550 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. and at this time a colony of people came in company and all aided in erecting the primitive log cabin home for each family in turn. The father of our subject was a cabinetmaker by trade and also a carpenter, and his services were in ready requisition at all times. He remained with his parents until he attained his majority, beginning life on his own responsibility as a poor man, but strong in courage and in capacity for consecutive endeavor. His father showed his wisdom by entering from the government a large tract of land between Greenville and Ansonia, and it was on this tract the family located as pioneers of Darke county. The father of our subject came to Greenville and worked at his trade, and here he met and married Miss Rush, after which he returned with his wife to Warren county. In 1840 he located permanently in Darke county and here he resided until his death. He was a man of great industry and unswerving integrity, being firm in his convictions and having the courage to maintain them. He was a Jacksonian Democrat, stanchly, supporting the principles of the party throughout his life. He never aspired to official preferment, but was a valued counselor in matters of public polity in the community, bing a strenuous advocate of the cause of popular education and of all legitimate improvements. in the locality. Mr. Deardoff, of this sketch, has in his possession one of the oldest family bibles the biographer has thus far found in the county, the entries dating back as far as 1828 and being made with the old quill pen of the early, day. This volume is cherished as a valuable relic in the family. The mother of our subject was born near Chillicothe, Pickaway county, Ohio, March 1, 1810, and she entered into eternal rest June 3, 1892. She accompanied her parents to Darke county when a mere child, and the settlers erected palisades about the primitive cabins for th protection of the families from the depredations of the Indians. It is a matter of record that the mother of our subject. when a small child, was nearly enticed from her home by an Indian squaw, who made offers of bright ornaments to attract the child through the palisade, but she was fortunately rescued by old "'Uncle Thomas" McGinnis, who thwarted the plans of the would be abductor. Mrs. Deardoff was reared in the Baptist faith and both she and her husband are sleeping their last sleep in the Greenville cemetery, where rest many others of the honored pioneers of the county. Isaac F. Deardoff was about three years of age when his parents removed to Darke county, and here he has maintained his home ever since, having received his education in the common schools. His educational advantages were meager as compared with those afforded the youth of. to-day, but he made the most of the few months which he could devote to his school work each year, and his natural predilection for study and the reading of good literature has made him a man of broad and exact information. So often has the pioneer school, with its puncheon floor, slab desk and benches and other primitive equipments, been described in this compilation that we deem it supererogatory to more than mention the fact that our subject's first scholastic training was received in one of these little log school houses. He remained with his parents until his marriage, which was solemnized on the 12th of November. 1865, when Miss Amanda F. Davisoh became his wife. To them were born three sons and three daughters, and in the GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 551 succeeding paragraph we give a brief record concerning the children, all of whom are living. Hattie is a professional modiste and is located in the city of Chicago, where she conducts a successful business. She was educated in the Greenville high school, after which she learned the millinery and dressmaking business, in which she was engaged for five years in Ansonia. Mary A. is the wife of George Barron, of Dayton, Ohio, and they have three sons,—Louis, Earl and Roy. Robert J., a professional miller by trade, is located at Arcanum, Ohio, and is .a young man of marked business ability. He married Miss Ada Stafford. In politics he is a Democrat and fraternally is identified with the I. O. O. F. Frank is at home with his parents and takes special interest in all details of the farm work, for which he seems to have a natural inclination and taste. He was educated in the Greenville public schools, as were the other children, being especially strong in mathematics and penmanship. He is a member of Ansonia Lodge, No. 605, I. 0. 0. F. Augustus has shown a marked talent as a musician, having prosecuted his studies in the Cincinnati .Musical College, and he intends to devote himself to the musical art as his profession in life. Nellie E., the youngest of the children, is attending school and is making excellent progress in her studies. Mrs. Deardoff was born in Richland township, this county, December 16, 1841. being the seventh of the eight children—three sons and five daughters—born to Robert and Mary (Stratton) Davison, and four of the children are yet living. The full genealogy of the Davison family is given in the record of Oscar Davison, ex-treasurer of Darke county, entered onother pages of this work. Mrs. Deardoff spent her girlhood days in Richland township, and, like her husband, she attended the primitive schools of the early clays. Her father was born April 8, 1798, and his death occurred February 23, 188r. Her mother was born. May 23, 1807, and died March 22, 1847, having been a Quaker in her religious views. Mr. Deardoff is a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance, having cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas. He has served as delegate to county, congressional and senatorial conventions of his party and has been an ,active worker in the party ranks. He was elected land appraiser in 1889 and in 1898 was chosen township trustee of Brown township, which office he still holds, administering its affairs to the satisfaction of his constituents and ever aiming to advance the general welfare of the county. He is conscientious in every action and his honesty and integrity have never been brought into question in any of the relations of life. He has been a strong advocate of the cause of education and has served as a school official in his district and township. Socially he is a member of Greenville Lodge, No. 195. I. 0. 0. F., in which he has passed all the chairs, as has he also in the encampment of the order. Mrs. Deardoff is a member of the adjunct organization the Daughters of Rebekah, Lodge No. 396. at Ansonia. Our subject and his wife are kind, benevolent and God-fearing people, believing in the golden rule as a guide in the walks of life and being charitable and liberal in their views and judgment. They have aided in the erection of the Lutheran, the Methodist and the Christian church edifices in this township, realizing the value of all Christian work. Their estate comprises eighty acres of good land, well adapted to the cul- 552 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. tivation of the cereals and other products raised in this locality, and the family are held in the highest esteem by all who know them. MRS. ANNA W. STAHL. The fair ladies of our state and nation play a most conspicuous part in the true record which makes the aggregate, of our history, and they are becoming an important factor in all avenues of business and professional life. The lady whose name initiates this review comes from one of the well-known and highly honored families of Richland township, and she conducts her own estate with thorough business acumen. Mrs. Stahl was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, near Dillsborough, on the 29th of July, 1860, being the fourth in order of birth of the six children of Andrew and Mary (Whiteford) Whiteford. Of the three sons and three daughters the only survivors are Mrs. Stahl and her younger brother, James C., who is a commercial traveler for the Plano Manufacturing Company, having his territorial assignment in the state of Ohio. He was educated in the common schools and in the public schools at Gettysburg, being a young man of fine mind and exemplary habits and standing high in the estimation of all who know him. He is. honorable and industrious, and has business faculties of a high order. Socially he is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, at Greenville, this county, and he is a devoted member of the Presbyterian church in that place. Andrew Whiteford, father of Mrs. Stahl, was born near the famed old city of Glasgow, Scotland. and in the land of heather and shaggy wood he remained until he had attained hs legal majority. He wedded his bonnie lassie in his native land, and, leaving her to the tender care of those near and dear, bade farewell to his native land and came across the Atlantic to lay the foundation of his fortunes in America. He sailed from Liverpool in a sailing vessel, and the voyage was of seven weeks' duration. He came direct to Aurora, Indiana, where he was a stranger in a strange land and among strange people, being fortified with but little of this world's goods. He remained here about one year, as a wage earner in a saw-mill, and then sent for his wife, who came across the ocean in a steamer and joined her husband. They began as renters and it was about 1870 that they came to Greenville township, this county, where they rented land. The first purchase of land was the present estate of ninety acres, in Richland township, and here they settled and lived until the death of Mr. Whiteford, October 23, 1893. The first home erected was a primitive log cabin, and at this time there were few improvements to be found in the county. There was not a mile of pike road, and quite a number of the railroads were built after they emigrated to Darke county. The devoted mother of our subject died September 7, 1877, in Brown township. Both she and her husband were strict Presbyterians in their religious belief, and Mr. Whiteford aided financially in erecting the beautiful brick church in Greenville, and all benevolences were sure of the hearty interest and support of this worthy man and his gentle wife. Mr. Whiteford was a man who stood firm in all his convictions. was animated by the most inflexible integrity, and his word was as good as his bond. He and his wife lived lives that were exemplary in character, and this is a rich and valued heritage to hand down to their children—far better than riches and gold.. In politics GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 553 Mr. Whiteford was a stanch Republican, and always upheld the Principles of his party. The parents of our subject sleep their last sleep in the beautiful cemetery at Greenville, and their resting place is indicated by a beau, tiful stone which was there erected by their children and which stands sacred to their memory. Mrs. Stahl was reared in her native state of Indiana till she was a maiden of ten summers, having spent about three years in the schools there. The major part of her education, however, was received in the Ansonia public schools, of which she was one of the first graduates, being a member of the class of 1877. She passed the teachers' examination, after which she devoted herself to pedagogic work for two years in the Ansonia schools. She was successful in her work, but at this time her dear mother died, and she relinquished all her previous plans, giving. up her chosen profession, to come home and act as her father's companion and housekeeper. She made his last years as pleasant as she could, ably fulfilling her filial mission. She is possessed of that kind and affectionate nature which always wins lasting friendships, and the poor and needy never need go empty handed from her door. The marriage of our subject to H. J. Stahl was celebrated' May 4, 1893, and one little son graces this union, Whiteford J., who was born October 19, 1894, the sunbeam of his mother's home. Mr. Stahl was born in Adams township, Darke county, January 7, 1853, and was reared and educated here. His lineage traces back to German extraction, being of the old Pennsylvania stock. He was successful in life, and all he had was accumulated through his own industry and careful methods. He was held in the highest esteem by the Citizens of Darke county, living a noble and upright life, well worthy of emulation. He was first married to Miss Lottie Long, who bore him one son, Walter E., who is a young Man of high standing in Richland township. He resides with his stepmother, and their mutual love and devotion could scarcely be greater were they, indeed, mother and son. He is a young man of marked intellectuality,. being a fine mathematician, and he is bound to make for himself a place of honor and usefulness in connection with the active duties of life. Mrs. Lottie (Long) Stahl died. February 13, 1891, when her son was a lad of twelve years. She was a member of he Christian church at Beamsville„ and was a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county. Mr. Stahl had two brothers in the civil war, and one died from wounds received in. the battle of Chattanooga. He was buried. on the battlefield. Mr. Stahl was a Republican in politics, and his first presidential vote was cast for Rutherford B. Hayes, in. the centennial year. He was an ardent supporter of his party, and locally his influence was always cast on the side of all that made. for the general welfare and the advancement of the interests of his fellow men. He-was a stanch friend of the cause of education, and he served effectively as a director-of the home schools. His life was as an open volume to the people of the community, and his memory is held in lasting honor by all who knew him. He believed in the Golden Rule, and lived to it day by day, and his daily admonitions to his children were ever creditable to him as a father. His. was a pure and noble life, and the death of-such a man leaves a void which cannot be-filled. Mr. Stahl was summoned into eter- 554 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. nal rest November 20, 1898, loved and esteemed by all, and his widow now resides on her estate with her loving children. The .sacred memory of the husband and father will ever about the home. We are pleased to perpetuate this brief record of Mrs. Stahl and her family in this genealogical history of Darke county, and in all the clays to come such a compilation will have a place of distinct and unmistakable value. MRS. SAMUEL BAILEY. Mrs. Bailey is a native of Darke county, Ohio, where she was born on the 22d of October, 1852, being the second in order of birth of the eight children of Moses and Hannah D. (Mendenhall) Teegarden. Of the four sons and four daughters only two are now living—Mrs. Bailey, the immediate subject of this review, and her brother, William W. Teegarden, who is a prominent attorney of Greenville, this county. Moses Teegarden was a representative of one of the pioneer families of Darke county, and here his birth occurred on the 9th of December, 1827. He died in the prime of his useful manhood, his demise having taken place on May 19, 1875. He was educated in the common schools of his native county and was reared under the invigorating .discipline of the pioneer farm, .devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits until the end of his life. He was a man who gained and retained the uniform respect and confidence of all who knew him. In the paternal line he was of Holland Dutch lineage, as the name indicates. He commenced his life work with only his physical strength, his industrious habits and his upright character as stock in trade, but this proved adequate capital, and success at tended his earnest and well directed efforts. His life's labors ended, he left to those near and dear to him the priceless heritage of a good name—a name significant of good thoughts and kindly deeds. In his political 'proclivities Mr. Teegarden was a stanch Democrat, being a great admirer of Andrew Jackson. He was endowed with a strong mentality, and through his personal application and his contact with men had gained a broad fund of information, and was known as a man of discrimination and sound judgment. He was a devoted member of the Christian church, and vas one of the founders of what is known as the Teegarden church. It was through the efforts of his father that the cemetery was laid out in this township (Brown), and the land for the same was donated by this honored pioneer, William Teegarden, for whom also the church above mentioned received its title. Moses Teegarden was truly a God-fearing man, was imbued with those deep religious convictions and principles which indicate the true Christian gentleman, and he was, indeed, one of the pillars of the church. He presided many times as the preacher in this vicinity, being regularly ordained as a minister of the Eastern Indiana conference, and was well known for his wisdom, integrity of purpose and deep piety. He was always known as the friend of the poor and distressed, never turning the needy .empty-handed from his door. Hannah D. Mendenhall, who became the wife of Moses Teegarden, was a native of Preble county, Ohio, where she was born March 8, 1831, and her death occurred on the 5th of November, 1863. She was a woman of gentle character and deep religious convictions, and the careful and conscientious training which she gave to her chil- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 555 dren had a perpetual influence upon their lives, and will ever be held in fond and grateful remembrance by the two who survive. Mr. and Mrs. Teegarden are both interred in the cemetery which bears their name, and they will be long remembered in the community where they lived and labored to goodly ends, their lives being consecrated to all that was true and beautiful. Mrs. Bailey, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in this county, and here she was for some time engaged in teaching, meeting with success in her pedagogic work. On the 19th of March, 1873, she was united in marriage to Samuel Bailey; and of this union three sons and three .daughters were born, three of the number surviving, namely : Oliver Clinton, who is a successful farmer of Greenville township, married Miss Sadie Puterbaugh ; Tracey Lerton is at home, having passed- the Boxwell examination, which entitles him to admission to any high school in the county; and Cora Ethel, who is at home, and who has likewise passed the examination mentioned. Samuel Bailey is a native of Darke county, where he was born February 8, 1847, a son of Henry and Nancy (Runyon) Bailey, who were the parents of five sons and four daughters. The father died in July, 1876, having been an honored and successful farmer of the county. His venerable widow; who was born in the state of Kentucky, is now eighty-three years of age. Samuel Bailey was reared to agricultural pursuits and has always devoted his attention to this basic line of industry. In politics he is a Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for General Grant. As a man and as a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the county, he is held in the highest esteem, both he and his wife having a distinctive popularity in the social circles, of this community, where practically. their entire lives have been passed. They are charter members of the Christian church at Woodington, Ohio, and are active and zealous workers in the same. HENRY A. CLAWSON. As a representative and influential farmer of Brown township, and as a scion of one of the old and honored pioneer families of Darke county, it is certainly incumbent that we accord a brief review of the life of that well-known gentleman whose name initiates. this paragraph. Mr. Clawson traces his ancestry back to English origin, but he himself is a native son of the township in which he now lives, having been been on the old homestead .which he now owns and occupies. The date of his nativity was January 5, 1862, he being the only child born to Aaron and Rachel (Fisher-Cole) Clawson. His father was a native of New Jersey, where he was born in 1813, and he was but a child of two and one-half years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to the far west, as Ohio was then considered. Butler County was their destination, and the family figured as pioneer's of the state, which they enriched by their example and earnest efforts. Aaron Claws0n remained in Butler county until his marriage, when he came to Washington township, Darke county, and later came to Brown township, where he continued to make his home until death released him from the labors of this world. He was reared to agricultural pursuits on the frontier farm, receiving such educational advantages. 556 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. as were afforded in the common schools of the day, and he ever gave his attention to the .great basic art of agriculture. He started out for himself without capital or influential friends, but through his well directed efforts and his sterling integrity in all the relations of life he won his way unaided to a success which was worthy of the name. At the inception of his individual career as a farmer it is recalled that he even manufactured his own harness and other necessary equipments, this economy being enforced by his lack of means. He was a careful and hard-working man, strictly honorable and upright and one who held the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. At one time he was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Brown township, this county. Mr. Clawson was a stanch Republican in politics, and he cast the first abolition vote in Washington township. He was firm in his beliefs and convictions and was not afraid to express himself upon questions of importance. In the later years of his life he fully endorsed the principles of the Prohibition party and was a strong advocate of temperance in every detail. He was a devoted and consistent member of the Christian church, holding membership in what was known as the Teegarden church, of which he was one of the founders, aiding materially in the erection of the first church edifice here. In all questions pertaining to morality and religion he stood firm, .a tower of impregnable 'strength in the community. This honored pioneer passed to his eternal rest March 31, 1888, secure in the esteem and veneration of the community where he had lived and labored to so good purpose. The mother of Henry A. Clawson, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Darke county, August 2, 1821, and she died March 13, 1895, at the residence of her son, on the old homestead, so hallowed to her by the associations of years. Her life was gentle and was filled with kind words and deeds so that her place was secure in the love and esteem of all. Henry A. Clawson was reared to agricultural pursuits upon the old homestead ,where he now resides, his educational discipline being received in the common schools and effectually supplemented by discriminating reading :and association with men in the practical affairs of life. On the 16th of May, 1886, he was united in marriage to Alice A. Dunham, and to them two sons and three daughters were born, of whom three are living: Mary O., a very bright and studious little maiden is now in the seventh grade in her studies; James G. Blaine Clawson has reached the third grade in his school Work; and Esther Rachel, the baby of the family, lends joy and brightness to the home circle. The parents are firm believers in the work of education and will give to their children the best possible advantages in this line. Mrs. Clawson was born in Darke county on the 27th of February, 1858. the daughter of Henry and Sarah Jane (Martin) Dunham, who were the parents of two sons and two daughters, of whom the only survivors are Mrs. Clawson and her brother, John H., who is well known as Colonel Dunham, of Greenville, this county, being an agriculturist and tobacconist by occupation. He wedded Miss May C. Mendenhall. Mrs. Clawson's father was a native of Darke county, and here he died at the age of thirty years. Her great-grandmother was a native of bonnie Scotland, and Mrs. Clawson is able to recall GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 557 her venerable relative, the cheery old Scotch lady. Mrs. Clawson's mother was likewise a native of Darke county, and she died February 13, 1886. aged fifty-two years. Mrs. Clawson has been reared and educated in this county, and she has gained the love and high regard of all, through her true womanly character and generous and kindly disposition. In connection with his farming Mr. Clawson has become deeply interested in the breeding of fine short-horn cattle, and to this branch of his industry he. expects to devote Careful attention and to conduct extensive operations as the years go by. He has at the present time nine head of the fine-bred shorthorn stock, and a portion of the herd are registered, as will the remainder be in due time. Mr. Clawson keeps well posted on the topics pertaining to the breeding of stock, and he is a patron of the best literature of the day in this and general lines. In politics he gives an unwavering support to the Republican party, his first presidential vote having been cast for James G. Blaine. He has been .chosen as a delegate to county conventions of his party. He lends a ready support to the causes of education and religion and to all other good works which tend to elevate the community. He gave substantial aid in the erection of the Christian church at Woodington, of which. Mrs. Clawson is a devoted member. The fine homestead of our subject comprises seventy acres, excellently improved and located in Brown township. Mr. and Mrs. Clawson are classed among our leading citizens and for this reason, as well as for their being representatives of honored pioneer families of the county, they are clearly entitled to consideration in this compilation. DANIEL MILLER. Daniel Miller, who follows farming on section 25, Harrison township, is a highly respected farmer, whose life has been quietly and unostentatiously passed, yet contains features that may well be emulated, for in all relations he has been found true to his duty to his neighbors, his family and his country. He was born near West Alexandria, Preble county, November 19, 1829, and in August, 1831, was brought by his parents to the farm upon which he now resides. His father, George Miller, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvana, about 1793, and died in New Madison, Ohio, in 1872, having located there the previous year. John Miller, the grandfather, was a well-to-do farmer of Pennsylvania, and reared five children, in. eluding George Miller, who spent almost his entire. life in the Buckeye state. Having arrived at years of maturity he married Elizabeth Cunningham, who was born in Ireland and during her girlhood was taken to Pennsylvania. By her marriage she became the m0ther of eleven, children, one of whom, Nancy, died at the age of two years. Seven sons and three daughters reached adult age : Mrs. Anna Adams, a widow now living in Kansas at the age of eighty-three years ; Mary, the wife of Washington Ulam, a farmer living near Winchester, Indiana; William, a farmer of Harrison township, who died at the age of seventy-eight years, leaving three children ; John, who died in the prime of life on his farm in Indiana, leaving five children ; Robert, who died in New Madison, in his sixtieth year, leaving four sons; Elizabeth, the .wife of John Ray, who died at the age 0f seventy-three, leaving four 558 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. daughters, while four died in infancy; George; who died at the age of twenty-seven years ; David, who died at the age of twenty-four ; Samuel, who died in Harrison township about 1893, leaving three sons and a daughter; and Daniel, of this review. The mother passed away about 1852, and the father afterward married Mrs. Hannah Gray, nee Worthington. She was the mother of five children, including I. P. Gray, a prominent statesman of Indiana, who served as minister to Mexico. The father of our subject was reared and married in West Virginia, and after the birth of the greater part of his children came to Ohio, where in 1830 he preempted eighty acres of land, taking up his abode thereon in August, 1831. Not a furrow had been turned, a tree cut or an improvement made upon the farm. He secured his land from the government for a dollar and a quarter per acre and subsequently he made other purchases until he was the owner of a valuable tract of two hundred and twenty acres, together with a house and lot in New Madison. He also had a good bank account and was one of the substantial residents of the community. Daniel Miller was reared upon a large farm and early took his place in the forest with an ax, aiding in clearing away the trees and preparing the land for the plow. He attended school for two or three months each year in a little frame building, supplied with puncheon seats. The writing desk was formed of rough boards laid upon wooden pegs driven into large auger holes bored into the wall. To his father he gave the benefit of his services until his marriage, which occurred October 15, 1871, Miss Rebecca Lawrence becoming his wife. Their acquaintance had continued from childhood, for they were reared on adjoining farms.. Mrs. Miller was born October 6, 1829, a. daughter of Rial and Minerva (Braffet) Lawrence. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, and at an early epoch in the pioneer history of Darke county came to Ohio, locating near the home of C. C. Walker. At his death, which occurred May 7, 1885, the following obituary appeared in one of the local papers : "Death has claimed another of the pioneer citizens of Yankeetown. On the 7th instant died Rial Lawrence, in the eighty-fourth year of his life. He was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, oar January 19, 1802, and in 1825 was married to Minerva Braffet. They, lived together sixty years. and had six children, who with their mother survive him." Now, in '90o. the children are all living, but the venerable mother passed away at their home in January, 1899, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Mr. Lawrence was an industrious and economical husbandman, a good manager and a square man in his business dealings, his word being as good as his bond. His remains were interred in the new cemetery at Madison, by the side of those of his wife. Mr. Miller is the owner of three hundred arid twenty-two acres of valuable land, lying in Harrison and Butler townships. He purchased one hundred and forty-six acres of land of his father, and the farm includes ninety acres of good timber land. He carries on general farming and stock-raising, making a specialty of short-horn cattle and fine sheep, having from fifty to a hundred head of the latter upon his farm most of the time. His well tilled fields yield to him good returns, and he raises annually from two to three thousand bushels of corn and GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 559 about fourteen hundred bushels of wheat. He sowed fifty acres of wheat in the fall of. 1899, and for the first time in years the crop proved a total failure. He feeds all of his corn to his stock, and in addition to his cattle .and sheep he raises about one hundred head. of hogs annually. His place is one of the best improved in this part of the county. In 1882 he built a large red wagon house, and the following year an immense barn, 42x 72 feet, with an L 32x42 feet. There is a good two-story residence upon the place, which was erected in 1886. He has never moved but once, and that was when he left the old home for the new. The old frame house, however, erected by his father, in 1842, is still standing, but in 1886 he tore down the log cabin which had been built in early days of round logs with a mud-and-stick chimney. He is very thorough, systematic and methodical in his work, and is at the same time progressive and enterprising. His land is divided into fields of convenient size by well-kept fences. The place is well drained and everything upon the farm is neat and thrifty in appearance, indicating the careful supervison of the owner. Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are widely known in Darke county, and enjoy the warm friendship of a large circle of acquaintances, and their many excellencies of character have gained them high regard and esteem, and it is with pleasure that we present to our readers their life record. FRANZISKUS M. KATZENBERGER. In the formation of the American nation the German element has been an important one. The qualities of earnestness, stability and perseverance characteristic of the people of the fatherland have .contributed in no small degree to the substantial building of American character and among the best citizens of the Republic are many of German birth or of German descent. As the name indicates, Franziskus Mathias Katzenberger is of German lineage. He traces his ancestry back to Franz Jacob Katzenberger, who was born at Etlingen, in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, and died at Rastatt, January 10, 1788. He was rathsverwander and hof-metzger. He married Marianna Stroh, of Baden Baden, and died in Rastatt, January 15, 1783. They had four children : Katharina ; Marianna, who married a Mr. Rammelmaier and died October 8, 1793 ; Frank Jacob ; Franziska, who was born in 1766 and died March 15, 1816. She married Johann Frank. Franz Jacob Katzenberger, the second of the name, was born at Rastatt, in 1752, and died December 27, 1830, at the age of seventy-eight. He engaged in the butchering business in his native town. His wife, Franziska Frank, whose family owned the Hotel Krone, was born in 1756 and died on the 29th or 30th of April, 1826. She was a sister of Dr. Johann Peter Frank, born at Rastatt, Baden, March 19, 1745. He was a professor at Goettingen and Vienna, and was physician to Czar Alexander I. He died in 1821, at the age of seventy-six. Franz Jacob and Franzisca Katzenberger had six children : Margaretha, who was born October I 1, 1779, was married September 10, 1800, to Franz Joseph Witschger; Franzisca, born March 31, 1783, died December 23, 1821. She was married October 26, 1804, to Franz Haver Maier, of Baden Baden, who was born November 29, 1777, and died July 8, 1831. She was his second wife. Joseph Calasanz was the third of the family. Marianna, who was born May 21, 1791, and 660 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. died February 27, 1815, was married January 9, 1809, to Joseph Vogel, who was born in 1781, and died February. 25, 1815. Magdalena, born August 17, 1795, died February 27, 1849. She was the third wife of Franz Haver Maier, their marriage taking place June 17, 1822. Katrina, the youngest of the family, died September 15, 1846, at Achern, at the age of forty-nine. Joseph Calasanz, son of Franz Jacob and Franzisca Katzenberger, was born August 27, 1788, and died December 12, 1852. In early life he was a butcher, and later became the proprietor of the Hotel Zum Goldenen Schwan. His third wife was Margaretha Becker, of Sulzbach, who was born in 1798, and died May 16, 1871. Her grandmothers were both born in 1751, and both reached the age of eighty-eight years. Her mother died at the age of seventy-five. Joseph Calasanz Katzenberger and his wife are buried in the cemetery at Rastatt. They had eleven children. Mariana Franzisca, born February 20, 1821, died March 9, 1821. Maria Josephine, born June 20, 1822, died December 12, 1888. Maria Louisa, born February 10, 1824, died April 3, 1858. She was the wife of Herman Grosholz, a merchant of Baden Baden, and they were the parents of two children, namely : Hermann, who was born June 28, 1854, and died March 28, 1893, married Julia Peter, who was born April 19, 1859, and their children are Gretha, who was born in Baden Baden, April 24, 1885; Toni, born' April 13, 1887; and Hertha, born September 20, 1892 ; and Louisa, the younger child of Mr. and Mrs. Grosholz, who was born at Baden. Baden, December 5, 1856. She is the wife 0f Englehard Spitz, who was born February 5, 1844. Their children are : Albert, who was born at Freiburg, Baden, December 2, 1883 ; and Ernst, born November 1, 1887, and died May 31, 1894. Franziskus Mathias Katzenberger, the fourth in the line of descent, and the immediate subject of this sketch, was born Tuesday, October 4, 1825, in Morgens Uhr im Zeichen des Krebs. He spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native land, and in March, 1847, when twenty-one years of age, crossed the Atlantic to the new world. He took passage on the sailing vessel Arago, which weighed anchor in the harbor 0f Havre, and reached New York after a voyage of twenty-one days. Two or three days later he went to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he worked in a boarding school for fourteen months, and then went to Philadelphia, where he was employed in various ways that would yield him an honorable living. After he had spent three years in America he came with his brothers, who had followed him to this land, to Ohio, and took up his abode upon a farm of fifty acres near Greenville. He began business in Union City, and was there married in 1853. Two years afterward he removed to a farm near Pikesville, belonging to' his wife's father, and later took up his abode upon his present farm three miles west of Greenville, where he now owns two hundred and twenty-five acres of valuable land. On the 7th of November, 1853, Mr. Katzenberger was united in marriage, by Squire Jones, to Maria Magdalena Mergler, who was born Thursday, March 23, 1837. Her father, Andrew Mergler, was born at Gernsheim on the Rhine, in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, December 18, 1807, and died February 21, 1877. His wife, Catherine Margaretha Herberger, was born in Langenkan- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 561 del, Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, February 7, 1818, and died July 23, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Katzenberger are the parents of nine children, eight of whom are living : Joseph Andrew, born Sunday, July 9, 1854, was married November 23, 1882, by Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to Mary Elizabeth Wolf, who was born near west Baltimore, Preble c0unty, Ohio, July 11, 1863, a daughter of Jacob Wolf,. who died September 11, 1889, at the age of fifty-eight years. Her mother, Christina Paulus Wolf, was born August 11, 1829. The children of Joseph Andrew and Elizabeth Katzenberger are : Charles Alpha, born September 15, 1880; Clara Cladola, born April 15, 1884 ; Etta May, born March 30, 1886 ; and Karl Leopold, born August 11, 1889. Catherine Margarethe, the second child of the family, was born March 16 1856. Josephine, born October 8, 1857, was married January 13, 1880, by the Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to Nathan Little DuBois, who was born February 28, 1845, the eldest son of Norman and Hannah (Vankirk) DuBois ; the former, born in 1814, died July 26, 1883, and the latter, born February 18, 1818, died April 17, 1894. On the 22d of June, 1869, Nathan DuBois married Lucinda Jane Hershey, daughter of Jacob and Sarah Her-shey, and her death occurred March 1, 1878. By that marriage four children were born : Clara, who was born April 3;1871, was married December 20, 1893, by Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to George Smith, who was born May 23, 1870, a son of Martin and Lydia (Wagner) Smith, and they have a little daughter, Lottie, born July 23, 1896; John Harrison, a resident of Montezuma, Iowa, was born March 22, 1873, and was married June 16 1896, to Harriet Elizabeth Warren, who was born October 2, 1874, a daugh ter of Charles F. and Mary E. (Hayne) Warren. Mr. and Mrs. DuBois have one son, Nathan Warren, born July 13, 1900. Jennie Clyde, the third child, was born December 26, 1874, and was married November 28, 1894, to Charles E. Furrow. They reside in Piqua, Ohio, and have a little daughter, Bernice Mure, born January 21, 1899. Hannah Bell, the youngest child of the first marriage, was born October 2, 1876. The children of Nathan and Josephine DuBois are : Charles Otho, born September 27, 1880 ; Bessie Mabel, born January 4, 1882 ; Lucinda, born January 31, 1883 ; Benjamin Stanley, born August 27, 1886; Maude Moiselle, born December 5, 1891; and George Dewey, born June 27, 1898. Mary, the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Katzenberger, was born February 23, 1859, and was, married November 27, 1878, by Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to George Carlisle, a son of N0rman and Hannah DuBois, born in Warren county, October 3, 1851. Their children are : Frank Mergler, born November 29, 1879 ; Dorsey Darke, born March 13, 1882 ; Arlie Elizabeth, born November 27, 1884; Hattie Emily, born December 21, 1888 ; Helen, born September 15, 1894; and Harold, born July 6, 1861. Frances Isabelle, the next member of the family, is mentioned on another page of this volume. Charles Leopold, born April 21, 1865, died July 17, 1871, and Elizabeth Anna was born August 30, 1867. Emily, born June 9, 1869, was married August 17, 1887, by the Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to Henry Louis Lott, wh0 was born April 24, 1861, a son of Louis B. and Matilda E. (Wintermote) Lott, the former born September 1, 1825, the latter May 23, 1838. The father died March 7, 1889. 562 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Frank Mathias Katzenberger, Jr., born October 12, 1872, was married March 9, 1893, by the Rev. Henry Louis Lott, to Cora Mills, who was born October 17, 1873, a daughter of George and Fryannah (Bartow) Mills, the former born March 18, 1847, the latter March 27, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Katzenberger, Jr., have one little child, Nellie Iona, born April 8, 1894. The persons characteristics and qualities of F. M. Katzenberger, whose name heads this sketch, are such as have endeared him to his family and gained him many friends. He had the advantages of an excellent education in his youth, and has always been of a studious nature. He is what might be termed an omnivorous reader, his field of reading embracing various subjects, history, science, fiction—everything from a light nature to the most solid. His aim is to gain information, and he has a mind well stored with knowledge gained from varied sources. He never leaves home, but is of a most hospitable nature, and is never happier than when entertaining company at his 0wn fireside. Of strong domestic tastes, he regards no effort or sacrifice too great on his part if it will enhance the happiness or prom0te the welfare of his wife and children. He is a man of peaceable nature, and probably has not a single enemy. His wife is of a very practical nature and has thus been an excellent supplement t0 her husband's life and character. In the care of her children she was most wise. She endeavored to instill into their minds lessons of right and then allowed them largely to plan their own career, trusting that her precepts and example would duly influence them, and the family is one of which she has every reasont0 be proud. Her self-sacrifice in raising her family amounted to the heroic and in the management of her children and less practical husband her skill could not well be surpassed. In appearance she was as youthful as when in her maidenhood until a few years ago, when she was thrown from her carriage, which accident impaired her health. She still possesses her old-time energy, however, although she is sixty-two years of age. Mr. Katzenberger has reached the age of seventy-five, and has never known illness. Surrounded by every comfort of life, they are enjoying a well-earned rest, and their daughter, Elizabeth, devotes her time to the care of the old home and of her parents. The name of Katzenberger is an honored one in Darke county, and this volume would be incomplete without the family record. FRANCES I. KATZENBERGER. Miss Frances Isabelle Katzenberger, the fifth child and fourth daughter of F. and Mary Magdelene Katzenberger, was born near Pikeville, Darke county, Ohio, July 6, 1861. Her paternal ancestors resided for several centuries in western Germany, amid the pine-clad Black Forest mountains famed for legend and beauty. Her maternal ancestors came from the region of the Rhine further northwest. For further information of her ancestral history the reader is referred to the biographies of her father and Uncle Charles, which appear elsewhere in this volume. Amid pastoral scenes the girlhood of Miss Katzenberger was passed, and from the influence of a rural environment bent was given to the characteristics of mind that have, in a marked degree, dominated her social and literary career. By the time she had reached her "teens" her mental development had clearly presaged the course in life. GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 563 she would take; and as the river flows in the course marked by its confining lines of embankment so has her life sped its course along a groove channeled by unseen forces, which, while directing, enkindled as well an enthusiasm whose constantly glowing flame has unbrokenly fed the fires that have energized her to the performance of tasks that might well appall a heart less stout. The conditions under which her early mental training was acquired were not such as would generally be conceded advantageous to a literary career. The country schools .afforded the only privilege she enjoyed during girlhood days for obtaining an education. Books were her delight. During the formation period of her characteristic mental traits she read with avidity whatever came into her hands, and so great was her passion for reading she did not hesitate to shirk doing tasks imposed by her mother, that thereby might be gratified the ruling passion of her life. Her favorite hiding place at such times was among the dense branches of a willow tree which overhung the spring house, or' in the hay mow, where she would he with her book. While yet quite young bits of writing, both of prose and poetry. fell from her pen. These were of a miscellaneous character and often quite good, indicating well the trend of her mind to literary pursuits. The originality .in thought of those early emanations from her pen, and their varied styles of construction may he regarded as resulting from the perfect freedom she enjoyed in the exercise of her mental faculties. She was never hampered by an enforced cultivation of style for artistic effect. She thought and wrote as one who had something to say, and who required no rule either to conceive or express it. The beauty of utterance is in simplicity, not in stilted rhetorical phrases, and therein lies not one of the least charms of all her writings. As her mental horizon expanded she became cognizant of the disadvantages resulting from a limited education, and to improve her educational equipment she entered the National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio, in January, 1893, taking the literary course. By vigorous work she quickly acquired a comprehensive knowledge of those branches of learning indispensably necessary to one engaged in literary work. It was while at college she conceived the idea of writing her first work, "He Would Have Me Be Brave," a half of which was written during her brief collegiate career. The manuscript was completed early in 1895, and in July of that year it was issued. The story sprang into immediate favor, not only among her friends and acquaintances, but also with the reading public generally. Flattering notices in local papers were excelled by press reviews in larger cities. It is a well-conceived tale, pleasingly written. Her character delineations are portrayed in a manner true to life, and in no single instance does she introduce exaggerated or even improbable condition's. It is achievement of the possible by man that furnishes the incentive to fire other men's hearts with similar aims and purposes ; and to recount in books that which will not admit of practical accomplishment serves no purpose other than to pervert the minds of those who read them. The wholesomeness of a book consists in the moral and spiritual influence it imparts to its readers. The mind that is fed by the impracticable is soon diverted into eddying channels on whose surface swirls the wrecked plans of minds whose concepts were 561 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. too often formed by reading the exaggerated dreams of absurd fiction. Her second work, "The Three Verdicts,". is also charmingly written—a well-told tale depicting first the verdict of the world, second of the jury and, last, the verdict which awaits us all in the world to come. Throughout both these works the author's conceptions are not only healthfully moral, but they breathe a spirit of practical Christianity. Encouraged by her friends, Miss Katzenberger dramatized "He Would Have Me Be Brave," and it was successfully played in Greenville by local talent upon two occasions to appreciative audiences. Miss Katzenberger's poem, "Westward, Ho," deals with the stirring scenes of pioneer life, and was read by the author at Greenville upon the occasion of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Wayne's treaty with the Indians. While it is not written in the conventional style of poems of its class, there is in it a charm of thought and expression most pleasing to the reader, and some of her friends maintain it displays more merit and strength than her first work. In closing this sketch it may be noted that Miss Katzenberger's life has been one of incessant toil, and for the attainable she has striven with pluck and zeal, allowing no adverse circumstances Or conditions to thwart her purpose: While she has encountered defeats such as would engulf in despair the average person, her courage at such times arose to the heroic, subduing adversity. Her severest loss occurred through the failure of a large eastern publishing house with which .she had contracted to bring out an edition of "The Three Verdicts," turning 0ver to them at the time the plates of the work, and an advance payment of several hundred dol lars, all of which she lost. This necessitated a temporary discontinuance of her literary' work, as she had need of an avocation immediately remunerative. MRS. CATHARINE MILLS. The ladies of the good old Buckeye state have ever played a most conspicuous part in her history, from the annals which tell. of the pioneer struggles and vicissitudes down to the records which bespeak the unexampled prosperity of the end-of-the-century period. In connection with the history of Darke county the good lady whose genealogical record here appears is one who is held in high regard and respect by all the citizens of Richland township, which is essentially the pioneer township of the county. She was born in Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of November,, 1835, being the fourth in order of birth of the four sons and three daughters of John and Catharine (Bowman) Fettery, and she is now. the only survivor of the family. Her father was a native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he was born July 19, 1803, and his death occurred February 7, 1872. In the agnatic line he was of Scotch ancestry, and in the maternal of English extraction. John Fettery, who was educated in both the English and German tongues, was a blacksmith by trade, and was employed for some time in the great shops at Cornwall. The parents of Mrs. Mills emigrated to Ohio, from their Pennsylvania home. in 1837, being members of a colony which comprised seven families, the journey being• made by means of horses and wagons, and the objective point being old Fort Greenville. At this time the wily- red men of the forest were far more GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 565 numerous than the white settlers in this section of the Union. Mr. Fettery worked at his trade to some extent in Preble county, and after a time removed to Darke county, where he established himself as a pioneer farmer. He was active and energetic, and was possessed of the most sterling attributes of character. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which connection he had personally traversed some of the historic ground of Darke county. In his political adherency John Fettery was a zealous Democrat in his support of the cause and was active for many years,. but in the later years of his life he espoused the cause of Prohibition, taking high grounds on the subject of temperance. Ile was a great friend of the public schools, and, in fact, of all those worthy enterprises which tend to elevate the moral or intellectual standing of the community. He was a good man, and had the utmost respect of all who knew him. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church at Wakefield, Ohio. Catharine (Bowman) Fettery the mother of Mrs. Mills, was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1808, and her death occurred July 18, 1862. She was of German lineage, and her life was one of signal kindness and devotion to all that is good. Her prayers and her admonitions to her children will ever live as the years roll on, such influences being cumulative in character.. Mrs. Mills was but a child of eighteen months when her parents removed to Ohio, and thus she has been reared, and educated in this section of the state and has dignified Darke county by her life and example and as a worthy representative of a pioneer family. She was educated in the primitive schools of the early days, and the first school she attended was in the little log school house, with puncheon floor, slab benches, etc., which is so frequently mentioned in this compilation, such institutions being typical of the time and place. .Mrs. Mills gives most interesting reminiscences of the early days and graphically describes the amusements which were in vogue among the pioneers, who assembled together for the apple-parings, the quilting bees and the corn huskings, while at night innocent games attracted the attention of the young folks. Under the influence of these good old pioneer clays she passed her girlhood, and when she was about eighteen years of age she consented to preside over a home of her own. On the 11th of August, 1853, she wedded Marion Mills, their union being solemnized in Greenville, and they became the parents of two sons and three daughters, of whom four are living at the present time, namely : Sophia C. is the wife of Jasper N. Riggle, the well-known insurance agent in Greenville, this county. Mrs. Riggle was educated in the high school at Greenville and the normal college at Lebanon, Warren county, and she was for several years successfully engaged as a teacher in Darke county. She and her husband are members of the Methodist church. Lucy B. Mills became the wife of Daniel Oliver, a successful farmer of Mount. Heron, Ohio, and they have three children—Everett, Nola Belle and Chester. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are members of the Christian church. George H. M. C. Mills, a resident of Beamsville, Ohio, is a paperhanger and painter by trade. He wedded Miss Callie Warvel, and they are the parents of two. children—Otto and Etheh They are members of the Christian church. Lewis Alphonso, the youngest of the four living children of Mrs. Mills, resides with his mother on the old homestead. He married 566 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Miss Leona, Stahl, and they have three sons .and one daughter,—Orville, Melvin M., Blanche L. and Raymond V. Alphonso will conduct the farm, for his mother, being well fitted for this charge as he is an able and industrious young man, being a practical and advanced agriculturist; and also taking marked interest in mechanics. He was educated in the public schools of the county. In politics he is a Democrat, having cast his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. Fraternally he is identified with Ansonia Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Marion Mills, whose death occurred March 6, 1900, was born in Greene county, near Clifton, Ohio, July 28, 1831, continuing to reside in his native county until he was eleven years old, when he accompanied his parents to Union county, this state, where he learned the trade of wagon-maker, as an artisan in which line he came eventually to Greenville, Darke county. He was a man who was liberally educated, having carefully disciplined his mind through well directed study: When he and his young wife started out in life together they had but little of this world's goods, but they were determined to live goodly lives and to lay a permanent foundation for the future. In both these objects success attended them in full measure.. Mrs. Mills recalls the fact that the first taxes which they were called upon to pay amounted to thirty-five cents. The first realty which they purchased comprised twenty-five acres of the present estate and to secure even this much they had to assume an indebtedness. As the years passed on, by dint of economy and thrift, this worthy couple accumulated eighty-five acres of fine land, and all the nice improvements of the estate—the cosy and comfortable farm residence, the barns and outbuildings and the well. kept fences—all indicate the care and thrift of Mr. and Mrs. Mills. They had resided in Beamsville for twenty-three years, and there Mr. Mills was engaged at his trade. He served for nearly twenty years as township clerk. Twenty-two years ago, in 1878, he located on the present beautiful farm now occupied by his widow. Mr. Mills was unostentatious in his manners, kindly and genial, and one who aimed to live a model life. He found in his home his greatest satisfaction and enjoyment, and there his hopes and affections centered. He commanded the confidence and respect of all who knew him, and in his example and worthy life has given the most valuable of heritages to his children. Politically he was a Democrat, but for the last twenty years he advocated prohibition and labored zealously for the cause of temperance; and he and his wife always manifested their stanch friendship for the cause of popular education and for all other worthy instruments concerning the advancement of their fellowmen. Mr. Mills was reared in the faith of the Methodist church, and he and Mrs. Mills have aided financially in the erection of.the churches in this vicinity and have otherwise contributed liberally to all good works in the community and the poor and needy have never gone hungry from their door. Mr. Mills was suddenly called from the scene of mortal activities on March 6, 1900, entering into eternal rest with the assurance. of the rewards prepared for those who have lived according to the precepts of the Divine Master. To his cherished and devoted wife the bereavement was severe in the extreme, but the soft dew of consolation and compensation comes in the memory of having touched so worthy a life and through the hallowed associations of the days that are GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 567 gone. They had traveled the journey of life side by side, sharing in the joys and the sor- rows which touch the lives of us all, and after a half-century of such close and loving companionship the husband and father was summoned to the better land, leaving his devoted companion to complete the journey without him, but sustained by the filial solicitude of her children. She has nobly acted her part; and can recall with satisfaction the days that have passed and the blessed reunion in the hour when the mortal veil shall be lifted. She is surrounded by many kind friends, who are ever ready to comfort and console her in her bereavement, and as the years come and go her life will bear its benediction to all who have come within its sphere of action. The record of such true and worthy lives is what gives the utmost justification to works of this nature, and this tribute is gladly accorded in this great genealogical history of Darke county. HIRAM CLARK. Among the early settlers of German township, Darke county, Ohio, was the Clark family, of whom the subject of this sketch, Hiram Clark, is a representative. Hiram Clark was born on the farm joining on the south of where he now lives, on section 36, German township, Darke county, Ohio, March 23, 1840. His father, James Clark, was a native of Pennsylvania, who came when a boy to Darke county with a brother-in-law and first made his home in Neave township, where he subsequently married Miss Nancy Reed, and where he resided a short time after his marriage. He then bought the farm in German township, where his son Hiram lives, and here he spent the rest of his life, with the exception of his last three years, which were passed in New Madison, Ohio, where he died in his seventy-eighth year. He was an only son and his father had died when he was a small boy. Mrs. Nancy Clark was a native of German township and a daughter of Donivan Reed, one of Darke county's early settlers. She died at about the age of forty-six years. They were the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, and six of the family are still living, namely : Rufus ; Reason ; Nancy, the wife of John Noggle ; Hiram ; Elizabeth, the wife of Peter Roberts; and Sophronia, the wife of Frank Matchett. All are residents of Darke county except Elizabeth, who lives in Texas. On his father's farm Hiram passed his boyhood days, assisting with the farm work in summer and during the winter months attending school in the log school house near his home. July 12, 1863, he married Amanda Kettring, who was born and reared on a farm near his father's, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Kettring, early settlers of the county. In the Kettring family were eight children—five sons and three daughters. After his marriage Mr. Clark took his bride to his father's farm and they began housekeeping in a log cabin he had erected, and here they ever since lived, the log house having long since been replaced by a comfortable frame one. He has built a good barn and made other valuable improvements, and his farm, comprising one hundred acres, is ranked with the representative ones of his locality. He now rents it to his youngest son, who has charge of the farming operations, while he devotes his time and attention to dealing in stock, buy:ng and selling. Hiram. Clark and wife are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters, as follows : James L., who married Emma 568 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Garling and has five children,—Edward, Blanch, Arie, Hiram and Bertha; Ida, the wife of Ira Garling, has one daughter, Opel; John W., who married Edna Coble, has three children,—Ruba A., Bessie M. and Charlie C. ; and Nancy, the wife of Harry Henning, has one son, Joseph. Mr. Clark is a stanch Republican and a member of the Knights of Pythias, affiliating with Fort Black Lodge, No. 546, at New Madison. DAVID WEAVER. In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable environments we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which cannot only endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The following history sets forth briefly the steps by which our subject, now a successful merchant of Baker, Ohio, overcame the disadvantages of his early life. Mr. Weaver is a native of Darke county, born in German township November 4, 1853, and is a son of Henry and Eve (Beachler) Weaver. who were born and reared in Montgomery county, this state, and came to Darke county about 1852. The father, who was born February 8, 1815, is of German descent and a carpenter by trade. His family came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. He is still living at the age of eighty-five years, and now makes his home in Neave township. The mother of our subject died February 7, 1858, aged forty years, one month and two days. They had six children, three of whom reached adult age. David Weaver, the fourth child and only son of this family who grew to manhood, began life for himself at the tender age of seven years, working at first for his board and. clothes. At the age of eleven he became a clerk in a grocery store at Clayton, Montgomery county, and later worked as a farm hand for one man for fifteen years,. after which he engaged in farming on his own account for about five years. In 1894 he embarked in his present business at Baker and now carries a well selected stock of general merchandise. He has built up a large trade by fair and honorable dealing and has gained the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact;. either in business or social life: Being industrious, energetic and ambitious, he has met with well deserved success, and is now quite well-to-do. With the exception of three years spent in Montgomery county, he has always made his home in Darke county, and is quite widely and favorably known. He is serving as post-master of Baker and is an active member of the Reformed church. GEORGE J. MARTZ, M. D. Among those who are devoting their energies to the healing art in. Greenville is Dr. George J. Martz, who was born in the city which is still his home on the 21st of August, 1867, his parents being George H. and Angie E. ( Jamison) Martz. His paternal grand father, John Martz, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Somerset county June 1', 1798, and in 1829 came to Ohio, taking up his abode in Darke county. George H. Martz, the father of the Doctor. was born upon a farm in Greenville township, Darke county, April 19, 1831. For a number of years he engaged in teaching in Greenville and Darke county. His wife was one of Ohio's native daughters, her birth having. GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 669 occurred in Delaware county in February, 1837. Dr. Martz, of this review, acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Greenville and continued his studies in the high. school, in which he was graduated in the class of 1887. Subsequently he engaged in teaching in Darke county for a time, and then took up the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. W. FL Matchett, of Greenville. He entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati and on completing the prescribed course in that institution- was graduated in March, 1891. In the village of Palestine, Darke county, he began practicing, remaining there for eight years, when, wishing to seek a broader field of labor, he took up his abode in Greenville, where he has since remained. He has gained a prestige which many an older practitioner might envy and excellent results.have attended his care of the sick, making him a most successful young medical.. practitioner with a bright future before him. He has been a close and earnest student of his profession, and in 1899 took a post-graduate course in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a charter member of the Darke County Medical Society and also of the Ohio State Pediatric Society. On the 31st of October, 1898, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Martz and Miss Bitha Cassatt, of Greenville, a daughter of Rev. J. W. Cassatt, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. They enjoy the hospitality of the best homes in the city and their own residence is the center of a cultured social circle. The Doctor is a prominent and valued member of Greenville Lodge, No. 143, F. & A. M., and of the Knights of Pythias, and has represented the latter in the grand lodge. His professional career has been one of continued advancement and his future will undoubtedly be a successful one, for he is a man of strong mentality, which enables him to master the principles of medical science and practice, and at the same time he possesses that deep human sympathy without which no one ever made much advancement as a. representative of the medical fraternity. FRANK LONGENECKER. Elsewhere within these pages will be found a review which takes into account the ancestral and personal history of Harvey. Longenecker. who is associated with his-brother, the subject of this review, under the title of Longenecker Brothers, in the manufacture of the duplex and spiral duplex penholders, with headquarters at Beamsville, Darke- county, Ohio, the unique and valuable penholders being the invention of Mr. Harvey Longenecker. In the sketch of the latter gentleman, which may be found on another page, more complete details are given in regard to the invention and the reception which has been accorded it, and to that review we are pleased to refer our readers, while incidentally will be also found interesting data in regard to the geneal0gy of the family of which our subject is a worthy representative. Frank Longenecker is of pure German lineage in the agnatic line, four brothers of the name having come from Germany to the United States about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and these four being undoubtedly the progenitors of the numerous branches of the family in the Union to-day. Our subject is a native of the county in which he now makes his home, his birth having occurred November 28, 1857, he be- 570 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ing the eldest of the three children of John and Elizabeth (Beam) Longenecker, both of whom are living, the father being one of the honored old residents of the county, where he has had a long and active career as a carpenter and builder, being a natural mechanic and having made many ingenious devices in .a mechanical line. Frank Longenecker seemed to inherit the mechanical skill and taste of his ancestors, and in his youth he learned the carpenter's trade under the effective direction of his father. Since hismarriage, however, he has devoted his attention principally to agricultural pursuits, in which line of endeavor he has been very successful. He received a common-school education, which has served as the basis of a broad fund of exact and valuable knowledge which he has acquired in his peculiarly active association with the affairs of life. On the 12th of January, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Longenecker and Miss Ella Plessinger, and to them have been born three children,—Charles C., Arthur B. and E. Ruth, all very bright and interesting children and an honor to their .devoted parents. Mrs. Longenecker was born in Richland township, this county, May 25, 1861. being the daughter of William and Amy Jane (Byrom) Plessinger, and the only child of their marriage. Mrs. Longenecker was reared by her paternal grandparents, David and Elizabeth Plessinger, the. former being of Pennsylvania Dutch stock and the latter of Welsh extraction. William Plessinger was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, May 17, 1835, and is now living in southern Indiana. about fourteen miles from Madison,: being a farmer by occupation. He is now about sixty-five years of age. He is a Democrat in politics and within his lifetime has been a great traveler. The mother of Mrs. Longenecker passed away when the latter was a mere infant, and she knows little regarding this ancestral branch of the family. Her death occurred June 4, 1861, at the age of twenty-four years, two months and twenty-six days. She was a woman of gentle character and intellectuality, having been a teacher for some time prior to her marriage. In his political adherency Mr. Longenecker is an ardent Democrat, and he cast his first presidential ballot for General W. S. Hancock. He has been often solicited to accept offices of local trust and responsibility, but has invariably declined, though appreciative of the honor. He is a stanch friend of the public schools and is now one of the board of directors of the school district in which he lives, being in favor of maintaining the highest possible standard in all branches of the school work. Fraternally he is a member of Lodge No. 356, Knights of Pythias, at Ansonia, and he also has a membership in the Darke County Horse Thief & Protective Association. He and his wife are consistent members of the Christian church at Beamsville and they have contributed of their means to the support of the church and all worthy benevolences collateral thereto. They are representatives of old and honored families and are themselves to be considered among the representative citizens of our county, peculiarly worthy of representation in this work. LEVI HUDDLE. Levi Huddle was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, on the l0th of December, 1820, and died at his home in Adams township, Darke county, Ohio, on the nth day of February, 1881. His father, Frederick GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 571 Huddle, was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, on the 21st of September, 1791. He married Magdalena Byrd, who was. a native of the same state and county and who was born on the 25th of August, 1792. They emigrated to Ohio in 1829, locating in Fairfield county, where they remained about six months, when they removed to Montgomery county, eight miles north of Dayton. Here they resided until 1833, when they came to Darke county, locating in Wayne township, near the present site of Webster, where, on the 5th day of June, 1834, he sank peacefully to rest in the hope of a Blessed immortality. Magdalena, his widow, survived the storms of life until the 27th of April, 1866, when she, too, was summoned to the unknown world. They were the parents of five children, none of whom are now living. Levi Huddle, the subject of the memoir, spent his boyhood days on the farm, assisting his mother by clearing the land and cultivating the soil. He received his education in the district schools. His father died when he was fourteen years of .age, which left his widowed mother with the family to care for and support, which duty she nobly performed. He commenced teaching school at the age of seventeen, and his first school was taught in an old log school house which stood on the farm upon which he died. He taught during the winter months and in the summer was engaged in farming and trading. He 'followed educational work for about twenty-three years, and while teaching a term of eleven months in Vandalia, Montgomery county, he took. lessons in higher arithmetic, algebra. penmanship and drawing of David Ecker, and by hard study and close application he acquired a good academic education. On the 9th of April, 1854, he celebrated his marriage to Miss Lucinda, daughter of Abraham and Salome-Hetzler. Three children were born to them, of whom two are now living, namely : Mary L., married to R. B. Jamison, of Delaware, Ohio, and S. Jennie, wife of J. H. Martz,. of Greenville, Ohio. Mary and Jennie received their. collegiate education at .Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio, at which institution Jennie was graduated in the year 1881, but Mary was compelled to leave the institution before graduating, her health failing. Mr. Huddle celebrated his second' marriage on the 16th of September, 1872, to Mary, daughter of Anson and Lydia Aldrich. She is a native of Massachusetts, born on the 19th of September, 1825, and makes her home with the two daughters before mentioned. Mr. Huddle was a member of the United Brethren church; his wife is a member of the Christian church and. his two daughters are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a deep interest in its financial and spiritual welfare. Mr. Huddle was a keen financier and successful business man, providing bountifully for his family and leaving a safe and ample estate to each of his surviving daughters. JOSEPH MOTE. This well-known depot agent and general merchant at Weaver Station, Ohio, was born in Monroe township, Darke county, October 23. 1836, and is a son of Enoch Mote, a native of Georgia and a pioneer of this state. The paternal grandfather, Joseph Mote, was born near Augusta, Georgia, of English ancestry, and continued his residence in that state until 1802, when he came to Miami county, Ohio, but spent his last days in Darke county, where he died at about the age of sixty years.; The father of our sub- 572 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ject was only two years 0ld at the time of the removal of the family to Ohio and he was reared near West Milton, Miami county. There he married Catherine Burket, a native of North Carolina and a daughter of Joseph Burket, who was of Holland descent and is supposed to have taken part in the Revolutionary war. When quite young Mrs. Mote was taken by her parents to Kentucky, and was only six years old when brought to Miami county. Ohio. About 1824 the parents of our subject took up their residence in Darke c0unty and the father improved and developed a farm in Monroe township. The deed for the first land he purchased was signed by John Q. Adams, the second by Andrew Jackson. He remained upon that farm until fifty-seven years of age and then moved to West Milton, Miami county, where he died at the age of sixty-nine years. In early life he was a German Baptist, but after his removal t0 West Milton joined the New Light Christian church and remained one of its consistent and faithful members. His estimable wife died at about the age of seventy years. Their children were : Mary, deceased ; Dily, widow. of Levi Burket ; Epsy, who died at the age of fourteen years ; Margaret, wife of Samuel Glant, of Indiana ; John and Philip, both deceased ; Joseph, our subject ; and Noah, who died in the service of his county during the civil war in 1864. Until twenty years of age Joseph Mote assisted his- father in the 0peration of the farm and at the same time attended the local schools. On attaining his majority he entered the Southwestern Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, where he pursued his studies f0r two terms, and for twelve years thereafter he successfully engaged in school teaching. This occupation was interrupted, how ever, by his service in the civil war. He enlisted September 15, 1861, in Company E, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, but was later promoted corporal. Subsequent to the battle of Shiloh he was taken ill and sent to the general hospital at Evansville, Indiana, and after his recovery was placed on detached duty. After three years and two months of arduous and faithful service, he was honorably discharged, in December, 1864. Soon after his return home Mr. Mote went to Evansville, Indiana, where he engaged in truck farming and later taught school for 0ne winter in Henderson, Kentucky. In, the winter 0f 1866 he engaged in teaching at Georgetown, Miami county, Ohio, and the following year came to Fort Jefferson, Darke county, and opened a general store, which he conducted until coming to Weaver's Station in 1875. Here he has since engaged in the same line of business, and to-day is one of the oldest merchants in the county. He has also acted as freight, ticket and express agent at the same place for twenty-five years, and has served as postmaster during that period with the exception of four years during President Cleveland's administration. Mr. Mote has been twice married, first in 1858 to Emeline Simpson, of Troy, Ohio, by whom he had two sons : Lewis, deceased, and Elmer E., who is now a resident of Kansas City and manager of the Missouri Valley Car Service Association. On the 25th of December, 1867, Mr. Mote married Elizabeth A. Leas, of Fort Jefferson, Darke county, a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county. By this union were born seven children, six sons and one daughter, namely : Alvin J., who is employed as bill clerk by the Vandalia Railroad Com- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 573 pany, at East St. Louis ; Walter H., who is connected with his brother, Elmer E., in the ear service at Kansas City ; William E., , a stenographer for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad at Kansas City ; John H., who is a .private in Company G, Twenty-third United States Infantry, and is now stationed in the Philippines ; Stanley E., who is a teacher by profession and is now at-' tending the normal school at Ada, Ohio ; Horace G., who died August 27, 1898, at 'the age of eighteen years; and Mable E., who is still in school. As a Republican Mr. Mote takes an active and prominent part in local politics, was a delegate to the state convention at Columbus in 1900; was also a delegate when McKinley was nominated for governor of Ohio, and was assistant sergeant at arms of the national convention at St. Louis in 1896. Besides serving as postmaster he has also filled the office of school director. For about forty years he has been a member of the Odd Fellows society, first Stillwater Lodge, then Greenville Lodge, No. 190, and now a member of Champion Lodge of Greenville. He has filled several chairs in the order and is an honored member of Frizell Post, No. 257, G. A. R., of Greenville, of which he is now quartermaster. As a citizen he ever stands ready to discharge any duty devolving upon him, and is certainly deserving of honorable mention among the representative citizens of his county. GEORGE E. MARKER. The bulwarks of our national prosperity have ever been found represented in the sturdy and basic art of agriculture and in every community the husbandman is a recognized power and is accorded the honor which is his just due. Richland township, Darke county, is one of the opulent agricultural sections of the Buckeye state, although it is small in area, and one of the representative and influential farmers of this township is he whose name introduces this sketch, and he is a member of a family which stands high in social and educational fields as well. Mr. Marker was born in Darke county, Ohio, May 7, 1853, being the youngest in the family of five sons and three daughters born to Ezra and Catharine ( Weaver.) Marker. Of the children only one is deceased, and a brief record concerning the other members of the family will be appropriate at this juncture : Perry, a veteran of the civil war, is a resident of Versailles, Ohio ; Levi is a farmer of Montgomery county, this state; Isaac, a resident of Versailles, is a prosperous agriculturist, having for some years been engaged in mercantile pursuits also, from which he has now retired ; Suannah is the wife of John Nichol, a merchant of Versailles; and Sarah E. is the wife of George Hively, a contractor and builder of Dayton, Ohio. The other member of the family is a twin of our subject, Lucinda by name, and she became the wife of William Markland, a mechanic of Dayton. Ezra Marker was born in Frederick county, Maryland, April 30, 1810, and his death occurred August 27, 1893. He was apprenticed in his youth to learn the wagon-maker's trade, having received a rudimentary education in the subscription schools of the early days, and through his alert mentality and personal application he became a man of broad information and mature judgment. He remained with his parents in the state of Maryland until he was about thirteen years of age, when the family came overland in a wagon t0 Montgomery county, Ohio, which 574 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Was then practically a wilderness, and there the parents were numbered among the earliest pioneer settlers. The grandfather of our subject died in that county and the death of his paternal grandmother occurred in Preble county, this state. Ezra Marker was a young married man when he came to Darke county and though his financial means were of diminutive order he was reinforced by sterling integrity of character and a capacity for hard work. He came to this county in 1839 and located on a tract of land known as the Winbigler farm in York township, the township at that time being still a portion of the primeval forest, save here and there the lonely cabin of the pioneer. The young couple settled in the forest, having had to hew a way through the woods to the place selected for the erection of their little cabin of logs, which in due time became their modest home. The Indians were their neighbors and deer and other wild game were plentiful, while the implements utilized in clearing up the new farm and instituting the work of cultivation were crude and primitive in the extreme. Mr. Marker's original purchase comprised eighty acres and through his industry and good management he eventually attained a high degree of success, owning one hundred and seventy-one acres of land, besides real estate in the city of Versailles. He was possessed of that energy and frugality so characteristic of those of German lineage and in all relations of life he was honorable, gaining the esteem and confidence of all. His father, George Marker, was born in Maryland and was there married to Margaret Storm, who had emigrated thither from Germany, where she was a member of a wealthy farmer, whose estate in the fatherland is yet to be divided among the descendants. Ezra Marker was a true Jacksonian Democrat in political proclivities, his first presidential vote having been cast for "Old Hickory." He enjoyed a marked popularity in his township, and held at different times almost every local office in the gift of the people of the community. His honesty and judgment were proverbial and he was often chosen as administrator of estates and to perform other duties implying the implicit confidence in which he was held. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and aided in the erection of the church edifices in York township and in Versailles, showing their liberality of spirit also by contributing to similar enterprises of other denominations. The mother of our subject was born near Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, February 16, 1816, and her death occurred February 17, 1898. She was a tender and devoted mother and her teachings will serve as beacon lights to brighten the lives of her children through all the days to come. George E. Marker, the immediate subject of this review,was reared in Wayne township and is distinctively a Darke county boy. He received a common-school education of a practical nature and his life has been spent as a tiller of the soil, the free and independent vocation to which he was reared, though he devoted about two years of his early youth to work at the cabinetmaker's trade. He remained with his parents until he attained the age of twenty years, giving them his labor and his wages, and when he reached his majority he was fortified by only a sterling caracter, an alert mentality and a determination to make a success of his life. For his companion in life he chose Miss Belle Kershner, whom he wedded August 16, .1874, and three sons have graced this union—Albertus, who was born August 18, GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 575 1875, and is with his parents, is one of the most highly respected young men of the township, being a successful teacher, having received his teacher's certificate at the early age of sixteen and having been engaged in pedagogic work almost every year since that time. He has passed the teacher's 'examination in both Darke and Montgomery counties and at all times keeps abreast of his profession, being a close and ambitious student, and gaining his physical reinforcement by assisting in the work of the old homestead during the summer vacations. In politics he supports the Democracy. The second son,. Village, born September 3, 1877, is, like his brother, a successful teacher, having secured his certificate when only fifteen years of age,. and he has made his mark as a teacher of tact and discrimination. He was married, April 8, 1900, to Miss Daisy Beanblossom, of Greenville township. He and his elder brother are experts in amateur photography, and both cast their first presidential votes for William Jennings Bryan. Claude, born September 13, 1879, the youngest of the children, is the farmer of the family, as he seems to have a natural predilection for the vocation to which he was reared. He successfully passed the Boxwell examination, which entitles him to admission into any high school in the county. He wedded Miss Grace Wolfe January 7, 1900, and they reside in Wayne township. The young men are all creditable to their parents and to their native county, having shown exceptional talent and having the esteem of all who have known them from their childhood days to the era of personal accomplishment of effective order. Mrs. Marker is a native of .Richland township, this county, where .she was born June 16, 1853, being the second of the three daughters of Daniel and Catharine (Coppess) Kershner. OnI sister is deceased and the other survivor is Cordelia, who is the wife of George Kissinger, a farmer of Rich-. land township, and who is the mother of eight children. Daniel Kershner was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1830, and died March 30, 1895. He was a blacksmith by trade, having come to Darke county in 1840, when a lad of ten years, and here he made his home more than half a century, being one of our honored and influential citizens. He was a veteran of the civil war, having been a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-second. Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was a stanch Republican in politics and was a strong advocate of abolition. The mother of Mrs. Marker was born in Darke county November 15, 1828, and she is yet living, retaining her mental and physical vigor to a marked degree. She is a member of the Reformed church and is a resident of Dawn. Mrs. Marker received her educational discipline in the public schools of her native, county and she has been to her husband a faithful assistant and wise counselor, while to her careful and devoted training may be ascribed much of the success and the sterling characteristics of her sons, who cherish her counsel and admonitions and give her the deepest filial affection. When our subject and his wife began their wedded life they were poor in all save mutual affection, ambition and intrinsic ability, even having to secure credit for a portion of their first meager supply of farming implements, while the first money they had to invest in land was secured from the sale of a cow. They began as renters in Richland township and for nearly sixteen years they spared neither mind nor hands in the indefatigable efforts to se- 576 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. cure a foundation for future prosperity. Their first purchase of land was nineteen acres, to which they later added twenty acres, finally disposing of this tract and purchasing eighty acres of their present homestead, which is one of the fine estates of Richland township, improved with a beautiful and commodious brick residence and in all portions showing the discriminating care and attention bestowed. They have attained a marked success in temporal affairs through their own efforts and they stand high in the social circles of the community. In politics Mr. Marker gives stanch allegiance to the Democratic, party, having cast his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Tilden. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 286, located at Versailles, and in this lodge he has passed all the chairs. He and his wife are zealous members of the Christian church at Beamsville and they have always aided liberally in church and benevolent enterprises. As representatives of that sterling citizenship which has so signally conserved the progress and prosperity of this favored section of the Buckeye state, the family is peculiarly worthy of consideration in this edition. WILLIAM J. IRWIN. William J. Irwin is engaged in taking and executing contracts for public works and in this capacity has been in control of many extensive and important public interests. He was born in Cob0urg, Ontario, Canada, February 22, 1859, his parents being Stephen and Bridget (R0oney) Irwin. His father, Stephen Irwin, was born in the county of Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1829, and with his parents crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1847. In 1854 he left this country and went to Canada, where the same year he was united in marriage, in Cobourg, to Bridget Rooney, who was born in county Leitrim, Ireland, in 1835. She emigrated to Canada in 1847, and after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Irwin remained in that country until 1861, during which time their two eldest daughters and their son, William J., were born. Their eldest child, born November 22, 1855, was married, and their second daughter was Annie, born May 22, 1857. Their family now numbers eight children, of which Lumber three sons and three daughters are yet living. In 1861 the parents removed with their three children to Montgomery county, Ohio, taking up their abode in Dayton, where, on the 24th of March, 1861, their son, Felix, was b0rn. The other children are : John, born December 28, 1862; James, born January 2, 1865 Rose Ellen, born May 30, 1867; and Stephen Edward, born August 24, 1870. All are living at the present writing with the exception of John and James. In 1864 Stephen Irwin enlisted in Company K, Thirteenth Regiment of Ohio Cavalry, in which he served until July 4, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. He then returned to his home and soon afterward removed with his family. to Dayton, Ohio, where he resided until 1868, when they went to West Baltimore, Ohio, where the father engaged is farming. In 1874 the mother was called to her final rest, and five years later, in 1879, Stephen Irwin went with the rest, locating in Scott county, Minnesota, where he remained until 1885. He then returned to the Buckeye state and made his home with his son, William J., until 1898, when he went to the National Military Home, in Dayton, Ohio, where he stall resides. GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 577 William J. Irwin received the ordinary country school educational privileges and assisted his father in the work of the home farm until 1879, when he began taking contracts for putting in drainage ditches upon farms. He did considerable work of this character in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa and was frequently awarded such contracts by county commissioners. In 1881 he went to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he engaged in county work. In this work he was very successful and continued there until 1883, when he returned to Ohio and in partnership with A. Gallagher continued to take public contracts for drainage in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In 1888, however, he dissolved partnership with Mr. Gallagher and continued in business alone. He also began taking contracts for sewer, street and Municipal work, carrying on the business until 1889, when he went into partnership with M. A. Maher, of Greenville, Ohio, a connection that was maintained until 1892. That partnership was then dissolved and Mr. Irwin was once more alone in business until 1893, when on account of 'the extent of the contracts which he managed he was unable to continue alone and admitted his brother, Stephen Edward, to a partnership in the business. In 1894 the Greenville Construction Company was formed as an incorporated stock company, of which Mr. Irwin was general manager. He does general contracting, making a specialty, however, of street and sewer work. In 1897 he built a system of sewers in Chihuahua, Mexico, being the first system completed in Mexico. In 1898 he entered into partnership with his two brothers, Stephen Edward and Felix, under the name of Irwin Brothers. In 1899 he began the manufacture of building brick, establishing a yard at Greenville, where he manufactured all grades of brick.. In connection with his other interests he carries on farming, owning a valuable tract of land, which is pleasantly and conveniently located a mile south of Greenville. In the manufacture of brick he is meeting with excellent success, finding a good market for his products. His various business interests amount to over two hundred thousand dollars annually, for the different firms with which he is connected employ from five hundred to eight hundred men. In 1885 Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Dwyre, a daughter of Martin and Mary Dwyre. She was born and reared in Darke county and her parents were natives of Ireland, but became early settlers of this locality. The mother died March 21, 1896, and the father passed away a year later. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin now have five children : William E., Mary Beatrice, Helen, Catherine and Irene. Their home is a very substantial brick residence at No. 451 East Fourth street, and as the-result of his success in business Mr. Irwin is enabled to surround his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He is a well informed man, possessing broad general information, and in his nature there is nothing narrow or contracted. He has a spirit that, while devoted to his residence community, is liberal, recognizing and appreciating advancement and progress in any other part of the world. His actions have during his life been such as to distinctively entitle him to a place in this publication, and although his career has not been filled with thrilling incidents, probably no biography published in this book can serve as a better illustration t0 young men of the power of honesty, integrity and enterprise in securing success. 578 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. JONATHAN TEAFORD. Prominent among the citizens of Darke county who have witnessed the marvelous development of this section of the state in the past seventy-five years and who have, by honest toil and industry, succeeded in accumulating a handsome competence, is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He was born on his present farm on section 21, German township, February 3, 1824, a son of George and Molly (Ketring) Teaford.. The father was born in Virginia and when a young man came to Darke county, locating in German township, where they were married, and the mother was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was a representative of one of the oldest families of this county. In German township the father of our subject took up a tract of government land and he. cleared and improved many acres. He died upon his farm in German township, at the age of seventy-six years. His was an honorable and useful life, in which he secured the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact. Of the thirteen children born to him, ten reached manhood or womanhood, but only Jonathan and his twin brother, Barney, of German township, are now living. During his boyhood and youth Jonathan Teaford remained at home and on the 8th of March, 1848, he married Miss Sophia Smelker, who was born in Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, April 4, 1826, and is the third child and oldest daughter in a family of thirteen children. Her parents, Jacob and Christina Smelker, who were early settlers of German township, this county, were born in Germany and were married in Montgomery county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Teaford are the parents of ten children, but only five are now living, namely : Leander, who married Clara Jeffries and follows farming in Washington township ; Mary Jane, the wife of Andy Biddle, of Randolph county,. Indiana ; Eli, who married Mina Jeffries and lives in Neave township, Darke county; Ephraim, who married Dora, a daughter of Henry Mills. and resides in German township, this county ; and Elizabeth, the wife of Marshall A. Brown, of New Madison. For six years after his marriage Mr. Teaford lived upon a rented farm in German township, but at the end of that time he was able to purchase a tract of eighty acres on section 21, just west of where he now lives. His first home was a log house, 18x15 feet, which in 1869 he replaced by his present comfortable and substantial residence, erected at a cost of four thousand dollars. As this was soon after the close of the civil war prices were very high, and his barn, built about the same time, cost twenty-five hundred dollars. In business affairs he has steadily prospered, being a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, and he has given to each of his sons eighty acres and to his daughters forty acres. His success in life may be attributed to his own industry, perseverance and good management, for on starting out in life for himself he had only one hundred and thirty dollars in money. He is one of the most prominent old settlers and highly respected citizens of Darke county, and is certainly deserving of honorable mention in its history. Politically he is identified with the Democratic party. DAVID O. CHRISTOPHER. No history of the business interests of Darke county would be complete without containing mention of the important enterprises with which David O. Christopher is GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 579 connected, He is a member of the firm of Eikenberry & Christopher, proprietors of the Mozart department store, one of the largest in Darke county. A casual visit at this emporium of trade indicates the enterprise and progressive spirit which there prevails in the arrangement of his goods. The stock has been carefully selected and the patrons receive uniform courtesy and attention, while the well-known business policy of the firm commends them to the confidence of all who give to them their support. Mr. Christopher is a native of the neighboring state of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Randolph county in March, 1854. His parents were A.G. and Sarah A. (Lamb) Christopher,, the former a native of Tennessee and the later of Virginia, During her early girlhood, however, he mother accompanied her parents to Tennessee, where she was reared and married, and with her husband she removed to Indiana, a settlement being made in Randolph county, where they spent the remainder of their days. David O. Christopher was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads and with a vigor, strength and resolution so often found in those who are reared on a farm, he left home to recruit the ranks of commerce. His education was obtained in the district school near his home and in the high school of Winchester, Indiana, also taking a course in a normal school where he fitted himself for teaching, following that profession for fifteen years. In 1889 he came to Ohio and entered into partnership with A. L, Eikenberry, under the firm name of Eikenberry & Christopher, They established a general store in West Alexander, Preble county, and continued there for five years, doing a successful business, Wishing to have a broader field of labor, however, he came .to Green ville and founded the, Mozart department store, which has secured a liberal patronage that has constantly increased. He is a thorough going business man and merchant who studies closely the needs and wishes of the public, and makes every effort to meet them. The business block which they own and occupy is a three-story brick structure, with basement, and their goods are found upon every floor They are constantly enlarging thir facilities to meet their growing trade, and from the establishment of their enterprise they have been recognized among the leading merchants of Greenville, In 1878 Mr, Christopher was united in marriage to Miss Ida Eikenberry, daughter of Dr, R. L, Eikenberry, of Trenton, Indiana, She was born in West Manchester, Preble, Ohio, and her parents removed to Randolph county, Indiana, where her education was acquired. By her marriage she has become the mother of one son, Thomas B, In Greenville Mr, Christopher is widely and favorably known, He is a man of broad capability, as his extensive business interests indicate. He is at all times approachable and patiently listens to whatever his callers have to say, is always courteous and a gentleman of his word. He cares nothing for notoriety, nor is there the least shadow of mock modesty about him, and he and his wife occupy a leading position in social circles—such a place as he fills in commercial circles, GEORGE SCHLECHTY, For the long period of thirty years Mr. Schlechty, who resides on section 33, has served as justice of the peace in Neave township, and is still an incumbent of the office, He is thoroughly impartial in meting out 680 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. justice, and his fidelity to the trust reposed in him is above question. He is regarded as one of the leading and most highly respected citizens of his community, and it is, therefore, consistent that he be represented in a work whose province is the portrayal of the lives of the prominent men of Darke county. Mr. Schlechty first opened his eyes to the light of day upon his present farm, February 27, 1824, a son of Christian and Susannah (Noggle) Schlechty, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was born in Berks county, in February, 1796, and was a son of Christian Schlechty, also a native of Pennsylvania. The latter's father was born in Switzerland and came to this country at an early day, locating in the Keystone state. At the age of twenty-one years Christian Schlechty came to Darke county, Ohio, and received the patent signed by J. Q. Adams, then president, on November 1, 1826, for one hundred and fifty-nine and eighty-six one hundredths acres, the northeast quarter of section 33, Neave township. He spent the remainder of his life upon this farm, now belonging to our subject, where he died August 2, 1860, at the age of sixty-four years. In January, 1821, he was married to Susannah Noggle, who came to this county when young with her parents, and died in 1875, at the age of seventy-five years. Her father, George Noggle, was one of the pioneers of Darke county. She had two children, but Levi, the older, is deceased, leaving our subject the only survivor of the family. During the boyhood of George Schlechty, Darke county was all wild and unimproved, and many kinds of wild animals still roamed through the forests. He was reared in much the usual manner of farmer boys living in a frontier settlement, and pur sued his studies in the old-time subscription schools conducted in a primitive log school-house. He attended school both near Weaver's Station and at Fort Jefferson. His entire life has been passed on the old homestead, comprising two hundred and fifty-four acres, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation, and has improved by the erection of good and substantial buildings. For many years he was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, but for some time has rented his farm. On the l0th of March, 1859, Mr. Schlechty was united in marriage with Miss Arebecca Winders, who was born April 13, 1840, and reared in New Castle, Indiana—the fifth in order of birth in a family of six children. Her parents, Alexander and Nancy (Miracle) Winders, were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, and both were of German descent. The father died when Mrs. Schlechty was quite young, and the mother passed away October 12, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Schlechty have six sons, namely : Willis M., born September 1, 1860, a resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee, married Sarah. Ault, and they had seven children, Orvil, Rosa, Earl, Charlie, Becca, and two who died in infancy ; Edson V., born December 3, 1862, a resident of Fort Jeffers. son, Olio, married Barbara Hebb, and their children are Alpha and Garnett G. ; Levi D., who was born October 2, 1865, and died June 29, 1889, married Mary Noggle and had one son, Virgil ; Charles A., born June 18, 1870,. a grocer of Savona, Darke county, married Minnie Hinsinger ; J. Newton, born July 2, 1872, a resident of Fort Jefferson, married Vinnie Dull, and has two children, Hershell and Loy ;. and John born September 15, 1875, is attending nor mal college, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 581 Mr. Schlechty once spent six months in Tennessee, but with that exception has passed his entire life in his native county. He has always affiliated with the Democratic party, and is a member of the Masonic lodge, of New Madison, and Greenville Chapter, R. A: M., at Greenville. His ccurse in life has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and respect of all with whom he has been brought in contact, and his circle of friends and acquaintances in this section is extensive. BERNHARD MENKE. Among the worthy citizens that the fatherland has furnished to the new world is Bernhard Menke, the popular tailor of Greenville. He was born in Cloppenburg, Germany, January 16, 1845, his parents being Joseph and Frances (Hill) Menke. The father was a farmer by occuption, and both parents died in their native land. Their son Bernhard was the second in a family of six children. At the age of six years he entered school, where he pursued his studies until fourteen years of age in accordance with the laws of his native land. He then learned the tailor's trade, serving for three years. On the completion of his apprenticeship he was employed as a journeyman in the fatherland until 1868, when he bade adieu to home and friends and sailed for the United States, landing at Baltimore, Maryland. He made his way thence direct to Dayton, Ohio, where he worked at his trade for one year, and in 1869 he came to Greenville, Ohio, where he was employed by the firm of Chenoweth & Haberling, merchant tailors. Subsequently he entered the service of Moses Hughn, by whom he has been em ployed for the past thirty years. He is particularly expert as a coat-maker and is now the oldest tailor engaged in active business in Greenville. As the years have passed his financal resources have been increased, and he is now the possessor of good and valuable city property. Indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, but ill consequence he does not wish to put as de business care and continues in the active prosecution of his trade. In his twenty-seventh year Mr. Menke was married to Miss Susannah Bashore, the eldest daughter of Jacob G. Bashore, of Webster, Ohio. Their union has been blessed with seven children : Ann, now the wife of Henry E. Mohler ; Jacob, a tailor; Joseph, who occupies the position of teller in the Farmers National Bank, of Greenville; Ida, at home; Orville, Chester and Barnard. They also lost two children in infancy. The mother of Mrs. Menke was Sarah (Miller) Bashore; and her death occurred in 1892, in her seventy-second year. The father, Jacob G. Bashore, was one of the early settlers of Darke county, and died within its borders in his sixty-ninth year. Mr. and Mrs. Menke are widely known in Greenville and have a large circle of friends. They occupy a pleasant residence here, and also own two or three dwellings in the city, besides some good business houses, which he rents and a forty-acre farm in Wayne township, which is under a high state of cultivation. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for here, where opportunity is unhampered, he has worked his way steadily upward and his advancement along well defined lines of labor has secured to him merited financial reward. 582 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. NORMAN TEAFORD. Norman Teaford, one of the most prominent and prosperous farmers of German township, whese home is on section 21, has spent his entire life upon the farm where he was born March 24, 1861. His father, Barney Teaford, was born in German township, February 3, 1825, and is a twin brother of Jonathan, the two being the only survivors of a family of twelve children. He was reared and educated in his native township, and was there married, March 20, 1859, to Miss Margaret E, Stapleton, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, November 13, 1838, and when six years of age came to Darke county, Ohio, with her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Stapleton. They began their domestic life in a log house on the farm in German township, where the father still lives. He has ever been devoted to his home and family, and has never been outside of Darke county a week during his life, and has been in only two states--Indiana and Ohio. In his family were seven children, six sons and one daughter, but Norman, the second child an 1 second son, is the only one now living. Jonathan died October 29, 1862, at the age of two years; a son died in infancy, April 15. 1862 ; Oscar, born June 30, 1864, died September 25, 1866; Samuel, born July 20, 1867, died February 28, 1889: Charles B., born November 18, 1870, died June 25, 1871 ; and Flora A., born May t0, 1874, died December 19, 1892. The mother passed away March 14, 1889. Our subject passed his boyhood and youth upon the home farm, where he is still living, early becoming familiar with every department of farm work, and he acquired his literary education in district school No. 7, German township. He has a valuable and well improved farm of four hundred and seventy-five acres, which is devoted to general farming, and has an interest in sixteen hundred acres of timber land in Mississippi, He is also interested in the Greenville Lumber Company of Greenville, and a hardware store and livery stable at Palestine, this county. He is an enterprising, progressive business man, upright and reliable, and has been uniformly successful in his investments. On the 6th of August, 1882, Mr, Teaford was united in marriage with Miss Lillie I. Brown, who was born in German. township, August 18, 1865, and died May 30, 1897, leaving one daughter, Grace, born December 24, 1884. Mrs. Teaford's parents, Jesse and Martha (Mansfield) Brown, were natives of Maryland and early settlers of Darke county, By his ballot Mr. Teaford supports the men and measures of the Democratic party, and he has efficiently served as a member of the school board in his district. He is also a member of German Grange and has held office in the same. He is one of the most popular and influential citizens of his community and is held in high regard by all with whom he comes in contact, either in business or social life. ROBERT B. JAMISON. Robert B. Jamison, a native of the county of Delaware, Ohio, was born September 22, 1858, his parents being James M. and Elizabeth (High) Jamison. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother of Pennsylvania, and they were among the early settlers of Delaware county, Ohio. Robert Jamison, the grandfather, was also a native of the Keystone state, but removed to Dela- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 583 ware county, Ohio, at an early day, spending his remaining days within its borders. He married a Miss Baird, who with her husband came to the Buckeye state in 1812, when its lands were wild, its forests uncut and when there was little to indicate that civilization was soon to work a marvelous change in this section of the country. Robert B. Jamison spent his youth upon the farm, attending the district schools and he made rapid progress in his studies, manifesting special aptitude in mastering the branches therein taught. A love of knowledge incited him to secure a college education and he entered the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, in which institution he was graduated with the class of 1879. He afterward engaged in teaching, following that profession in the county of his nativity until 1882. In that year he came to Greenville, Ohio, and entered into partnership with John H, Martz, under the firm name of Jamison & Martz. They purchased the hardware stock belonging to R. A. Shuffleton and continued in that business until 1887, when they sold this store to the firm of Foster & Son. They then turned their attention to the real estate and insurance business. They buy and sell real estate on commission, loan money and are agents for the Union Central Life Insurance Company, of Cincinnati. Mr. Jamison also carries on five farms in connection with his real estate and insurance business, the places comprising several hundred acres of land, much of which is under a high state of cultivation and well stocked with horses, sheep, cattle and hogs. He is thus a representative of the agricultural as well as the commercial interests of the county. On the 18th of May, 1882, Mr. Jamison was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Huddle, of Darke county, in which place she was born and reared. She is a daughter of the late Levi Huddle and Lucinda (Hetzler) Huddle. Mr. and Mrs. Jamison have two sons, Roy H. and Walter I., who are with their parents. Their home is a large and substantial brick residence on Washington avenue and the household is noted for its hospitality. Socially Mr. Jamison is a member of Greenville Lodge, No. 143, F. & A. M., and is a valued representative of that beneficent fraternity. HENRY BEACHLER. For many years this gentleman was one of the prominent farmers and highly respected citizens of Neave township, Darke county, Ohio, his home being on section 18. He was a native of this state, born December 20, 1819, in Montgomery county, where he grew to manhood and married Miss Mary Weaver, who was born in the same county, about two miles from Miamisburg, June a), 1823. The birth of her father, Henry Weaver, occurred four miles from that city, his parents being among the first settlers of Montgomery county from Pennsylvania. All were farmers. Mrs. Beachler is the youngest in a family of seven children. Her oldest brother, Henry Weaver, is living with her at the age of eighty-six years, they being now the only survivors of the family. To our subject and his wife were born six children, of whom the oldest, Louisa, and the fifth, Ambrose, are deceased. Melina, the second in order of birth, is now the wife of George Barnhart, and they have two children, Ambrose and Ella. Sarah Jane is the wife of Samuel Kerst, and they have six children, Henry N., Herman, Flora, Mamie, Grace and Vanda. Mary Ann is the 584 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. wife of Hartman Plock, but they have no children, Henry is married, and has two children, Ward and May, He lives in Missouri, On the 26th of February, 1846, Mr. and Mrs, Beachler came to Darke county, and located on the farm on section 18, Neave township, where she still resides. To its further improvement. and cultivation he devoted his energies throughout life, and died there in November, 1891, at the age of seventy-two years, leaving behind him an honorable record well worthy of perpetuation. He was a man of the highest respectability, was faithful to his church, to his country and to his friends, and in his home was a most exemplary husband and father. His death occasioned the deepest regret throughout the community. He was an active and prominent member of the Re- formed church, in which he served both as deacon and elder, and his remains were interred in the Reformed church cemetery. Mrs. Beachler is still living on the farm which has now been her home for fifty-four years, but she rents the land. To her other business interests she gives her personal attention, and has met with success in the management of her affairs. She is a lady of many sterling qualities, and she and her family have a large circle of friends in the community where they reside. HENRY L. YOUNT. The name of this gentleman appears on the roster of county officials in Darke county. where he is now filling the. position of deputy county clerk, discharging his duties in a most efficient, prompt and reliable manner, He is numbered among Ohio's native sons, for his birth occurred on the banks. of Stillwater creek, in Miami county, on the 6th of April, 1865, His father, Daniel Yount, died when the son was but six years. of age. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Brumbaugh, was born in Miami county, Ohio, where she was reared and married, Mr, and Mrs. Yount began their domestic life on a farm in Miami county, and the latter died when her son Henry was fifteen years of age, Her parents were Daniel and Susan (Warner) Brumbaugh, early settlers of Miami county, Henry L. Yount has made his own way in the world since the age of fifteen years, at which time he was left an orphan. He acquired a good common school education and afterward worked as a farm hand for seven years, being employed by the month by different farmers of the neighborhood. He. worked early and late in the fields from the time of early planting until crops were harvested in the autumn, and attended the district schools during the winter. By close: application to his studies he prepared for teaching, and at the age of twenty years entered upon that profession in the district. schools of Adams township, Darke county, where he was employed at intervals for seven years. During that period he pursued a special course of study in the Ohio Normal' University at Ada, Ohio, from which he received the degree of bachelor of science, in 1895, and during his summer vacations conducted a teachers' institute. He was for four years a member of the Darke county teachers' executive committee, and for two terms president of the Teachers' Association, and at this writing, in the summer of 1C)00, he is president of the board of teachers'. examiners, He has filled the office of school examiner for the past six years, has labored GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 585 most earnestly and effectually for the best interests of the schools, and the cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, who has done much to promote its welfare. In 1891 he was elected superintendent of the Bradford schools, in which capacity he served for five years. He then resigned this position to accept the office of mayor of Bradford. After serving one term he refused a renomination and accepted a position in the county clerk's office at Greenville. He read law with the Hon. A. C, Robeson, of Greenville, and he is now preparing for practice in the courts of this district. In August, 1898, he was appointed deputy county. clerk under F. G, Wiley, and is now acceptably filling that office, In 1886 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Yount and Miss Anna Etter, a daughter of Levi and Amanda (Krunkleman) Etter. They now have three children, two sons and a daughter, Daniel E:, Minnie E. and Howard L, In his political views Mr. Yount is a Democrat, and is a leading member of the party in Greenville. He keeps well informed on the issues of the day, both politically and otherwise, and as a citizen is active in support of every measure which he believes will prove of public benefit. He holds membership in Gettysburg Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He was for some time a member of the Regiment, Ohio National Guards, and was commissioned second lieutenant of Company G. He has traveled quite extensively throughout the central and western, states, and has gained that knowledge and culture which only travel can bring. He is particularly observing, and this, combined with a retentive Memory, has enabled him to store his mind with many interesting ac counts of his travels. He is much esteemed by his numerous friends in Darke county, and is recognized as a popular citizen. WILLIAM W. TEEGARDEN. William W. Teegarden, the subject of this sketch, is a member of the Darke county bar. He was born July 17, 1862, and is a representative of one of the oldest pioneer-families of Darke county. The family is of Dutch origin and its history in this county antedates the period of the American Rev-- olution, the place of original settlement being in southwestern. Pennsylvania, where, in. an early day, certain of its members took a prominent part in the disputes which arose. between Pennsylvania and Virginia concerning the boundary line between these two provinces. His great-grandfather, Moses. Teegarden, was born in Pennsylvania in 1762. He married Mary Huston. and in about the year 1793 removed with his fainily to Ohio, settling near Cincinnati. Subsequently he removed to Butler county, Ohio, settling at Darrtown, where he resided until his death, following the occupation of farming. He reared a family of ten children and his death occurred April 20, 1844. His wife was born in 1765 and died June 21, 1830. William Teegarden, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania February 22, 1793, and accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. His early life was. spent at the old home at Darrtown, where. he grew to manhood, and when the war of 1812 broke out he joined the American army-and served loyally in the defense of his country until the end of the conflict. He then returned to his home, where he was married to Catharine Watts. While in the service. 586 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. of the United States his company marched through Darke county and he discovered a :fine spring flowing from the side of a hill on the old St. Clair trail from Greenville to Ft. Recovery and about eight and one-half miles north of Greenville, He marked the place and after the close of the war he gathered together what property he then had and with his family returned to the location of the spring, entering from the government the quarter-section of land on which it was 'located, Here, in 1817, he established his home, and here he resided until his death, which occurred on February 16, 1855. His wife, who was born November 6, 1792, passed away September 24, 1856. They were the parents of ten children,—five sons and five daughters. William Teegarden, the grandfather, was a farmer and engaged largely in stock raising. He was very successful in his business enterprises and at the time of his death was possessed of more than fourteen hundred .acres of land. At the time of his settlement in Brown township his was the only house, save one, between Greenville and Ft, Recovery, a distance of twenty-two miles. For miles in all directions the country was almost an unbroken wilderness, inhabited by wild beasts common to that region. There were still many Indians, but they were always friendly, and with them a profitable trade was carried on until they became extinct. As one of the earliest pioneers of the locality in which he spent his life, he bore an active part in subduing the wilderness and of reclaiming it from the wild state of nature in which he found it, and no man was more actively identified with the work of development than he. Moses Teegarden, the father of the subject of this review, was born on the 9th day of December, 1827, on the home farm in Brown township. With the exception of the last two years prior to his death he passed the whole of his life in the near vicinity of his birth, He was the fifth child and the third son of the family, His educational privileges were limited to the advantages afforded by the common schools of the day, imperfect as they then were. On October 7, 1849, he was .united in marriage to Hannah D. Mendenhall, a native of Preble county, Ohio. She came to Darke county with her parents, Marmaduke and Nancy Mendenhall, in the year 1844. Her father was born in the state of Georgia October 4, 1797, and removed to Preble county in the year 1818. He died April 11, 1864. Her mother was Nancy Griffin. She was born April 20, 1803, and was called to her final rest October 18, 1849, The Mendenhalls are of English descent and came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania about the time that province was sounded. by William Penn. Moses Teegarden, the father of our subject, was chiefly engaged in farming as an occupation, but also spent considerable time in the construction of turnpikes under contract with the county, and in buying and shipping timber. He was a regularly ordained minister of the Christian church and labored earnestly, both through his ministry and by example, for the cause of Christianity in the community in which he lived. He was chiefly instrumental in organizing the Tee-garden Christian church, his father having donated a plot of ground as a site for a church building, and also the five acres of land comprising the Teegarden cemetery. He was a stanch advocate of the right as he conceived it, generous and hospitable in disposition and ever ready to extend the hand of sympathy to the needy and dis- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 587 tressed. As the result of his first marriage eight children were born, all. of whom, except three, died in early childhood.. Of the three survivors Mary F., the oldest, is now the wife of Samuel Bailey, residing in Brown township; Evangeline married Henry J, Courtner, of Winchester, Indiana, and died on March 18, 1881, at the age of twenty-six ; the third and youngest is the immediate subject of this sketch, On November 5, 1863, he lost his wife by death, and later he again married, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Beardslee. Two children were born of this union,—Wilson L,, who died July 2, 1890, and Bertha M., now the wife of Charles D, Stephens, of Oklahoma territory, The mother of these children died in 1871 and for his third wife Mr. Teegarden chose Mrs.. Elizabeth Travis, by whom he had one child, Mary E., born in 1875, and now residing in Illinois. She is a popular teacher in the public schools of that state, The father died May 19, 1875, near Bryant, Jay county, Indiana, to which place he had removed with his family about two years previous, By his death the community lost one of its most valued members, whose life is well worthy of emulation. The subject of this review was born in Brown township, His mother died when he was little more' than a year old and the death of his father occurred when he had not yet reached the age of thirteen. After the death of hins father he made his home with his sister, Mrs, Samuel Bailey, in Brown township, until he was eighteen years of age and assisted in the work of the farm. He attended school in the winter season, where, though in attendance not more than half of each season's term, he managed, by close application to his studies, to keep up With his classes composed of pupils in attendance the whole of the term. At the age of eighteen. he had acquired sufficient education to obtain a county teacher's certificate and three. years later he began teaching, his first experience as a teacher being. in his home district at Woodington. He continued to teach in the district schools for three years and then obtained a position in the graded schools. of Ansonia, which position he held for six years. During this time he worked himself rapidly to the front in the profession, spend-. ing a part of two years as a student in the Northwestern Ohio Normal University, at Ada, Ohio, He held a five years teacher's. certificate, this being the highest class of certificate then granted by the county board. He was prominently connected with the County Teachers' Association and his in fluence was always exerted for the advancement of the interests of the profession and the adoption of a higher standard of qualifications among teachers. Not finding the work of teaching congenial to his ambitions, he determined to leave the profession and mediately began the study of law under the direction of the firm of Knox, Martz & Rupe, of Greenville, Ohio. He continued to teach, however, pursuing his legal studies of evenings and in the summer vacations 'until 1893, when in June of that year he passed a successful examination before the state board at Columbus and was admitted to the bar. He removed to Greenville in the autumn of that year and began the practice of his chosen profession in partnership With D. W. 'Younker, This business connection continued until February, 1896, when it was dissolved and Mr. Teegarden associated himself with Judge J. I. Allread. The firm of Allread & Teegarden enjoys an enviable reputation and is one of the leading firms of the Darke county bar, 588 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. On the 24th day of December, 1885, Mr, Teegarden was united in marriage with Catharine C. Hershey, who was born November 20, 1865, in Darke county. Her parrents, John S, and Anna (Young) Hershey, are natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. The former was born March 29, 1829, and the latter February 23, 1836. They now reside in Greenville township, this county, Mr, and Mrs, Teegarden are the parents of four children: Chester H., born January 20, 1887; Rolland E., born November 22, 1888; Harold B., born May 17, 1894; and Anna L., born January 29, 1896. Mr. Teegarden is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and was at one time, since his removal to Greenville, a member of the city board of school examiners, He is a Republican in politics and is always actively identified with the interests of his party in the conduct of its affairs, though never an aspirant for office. He is deeply interested in his profession and strives to elevate the ethical standard of the practice, He despises the trickery and other questionable methods too often resorted to by members 0f the profession and prefers to gain whatever advantages the profession may offer by a straightforward course of dealing, He is regarded as one of the rising members of the bar, well versed in the science of jurisprudence, careful and accurate in his application of law principles to points in litigation and conscientious in the discharge of his duty to his clients, JESSE R, HYER. Jesse R. Hyer is a grain dealer and undertaker at Painter Creek, and the sterling qualities of an honorable and successful business man are found in the history of his career. He is of German lineage, but his father, Absalom Hyer, is numbered among the native sons of Ohio, his birth having occurred near Dayton, Montgomery county, in August, 1814. During his early life he followed carpentering and later became a miller. He was married in Montgomery county, in 1835, to Miss Elizabeth Hess and moved to the Solomon Wilds farm in Franklin township, Darke county, where he devoted his energies to farming for two years, In 1856 he took up his abode at Burkett's Mill, near Ludlow Falls, and was engaged in the operation of the mill until 1865, when he removed to Crawford county, Illinois, and purchased sixty-five acres of land, continuing its cultivation until his death, in 1878, His first wife died in 1859 and he afterward married Rebecca Shearer, who died in Crawford county, about 1886. Absalom Hyer was a minister of the German Baptist church and both by precept and example led many to seek a higher life, His children were as follows : Martha Ellen, wife of Jacob Swinger, of Crawford county, Illinois, where she died in 1894, at the age of fifty-eight years; Rachel Ann, who became the wife of Daniel Langston and died in Franklin township, in January, 1860; Jesse, of this .review ; Serena, wife of Eli Duncan, who lives near Ludlow Falls ;. Noah, who was twice married and died in Johnson county, Illinois ; Margaret, who became the wife of Oliver Shearer and died in Illinois; Joshua, who married Ellen Rudy and died at Gettysburg, Ohio, in 1896 ; Abner, who died in Crawford county, Illinois, after having been twice married, his second union being with Miss Horning; Mary, who was accidentally drowned at Burkett's Mills, in 1857; and Susannah, wife of Mortimer Seymour, of Crawford county, Illinois: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 589 Jesse R. Hyer was born April I, 1840, in Madison township, Montgomery county, and in his youth enjoyed the advantages afforded by the common schools. At the age of fourteen he was brought to Darke county by his father, under whose direction he learned the miller's trade. In the spring of 1864 he went to Painter Creek to learn the wagonmaker's trade, and was .continuously employed at his chosen vocation until the 13th of August, 1862, when with a spirit of patriotism he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting on the 13th of August, 1862, as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Infantry, under Captain Jason Young and Colonel J, Warren Keifer, At the battle of Winchester he received a severe wound, a musket ball piercing his left thigh. and for sixteen months he was in the hospital at that place, at Harper's Ferry, Baltimore, Columbus and Cleveland, On regaining his health he was sent on detached duty to Todd's barracks, in Columbus, where he remained for three months, when he rejoined .his regiment which was then stationed in the vicinity of Petersburg. He took part in the battle in that locality and the engagement at Sailor's Creek, and in Washington was honorably discharged June 25, 1865, for the war was ended and the country no longer needed his services, Returning to his home at Painter Creek, Mr, Hyer completed his apprenticeship to the wagonmaker's trade, and a year later opened a shop in the town, carrying on business there until 1884. He enjoyed a good trade and met with creditable success in his undertakings. He was suffering fearfully from the wound received at Winchester and therefore could not attend longer to his business, In consequence he rented a part of his shop, and the parties who took possession put in an engine, which set .fire to the shop and destroyed it. In 1878 Mr, Hyer engaged in the undertaking business, continuing in that line up to the present time. In December, 1894, he also established a feed store, and has conducted business along both lines, He is very energetic and enterprising, and these qualities have contributed in a large measure to his success. On the 14th of March, 1869, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hyer and Miss Sarah A, Shuff, daughter of Samuel and Delilah Shuff. She died July 11, 1881, and in 1886 he was again married, his second union being with Vina Battson, of Franklin township, daughter of James Battson. He has two children born of the first marriage : Martha L., wife of John L. Swinger, of Franklin township; and Walter S., who married Pearl Wilds; and by his second marriage one son, Earl A., at home. Mr. Hyer was reared in the faith of the German Baptist church He is a member of Daniel W, Williams Post, G. A. R., of Pleasant Hill, and through that association keeps up his acquaintance with his old army comrades, delighting in the reminiscences of field and camp fires. He is a man of many sterling qualities, reliable and energetic in business and trustworthy in all life's relations. As a citizen he is as true today as when he followed the stars and stripes upon the battle-fields of the south. OSCAR C, KERLIN, D, D. S. One of the popular citizens and successful dentists of Greenville, Ohio, is Dr. Kerlin, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1861, and is a son of William K. and Hannah B. (Jefferis) Kerlin, also natives 590 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD: of that county, the former born March 2, 1832, and latter November 28, 1830. They were married on the 1st of December, 1853. More extended mention is made of this worthy couple on another page of this volume. Dr. Kerlin spent the first four years of his life in the county of his nativity and in March, 1865, was brought by his parents to Harrison township, Darke county, Ohio, where the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits for a few years. In 1870 the family removed to Greenville, where the Doctor attended the public schools conducted by .Professor J. T. Martz, and later graduated at the Greenville Commercial College. He began his business career as a bookkeeper for Rody Ryan, a railroad contractor, with whom he remained six years, and on the expiration of that time commenced the study of dentistry under the instruction of Dr. Little, of Greenville. Subsequently he entered the dental department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated with the class of 1889. Immediately after his graduation he opened an office in Versailles, Darke county, where he remained twelve months, and then returned to Greenville and formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Dr. Little, with whom he was engaged in practice for three years, Since then he has been alone. He has a well equipped office, supplied with all the latest appliances known to the profession, for he is progressive and enterprising and keeps well informed on the latest discoveries and theories made in the science of dentistry. He has built up a large practice, which is constantly increasing, and his patronage comes from the best class of people. November 26, 1896, Dr. Kerlin married Miss Avarilla K. Fahnestock, who traces her ancestry back to Germany. Her parents. were Rev. James and Rachel A. (Worley) Fahnestock, and her maternal grandparents. were Rev. Caleb and Elizabeth (Adams) Worley. The Doctor and his wife have two sons : Oscar F., born November 4, 1897, and William Worley, born November 2, 1899. Fraternally Dr. Kerlin is a member of Champion Lodge, No. 742, and Greenville Encampment, No. 90, I. O. O. F. DAVID C. FOUREMAN, Among the well-to-do farmers and hon ored citizens of Van Buren township, Darke county, Ohio, is the subject of this sketch, His father, Henry J. Foureman, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1818, a son of John and Elizabeth (Stager) Foureman. The former was born in 1797 and his wife was born in 1794. He passed away August 17, 1872, aged seventy-five years, nine months and twenty-three days, his wife having died June T0, 1870, aged seventy-six years, five months and six days. The son was educated in the common schools of his native state. At the age of sixteen he came with his parents to Darke county, Ohio, the journey being made by team and wagon, and the grandfather of our subject entered the northeast section of Van Buren township, where Henry J. Foureman grew to manhood in the midst of the wilderness, He married Susannah Baker, who was born in Brookville, Montgomery county, Ohio, January 2, 1823, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah Michael Baker. After his marriage he located on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres given him by his father, having erected thereon a two-room house 28x20 feet, built of round logs and a story and a half in height. At the time his land was all wild and 592 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ability, for in the science of medicine advancement comes only through individual merit. Dr. Guntrum not only deserves representation in this volume as one of the leading physicians of Greenville, but also because of his connection with one of the honored pioneer families of Darke county. His paternal grandfather settled in Greenville township, Darke county, in the green woods, and clearing away the trees developed a good farm, which he placed under a high state of cultivation, continuing to make his home thereon until his life's labors were ended in death in 1865. He was born in Pennsylvania and married Martha Gingrich. One of their children was John Guntrum, the Doctor's father. His birth occurred in Darke county on the 15th of December, 1839, and after arriving at years of maturity he married Miss Rebecca Jamison, also a native of this county, where she grew to womanhood and was married. Her father, John Jamison, was also one of the early settlers of the locality, having located in Greenville township when it was a frontier region. John Guntrum followed farming for many years and later in life conducted a meat market in Greenville, where he was well known as a reliable and industrious business man. The Doctor was reared upon his father's farm, where he remained until eighteen years of age. The district schools afforded him his early educational privileges and his business training was received in the fields, where he assisted in planting and harvesting the crops. Not wishing to make agriculture his life work, however, lie resolved to devote his energies to the alleviation of human suffering, fitting himself for the practice of medicine as a student in the office of Dr. A. F. Markwith. He began his studies in 1887 and subsequently took 'a course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College, of Cincinnati. He took his second course at the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, and was graduated in the Ohio Medical College in the class of 1893; He began practice in Stelvideo, Darke county,where he met with gratifying success, remaining in that town for seven years. He then removed to Greenville, where he is now well established in general practice. He is a member of the Darke County Medical Society and is a reader and student of current medical journals as well as the text books, thus keeping abreast with the progress which is continually being made in the science of medicine. The Doctor was married on the 1st of May, 1894, the lady of his choice being Miss Maud Rupe, a daughter of Martin Rupe, who belonged to. one of the old families of the county. Both Dr. and Mrs. Guntrum enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends in Greenville and have a wide acquaintance in Darke county, within whose borders they have spent their entire lives. Socially the Doctor is connected with the Improved Order of Red Men. His manner is genial, his deportment courteous and kindly, and these qualities, added to professional skill, have made him a popular physician Of his native county. CHRISTIAN D. GROFF. This worthy citizen of Painter Creek, Franklin township, is of German descent, his great-grandfather having come to this country from Germany in company with two brothers and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life. Our subject's father, Abraham Groff, was born in that county in 18o1 and GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 593 in early life learned the trade of a fuller with his father. He married Nancy Dunkle and in 1849, with his wife and family, came to Ohio in wagons, landing near Covington, Newberry township, Miami county, after twenty-eight days spent upon the road. Soon afterward he purchased eighty acres of land in Newton township, the same county, for which he paid six hundred and fifty dollars. At that time it was mostly wild land and the few buildings standing thereon were of logs. To the further improvement and cultivation of that place he devoted his energies throughout the remainder of his life, dying there about 1870. He took no active part in public affairs, was a God-fearing man, a devout Christian and a faithful member of the German Baptist church. His wife died some years later at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mary Dunkle, of North Star, Darke county. To this worthy couple were born sixteen children, as follows : Daniel, born in 1826, came to Ohio prior to 1849 and died of typhoid fever a short time after his arrival ; Abraham, born in 1828, died in 1833 ; Annie; born in 1830, died in 1833 ; Elizabeth, born in 1831, married David Murray and died in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1850 ; Martha, born in 1833, married Daniel Groff and died in Newton township, Miami county, in 1853 Christian D., our subject, is the next in order of birth ; Joseph, born in 1836, is a farmer of Newberry township, Miami county ; Nancy, born in 1838, is. the wife of Emory Jenkins, of North Star, Darke county ; Samuel, born in 1839, married Sarah Smith and moved to Ionia county, Michigan, where he was accidentally killed ; John, born in 1841, died in 1859; Jacob, born in 1842, died in 1843; Mary, born in 1844, is now the wife of John Dunkle, of Piqua, Ohio ; Nathaniel, born in 846, married Emma Patterson and lives in North Star ; George, born in 1848, is a quartz-mill builder in the state of Colorado ; Henry, born in 1851, died in 1856; and Susanah, born in 1853, died in 1855. Christian D. Groff was born January 20, 1835, near Lisbon, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in which state he was reared as a farmer boy and attended school until his fifteenth year, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. He was an industrious lad, willing to work and was of great assistance to his father in clearing the land and tilling the soih When the farm work was done he attended school during the winter months and partly learned the carpenter's trade. On the 5th of December, 1858, Mr, Groff was united in marriage with Miss Hannah Smith, who died July 25, 1868. By that union he had four children, namely : Sarah, now the wife of William Sellers, of Paulding county, Ohio ; Ellen, wife of Moses Fry, of Perry county, Michigan ; Henry, who married Eva Fox ; and Abner, who died in infancy. In 1869 Mr. Groff married Miss Margaret, daughter of John Spade, of Franklin township, Darke county. She died in October, 1894. The children born to them were : Amos, who married Mattie Rupert and lives in Missouri, near the Kansas line ; Mary, wife of William Collins ; Martha, Emma and Jesse, who all died in infancy ; Clara, wife of Walter Pifer, of Gettysburg, Ohio ; Nancy, who died in infancy ; Cora and Dora, twins, the latter deceased ; and Susie, at home. After his first marriage Mr. Groff located on a tract of twenty acres near his father's farm and continued to work at his trade until 1860. In 1863 he removed to the farm of his father-in-law, Henry Smith, south of Bradford, in Newberry township, 594 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD Miami county, which he rented for three years. He thensold his twenty-acre tract and purchased a farm of forty acres on Painter creek, Franklin township, and the following spring bought eighteen and a half acres adjoining, with the buildings thereon, into which he moved. At the end of four years he sold that property and purchased his present farm of one hundred and thirty-eight acres of land, a part of which is now within the corporate limits of Painter Creek and which has been divided into town lots. Mr. Groff has always been a hard working man, of known reliability, and is entirely self-made, his success in life being due to his industry, perseverance and good management. He cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln and has since been a stalwart supporter of the Republican party. Religiously he is a devout member of the old order of Dunkards, and commands the confidence and respect of all with whom he comes in contact, either in business or social life. HENRY J. BISH. Prominent among the plife,rous and influential farmers of Darke county who have been the architects of their own fortunes and have builded wisely and well, is the subject of this sketch, whose home is on section 20, Neave township,—a man honored, respected esteemed wherever known, and most of all where he is best known. Mr. Bish was born September 8, 1832known,aMr,ll county, Maryland, about thirty miles from Baltimore. and is a son of William and Catherine (Bixler) Bish, also natives of Carroll county, and of German descent, though their respective fathers, Adam Bish and Peter Bixler, were both born in Maryland, where they spent their entire lives as farmers. William Bish was a tailor by trade also engaged in agricultural pursuits and in politics was a Democrat, taking an active interest in political aftakingHe died in his native county about 1874, at the age of seventy-four years, his wife December 3o, 1875, at the age of seventy-three. In their family were twelve children, of whom eleven grew to adult age and seven are still living. Of this family Henry J. Bish is the fifth in order of birth andJ,he fourth son. He was reared and educated in his native placer where he remained until twenty years of age and then came to Ohio, arriving in Montgomery ccunty with only one dollar and a half with which to begin life for him self. Having previously learned the miller's trade, he soon found employment in a mill at Dayton, where he remained about two years. At the end of that time he located years,arm thirteen miles west of that city and engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account. In November, 1855, Mr. Bish was married there to Catherine Clemmer, a native of Montgomery county, and five children were born to them : Phoebe died at the age of twelve years. Mary Frances married Johnson Warner and they had two children, - Herman and Harry. She died December 12, 1892. Eva Jane is the wife of James Lambe1892, of Greenville township, Darke county. Emma is at home. Ward C. is a resident of Union City, Indiana. Mr. Bish continued his residence in Montgomery county until 1873, when he came to Darke county and located on the farm where he still makes his home. He has always engaged in general farming, and that he thoroughly understands his chosen vocation is evidenced by the remarkable suc- GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 595 cess that he has achieved. As his financial resources have increased he has added to his landed possessions from time to time and now owns four valuable farms in Darke county, one of two hundred and thirty-six acres on section 20, Neave township, where he now resides; one of one hundred and sixty-four acres in Butler township; one of one hundred and sixty-eight acres in York township; and the other of one hundred and twenty acres in Greenville township, making six hundred and eighty-eight acres In all. He has ever made the most of his opportunities, and being a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment has been unusually fortunate in his investments. He is a trustee of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Darke county and a member of the board of the Children's Home. He has also filled the office of school director and by his ballot supports the men and measures of the Republican party. He is a member of Champion Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Greenville, in which he has filled all the chairs, and is a member of the encampment, having filled all the chairs in that organization. He also belongs to the Horse Thief Detective Association. CHARLES H. BOLLES. Among the professional men of Greenville, Ohio, none are more deserving of representation in this volume than Dr. Bolles, who has been one of the leading dentists of that place for almost thirty years. He has that true love for his work without which there can be no success, and his skill and ability are attested by the liberal patronage he enjoys. The Doctor was born near the city of Cleveland in Cuyahoga. county, Ohio, December 27, 1834, and is a on of Gurdon and Louise (Carior) Bolles, natives of Hartford, Connecticut, while the former was of English and the latter of Scotch descent. The father was born in 1790, and in early life learned the tanner and currier's trade, together with shoemaking, which he followed for a number of years, but later turned his attention to diversified farming. In 1816, some time after his marriage, he and his wife started for Ohio in a wagon drawn by oxen and were seven weeks in making the trip. They experienced all the discomforts of such a journey, as well as all the hardships and privations incident to frontier life after settling in Lake county, this state. In 1827 they removed to Cuyahoga county, where the father developed and improved a farm, upon which they spent their remaining days, living in a very modest way. During his residence there he devoted his entire time and attention to agricultural pursuits. He died -about the close of the Civil war, in 1865. Dr. Bolles was reared upon the home farm in Cuyahoga county, and began his education in the district schools of the neighborhood, but for a time he attended school in Medina, the homestead being near the county line. From the common schools he entered the Richfield Academy, where he completed his literary education, and then took up the study of dentistry with Drs. Pollock & Finch, of Cleveland, in 1859. He commenced the practice of his chosen profession in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1859, and remained at that place for four years. In 1871 he came to Greenville, where he opened an office and has since successfully engaged in practice, being one of the oldest dentists of Darke county in point of continuous service. He keeps well abreast with the times, is progressive in his methods and justly 596 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. merits the liberal patronage which he receives. Socially as well as professionally, he is a man of prominence in the community, and is well liked by all who know him, He is a member of Ithaca Lodge, No. 245, F, & A, M,, of Arcanum, Darke county, December 1, 1857, Dr, Bolles was united in marriage with Miss Arabella Finch, of Medina county, Ohio, a daughter of Lewis and Mary (Garrett) Finch. By this union were born two daughters, namely : Clara, May 21, 1858, wife of James Helm, by whom she has a little daughter, Adda Bell ; and Ina May, born May 8, 1878, now a successful teacher in the public schools of Greenville, W. A. LAYER, M, D. Careful preparation for the practice of medicine and marked devotion to the duties of his profession have gained Dr. Layer enviable prestige in the ranks of the medical fraternity in Darke county. He is now practicing in Hillgrove and his patronage is large and lucrative, He was born in this county October 28, 1868, his parents being George and Elizabeth ( Niswinger) Layer. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Lancaster county April 1, 1837, and was a son of Peter Layer, whose birth also occurred in the Keystone state, In 1840 the grandfather came to Ohio with his family, locating where the town of Painter now stands, He followed farming and made his home in Darke county for a few years, but long before the town of Bradford was laid out he removed to Miami county, where he spent his remaining days, passing away in June, 1883. He married Hannah Miller, who died in March, 1893, and they were the parents of seven sons and two daughters, who reached years of maturity, while all are still living with the exception of the eldest son. George Layer, the father of the Doctor, was the fifth son and was three years of age when brought by his parents to Darke county. He acquired his education in the common schools and remained at home until he had reached the age of twenty-six, when he was married, Until 1870 he continued to live in Darke county, operating rented land. In that year he lost his wife and with his eldest son he went to Miami county, spending two and a half years in his father's home. On the expiration of that period he returned to this county, but after four years again went to Miami county, where he has since maintained his abode. His first wife was Elizabeth, the daughter of John and Susan Niswinger, of Darke county, Her father came to the Buckeye state from Virginia and her mother was a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, her maiden name being Warner, By the marriage of Mr, and Mrs. Layer three children were born : Harvey J., whose birth occurred October 17, 1864, is now a general merchant at Bradford, Miami county ; Susella, who was born October 15, 1866, and resides at Arcanum, Darke county ; and W, A., who is the subject of this review. The mother died in August, 1870, and in 1873 Mr. Layer, the father, married Mrs. Stauffer, whose maiden name was Landis. She was born in Montgomery county and by her second marriage has one child, Lydia, who was born January 1, 1875, and is now the wife of William Brown, of Miami county. Mr. Layer votes with the Democracy, but has never been active in political affairs, . and is a member of the German Baptist church, GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 597 After the death of his mother Dr, Layer made his home with Henry Swank, an uncle, with whom he remained until his father. returned from Miami county, at which time he went back to his home, He attended the district schools until sixteen years of age. when he went to Kansas, where he continued for two and a half years, On reaching home he became a student in the Bradford high school, where he pursued his studies until 1891, when he was 'graduated, having completed the course, He next went to Lebanon, Ohio, and entered the National Normal University, pursuing a preparatory course of eighteen months with the intention of taking up the study of medicine. On the expiration of that period he went to Baltimore, Maryland, and matriculated in the Baltimore Medical College, completing a full three-, years course in that institution, being graduated in April, 1895, His studies had been directed by Professor Holbrook at Lebanon and in Baltimore by Professor Johnson, teacher of surgery, and Professor Street, teacher of medicine, Among his other instructors were Professor Rhenling, teacher of surgery of the eye; Professor Brinton; Professor Merrick, who lectured on diseases and treatment of the nose, throat and chest ; Professor Samuel T. Earl, who lectured on intestinal obstruction ; and Professor Pennimen, who was a teacher of chemistry. His studies were also directed by Professor Ames ; Professor John Blake, teacher of surgery; A. C, Pole, teacher of anatomy; Professor H. P. Ellis, teacher of materia medica ; and Professor Charles G. Hill, wh0se instruction concerned nervous and mental diseases. In June,. 1895, after being thus carefully prepared for practice, Dr. Layer located at Macedon, Mercer county, Ohio, and after eight months took up his abode at Hillgrove, where he has since engaged in practice, meeting with creditable success, On the 20th of October, 1897, the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Estella White, a daughter of Ernest and Mollie White. Her father was born in Preble county, Ohio, and for thirty years has been a resident of Darke county. His wife is a daughter of Jesse Cox. Dr. and Mrs, Layer reside in a beautiful home, which is noted for its hospitality and good cheer, The Doctor is a Democrat and belongs to Invincible Lodge, No. 84, K. of P., of Union City, Indiana. His wife is a member of the German Reformed church of Hillgrove. Dr. Layer finds in the faithful discharge of each day's duties inspiration and encouragement for the labors of the next, and has already gained in his profession a standing that many an older practitioner might well envy, WILLIAM H. SHERRY. William H. Sherry was born in York township, Darke county, December 12, 1864, and has always been connected with the agricultural interests of his community. His father, Lewis Sherry, was a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, born near Germantown, and throughout his active life was connected. with farming, save for two years passed in Versailles as a grain merchant. He obtained a good education and met success in his business endeavors. About 1850 he came to Darke county and performed a prominent part in the work of reclaiming its wild lands, His life was well spent and honorable, and commended him to the uniform regard of those with whom he was .associated. His political support was given the Democracy, and upon its ticket 598 - GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. he was frequently elected justice of the peace, holding the position for many years. Socially he was connected with the Masonic fraternity at Versailles and was buried with Masonic honors. He was long a devoted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and when his life's. labors were ended on the l0th of January, 1898, when he was fifty-nine years of age, his remains were interred in the Lutheran cemetery in York township, There a beautiful monument has been erected to his memory. His widow still survives him, and is living in this county with her daughter, Mrs. Oliver. She is a lady of high Christian character, and in the minds of_ her children instilled lessons of uprightness, honesty and industry. In her family were three children : Alwilda, the wife of Frank Oliver, a farmer of York township ; William ; and Samuel, who is a merchant of Versailles. He married Minerva Wilson, and resides in that city. William H. Sherry remained with his parents until he had attained his majority, and the public school system afforded him his educational privileges. He has always been a tiller of the soil, and is a practical and enterprising agriculturist, whose well directed efforts have brought to him good financial returns. He now owns eighty acres of land, the greater part of which is under a high .state of cultivation, The soil is rich and is especially adapted to the raising of corn, wheat and tobacco, of which Mr, Sherry obtains good crops and thus annually adds to his income. He has excellent buildings and other improvements upon his place, and everything about the farm is neat and thrifty in appearance, On the 29th of August, 1886, Mr. Sherry was married to Miss Ellen L. Longcreek, whose birth occurred in Germantown, Mont gomery county, November 13, 1864, her parents being Lewis and Susan (Zechar) creek, and during her early girlhood she came with them to Darke county, where she has spent the greater part of her life. By her marriage she became the mother of five  children, four sons and one daughter, namely : Rilla May, Russell R., Homer, Lawrence and Chelcie O. It is the intention of the parents to give their children good educational privileges and thus lay the foundation for successful careers in later life. Politically Mr. Sherry is a Democrat, and has warmly advocated the party principles since casting his first vote for President Cleveland. He has been elected a delegate to the county conventions, and has served as township treasurer of York township, filling the position in an acceptable and creditable manner. He has also served for seven years as school director and does all in his power. to promote the educational interests of his cornmunity. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church at Brock, and have contributed liberally to its support, also aiding largely in the erection of the house of worship. Well known in Darke county, they have a large circle of friends and are classed among the representative farming people of their locality, GEORGE SHIELDS, George Shields, a practical and enterprising agriculturist of Van Buren township, owns and cultivates two hundred and ninety-five acres of land, constituting one of the valuable and highly improved farms of the locality. He was born upon this place, June 1, 1838, and on the paternal side is of Irish descent. His grandfather, Patrick Shields, was born in Ireland about 1776, GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 599 and was a boy of five years when he came to the United States with his parents, landing in New York. Later the family settled in Kentucky, where his parents are supposed to have died, When a young man he came to Preble county, Ohio, where he entered land, and in the midst of the wilderness made for himself a home. He enlisted in the war of 1812 under General Harrison, and carried important dispatches, passing through Cincinnati when that place contained but two log cabins. He married, and his first wife died in Preble county, and he later wedded Salina Smith: While living in Preble county he purchased land in Van Buren township, Darke county, on which he located after his second marriage, and for six years conducted a tavern at what was called Sampson, Later he moved to De Lisle, where he died, and his wife died at the home of a daughter in Darke county. Their children were : Isaac, the father of our subject; Rachel, who married William Neely and died in Arcanum; Abraham, who Married Nancy Price and died in Greenville ; Sarah, who married John Dyninger and died in Preble county; a daughter, who Married Tice Sailor and died in Preble county; Patrick, who married Elizabeth Gunder and died in the same county; and Samuel, who married and also died in Preble county, Isaac Shields was born in Preble county, in 1815, and there he grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Rusk, also a native of Preble county, where they continued to make their home until after the birth of two of their children. They then came to Darke County, Mr, Shields purchasing eighty acres of land in Van Buren township from his father, only two acres of which had been cleared and a rough log cabin and stable erected thereon. To the further improve .ment and cultivation of his place he at once turned his attention, and as his financial resources increased he added to his landed possessions until he had five hundred acres. As a citizen he always took an active and commendable interest in public affairs, and supported first the Whig and later the Republican parties, He died upon his farm in 1880, at the age of sixty-five years, his wife in 1887, at the age of sixty-seven. In the family of this worthy couple were thirteen children, concerning whom we make the following observations : Abraham married Salina Smith and died in Van Buren township; Patrick married Jane Brown, and lives in Greenville ; Mary is the wife of Alfred Townsend, of Van Buren township; Matilda is the Wife of John Roll, of the same township ; George, our subject, is next in order of birth; William is represented on another: page of this volume; Isaac, a veteran of the civil war, married Ellen Weaver and lives in Van Buren township ; Sarah Jane is the wife of Jesse Smith, of Dayton, Ohio ; Isabelle is the wife of Isaac Allread, of Van Buren township ; Alfred married Amanda Jobes and died in that township; Elizabeth died young; and two died in infancy, George Shields did not have the advantages of an education, much of his early life being devoted to the arduous labors of the farm, He assisted his father in clearing the land, and continued to aid in its operation until he entered the army during the dark days of the Rebellion. At Greenville, in August, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was under the command of Captain Newkirk, Colonel Wood and Colonel Gilbert. He drove a team a part of the time, handled trains and hunted forage, At Beverly,