(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 550 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. To this purchase he gradually added, as prosperity attended his efforts, until presently he was the owner of two hundred and forty-eight acres and was accounted one of the substantial citizens of the county. Mr. Rannells was a Republican and took an active part in local politics, constantly exerting his strong personal influence in behalf of public improvements and the general uplift of the community, his efforts in connection with the elevation of educational standards thereabouts being especially well remembered. Good roads was one of the phases of early public improvement that he worked for most sedulously, and it is recalled that it was he who was mainly instrumental in securing the first "pike" roads through that part of the county. His wife, who was Massie Wiley, whose parents, natives of eastern Ohio, earnest Quaker folk, came to Clinton county at an early day in the settlement of the same, was an ever-present helpmeet, aiding his efforts in every good way and was a woman of large and beneficent influence in her day. Both were active workers in the Christian church and their children were reared conscientiously in the faith of that communion. Thomas G. Rannells was one of the best farmers in his neighborhood and did very much to bring about improved conditions in farming in his section of the county. He made a specialty of raising a fine grade of hogs, and found this phase of farming quite profitable, his example in this respect being followed with profit by many of his neighbors. To Thomas G. and Massie (Wiley) Rannells were born seven children, namely: William Harvey, a well-known retired merchant, of Wilmington, this county ; Mrs. Sarah Hildebrant, now deceased; Mary E., residing in Wilmington; Leah L., also of Wilmington; John L., who now owns and makes his home on the old homestead in Union township; Charles A., the immediate subject of this sketch; and Etta, who lives in Wilmington. Charles A. Rannells was reared on the home farm. attending in his boyhood what was known as the "Dutch" district school in that neighborhood. He then attended the Wilmington high school and was graduated from the same in 1880, following which he took a course at Butler University at Indianapolis. Upon completing this course he was offered and accepted a position as teacher in the Wilmington grammar school. He retained this position for but one year the promise of a commercial career appealing to him with force, and he entered the clothing store of Rannells & Dunham; the senior member of this firm being his brother, William 11., who presently purchased his partner's interest in the store and was the sole owner, his brother retaining his position as clerk until 1889, in which year he bought a half interest in the store. Rannells Brothers continued this arrangement until 1894, Charles A, in that year buying his brother's interest, the latter retiring from business. From that time until in September, 1911, Charles A. Rannells conducted the popular clothing store alone and was very successful in his business operations. In the year last named he sold the store to the present owners, Champlain & Mitchell, and retired from the cares of an active business life. He oversees his fine farm of one hundred and thirty-eight acres on the outskirts of Wilmington. On September 6, 1882, Charles A. Rannells was united in marriage to Clora Kirk, who was born in Wilmington, this county, daughter of the late John M. Kirk, a former prominent attorney of Wilmington, and his wife, Emily Kirk, and to this union three children have been born, Edith, Sarah Wiley and Mary Emilie. Edith Rannells married Robert L Lewis, a brick manufacturer, of Athens, Ohio, and has two children. Allen Rannells and Robert Ellis. Sarah Wiley Rannells married Rendal 11 Terrell, a well-known young farmer of this county, and has two children, Charles David and Rendal Rannells. Mary Emilie Rannells is a student in the Wilmington high school. Mr. and Mrs. Rannells are members of the Walnut Street Christian church at Wilmington, Mr. Rannells serving the congregation of that church in the capacity of a deacon. He is a Republican and for years has taken a prominent part in the deliberations of the party managers in this county. For some time he served on. the city school board and has also given the public excellent service as a member of the city council. CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 551 Mr. Rannells is a prominent Mason, his blue lodge being No. 52, chapter, No. 63, council at Xenia, and commandery No. 37; and he is a past master, past high priest and past commander. Though retired from business life, Mr. Rannells :continues to take a warm interest in public affairs and no man in the county is more deeply concerned in civic advancement than he. His long connection with the commercial circles at the county seat gives force to his judgments, on local matters and his associates hold him in the highest confidence and regard. CALEB B. CLELAND. Caleb B. Cleland, who is descended from distinguished American families on both the paternal and maternal sides of his family and who himself is a prosperous farmer of Clark township, this county, where he owns a fine farm of one hundred and eighty acres, was born on January 5, 1849, near Blanchester, this county, the son of. James and Phoebe (Brown) Cleland, the former of whom was born near Weston, in Harrison county, West Virginia, on December 2, 1802, and the latter of whom was born at Plattsburg, New York, on July 5, 1869. They were married on September 16, 1827, and lived together for fifty-six years before death broke their union. James Cleland was the son of Larkin and Sarah (Philips) Cleland, the former born on August 23, 1778, and the latter on June 6, 1778. Larkin Cleland was a native probably of Harrison county, West Virginia. He purchased a military claim in West Virginia, but an older claimant appeared and Larkin was compelled to pay off the claim. Subsequently, another claimant appeared, and still another, after which he abandoned the claim and emigrated to the Hoosier state, settling near Sulphur Springs, in Henry county, where for many years he was engaged in farming, and where he and his wife died. They were the parents of ,ten children, of whom rJames, father of Caleb B., was the eldest. Eunice was born on June 11, 1804 ; Susanah, August 15, 1806; Ann, February 14, 1808; Sarah, January 27, 1810; Mary, July 22, 1812; John, the twin brother of Mary, July 22, 1812; Barbara, November 15, 1815; Maria Ann, September. 20, 1818, and Larkin P., September 11, 1820. The paternal grandparents of Caleb B. Cleland were Caleb and Mary (Adams) Brown, the former of whom was born on October 23, 1784, very probably near Plattsburg, New York. He was a manufacturer of nails in New York stale when nails were still headed by hand. He remained in New York state until about 1821, when he removed to Warren county, Ohio, and there engaged in farming, near •Goshen, until his death. He was a soldier in the War. of 1812. His wife was born near Plattsburg, New York, on April 17, 1788. They were married March 26, 1807, and had ten children, all now deceased, of whom Phoebe, the mother of Caleb B. Cleland, was the eldest. Elizabeth was born on April 28, 1811; Katherine, March 30, 1813; Melissa, April 8, 1815; Caroline, February 16, 1816 ; Sarah Ann,' October 4, 1818; Jane, September 22, 1820; Mordecai, April 27, 1822; Henry, November 13, 1824, and Martin, December 7, 1826. The late James Cleland received a limited education in the crude pioneer schools of the Old Dominion state, attending school in a log school house, which had a fire place at one end. He did not accompany his parents to Indiana, but remigrated to Warren county, Ohio, before his parents removed to Indiana. He was married in Warren county and purchased a farm three miles east of Blanchester, in Clinton county, about 1835. He first purchased one hundred acres of land, and gradually added to his original holdings until he owned one hundred and fifty acres, which he cleared and improved and on which he lived for nearly fifty years. He made a considerable .deposit of money which he applied on the purchase of his land by working in the neighboring grist-mill. In 1878 he retired to Martinsville, where he and his wife died. • They were the parents of eight children, of whom Caleb B., the subject of this sketch, was the youngest. The 552 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. others were Sarah, born on August 24, 1828; Mary, May 31, 1830; Larkin, December 19, 1832; Eliza Jane, October 2, 1834; Martha E., April 30, 1840; John H., January 23, 1844, and Susan, February 13, 1847. Of this family Caleb B. Cleland is the only living member. Mr. Cleland's mother was the daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Green) Brown, the former born on June 3, 1759, and the latter on August 7, 1761. They were married on August 28, 1781, and were the parents of ten children. Caleb B. Cleland was educated in the public schools of Marion township and taught school for six months. He then took up farming on the old home farm, where he lived for two years, at the end of which time he moved to a farm near Martinsville, this county, and has lived in that vicinity ever Since. Mr. Cleland first purchased eighty acres of land north of Martinsville, and lived on that farm for twenty-two years. Afterwards he purchased one hundred and eighty acres, one mile southeast of Martinsville, where he now lives. Caleb B. Cleland was married on March 8, 1870, to Nancy E. Urton, a native of Clinton county, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah (Smith) Tilton, to which union one child has been born, a son, Armasa, who married Chloe Moon, who was born near Martinsville, the daughter of Columbus and Susanah (Rhonemus) Moon. Armasa .Cleland and wife live with the former's parents and are the parents of two children, Lee M. and Ren S. The Cleland family are all members of the Friends church. Fraternally, Caleb B. Cleland is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM HENRY. Among the farmers of the last generation, who, by virtue of their strong individual qualities, wen their way to a high standing in the estimation of their fellow citizens, was the late William Henry, who, by sheer force of character and persistency, arose from an humble station to a place of influence and prominence in Union township. He is, therefore, entitled to special mention in this volume. The late William Henry was born near Harveysburg in Warren county, Ohio, January 31, 1838, and died on September 10, 1906. He was a son of John and Catherine (Stump) Henry, the former of whom was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1798 and who died in 1870, and the latter born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1805 and who 'died in 1887. John Henry when a young man came from Virginia to Ohio. His father was killed when John was a baby and he was reared by his aunt. After coming to Ohio, he settled in Warren county, where he finally owned a good farm near Harveysburg. In 1854 he sold the farm and purchased land in Union township, living there until his death. He and his wife were devout members of the Christian church. They had ten children, of whom, seven are deceased. The names of the children in the order of their births are as follow ; Daniel, who lives in Wilmington; William, the subject of this sketch; Jonas and John, who lived with their mother and both now deceased; Tilby, who married William Fisher and lives near Port William, Ohio ; Retta, deceased, who married Quince Harris; Liddy Jones, who died unmarried; Frances, who married James Fisher and lives in Wilmington ; Reese, who lived with his mother and who died unmarried, and Joshua, who was twice married and is deceased. The late William Henry was educated in the public schools of Warren county and was sixteen years old when his parents moved to Clinton county. Here he attended the Dutch district school. Owning fifty acres of land in Greene county, he lived there for two sears and then purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Union town ship, selling the Greene county farm. He lived on the Union township farm until CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 553 1893, when he retired and moved to New Vienna. There he remained for eighteen months, but was unable to withstand the complete remission of toil and purchased one hundred and eighteen acres of the Bruce Sprague farm on the east edge of Union township, where he died. Mrs. William Henry had a birthright in the Friends church and fifteen years after their marriage, Mr. Henry joined the Friends church. He was a Democrat in politics but voted the Prohibition ticket during the later years of his life. He was pre-eminent as a stock breeder in this county and was well known for the excellent breed of his horses. On April 1, 1869, the late William Henry was married to Julia A. Pidgeon, who was born on May 27, 1838, in Guilford county North Carolina, near Highpoint and fifteen miles from Greensboro, the county seat. Mrs. Henry is the daughter of Charles and Catherine (Horney) Pidgeon, the former of whom was born on March 1, 1806, and who died on July 26, 1898, and the latter born on September 23, 1810, and who died on December 27, 1886. Both were natives of Stokes county, North Carolina. Isaac Pidgeon, who was the paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Henry, was a very strict Quaker. About 1740 he immigrated to Chowan county, North Carolina, from Ireland, because of religious persecution. He was a millwright by trade and owned three different mills during his life, the last one on "Rich Fork." Although he lived in America during the Revolutionary War, fie was not called upon to serve, since he was a member of the Quaker church. His son, Charles Pidgeon, Sr., the grandfather of Mrs. Henry, was a farmer, blacksmith, mechanic, carpenter and home physician; in fact, he was an all-around genius. He was a strict Quaker, and died in 1854. His wife was Elizabeth Crews, to whom he was married on November 11, 1789. She was a native of Virginia and died in the early forties. They were the parents of twelve children. Mrs. Henry's father, Charles Pidgeon, Jr., grew up in Stokes county, North Carolina, and early in life located in Guilford county, where, at the breaking out of the Civil War, he owned five hundred acres of land on Deep river. He was an industrious man and a successful financier with the able assistance of his good wife. There were many tenant houses on his farm but he kept no slaves and was opposed to slavery. Charles Pidgeon, Jr., and Catherine Horney were married on October 8, 1829. They made a great deal of money before railroads were built, hauling merchandise from the region where they lived to distant markets, such as Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Camden, South Carolina. They had a six-horse Wagon and hauled dry goods and groceries on return trips. At the beginning of the Civil War, Charles Pidgeon, Jr., was a northern sympathizer. He was strongly opposed to slavery and was anxious to get his sons away so they could avoid service in the Confederate army. In the spring of 1861 he sold off all of his stock and farm implements with the intention of moving to Ohio. The southerners objected to his leaving and sent a troop of soldiers to attend the sale but the soldiers were treated to a splendid chicken dinner and did not interfere with the sale. However, the trip to Ohio was delayed until the fall of 1861, when after the rebels' success at the first battle of Bull Run, it was thought the war would soon end victoriously for the South and the departure of the Pidgeons would make little difference. They started with three wagons, a carriage and a buggy and some live stock. With his family were two other families. A son, John Pidgeon, and his family, his sister, Emily and her family, made the trip north by the steam road, the remainder of the family coming by wagon. Charles Pidgeon, Jr., had sold his whole five hundred acres in North Carolina for less than would be required today to buy a small farm in Ohio. On the way north, the family encountered a horse trader, who engaged in buying horses in Ohio for the Southern army. He told Mr. Pidgeon it would 554 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. be impossible to get out through the Cumberland Gap, as it was guarded and the armies would let no one past. However, it was pointed out that the trip might be effected by the way of the Big Sandy river. Eventually, the family escaped to Ohio by this perilous route and settled in Clinton county. The first year they rented a farm where Henry Pidgeon now lives in Union township and which later Charles Pidgeon purchased. The next year they rented a farm in the Dover neighborhood and then rented a farm for the next five years near New Vienna. At the end of this time, Charles Pidgeon purchased the farm in Union township which he had first rented on coming, to Ohio. He lived on this two-hundred-acre farm until his death, his sons working hard in the meantime to pay for it. During all of this period he and his wife were regular attendants of the meetings of the Friends church; they were rather strict in their views. He was a pronounced Abolitionist and was not afraid to speak his mind, even when living in the south. At this time in his life he was a Republican but he later became a member of the Prohibition party. Mrs. Henry was one of twelve children born to her parents, as follow : Emily, who married John Briggs and died at the age of thirty-nine; Mary, who married Walter Cammack and lives in Virginia ; John, who married Caroline Thompson, and who is a Quaker minister at Orchard Grove, Ohio ; Hannah, who married William Charles and both now deceased; Julia A., the widow of Mr. Henry; Samuel, who is a school teacher and farmer of Jamestown, Ohio; David, who lives in California; Jeffrey, who died in infancy; Charles Addison, who was a school teacher and died unmarried at the age of twenty-six ; Henry, who is a farmer in Union— township; Cornelia, who married Bruce Sprague, of Union township, and Louisa, who married Aden Starbuck. To Mr. and Mrs. William Henry were born three children: Charles A., January 22, 1870, who is a farmer of Union township and who married Margaret Vandervort; Junius Avery, December 29, 1871, who is a farmer of Union township and who married Augusta Fisher; and William A., November 9, 1876, who lived with his mother and died on September 20, 1909. Mrs. Henry lives on the farm in Union township near Haus Chapel. She is an ardent member of the Friends church at Wilmington, Ohio, and a highly respected and well-known woman of Clinton county, refined, educated and capable. EVERETT J. CAST. Member of a family that has been well known in this county since pioneer days, both his father and his mother having been born in this county, their parents having been among the early settlers here, the subject of this brief and modest biographical sketch has a wide acquaintance throughout the county and is held in the highest regard by all who know him Everett J. Cast was born in Vernon township, Clinton county, Ohio, on September 17, 1876, son of James A. and Amanda D. (McKibben) Cast, both natives of this county, the former of whom was born in Vernon township and the latter of whom was born in Washington township. James Cast was the son of James and Susan (Villars) Cast, both natives of Vernon township. the latter of whom recently died at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. James Cast, Sr., was a farmer of Vernon township, and died at the age of thirty-six, leaving a widow with five children. One of their sons, John Wesley Cast, served his country valiantly during the Civil War as a soldier attached to one of the Ohio regiments. James Cast, Jr., received his education in the district school near the paternal farm and was reared as a farmer, a vocation which he followed all his life. He married Amanda D. McKibben, daughter of Josiah and Eleanor McKibben, members of well-known families in this county, to which union three children were born, Everett I., the CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 555 immediate subject of this sketch, Bertha and Herman. James Cast's farming operations, with the exception of about fifteen years that he lived in Illinois, were carried on both in Washington and Clark township. Both Mr. and Mrs. Clark died in Clark township. He and his wife were members of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. Everett J. Cast was reared in Washington township, his education being received in the district schools of that township, and he began his farming operations early in his young manhood and ever since has been a practical farmer. In 1907 he bought the farm of fifty-two acres on which he is now living, in Washington township, and has improved the same greatly, having completely remodeled the house and made other extensive Improvements. He gives careful attention to the details of his work and is doing well. In 1902 Everett J. Cast was united in marriage to Chlora Turner, who was born in Clark township, this county, daughter of W. E. and Emma (Ford) Turner, the former of whom is the son of Andrew Jackson Turner, the son of Daniel Turner, a prominent pioneer of Clinton county, who 'is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Andrew Jackson Turner was a well-known farmer of Clark township, who came with his father from Clermont county, his wife, who was Serephina Potter, also having been a native of this latter county. Mr. and Mrs. Cast have many friends in the neighborhood in which they live and take an active part in the life of that community. Mr. Cast is a member of the lodge of Odd Fellows and is popular with the members of that fraternity. He is a good citizen and loyal neighbor, who is doing well his part in the world's work. ERNEST R. HAZARD. Ernest R. Hazard, a well-known young citizen of Martinsville, this county, who is the proprietor of a lumber, feed and coal yard at that place, was formerly an officer in the Philippine constabulary and saw extensive service in the Philippine Islands and elsewhere. Ernest R. Hazard was born in Wilmington, this county, on May 24, 1880, the son of Jonas Seth and Mary (Buntain) Hazard, the former of whom was born near Sligo, this county, and the latter of whom was the daughter of William and Susanna (Jenkins) Buntain. Jonas S. Hazard is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Wells) Hazard, natives of Union township, this county, and Douglas county, Illinois, respectively. Henry Hazard was educated in the common schools of Union township and became a carpenter and miller by trade. He was also a bridge builder and constructed the bridge across the Scioto river. He owned a grist-mill and saw-mill in Adams township and died at Ogden. To Henry and Elizabeth Hazard were born nine children, Robert F., John W., Allen S., Jonas Seth, Calvin H., Sarah S., James R., Bijah T. and Caleb H. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Jonas Seth Hazard, the father of Ernest R., who was born on January 9, 1850, near Sligo, in Adams township, this county, was educated in the common schools of Adams township and has been a farmer and carpenter all of his life. For forty-five years, he worked at the carpenter's trade but retired from contract carpentering in 1911. During his active career he did much of the building in Wilmington, having moved to that place about 1880. In 1912 he purchased sixty-two acres of land in Adams township, but 'rents the farm. He married Mary Buntain, the daughter of William and Susanna (Jenkins) Buntain, to which union were born two children, Belle Boyd, who married Launtie Hadley, and Ernest R., the subject of this sketch. The Hazard family are members of the Friends church and Jonas S. Hazard votes the Republican ticket. Educated in the public schools of Wilmington, Ernest R. Hazard worked for a short time at the tinner's trade. When he was seventeen years old, he went to Palestine, Illinois, and after being there for six months, enlisted in Battery E, Sixth United States Artillery on March 21, 1898. After serving for three years he was discharged in the 556 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. Philippine Islands. Afterward he served about three months on the Metropolitan police force of Manila, resigning to accept the position as overseer of the yard watchmen of the Manila & Dagupan railway at Caloocan, Philippine Islands. After holding this position for about three months, he became a member of the Philippines constabulary, accepting a commission as second lieutenant and inspector of the constabulary. He held this position for about one year and later became first lieutenant. In 1906 he returned to the United States and engaged in the restaurant business at Wilmington for four years. In 1910 he sold out, moved to Martinsville, where he bought an established lumber, feed and coal yard, which he now owns and manages. On June 30, 1907, Ernest R. Hazard was married to Pearl Certain, of Wilmington, the daughter of D. M. and Luellen (Gallaher) Certain, of that city, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Mary Ellen. Fraternally, Ernest R. Hazard is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. and Mrs. Hazard are members of the Friends church. Mr. Hazard recently has built a fine modern home on College Heights at Martinsville, and he and his family are very comfortably and pleasantly situated there. They are held in high regard throughout that section of the county, and enjoy the respect and esteem of all who know them. ALFRED SPRAGUE. Among the most extensive farmers of Richland township, this county, is Alfred Sprague, a pleasant, cordial and genial-natured man who is entirely unassuming and modest withal. He and his daughter, Eva, own nine hundred acres of land in Richland township and is one of the most successful farmers in this section of Ohio. This success, in a large measure, is due to his tireless energy, his careful mastery of details and exceptional executive ability. He knows the farm, its varied and diverse aspects and he applies his intelligence to the details of management. Alfred Sprague was born on June 8, 1858, in Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, the son of William H. and Caroline (Drake) Sprague, both natives of New York state, the former of whom was born on February 22, 1823, and died on May 9, 1884, the latter born on September 22, 1829, the daughter of Randolph and Elizabeth Drake, also now deceased. William H. Sprague was the son of John Sprague, a native of New York state, who was a farmer and, oyster fisherman, living in the eastern part of the state, the father of eight children, Joseph, James, Alfred, John, Jane, Mary Jane, Susannah and William H. The late William H. Sprague, the youngest child in this family and the father of Alfred, was educated in the public schools of New York state and came to Ohio in 1854, locating on a farm in Clinton county. Before coming, to Ohio, he had been engaged in water transportation, but after coming to this state engaged in farming and followed this occupation the- remainder of his life, owning a small, but well-kept farm of seventy-five acres. Alfred Sprague. the son of William H. and Caroline Sprague, was one of eight children born to his parents, the others being as- follow : James A., born on November 3, 1847, who married Mary E. Bogue ; George B., September 22, 1849, who married Catherine Pidgeon; Theodocia, December 15, 1852, who became the wife of Isaac Wood; John R., June 17, 1855, who married Emma Hall; Mary E., April 17, 1861, who is the wife of Orval Moore; Henry C., February 14, 1867; and Drucilla, August 19, 1870, who died on April 18, 1888. William H. Sprague was a Republican in politics. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant church and their children were reared in that faith. Alfred Sprague was educated in the common schools of Clinton Station and began farming with his father when a very- young man. In 1881 he moved to Richland township and has lived on a farm in that township ever since, engaging in general farming CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 557 and stock raising, being an extensive breeder of large type Poland China hogs. During late years, he has erected a number of buildings on the various farms which he owns and is continually engaged in improving his land. The excellent stone quarry on his land is known as the Sprague quarry. On March 23, 1881, Alfred Sprague was married to Rosa V. Vaniman, who was born on July 3, 1854, and who died on February 6, 1900. She was the daughter of Elias and Eva (Early) Vaniman, the former of whom was born on June 20, 1823, and the latter on November 3, 1826. To Mr. and Mrs. Sprague one child was born, a daughter, Eva, born on June 13, 1885, who married Philip Ellis, and has one child, Alfred Wheeler, born in January, 1912. Mr. Sprague has a beautiful country home on the Wilmington and Washington pike. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant church and has been a steward in the church and trustee. Politically, he is a Republican. WILLIAM CAREY. The late William Carey, who was a prosperous farmer of Clark township, was barn in Penn township, Highland county, Ohio, January 5, 1830, and died on March 6, 1908. He was a son of Elias and Margaret (Hussey) Carey, the latter of whom was a native of Highland county. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Carey was Samuel Carey. The late William Carey received a limited education in the common schools of Highland county, and took up farming as a vocation in life. In the spring of 1900 he moved to Clinton county, Ohio, and settled in Clark township, where his widow, now lives. He purchased seventy acres of land and here he lived until his death in 1908. William Carey was married on November 23, 1854, to Almira Conard, a sister of Doctor Conard, whose sketch is presented elsewhere in this volume. To this union were born ten children, as follow: Spencer, the first born ; Alonzo W., who lives in Oklahoma; Eliza R., who lives in Dayton, Ohio ; Mary A., of Highland comity, Ohio; Margaret 17., of Muncie, Indiana; Lena C., of Dayton, Ohio ; B. C., of Careytown, Ohio ; Martha E., deceased ; Almira C. and W. Ernest. For generations back the Carey family have been prominent members of the Society of Friends. and in the various communities where they have lived they have been leaders in the religious life of this church. William Carey was a successful man, a good farmer, a kind and devoted father and loving husband. His loss was keenly felt, not only by the various members of his family and his beloved wife, with whom he lived so long and happily, but by his neighbors and friends and all those with whom he came in contact. WALTER I. MOON. Among the well-known farmers of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, is Walter) I. Moon, a native of this township, born on July 24, 1860, and a son of John W. and Jemima F. (Moore) Moon, the former of whom was born on the old home farm northwest of where Walter I. now lives, the latter of whom was born near Cuba. The paternal grandparents were Isaac and Edna (Smithson) Moon, and the paternal great-grandparents were Samuel and Martha (Ruth) Moon. The former were early settlers in Clinton county. The maternal grandparents were Micajah and Rebecca (McGee) Moore, the former of whom was an early settler near Cuba, and the latter of whom Came with her parents, early in the history of Clinton county, to Clarksville. They were pioneer farmers. John W. Moon was educated in the public schools of Clinton county, and was a grain and stock buyer in Farmers Station and at Lynchburg and Martinsville for many years. He is now retired and living at Burtonville. He had one hundred and forty acres of 558 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. land in this county, but has now sold out and is living retired. Of the seven children born to John W. and Jemima F. (Moore) Moon, two are deceased. Walter I. Moon was educated in the public schools of Clark township, and, engaged in farming upon attaining maturity. He owns sixty-six acres of land and is engaged. in general farming near Martinsville. Mr. Moon's farm has been greatly improved since he purchased it. Walter I. Moon was married on September 17, 1881, to Rebecca Garner, who was born on December 28, 1864, a native of. Clark township and a daughter of Silas. Garner. Silas Garner was a son of Joseph Garner. Joseph was the son of James, and Mary (Moon) Garner. James Garner was the son of John Fusha Garner. Mary Moon was the daughter of Joseph Moon. Mr. and Mrs. Walter I. Moon have had two children, Ralph 11. and Blanche. Ralph H. married Susie Grindel of Greene county, and they have three children, Morris Melvin, Alice Bell and Helen Ester. Blanche married L. 0. Preston, of Farmers Station, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Walter I. Moon are members of the Universalist church. Mr. Moon is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. WILLIAM K. RUBLE, M. D. Dr. William K. Ruble, who for many years has been engaged in, the practice of medicine at Martinsville, Ohio, is truly a self-made man. An early school teacher in Highland county, he is practically self-educated, although for some time a student at the Valparaiso Normal School and later a graduate of the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati. Dr. Ruble, in the earlier years of his practice, was a voluminous writer and today is remembered throughout the country for an article written in 1894 on tuberculosis, an article which attracted nation-wide comment. Like most country boys, while not in school, he worked earnestly and long on the farm. Having studied patiently while working on the farm, he received a certificate to teach school and taught his first term of school before he was sixteen years old, in the old subscription school for which he received sixty dollars for three months' school. William K. Ruble, of Martinsville, Clinton county, Ohio, was born at Taylorsville, in Highland county, June 11, 1862, the son of George A. and Deborah Ann (Davidson) Ruble, both of whom were natives of Highland county and both of whom lived and died in that county. The father was a soldier in the Eighty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War and came out of the service very much afflicted with rheumatism. Doctor Ruble's paternal grandfather was John Ruble, of Virginia. He was a pioneer in Highland county and it is an interesting fact that the first church in White Mk township, Highland county, was erected on John Ruble's farm. He was a pioneer physician and preacher of the Christian church. He entered one hundred acres of land, became a successful farmer and had the first check lines used in Highland county. Doctor Ruble's maternal grandparents were John and Amelia (Kibler) Davidson, of German descent and natives of either Pennsylvania or Virginia. They were pioneer farmers in. White Oak township, Highland county. William K. Ruble was educated in the public schools of Highland county, at Valparaiso Normal. School and at the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati. He taught two spring terms and three winter terms of school. He was graduated from the medical college on June 3, 1890. After graduating from college, he came immediately to Martinsville and has been practicing his profession here for a period now of a quarter of a century. Before entering medical college, he had studied medicine under Dr. M. F. Funk, of Mowrystown, Ohio, also Doctor Guertin, of Mowrystown, Ohio. Doctor Ruble took a six months' special course in eye, ear, nose and throat under Dr. Melvin McPheron, of Cincinnati. Dr. William K. Ruble was married on December 27, 1888, to Louise Roberts, of CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 559 Highland county, and to them was born one daughter, Bessie G. Louie (Roberts) Ruble died on July 30, 1910. Doctor Ruble was married, secondly, on December 24, 1912, to Stella West, of Wilmington, Ohio. Few men are more prominent in fraternal circles in Clinton county than Dr. William K. Ruble. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is also a member of the Clinton County Medical Society, the Ohio State Eclectic Society and the National Medical Association. For many years, he was a member of the Clinton county pension examining board. In 1912 Doctor Ruble was elected a permanent member of National Eclectic Medical Society, conferred at Washington, D. C. JOSEPH HIXSON. Among the venerable citizens and enterprising farmers of Clark township, is Joseph, Hixson, who was born a little north of Leesburg in Highland county, Ohio, December 17, 1837, the son of John and Nancy (Hull) Hixson. The former was born in 1812 in Ross county, Ohio, and the latter in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1813. They moved to Jefferson township. Clinton county, Ohio, in 1852. The paternal grandparents of Joseph Hixson were Joseph and Charlotte Hixson, who emigrated from thc Old Dominion state to Ross county, Ohio, and later to Highland county, where the paternal grandfather died. The maternal grandparents of Mr Hixson were William and Sarah (Weiniger) Hull, natives of Rockbridge county, Virginia, who located at Greenfield, Highland county, Ohio, in 1816. After the death of the maternal grandfather his wife came to Jefferson township, Clinton county. They were farmers by occupation. John Hixson was a farmer by occupation, who moved from Ross to Highland county, Ohio, some time before 1851 and in that year moved to Iowa. In the spring of 1852 he returned to this state and located in Jefferson township, Clinton county, where, for forty years, he was engaged in the live stock business and owned the hundred acres of land in Jefferson township. His wife died in Jefferson township. John Hixson could scarcely, read and write but, nevertheless, he was a man of remarkable business ability and made, a tremendous success as a farmer. To John and Nancy Hixson were born nine children: Albert L, Joseph, Catherine, C. E., Isaac, Sarah E., John A., C. C. and Mary Jane, Another child, a twin brother of Isaac, died in infancy. Of these children, Albert L, C. E. and Isaac were soldiers in the Civil War. C. E. Hixson was the first volunteer, from Jefferson township John ,Hixson and his son, Joseph, the subject of this sketch, were identified with the "squirrel hunters" during the Civil War, the father being a second lieutenant in this organization. Joseph Hixson is the only member of his father's family now living. All except two members of the family are buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery, at Westboro, Clinton county, Ohio. Joseph Hixson was reared to maturity on his father's farm. In the spring of 1870 he moved to a farm on the Martinsville and Westboro pike, two miles south of Martinsville. Formerly, he was an extensive stock breeder and made a specialty of raising Poland China hogs and Cotswold sheep. At the present time, he owns three hundred acres of land, all of which is in Clark township, with the exception of eighty acres, which is in Jefferson township. On December 24, 1862, Joseph Hixson was married to Emily J. Johnson, a native of Jefferson township, born on September 29, 1842, and the daughter of Thomas B. and Elizabeth Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Hixson have been the parents of five children, one of whom, Frederick N., who was born in September, 1866, died on April 15, 1877. The, living children are: Thomas W., born on December 16, 1863; Frank H., August 13, 1866;, 560 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. Caleb L., September 14, 1873; and Carl, May 25, 1879. Mrs. Emily (Johnson) Hixson died on May 24, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Hixson are members of the Society of Friends and Mr. Hixson has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since some time before the Civil War. In the old days he served several years as trustee of Clark township. He was a commissioner of the Martinsville and Westboro free pike. Mr. Hixson is identified with the Republican party. JOHN GRIM. John Grim is a well-known farmer of Marion township, this county. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, November 22, 1849, the son of Joshua and Matilda (Worthington) Grim, both natives of Highland county, the former born on August 3, 1821, and the latter, June 15, 1821. Mr. Grim's paternal grandparents were John and Rebecca Grim, who came from Virginia to Ohio in pioneer times, locating in Highland county, though both died in the state of Iowa. The maternal grandfather was Ephraim Worthington, an early settler in Highland county, where he and his wife died. Mr. Grim's father, Joshua Grim, was a soldier in the Civil War, a farmer by occupation, and a prominent Republican. His death occurred in Kansas on September 16, 1867. His wife had passed away several years previously, December 17, 1860. They were the parents of eight children, Nancy, Ephraim, Mary, John, Edward, Hugh, Thomas and Margaret. John Grim was reared on the farm and was educated in the public schools of Highland county. Since the time he first began to plan his own career, he has made his own fortunes unaided. At one time he owned a farm in Highland county, and lived in that county for some time when he bought and sold land until September, 1906, when he came to Clinton county and purchased two farms in Marion township, one of seventy-two acres and one of eighteen acres, which adjoin each other. Mr. Grim's land is located one mile south of Blanchester, and there he carries on a general farming and stock raising and is an extensive feeder of live stock. On July 22, 1875, John Grim was married to Martha J. Cowman, who was born in Highland county, Ohio, April 30, 1855, daughter of Alexander and Mary W. (Johnson) Cowman. Mrs. Grim's father died in 1873, and her Mother is still living at the age of seventy-nine, having been born on August 4, 1836. John Grim and wife, are the parents of the children, Harry, Elsie, Pearl, Ethel and Damon, all of whom are living. Mrs. John Grim is the second born in a family of nine children, the others being John Watkins, Silas R., Lowery Alexander, Elmer, James 0., Ina Lelia, Jessie K. and Mary V., all of whom are living, with the exception of John Watkins, Lelia and Jessie K. Her paternal grandparents were John and Jane (McCorkle) Cowman, both natives of Virginia and early settlers in Highland county, where both died. Mrs. Grim's maternal grandparents were Watkins and Jane (McCoy) Johnson, also early settlers of Highland county. Politically, Mr. Grim is a Republican, but has never taken a very active part in political life, owing to the fact that his extensive agricultural interests have demanded all his time and attention. He is however, deeply interested in all worthy public movements. Mr. and Mrs. Grim are members of the Friends church and take an active interest in the affairs of that denomination. CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 561 HON. MATTHEW ROMBACH DENVER. On the shortest day in the year December 21, 1870, Matthew Rombach Denver opened his eyes on this world in the old homestead in Wilmington, Ohio, the fourth child and second son of Gen. James W. and Louise C. (Rombach) Denver. Here he lived, surrounded by a family composed of parents, grandparents, brother and sisters, and attended the public schools of the town. From the maternal grandfather, Matthew Rombach, organizer and president of the Clinton County Nalional Bank, farmer, and prominent in promoting the various activities of his town and county, the grandson inherited his business acumen and sound judgment. His father, Gen. James W. Denver, whose history is inseparable from the development of our western plains and Pacific slope, and whose name must always endure in the city which bears it as the gateway to the Golden Wcst, came from a long line of ancestors who traced their origin to Roland D'Anvers, one of William the Conqueror's knights, and one who always played an important part in patriotism, politics and achievement. These were the characteristics which lay dormant in the young man who received his Bachelor of Arts degree in June, 1891, from Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. His father had planned for the subject of this sketch a legal career, but fate ordered otherwise, and upon his graduation he accepted a position in the Clinton County National Bank, of which his grandfather was then president, and to which office he himself succeeded in 1903, at the same time managing the Rombach-Denver landed estates. Politics had been part of his early education in the family circle, where a keen interest was always manifest in all happenings at home or abroad, and it is not surprising that Mr. Denver took to it most naturally and early made his influence felt in the local activities of the Democratic party, serving for many years as the efficient chairman of the county executive committee. As in other affairs, his rise was rapid. In 1896 he served as a delegate to the national convention at Chicago ; in 1898 was a delegate-at-large from Ohio to the Democratic convention at Denver, and was also a delegate to the Baltimore convention in 1912, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for President. He served two terms each as member of both state and central executive committees. In 1906 he was elected to Congress from the sixth Ohio district and served three successive terms. His popularity was attested to by the fact that he was able to overcome the Republican majority, which no preceding Democratic candidate had been able to accomplish, and to serve more terms than any Republican congressman had had accorded him in this district during the three terms of his service. Mr. Denver's desire at all times was the greatest good he could accomplish for his constituents. The important committees on which he served and his good fellowship with his brother representatives speak well for his popularity, good judgment and mental balance. In addition to his duties as president of the Clinton County National Bank are the duties which devolve upon him as president of the Commercial Club, vice-president of the Irwin Auger Bit Company, vice-president of the Farquhar Furnace Company, director of the National Safety Snap Company, and several other industries. On the beautiful lands lying just beyond Wilmington grain and stock are raised. On October 24, 1900. Hon. Matthew R. Denver was married to Veda Slack, and to this union two daughters, Virginia and Kathryn, have been born. In whatever environment Mr. Denver is found he is always the considerate, genial, capable, forceful man, whose personality endears him to a host of friends and admirers. (36) 562 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. JARRET HUFFMAN Jarret Huffman is a prosperous farmer. of Jefferson township, and owns one hundred and eight acres of land, where he now lives. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, in 1861, the son of John and Nancy (Johnson) Huffman, natives of Adams county, Ohio, and Highland county, respectively. The paternal grandfather of Jarret Huffman was Humphry Huffman, a native of the Old Dominion state and an early settler in Ohio. He was a farmer in Highland county and died on his farm. Late in life he moved to Illinois and his wife died while they were making the journey to that state. Later he returned to Ohio. Mr. Huffman's maternal grandparents were early settlers in Highland county, Ohio. His maternal great-grandfather, Jerod Hopkins, was a native of Maine and an early settler in Highland county. John Huffman, the father of Jarret, was educated in the pioneer schools of the Buckeye state, when greased paper was used in log cabins for windows. He became a farmer and followed this occupation in Highland county and later in Clinton county. In 1888 he located near Sabina and later moved to a farm near Westboro. Still later he returned to Sabina and died near that town. His widow is still living. He was a soldier in the Civil War and he and his wife had a family of eleven children. Jarret Huffman, who was educated in Highland county, Ohio, worked by the month before his marriage and three years after his marriage. In 1907 he purchased twenty-one acres of land near Sabina, but later sold that tract and purchased fifty acres near Westboro. He then purchased one hundred and eight acres in Jefferson township, where he now lives. After buying the last tract, he disposed of the fifty acres near Westboro. Mr. Huffman is engaged in general farming. In April, 1886, Jarret Huffman was married to Esther Carter, who was born near Sabina, the daughter of John Millican Carter, a farmer of Wilson township, and to this union five children have been born, Leotis, Ethel Maude, Verna Clinton, Cora Esther and Stella Florence. The Huffman family are members of the Friends church and take an active interest in church work. They are a highly, respected family in the neighborhood where they live. L. H. TRIBBET. L. H. Tribbet, now a well-known and successful farmer of Jefferson township, this county, was born on August 8, 1849, in Fayette county, Ohio, the son of James and Elizabeth Ann (Dick) Tribbet, the former a native of Ross county, Ohio, and the latter, of West Virginia. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Tribbet was Joseph Tribbet, who emigrated to Ohio in pioneer times, and from Ohio to Iowa, where he died. His removal to Iowa followed the death of his wife, when he went to the Hawkeye state to bring back with him his sister, who was to return as his housekeeper. The maternal, grandfather of Mr. Tribbet was John Dick, a native of West Virginia, who emigrated from West Virginia to Wabash, Indiana, where he engaged in farming and where he died. Of Mr. Tribbet's father, James Tribbet, it may be said that he was left an orphan at a tender age and was reared by friends of the family in Ross county, Ohio, and later in Payette and still later in. Highland county. Subsequently, he came to Clinton county, and, in 1880, located within one and one-half miles of Westboro, where he followed farming. James and Elizabeth Ann Tribbet were the parents of eight children, Mary Jane, John 0., Lemuel, Glendora, Dr. Clayton A., James M., Elsworth, and Elmer. L. H. Tribbet was educated in the public schools of Highland county, and remained there until twenty-four years old, being engaged in farming. At the age of twenty-four, he removed to Iowa, where for two years he worked as a teamster. From Iowa he returned to Highland 'county and began farming, remaining there until 1881, when he CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 563 purchased sixty acres of land in Jefferson township, this county, and there he has since lived. Mr. Tribbet was married first, November 9, 1876, to Lizzie Murray of Ross county, Ohio, who bore him two children, Harriet and Mary. Mr. Tribbet married, secondly, Mrs. Mabel (Graham) Ramsey. who has borne him one child, Myrtle Jean. Mr. and Mrs. Tribbet are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, Mr. Tribbet is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed through all the chairs of that lodge. BURGESS J. MOON. Among the successful teachers of Clinton county, Ohio, is Burgess J. Moon, who was born on the farm where he now lives in Clark township, August 21, 1878, the son of David S. and Ruth (Rhonemus) Moon. The father was born at Farmers Station but was brought to the farm, where his son Burgess J. now lives, in infancy. Mr. Moon's mother was born near Westboro in Jefferson township. The paternal grandparents of Burgess J. Moon were Simeon and Priscilla (Sewell) Moon, the former of whom was born on the farm where his grandson now lives and who lived and died on this farm. Simeon Moon was born on February 23, 1820, and was married on March 24, 1842, to Priscilla Sewell. Five children were born to this marriage: Samuel M., who was born on February 3, 1843; David S., May 28, 1845; Jefferson, November 3, 1848; and Franklin, May 1, 1851. The parents of Simeon Moon were Samuel and Martha (Routh) Moon, the former of whom was born on April 17, 1781, and the latter born on March 5, 1781. They were married in Tennessee, November 5, 1801, and in 1808 came to Clark township. Samuel Moon died on March 25, 1846, at the age of sixty-five and his wife on February 19, 1852, in her seventy-first year. Ruth Rhonemus, the mother of Burgess J. Moon, who was married to David S. Moon, September 2, 1877, was born in Jefferson township, March 21, 1850. She was the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Thornhill) Rhonemus, the former of whom was born about one mile southwest of Cuba, on a farm now owned by the widow of William Riley Brown, and the latter of whom was born about two miles west of Martinsville on the farm where Roy Hunter now lives. Mary Thornhill was the daughter of Barnett and Ruth (Jones) Thornhill, natives of Knox county, Tennessee, who settled near Martinsville. They were among the pioneer farmers of Clinton county. Jacob Rhonemus and his wife spent most of their married life on one hundred and forty acres of land, three and one-half miles east of Westboro. He was a soldier in the Civil War and served in the Eighty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Jacob Rhonemus was the son of Jacob, Sr., and Hannah Sophia (Cluster) Rhonemus, natives of Virginia and Adams county, Ohio, respectively. They settled near Centerville in Clinton county. Jacob Rhonemus, Sr., was a soldier in the War of 1812 and a farmer by occupation. He died at the age of forty-five years, after immigrating to Clinton county. David S. Moon was educated in the public schools, familiarly known as "Greasy Creek." He lived and died on the farm which his son and sister now own. Six years, however, were spent in Westboro. Burgess J. is one of two children born to his parents, the other being Delilah, who was born near Westboro, December 31, 1886. Burgess J. Moon was educated in the New Vienna high school and at Miami University. From 1902 until 1908, he taught in Clark township and in 19134914, he taught in the Washington township schools at Morrisville. Aside from his experience in the schoolroom, he is a farmer and specializes in breeding hogs. Mr. Moon is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Eastern Star. Formerly, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias. At the present time he is a clerk of the Farmers Station special school board. 564 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. ALBERT I. BAILEY. Commerce and banking in this county have a trustworthy representative in Albert I. Bailey, vice-president of the Clinton County National Bank, and president of two of its largest manufacturing concerns. Gifted with initiative, energy and will-power, Mr.. Bailey has made a distinct success of his numerous undertakings and is regarded as one of the most substantial factors in the general development of the community. On a farm near Dover, four miles from Wilmington, Albert I. Bailey began life on June 15, 1846, his birthplace being the same as that of his father, Josiah Bailey. His mother, Mary (Jenkins) Bailey, was a Virginian by birth, coming, when a young woman, from Frederick county, a locality which has supplied this state with many of its pioneers. Josiah Bailey was born in the early days of 1818, and to the end of his uneventful, but useful life, he remained true to the principles of character and conduct laid down in the home of its his pious, God-fearing parents. One of these principles is the right to human freedom, and it was because of his deep convictions on this subject, that he joined the Abolitionist party at a time in its history when such action meant cruel criticism, and in many cases, social ostracism. In strange contrast to this organization, which was always ready to fight for its principles when necessary, was this man's loyal support of the doctrine of peace as promulgated by the. Friends church, of which both he and his good, devoted wife were members. He thus combined two characteristics usually considered antagonistic. This old patriarch, whose sturdy qualities undoubtedly descended to his son, who is the theme of this biography, passed to his reward in 1895, his faithful wife following him six years later. The two sisters of Albert I. were Hannah, born in Clinton county, who married David. A. Pigeon, and is now deceased, and her sister, Marianna, now Mrs. William A. Starbuck, living on the old farm homestead. There was nothing particularly eventful in the early days of Albert I. Bailey, for he lived the life of the farmer's boy, working, swimming, fishing and going to school. But he was fortunate in that his parents were, both willing and able to send him to college, and it was possible for him to enjoy two years at Earlham College, a Friends school, in Richmond, a quaint Quaker town of Indiana. On returning home Mr. Bailey remained until his twenty-eighth year, then said farewell to the old home and went (1874) to live at Wilmington, -he having already formed a partnership with Zimri and Jonathan Wall, started the first iron working factory, the Champion Bridge Works. As president of this industry, Mr. Bailey's influence is extensive. He is the only one of its original founders still connected with the company. The other manufacturing concern with which Mr. Bailey has been associated since its origin, is the Auger Bit Company. Besides these business interests, he is, also vice-president of the National Safety Snap Company, another important Wilmington enterprise. Another indication of his business standing in the community is the fact that he is vice-president of the Clinton County National Bank Mr. Bailey has retired from active participation in the affairs of the Champion Bridge and Manufacturing Company after a service of thirty years. Added to these business enterprises, is the care and management of his old home farm which he owns. The ceremony uniting Mr. Bailey in marriage to Mary E. Hussey, took place in September, 1871. His bride was the daughter of Stephen and Susana (Johnson) Hussey, who lived on a farm near Port William, Clinton county. No children have been born to this union. It seems that a man is never quite classified until we have his politics and religion,, for as 'a noted lawyer has said "Politics and religion were and are favorite topics, and have been since the world began. One of them has to do with transitory earth life, and the other, with hopes and doubts, desires and fears for another life when this is CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 565 done." Mr. Bailey has net only been a member of the Friends church, in which he was brought up from earliest childhood, but has been of constant service in its councils; and is at present a trustee. Although a Republican, he has never sought nor held office in the party, but his influence is, nevertheless, extensive. Something of Albert I. Bailey's standing and attainments as an individual may be gleaned from the fact that he is a thirty-second degree Mason. One of the interesting and inspiring experiences of which Mr. Bailey often refers to, is his travels in Europe, the Orient, Mexico, and Panama. During these travels he saw many famous and historic places and people. As might be supposed, from his religious training, Mr. Bailey has a very strong dislike for sham, hypocrisy and insincerity. Fair and candid, he expects to find these qualities in others, and is disappointed when they are missing. Truth and honor and justice are to him essential in all of the relations of life, and he believes these to be entirely in keeping with the public spirit which every citizen should possess. Although quiet and unpretentious in his own manner and mode of life, he is greatly interested in questions of public importance, and is lavish with both time and means in helping those movements which advance the betterment of local conditions and of the common cause of humanity. OTHO JOHNSON. Otho Johnson, a farmer of Clark township, and the owner of a farm of sixty acres, was born' on East Fork, in Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, in 1852, a son of Anderson and Judith Ann (Vance) Johnson, the former of whom was born in September, 1816, on the site where his son,. Otho, was later born. Judith Ann (Vance) Johnson, was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, born in 1828. She came to Clinton county at the age of six years with her parents, Jacob and Lucy Vance, the former of whom was a natives of Wurttemberg, Germany, but who settled in Lynchburg, Virginia, when a mere lad with his parents. Jacob Vance's son was a slave overseer before the Civil War. By trade Jacob Vance was a blacksmith, and after removing to Clinton county; Ohio, followed his trade until his death. His wife also died in this county. The paternal grandparents of Otho Johnson were Ashley and Sarah (Walker) Johnson, the latter of whom lived to the advanced age of one hundred and seven years. Both she and her husband were natives of North Carolina, and early settlers in Clark township, where he built a very fine home, and where he kept the very finest horses obtainable. During his day and generation there was little money in the country, and business was done largely on credit. On one occasion he was given credit for one dollar and seventy-five cents worth of nails because he rode a splendid horse. After he had purchased nails another man wanted credit for seventy-five cents' worth of nails, but he had no horse. The proprietor of the store asked him this question : "If you had a cleared field and a fence grown up in bushes, which way would you move the fence, out or in?" The man replied that he would move the fence out, whereupon be was given credit for the nails. Ashley Johnson located on the site where his grandson, Otho, was born. At that time, however, the land was covered with the virgin forests. He and his wife hewed Logs and erected their rude cabin in the wilderness. Deer and other wild game were plentiful in those days, and on one occasion he killed a panther, which was the last of these beasts killed in Clinton county. Ashley Johnson died at the age of eighty-five years. His son, Jeptha, referred to elsewhere in this volume, was a soldier in the Civil War, who saw very hard service in that great conflict. Anderson Johnson received a limited education in the early schools of Clinton county, and during his school days he lived entirely on cornbread for the noon lunch. He became a celebrated apiarist and lived on the old home farm until his death. He owned one hundred and twenty acres of land. Of the nine children born to Anderson 566 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. and Judith Ann (Vance) Johnson, three are still living. Jeptha, who was a soldier in the Civil War, was captured at Harper's Ferry and was paroled later and sent home. Otho Johnson was educated in the public schools of Clark township, and has always farmed on the place east of the old home farm, a place consisting of sixty acres. He has erected all the buildings on his farm with the exception of the barn and has made many other improvements since acquiring the place. In 1876 Otho Johnson was married to Matilda Stroup, of Dotson township, Highland county, Ohio, and to this union has been born one child, Carl Henry, who was born on June 2, 1878, and is a farmer in Clark township in this county. Carl H. Johnson was married in 1899 to Rosa Fox, and they have three children, Lillian, Mildred and Delmer. Mr. and Mrs. Otho Johnson and their family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they take a deep and active interest. GEORGE S. KING. George S. King, now a retired farmer of Clark township, this county, was born on April 27, 1848, in Clark township, the son of John R. and Catherine B. (West) King, the former of whom was born in 1816 in Virginia and the latter a native of this county. John R. King was the son of William and Nancy King, natives of Virginia,, who located in Clark township at an early date in the history of Clinton county, having come here about 1816. They bought timber and swamp land at low prices and farmed until their deaths. Catherine B. West was the daughter of Henry and Nancy (Terrell) West, who were pioneers in Clark township and descendants of old Virginia families, Henry West having been a well-known pioneer farmer. John R. King received a limited education in the schools of Clinton county and eventually acquired a part of the old home farm. He owned one hundred and thirty acres, but before his death divided the farm among his children and lived with them, both he and his wife spending their last days in the home of their son, George S., the subject of this sketch. They were the parents of six children, Nancy A., William IL Wyatt C., George S., E. Sanford and Sarah. William. A. and Wyatt C. King served in the Civil War. They were both wounded on the same day, July 20, 1863, at the battle of Peachtree creek, during the siege of Atlanta. Wyatt C. died in a few days, but William A. survived his wounds. They were soldiers in Company C, Seventy-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Of the other children, Nancy A. married John Shepherd, who served in the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and who was wounded by a sharpshooter. The parents of these children were members of the Universalist church. George S. King was educated in the schools of Clinton county and engaged in farming upon reaching maturity. He remained on the home farm until January, 1880, when he became assistant manager, under C. B. Kester, of the Farmers Station Joint Stock Company, which operated a general mercantile store. Mr. King held that position for three years, at the end of which time he returned to the farm, a tract of sixty-two acres, which he still owns, and which is a part of the old home place. He farmed actively until 1906, when he moved to Farmers Station and purchased Fred Clark's mercantile store at that place, operating the same until 1910, when he sold it to William Uible and has since lived retired. On December 25, 1871, George 8. King was married to Annette West, a native of Knox county, Illinois, daughter of George and Samantha (McMain) West, the former of whom was born in Clinton county on April 10, 1815, and the latter of whom was a native of Highland county, this state. Mrs, King's paternal grandparents, Henry and Nancy (Terrell) West, were both natives of Virginia. Her maternal grandparents, Enoch and Sarah McMain, were born near Hillsboro, but later moved to Knox county, Illinois, CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 567 where they engaged in farming and where they spent the rest of their lives. Mrs. King's father was educated in Clinton county and farmed here until his removal to Knox county, Illinois, where his wife died, after which he returned to Clinton county and spent his last days here. He and his wife were the parents of two children, Hortense A. and Mrs. King, both of whom were born in Illinois. Upon his return to Clinton county, George West purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Green and Clark townships. He later married Matilda A. Radcliff, to which union were born five children, E. B., Jennie, Elizabeth, Florence and Stella. George West was a member of the Universalist church. To George S. and Annette (West) King have been born two children, Leo F., who is engaged in the livery business at Blanchester, and Raymond, a farmer of Clark township. Mr. and Mrs. King are members of the Universalist church. Fraternally, Mr. King is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has served as school director and road supervisor and is regarded as one of the leading citizens of the Martinsville neighborhood, he and his family being held in high regard thereabout. ELIEL C. GREENE. Eliel C. Greene, who for more than half a century has been a farmer in Clinton county, but who before that was engaged in the confectionery and milk business in Cincinnati, was born in Martinsville, this county, on February 3, 1849, the son of John and Rhoda (Carey) Greene, the former a native of Clark township, this county, and the latter of Careytown, Highland county, Ohio. John Greene was the son of Robert and Mary (Jackson) Greene, natives of Grayson county, Virginia, who, about the year 1820, located in the vicinity of Martinsville, this county, where they purchased land and where they spent the rest of their lives. They were lifelong members< of the Friends church and prominent in all good works thereabout. Rhoda Carey was the daughter of Samuel and Anna (McPherson) Carey, natives of North Carolina, who emigrated from North Carolina to Virginia and from Virginia to Highland county, Ohio,' about 1820. Samuel Carey was a farmer and blacksmith until late in life, after which he lived with his children until his death at the age of ninety-two years. John Greene was educated in the county schools of Clinton county and in the Friends Academy at Martinsville. He became a farmer in Clark township, on a tract of seventy-five acres, to which he later added five acres, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of nine children. Eliel C. Greene was educated in the Martinsville high school and from the time he was eighteen years old until he was twenty-eight, was engaged in the confectionery and milli business in Cincinnati. Upon his marriage at the age of twenty-eight, he returned to the farm, and since that time has been farming. Mr. Greene owns one hundred and twenty-one acres and enjoys all the modern conveniences of country life. On March 29, 1879, Eliel C. Greene was married to Caroline Smith, who was born on a part of the farm where she now lives, the daughter of John R. and Mary Ann (Hunt) Smith, the latter of whom also was born on the same farm, and the former of whom was a native of Highland county, Ohio. John R. Smith was born on June 13, 1826, son of John and Sarah Smith. He was married, February 24, 1848, to Mary A. Hunt, and located on his father's farm, where he lived until the fall of 1865, at which time he moved to another farm. He was engaged in farming, stock raising and threshing, and brought the first steam thresher to this section of Ohio. His death occurred on September 20, 1878. He and his wife were the parents of four children : Sarah E., deceased; Arthur, born on January 1, 1852, who married Phebe Baker; Carrie, August 19. 1854, who married Mr. Greene, and Emma, March 18, 1861. Mr. Smith was a member of the Society of Friends, a member of the board of trustees of Clark township for 566 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. and Judith Ann (Vance) Johnson, three are still living. Jeptha, who was a soldier in the Civil War, was captured at Harper's Ferry and was paroled later and sent home. Otho Johnson was educated in the public schools of Clark township, and has always farmed on the place east of the old home farm, a place consisting of sixty acres. He has erected all the buildings on his farm with the exception of the barn and has made many other improvements since acquiring the place. In 1876 Otho Johnson was married to Matilda Stroup, of Dotson township, Highland county, Ohio, and to this union has been born one child, Carl Henry, who was born on June 2, 1878, and is a farmer in Clark township in this county. Carl H. Johnson was married in 1899 to Rosa Fox, and they have three children, Lillian, Mildred and Delmer. Mr. and Mrs. Otho Johnson and their family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they take a deep and active interest. GEORGE S. KING. George S. King, now a retired farmer of Clark township, this county, was born on April 27, 1848, in Clark township, the son of John R. and Catherine B. (West) King, the former of whom was born in 1816 in Virginia and the latter a native of this county. John R. King was the son of William and Nancy King, natives of Virginia, who located in Clark township at an early date in the history of Clinton county, having come here about 1816. They bought timber and swamp land at low prices and farmed until their deaths. Catherine B. West was the daughter of Henry and Nancy (Terrell) West, who were pioneers in Clark township and descendants of old Virginia families, Henry West having been a well-known pioneer farmer. John R. King received a limited education in the schools of Clinton county and eventually acquired a part of the old home farm. He owned one hundred and thirty acres, but before his death divided the farm among his children and lived with them, both he and his wife spending their last days in the home of their son, George S., the subject of this sketch. They were the parents of six children, Nancy A., William H., Wyatt C., George S., E. Sanford and Sarah. William A. and Wyatt C. King served in the Civil War. They were both wounded on the same day, July 20, 1863, at the battle of Peachtree creek, during the siege of Atlanta. Wyatt C. died in a few days, but William A. survived his wounds. They were soldiers in Company C, Seventy-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Of the other children, Nancy A. married John Shepherd, who served in the Thirty-ninth. Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and who was wounded by a sharpshooter. The parents of these children were members of the Universalist church. George S. King was educated in the schools of Clinton county and engaged in farming upon reaching maturity. He remained on the home farm until January, 1880, when he became assistant manager, under C. B. Kester, of the Farmers Station Joint Stock Company, which operated a general mercantile store. Mr. King held that position for three years, at the end of which time he returned to the farm, a tract of sixty-two acres, which he still owns, and which is a part of the old home place. He farmed actively until 1906. when he moved to Farmers Station and purchased Fred Clark's mercantile store at that place, operating the same until 1910, when he sold it to William Uible and has since lived retired. On December 25, 1871, George S. King was married to Annette West, a native of Knox county, Illinois, daughter of George and Samantha (McMain) West, the former of whom was born in Clinton county on April 10, 1815, and the latter of whom was a native of Highland county, this state. Mrs. King's paternal grandparents, Henry and Nancy (Terrell) West, were both natives of Virginia. Her maternal grandparents, Enoch and Sarah McMain, were born near Hillsboro, but later moved to Knox county, Illinois, CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 567 where they engaged in farming and where they spent the rest of their lives. Mrs. King's father was educated in Clinton county and farmed here until his removal to Knox county, Illinois, where his wife died, after which he returned to Clinton County and spent his last days here. He and his wife were the parents of two children, Hortense A. and Mrs. King, both of whom were born in Illinois. Upon his return to Clinton county, George West purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Green and Clark townships. He later married Matilda A. Radcliff, to which union were born five children, E. B., Jennie, Elizabeth, Florence and Stella. George West was a member of the Universalist church. To George S. and Annette (West) King have been born two children, Leo F., who is engaged in the livery business at Blanchester, and Raymond, a farmer of Clark township. Mr. and Mrs. King are members of the Universalist church. Fraternally, Mr. King is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has served as school director and road supervisor and is regarded as one of the leading citizens of the Martinsville neighborhood, he and his family being held in high regard thereabout. ELIEL C. GREENE. Eliel C. Greene, who for more than half a century has been a farmer in Clinton county, but who before that was engaged in the confectionery and milk business in Cincinnati, was born in Martinsville, this county, on February 3, 1849, the son of John and Rhoda (Carey) Greene, the former a native of Clark township, this county, and the latter of Careytown, Highland county, Ohio. John Greene was the son of Robert and Mary (Jackson) Greene, natives of Grayson county, Virginia, who, about the year 1820, located in the vicinity of Martinsville, this county, where they purchased land and where they spent the rest of their lives. They were lifelong members of the Friends church and prominent in all good works thereabout. Rhoda Carey was the daughter of Samuel and Anna (McPherson) Carey, natives of North Carolina, who emigrated from North Carolina to Virginia and from Virginia to Highland county, Ohio,' about 1820. Samuel Carey was a farmer and blacksmith until late in life, after which he lived with his children until his death at the age of ninety-two years. John Greene was educated in the county schools of Clinton county and in the Friends Academy at Martinsville. He became a farmer in Clark township, on a tract of seventy-five acres, to which he later added five acres, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of nine children. Eliel C. Greene was educated in the Martinsville high school and from the time he was eighteen years old until he was twenty-eight, was engaged in the confectionery and milk business in Cincinnati Upon his marriage at the age of twenty-eight, he returned to the farm, and since that time has been farming. Mr. Greene owns one hundred and twenty-one acres and enjoys all the modern conveniences of country life. On March 29, 1879, Eliel C. Greene was married to Caroline Smith, who was born on a part of the farm where she now lives, the daughter of John R. and Mary Ann (Hunt) Smith, the latter of whom also was born on the same farm, and the former of whom was a native of Highland county, Ohio. John R. Smith was born on June 13, 1826, son of John and Sarah Smith. He was married, February 24, 1848, to Mary A. Hunt, and located on his father's farm, where he lived until the fall of 1865, at which time he moved to another farm. He was engaged in farming, stock raising and threshing, and brought the. first steam thresher to this section of Ohio. His death occurred on September 20, 1878. He and his wife were the parents of four children : Sarah E., deceased; Arthur, born on January 1, 1852, who married Phebe Baker; Carrie, August 19. 1854, who married Mr. Greene, and Emma, March 18, 1861. Mr. Smith was a member of the Society of Friends, a member of the board of trustees of Clark township for 568 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. seven years and superintendent of the Wilmington and Martinsville pike during the time of its construction. Mrs. Greece's paternal grandparents were John and Sarah (Ratcliff) Smith, natives of Highland county, Ohio, who located in Clark township, this county, one mile south of Martinsville, when their son John R. was five years old. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas and Susanah (Greene) Hunt, natives of Grayson county, Virginia, who located in Clark township, this county, about 1820. Thomas Hunt had been a tavern keeper in the Old Dominion state, but, after coming to Clinton county, he became a. farmer and fruit-grower. To Eliel C. and Caroline (Smith) Greene one son has been born, Harry J., who married Mary E. Leonard of Union township, who was born in the Center neighborhood, the daughter of Calvin B. and Mary (Hazard) Leonard, natives of Union and Chester townships respectively. Harry J. Greene and wife have one daughter, Edith M. The Greenes are all members of the Friends church and for several generations the family has been active in that denomination. Although Mr. Greene has never aspired to office, he was on one occasion chosen, as township assessor and served very acceptably in that capacity. Since 1870 he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias, having joined a lodge of that order in Cincinnati. Later he became a charter member of the lodge of the same order at Martinsville. SWIFT CONOVER. Swift Conover is a genial natured, progressive and thrifty farmer of Washington township, who was born on November 11, 1852, in Brown county, Ohio, the son of James and Mary (Conner) Conover, both of whom were natives of Brown county. The latter was the daughter of Swift and Hester Ann Conner. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Conover were Ephraim and Easter Conover, the former of whom was a farmer in Brown county. James Conover was educated in the common schools of Brown county, Ohio, and just attained the prime of life when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in one of the first regiments recruited in his part of the state and served during the greater part of the war, or until he was taken prisoner and died in the Andersonville prison. His wife died the same year. They left a family of nine orphan children, of whom Henry, Hester Ann, George and Oliver are deceased. The living children are: Ira, Elmira, Swift, John and Adeline. The mother of these children was a devout member of the United Brethren church. Swift Conover was educated in the common schools of his native county and started in life as a farm hand. But he was not always satisfied to remain a farm hand and in 1878 began farming for himself in Brown county. Five years later he moved to Illinois, where he remained for six years. He was compelled to leave that state on account of ague and chills, and from Illinois he returned to Ohio and settled in Cincinnati, where for four years, he was engaged in the grain and produce business. After one year, however, he moved to Warren county, Ohio, and then returned to Brown county, where he lived on a farm for six years. In 1901 Mr. Conover moved to Washington township, Clinton county, and rented a farm. Here he remained for twelve years, but in September, 1914, out of the savings which he had accumulated during a little more than one decade, he was able to buy a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres in Washington township, which he now owns. Not only is he a skillful farmer but he is an enterprising citizen and is a welcome addition to any community where he might choose to live. In 1878 Mr. Conover was married to Nettie M. Myers, the daughter of Martin V. and Martha (Patton) Myers. Mr. and Mrs. Conover have had six children, all of whom are living: Martin V., who married Maud Green and has three children, Forest CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 569 Wayne, Clarence R., and Herbert B.; Jesse, who married. Ethel Davis; H. Lee, who married Gertrude West and has one child, James Wendell; Clarence, who married Ashbey Green and has one child, Doris V.; Rena, who is the wife of John Leniger ; and Elsie, who married Otho Hesler and has one son, Roscoe. Mr. and Mrs. Conover are active and earnest members of the Christian church and are what might be called seven-day-a-week Christians. Mr. Conover is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SCOTT, M. D. Dr, William Tecumseh Scott, who or years has been a well-known and prosperous physician at Martinsville, this county, was born on May 10, 1866, at Mt. Oreb, in Brown county, Ohio, the son of Absalom and Molly (Shannon) Scott, natives of Marathon, Ohio, and Indiana, respectively. The paternal grandparents of Doctor Scott were William and Adeline (Grail) Scott, both of, whom were natives of Pennsylvania. They were early settlers near Marathon, Ohio, where William Scott engaged in teaming. He hauled salt across the Alleghany mountains and at his death lacked only three days of being one hundred years old. In addition to teaming, he was also a farmer, having entered land from the government. Doctor Scott's maternal grandparents, Samuel and Sarah (Washburn) Shannon, were natives of Pennsylvania, who located in the central part of Indiana, where they engaged in, farming. Samuel Shannon was well educated for his time and was a well-known pioneer minister in the Newlight church. Both he and his wife died at their home in the Hoosier state. Both the father and mother of Doctor Scott came intimately into contact with the troublesome conditions prevailing at the time of the Civil War. Doctor Scott's mother was a teacher for ten years and on one occasion Morgan's raiders passed her school while it was in session. Doctor Scott's father, Absalom Scott, was educated in an old log school house; which is still standing near Marathon. He was a farmer by occupation and, at the breaking out of the Civil War, enlisted in Company G, Forty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was captured by the Confederates and was confined in prison for six months at Camp Ford, Texas. His brother, Isaac, who was with him, and who was the color bearer of the regiment, carried with him in prison the regimental colors, concealing the same in the lining of his coat. This flag, which is now carefully preserved in the capitol at Columbus, bears the distinction of having been the only Union flag that safely went through a Confederate prison without having been discovered by the enemy. Absalom Scott served nearly four years in the Union army and participated in the march of Sherman's army to the sea. William Tecumseh Scott received his elementary education in the public schools of Martinsville and Milford, Ohio. He prepared himself for teaching but never engaged in that Vocation. After spending four years in the Medical College of Ohio, a-part of the University of Cincinnati, he was graduated in 1889 and immediately afterward took' up the practice of his profession at Martinsville. Doctor Scott owns a farm in Clinton county and one in Brown county, both of which he oversees. On March 28, 1889, Dr. William T. Scott was married to Agnes Rowe, of Mt. Oreb, who was born at Washington, Ohio. Fraternally, Doctor Scott is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Doctor Scott and wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Pythian Sisters and the Daughters of Rebekah, and Mrs. Scott is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. For many years Doctor Scott has been a member of the Clinton County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and served 570 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. as pension examiner for Clinton county for one term. During the past twenty-six years he has been the medical examiner for a number of old-line fire insurance companies. Doctor Scott makes a specialty of the study of the eye and also specializes in scientific anaesthesia. IEMCIL B. MORRIS. Few citizens of Clark township, this county, are better known or more highly respected than the venerable Iemcil B. Morris, who was born near New Antioch, Ohio, on November 9, 1831, a son of William C. and Defcy (Bales) Morris, the former of whom was born on November 13, 1789, in Fairfax county, Virginia, and who died on September 7, 1887. Mr. Morris' paternal grandfather was Nehemiah Morris, who lived and died in the Old Dominion state. His maternal grandfather was Eldridge Bales, for many years a resident of Virginia, whose death occurred in Alabama. Iemcil B. Morris was educated in the Martinsville high school, principally under the tutelage of Prof. Charles Oren, a pioneer educator of considerable note. After completing his education, he taught school near Centerville, Ohio, for four years, at the end of which time he married, since which time he has been engaged in farming. He owns eighty-two acres of land where he lives in Clark township and one hundred acres of land near New Antioch. His home farm is an excellent tract of land. Mr. Morris' father, William C. Morris, emigrated to Adams county, Ohio, where he lived until his marriage, after which he came to Clinton county, settling later near Huntsville, Alabama. After a sometime residence there he returned to Clinton county, where he and his wife spent the rest of their liyes. They were the parents of eleven children and were devout members of the Christian church. On December 21, 1865, Iemcil B. Morris was married to Mary Jane Canney, who bore him one child, Tasman P., who was born on December 24, 1869, and who was educated in the district schools near Macedonia and in Wilmington College, where he spent three years. After leaving college he was employed for seven years in a wholesale candy firm at Columbus, Ohio, being promoted from shipping clerk to manager, with the offices also of secretary and treasurer of the corporation. Finally, however, he returned to the farm. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. ARTHUR T. SMITH. Arthur T. Smith, who is now a well-known farmer and salesman, of Martinsville, Ohio, was born on the farm of his maternal grandfather, adjoining the farm where he is now living, on January 1, 1851, a son of John R. and Mary A. (Hunt) Smith. John R. Smith was born near New Vienna, in Highland county, Ohio, on June 13. 1826, a son of John and Sarah Smith, who came to Clinton county and settled on a farm in Clark township, one mile south of Martinsville, when John R. Smith was five years old. He was educated in the common schools of his home neighborhood and in 1848 was married to Mary A. Hunt, after which he located on his father's farm, where he lived until 1865, when he moved to another farm. He was a farmer, stockman and threshing-machine operator, having brought the first steam thresher into this section of Ohio. He died on September 20, 1878, leaving a widow and three children: Arthur T., the immediate subject of this review; Caroline, born on August 19, 1854, the wife of Eliel Greene, and Emma, born on March 18, 1861. Sarah E., the eldest child, had died previously. John R. Smith was a member of the Friends church, and during the last ten years of his life was an elder and overseer in his church. He served as a member of the board of trustes of Clark township for seven years, and as superintendent of the Wilmington and Martinsville pike during its construction. CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 571 Arthur T. Smith received his early education in the public schools of Martinsville. He learned stenography under Ben Pitman, the son of Isaac Pitman, and although he has done considerable court reporting, has never followed stenography as a profession, having preferred the free life of the farm. He owns seventy-seven acres of land where he lives, and has himself made all the improvements on the farm except the barn, which was erected by his maternal grandfather. During the past fifteen years Mr. Smith has been on the road as a fertilizer salesman, having turned the active management of the farm over to his son, Charles J. On August 13, 1877, Arthur T. Smith was married to Phoebe Melinda Baker, who was born in this county, a daughter of Benjamin J. and Susan Baker, the latter of whom is still living. To this union have been loom five children,: Effie N., Lenna M., Anna G., Charles J. and Clara E., all of whom are still at home. Mr. and and Mrs. Smith are members of the Friends church, while fraternally, Mr Smith is, a prominent Mason, having attained to the chapter in that ancient order He served eleven years as trustee of Clark township, filling the office to the satisfaction of all concerned. JOHN. J. OWSLEY. The Owsley family trace their ancestry back to an old English family of distinction, which became identified with the history of Virginia in early colonial times. Several years ago a grandson of former Governor William Owsley, of Kentucky, undertook to trace the history of the family back to the time when they first came to America. He found that the family were of English origin and were prominently connected with the church and army. The American branch of the family sprang from Capt. Thomas Owsley, a son of Rev. John Owsley, of Gloucester, England. Captain Owsley was sent by his country to Jamaica with his command and was later transferred to Virginia, where he became a permanent resident, after the completion of his service in the army. He was either granted or else purchased a large tract of land in that colony and became a man of influence in the community where he settled. It is from this Captain Owsley, of colonial fame, that all the Owsleys of America have descended. Some of the family spell their name Ousley, but the most of them spell it Owsley. John J. Owsley, a farmer of Clark township, this county, is a son of Samuel R. and Lucy Owsley, and was born in the township in which he still lives on January 14, 1843. Samuel R. Owsley was born in Halifax county, Virginia, in 1807 and came to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1827 or 1828. He added to his meager income as a school teacher by farming and was thereby enabled to make a comfortable living. The wife of the young teacher-farmer was Lucy Betterton, born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, the daughter of Joshua and Mary (West) Betterton, and a sister of Payton West, who was well known in the early history of Clinton county. Samuel. R. Owsley had two brothers, who also came to Ohio, William, who died in November, 1860, and Richard, who died in 1862. Richard was the father of John D. Owsley, now living at Martinsville, Ohio. Samuel R. Owsley and his good wife reared to manhood and womanhood twelve children, of whom John J., with whom this narrative directly deals, was the seventh. Samuel R. Owsley was a man of ardent political convictions and while his southern origin inclined him to uphold slavery as an institution, yet he was for the maintenance of the Union at all costs. This seeming contradiction caused him to be misunderstood, for the reason that in the troublesome times of the Civil War the public mind was impatient with fine distinctions and demanded blind acceptance of popular ideas and opinions. He was first a Whig and on the dissolution of that party became a Democrat. With his sympathetic and humanitarian ideals, it is difficult to reconcile his pro-slavery convictions; but such is the force of environment and early teaching that one is often 572 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. driven into antagonistic positions, especially where the emotions and sentiments are permitted to prevail against reason and judgment John J. Owsley was educated in the district schools of Clinton county and spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Clark township On August 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war.. From 1869 to 1872 he was associated with George F. Bailey, the circus man. In 1873 he returned to the farm in Clark township, about a mile and one-half southeast of Farmers Station. In the following years he married and began farming for himself on the old home farm. In 1881 he moved to a farm near Farmers Station, where he is still living on his farm of ninety acres. On September 24, 1874, John J. Owsley was married to Almada Moon, the daughter of Asa Moon, of Clark township, this county. To this union have been born two children, George S., born on September 1, 1875, and Estella C., August 31, 1876. The family are members of the Universalist church. MARION R. STARBUCK. The history of every man is an account of what he does, of the people from whom he has sprung and, of what he expects or is attempting to accomplish. Marion R. Starbuck, a splendid young, farmer of Union township, this county, belongs to the famous Starbuck family who have had so much to do with the early history and development of this county. This family has been noted for its strong interest in education, its high standard of morals and for its culture and refinement. Marion R. Starbuck. who represents one of the latest generations of the family in this county, was born on March 8, 1879, the son of Asa and Elmira (Custis) Starbuck, the former of whom is a representative of the eighth generation of the family in America and who was born in Union townsbip, • on the old Starbuck homestead on March 3, 1846, the son of Jesse G. and Amy (Cox) Starbuck. The latter is the daughter of John W. and Louisa (Smith) Custis, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. They lived in the eastern part of Union township and are both deceased. The complete history of the Starbuck family in America is contained in the sketch of Asa Starbuck, presented elsewhere in this volume. Here it may be said, however, that Marion Starbuck's grandfather was born on October 8, 1819, and died on January 4, 1913, and his grandmother was born on February 1, 1823, and died on April 13, 1892. They had been married in Hendricks county, Indiana, on October 20, 1842. Jesse G. Starbuck was the son of Gayer and Susannah (Dillon) Starbuck, the former of whom was born on August 10, 1777, and the latter of whom was the daughter of Jesse and Anna Dillon. Gayer Starbuck was the son of Hezekiah and Mary (Thurston) Starbuck, who were married on November 19, 1771. Hezekiah was the son, of Thomas and Rachel (Allen) Starbuck, the former of whom was born in 1710 and who died on May 31, 1789. Thomas was the son of Jethro and Dorcas (Gayer) Starbuck. Jethro was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Coffin) Starbuck. Nathaniel was the son of Edward and Catherine (Reynolds) Starbuck. Edward Starbuck was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1604, and his wife, Catherine Reynolds, was a native of Wales. They settled first in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1643. He was a representative in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1643, to 1646, and was one of nine persons who, in 1659, purchased Nantucket island. He died on December 4, 1690. Marion R. Starbuck attended the district school in Union township, known as the "Dutch" school, and later was a student at Wilmington College. In the meantime, he worked for his father on the farm and after finishing college, returned to the farm, where he worked until his marriage. After his marriage, Mr. Starbuck rented land in Union township for four years and in 1908 purchased one hundred acres out of the old CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO - 573 Jesse G. Starbuck farm in Union township. The same year he built a pretty, modern house and four years later erected a large and commodious barn. Mr. Starbuck is engaged in general farming and has been quite successful. On March 1, 1905, Marion R. Starbuck was married to Goldie M. Sharp, who was born on the edge of Liberty township, in Clinton county, the daughter of Elmer W. and Hannah Sharp, both of whom are still living. The father of Mrs. Starbuck is a farmer in Liberty township, who came to Clinton county from Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck one child has been born, a son, Maynard, born on September 20, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck belong to the Dover meeting of the Friends church. On national issues Mr. Starbuck is a Republican, but locally he votes for the man he considers best fitted for office, regardless of the ticket upon which he is running. Mr. Starbuck himself has never taken an active interest in politics. He is a popular young farmer and very well known in Clinton county. WILLIAM A. STARBUCK. No man living in Clinton county, Ohio, has taken a more sincere and conscientious interest in the work of the Society of Friends than William A. Starbuck, of Union township, who has made church work a chief object of his life. He is an elder in the Dover meeting of the Friends church and trustee of the yearly meeting, also president of the yearly meeting Bible school, and interested in the public work of the church, of whatever nature. The Society of Friends has had a tremendous influence upon the moral and civic life of Clinton county, and during his day and generation Mr. Starbuck has contributed largely to the influence of this church and to the increase of its influence and sphere of activity. Like so many members of this great religious organization, he is a well-informed and intelligent farmer. In fact, the Friends church from the time of its foundation in America has stood for higher education, and members of this church have not only been influential in public life in the Middle West, but they have been influential in the larger affairs of the country as a whole. William A. Starbuck, the proprietor of a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Union township, was born in the township where he resides, three miles east of Wilmington, March 4, 1856, and is the son of John T. and Margaret (Shields) Starbuck, the former of whom was born in Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, October 6, 1822, and died in the fall of 1900, and the latter of whom was a native of Union township, born in 1824, and died in the fall of 1913. John T. Starbuck, who was the son of Latham and Sarah (Milton) Starbuck, natives of North Carolina, who immigrated to Ohio, and settled in Clinton county in 1811. was a farmer and carpenter by occupation. He was one of a family of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, and the fourth of the family. He owned at one time two hundred and twenty-two acres of land. In 1852 he was married to Margaret Shields, the daughter of William and Hannah (Frazier) Shields, natives of Tennessee, who came to Clinton county. Ohio, about 1806 and settled in Liberty township, five miles north of Wilmington, on a farm of about one hundred acres, where they lived until their death. They were members of the Dover meeting of Friends and had a family of two sons and eight daughters. All of the eight daughters lived to advanced ages. Many years ago the family inaugurated the custom of holding reunions, a custom which is still continued. John T. and Margaret (Shields) Starbuck had five children, namely : Josephine, married Samuel Compton, a native of New Burlington, Ohio; William A., the subject of this sketch; Thomas, died at the age of twenty-two years; Clara, married Jonas Pagett, and since his death she has lived at Wilmington; Albert, who lives at Braden; town, Florida, has been engaged in the saw-mill business, but is contracting at present. Latham and Sarah (Milton) Starbuck settled in the extreme northern portion of 574 - CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO. Union township in 1811. They had spent a season in Tennessee on the way north, where they raised a crop, and lost a child by death. They came through from Tennessee in a "Carolina wagon," drawn by one horse, bringing with them their personal effects. Subsequently, Latham Starbuck revisited his birthplace in North Carolina, and upon his return to Clinton county purchased fifty acres of land hi Wilson township. Four years later he traded it for a farm of one hundred acres in Union township, upon which he spent the remainder of his life, dying about 1871. Latham Starbuck had a brother, Gayer, who was born on the island of Nantucket in 1777, and who, in 1785, removed with his parents to Guilford county, North Carolina. In 1799 he married Susanna Dillon, a daughter of Jesse Dillon, with whom he lived nearly sixty-two years, until her death. They immigrated to Ohio in 1807, and first located in Greene county. In 1810 they settled 011 a farm, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Susanna died, in 1861, and her husband in 1866. Later his farm was owned by his son, Jesse G. Gayer Starbuck was a blacksmith by trade. His father and the father of Latham Starbuck, Hezekiah, was a native of Nantucket island, born on April 10, 1749. Hezekiah Starbuck was a sea-faring man and the captain of a whaling vessel for a number of years. He was married on November 19, 1771. He was on a cruise when the Revolutionary War broke out and on his return had difficulty in entering the harbor, which was blockaded by the enemy. His wife, Mary Starbuck, died on June 9, 1806, and he passed away on June 10, 1830. Hezekiah Starbuck's parents were Thomas and Rachel Starbuck, the :former of whom was born on May 12, 1707, on Nantucket Island, and died on February 2, 1777. Rachel Starbuck was born in 1710, and died on May 31, 1789. William A. Starbuck, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools of Union township, and after finishing the public schools became a student at Wilmington College, and there received a liberal education. After his marriage he became a land owner and lived on the old Daniel Bailey place, on the Port William pike in Union township, which his wife had acquired. Mr. Starbuck eventually purchased more land adjoining and they now have a hundred and forty acres. He has the patent which was originally issued by the government to the Bailey family for the farm which they now own. He is interested in improving stock and in general agriculture. Mr. Starbuck helped to organize the Clinton County Mutual Insurance Company and after its organization was elected a director. He has served as such ever since. Mr, Starbuck is also very active in the Clinton County Farmers Institute, and is the present president of that organization, having served in the office several times before. On September 8, 1880, William A. Starbuck was married to Marianna Bailey, who is the daughter of Josiah and Mary (Jenkins) Bailey, the former of whom was born in the early days of 1818, and the latter of whom, a Virginian by birth, came when a young woman from Frederick county, Virginia, to Clinton county. Josiah Bailey was a prominent Abolitionist before the Civil War, who lived a long and useful life and who passed away in 1895. To Josiah and Mary Hadley were born three children: Hannah, who married David A. Pigeon; Marianna, the wife of William A. Starbuck; and Albert I., vice-president of the Clinton County National Bank and prominently identified with the Champion Iron Bridge Company and the Irwin Auger Bit Company, who married Mary E. Hussey in September, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck have had four children, as follow : Maurice B., born on July 25, 1883, married Clara Terrell, and is at present in Kirksville, Missouri, completing a course in osteopathy; Everett J., 1886, and who lives on a farm near his father's home, married Bertha Shupert ; Edith M., November, 1890, married Howard "McKay, who is principal of the high school at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio ; and Albert Franklin, September, 1904. Mr. Starbuck is an ardent Republican. He is a good man and a good citizen, and eminently qualified by training and disposition to carry on the work of his pioneer ancestors.