally interested and influential in civic affairs in his home city. He is president of the Hellenic Union Club, is an active member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and is at all times ready to give his influence and co-operation in the furtherance of measures and enterprises advanced for the general good of the community. In the World war period he gave valuable aid in the campaigns in support of the Red Cross work and the County War Chest, in which latter drive he was a captain. He has been liberal in support of the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. in Springfield, and as a loyal and liberal citizen he commands the esteem of a large circle of Springfield's best citizens. 298 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY The year 1918 recorded the marriage of Mr. Courlas and Miss Mabel Conkling, who was born at Port William, this state, a daughter of Lucien and May (Stephens) Conkling, and the two children of this union are Catherine and Elaine. Mr. Courlas is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. ELMORE WILLARD ROSS came to Springfield in the year 1884, and here he built up a large and prosperous industry in the manufacturing of various kinds of agricultural machines. He long held precedence as one of the vigorous, progressive and influential business men and representative citizens of Springfield, and here his death occurred in 1892. Mr. Ross was born at Auburn, New York, in the year 1849, and there he was reared and educated, the Ross family having been one of prominence and influence in and about Albany, New York, for several generations, with pioneer distinction in that part of the old Empire State. The subject of this memoir was a son of Elmore P. Ross, who was a man of fine business ability and one who figured prominently in connection with various industrial and commercial enterprises of broad scope and importance, he having been owner of large tracts of coal land, a director of the old Southern Central Railroad (now a part of the Lehigh Valley system), and also a director of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, besides which he was prominently concerned in manufacturing industry. Elmore W. Ross received excellent educational advantages, including those of Yale University, and after his marriage he removed to Fulton, New York, to take charge of a manufacturing establishment that had been given to him by his father. In 1884 he removed the machinery and business to Springfield, Ohio, where he eventually developed a large plant and a substantial business in the manufacturing of agricultural machinery, his removal to Ohio having been prompted by a desire to establish his factory more nearly in the central part of the country's great agricultural region. The factory was devoted principally to the manufacturing of feed and ensilage cutters, and the enterprise became one of most prosperous order—a valuable contribution to the industrial prestige of Springfield. Mr. Ross was a man of fine character and fine intellectual powers, and he made for himself inviolable place in the business and civic life of his adopted city. He was a semi-invalid for several years prior to his death. His widow still maintains her home at Springfield. In the State of New York was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ross and Miss Mary Fitch, one of whose ancestors, Ebenezer Fitch, was the first president of Williams College, Massachusetts, the town of Fitchburg, that state, having been named in honor of this family. Elmore P. Ross, only child of him to whom this memoir is dedicated, was born at Fulton, New York, November 14, 1876, and was nine years of age at the time of the family removal to Springfield, where he duly profited by the advantages of the public schools. Thereafter he entered Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, and in this historic institution he was graduated in 1899, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the following year he became actively identified with the manufacturing business founded by his father, and he is now one of the executive heads of this concern, which still bears the corporate title of the E. W. Ross Company. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 299 In January, 1907, Mr. Ross wedded Miss Alice Muir, in London, England, and they became the parents of two children, of whom one is living, Elmore Muir Ross. The younger son, Willard Gordon, died in 1918, at the age of seven years. As a resourceful and progressive business man and public-spirited citizen Mr. Ross is fully upholding the honors of the family name. JOHN O'BRIEN became one of the successful business men and substantial and honored citizens of Springfield, and here his death occurred in 1906, after he had here maintained his home for half a century. He was born in Kings County, Ireland, in 1839, a son of John O'Brien, Sr., and he was a lad of fourteen years at the time of the family immigration to the United States, the voyage across the Atlantic having been made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period. The family home was maintained in Cincinnati, Ohio, about three years, and about 1856 removal was made to Springfield, where the parents passed the remainder of their lives. John O'Brien, Sr., here conducted a general store and became one of the popular and highly respected citizens of Clark County. In physical stature he was below the average, but he bore himself with dignity, dressed with exceeding neatness, customarily wore a silk hat, and was a typical Irish gentleman of the fine old school. Both he and his wife were devout communicants of the Catholic Church. They became the parents of seven sons and one daughter. Henry, one of the sons, was an officer in an Ohio regiment in the Civil war, and was a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, at the time of his death. John O'Brien (II), the immediate subject of this memoir, attended school in Cincinnati, and there was solemnized his marriage with Miss Dora McAvoy. They became the parents of three sons and four daughters, one of the daughters being now deceased. John O'Brien and his brother Patrick established the first pottery in Springfield, the same having been situated on West Main Street and having been operated successfully by them for a number of years. Thereaf ter John O'Brien engaged in street contracting, and of this line of business he became one of the leading and most successful representatives in Springfield, where he handled many important contracts in connection with progressive municipal improvements. He was a man of inviolable integrity in all of the relations of life, and commanded unqualified popular esteem in the city which long was his home and the stage of his well directed activities. His widow survived him by about twelve years, attained to the venerable age of eighty-two years and was one of the gentle and revered pioneer women of Springfield at the time of her death, in 1918. Three sons still reside in Springfield : Richard H., Patrick E. and William. Richard H. is chief of the police department of the city Patrick E. O'Brien was born in Springfield on the 12th of March, 1863, and gained his early education in the Western Public School and the parochial school of St. Raphael's Church. In early years he was employed in various industrial shops in Springfield, and later he became special agent of the Springfield-Xenia Telephone Company, of which he was one of the organizers and original stockholders. Since 1919 he has been the general manager of this important corporation. He and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic Church, he is affili-