BIOGRAPHICAL. JOHN MARTIN DEER. John Martin Deer, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Abraham and Elizabeth Deer, who were natives of Virginia. They came to Ohio about 1830, and settled on the waters of Rattlesnake Creek, in Highland County. Here the father died about 1865. The mother is still living, and is more than seventy years of age. They were the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters : William died when quite young; Mary married, and lives in Ross County, this state; Henry married, and resides in the State of Indiana; David S. died in his twenty-second year, and was unmarried; Anna A. married Mr. Patch, and lives near Washington; the mother is living with her; one child died in infancy. John M., our subject, was born in Highland County, Ohio, November 22, 1837. e married Anna E. McCleland, December 23, 1858. They have had six children, four sons and two daughters. The daughters both died in infancy. James W., Edmund L., Rufus L., and Cary O., are at home with their parents, working on the farm. Mr. Deer and wife entered upon their married life with but little of this world's goods; but by real industry and frugality, rigidly adhering to his one legitimate business, and the blessing of a kind Providence, they are the possessors of some two hundred and fifty-two acres of most excellent land, located a short distance west of Sugar Creek, on the Snow Hill pike, where they reside in a magnificent brick house, built by John Cox, Esq., a few years since. 746 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. ALFRED DUN. Alfred Dun, farmer and stock raiser, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, June 24, 1848. He is the only surviving son of John Dun, who was a native of Scotland, his father being a Presbyterian minister in Glasgow. John came to Chillicothe in 1816; remained a short time, when he went to Philadelphia, and engaged in the commission business with his brother George, which proved a financial success. In 1837 he married Amanda W. Long. With her he returned to Chillicothe soon after their marriage, and remained there until his death. Mr. Dun was born June 25, 1794, and died April 4, 1881, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. His wife is twenty years his junior, and lives in the old homestead. Mr. Dun proved himself to be a good financier, and amassed quite a fortune. e was the owner of some seventy-five hundred acres of the best lands of Ohio, situated in Ross, Fayette, Clinton, Madison, Franklin and Logan counties. At his death, he left an estate valued at more than half a million of dollars. Mr. and Mrs. Dun were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters: Elizabeth married Mr. Kilvert, of Chillicothe, and lives in the city. Jean married Thomas McKell, son of William McKell, and resides in Chillicothe. William died in infancy. Helen is single, and remains at home with her mother. George W. was drowned in Paint Creek, at the age of twelve. Alfred, our subject, spent his boyhood days with his parents, in Chillicothe, attending school much of the time. After he grew to manhood, he spent some two years with relatives on the farm in Madison County. He also spent some five years in California. In May, 1870, he married Miss Marietta Fort, of Chillicothe. In the fall of 1878, he built a fine residence on his father's farm in this township, situated on the Greenfield and Sabina pike, four miles south of Sabina. In June, 1879, the family moved from the city to this residence, where they still remain. This is a farm consisting of fourteen hundred acres. Originally it was two farms; one situated in Clinton County, known as the Quin farm; the other on the Fayette County side of the line, known as the Hays farm. These lands were purchased by Mr. Dun's father many years since, at a low price, but are now very valuable. Though originally two farms, they join each other, making one of the most magnificent farms in the country. CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 747 Mr. and Mrs. Dun have five children, two sons and three daughters: Harry Alfred, Lulu, George William, Marie, and the youngest, a daughter, unnamed. In politics he is a Democrat. He inherits a large fortune. Mr. Dun is a cousin of R. G. Dun, of the mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Co. E. J. HOUSE. Mrs. Eliza Jane House, widow of John House, deceased, is the daughter of Samuel Goodnight, who at the age of twelve years removed with his parents from the State of Virginia to the state of Ohio, and settled near Buena Vista, this county. In the year 1827, at the age of nineteen, he was married to Miss Eveline Rittenhouse of the same neighborhood. His father having died when he was quite young. The son, Samuel, so managed as to become the owner of the farm, on which he lived and farmed until the year 1866, when he removed to the State of Indiana where he still lives. He had twelve children ; four dead and eight living. Our subject, Eliza Jane, was born October 11, 1835, and was married to John House, January 10, 1856. She with her husband commenced housekeeping, on a farm, a few miles north of Washington, in the year 1859, from which they soon removed, however, to a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, purchased by Mr. House, known as the Higgins farm, in Concord Township, on the east bank of Rattlesnake Creek, about one-half mile south of Wilmington pike. Mr. House died here January 2, 1866. The widow assumed the management of the farm affairs, and continued the same with marked ability. She and her children still own the same farm. Mr. House had been breeding short horned cattle, and in October, 1875, Mrs. House sold at public sale, the most of these for $4,300.00. She still has quite a number remaining, however. There are but few men who could manage a farm with so much skill and success as she. Mrs. House has four children living and one dead : Linley F., who is a young man now engaged in the tailoring business in Washington ; Clara E., who is married to Mr. Edward Seaborn, who owns and lives on a farm in the neighborhood; Aria A., married Mr. Frank Langdon, who is a farmer and lives on his own farm in the neighborhood ; Ulysses S. is a promising lad living at home with his mother; Carrie died in infancy. 748 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. Mrs. House has been reading a course of medicine for some twelve years, and has recently completed a full course of instruction and lectures at the American Health College of Medicine at Cincinnati, of the Vita Pathic System, from which institution she is now a graduate, holding a diploma as such. She expects as soon as she can manage her farm affairs to devote the greater part, if not her entire time to the practice of medicine on the Vita Pathic System. Mrs. House is a woman of much force of character, and is calculated to make a success of whatever she undertakes. CALEB H. JOHNSON. Caleb H. Johnson, farmer and stock raiser, Seldon, is the son of William Johnson, who was one of the pioneers of this county, whose biography more fully appears elsewhere in this book. Mr. Johnson is the brother of Thomas G. and Isaac M. Johnson, whose biographies also appear in this work. e was born in Green Township, March 29, 1829, and consequently is in the fifty-third year of his age. He married Nancy Row, daughter of Andrew and Hester Row, November 16, 1850. Her parents are now dead. They lived two years on a farm after their marriage, when they resolved on a trip to California. In November, 1852, they started on their journey. At the end of thirty days they reached the great Sacramento Valley, where they remained for six years, engaged principally in farming, raising as high as a hundred bushels of barley to the acre; of wheat, sixty bushels per acre. The great valley was but sparsely settled at this early day, mining being the absorbing interest of the country. For months their nearest neighbor was four miles away. All nationalities and classes of people roving over the mountains and valleys, making life and property unsafe; but most heroicly did Mrs. Johnson bear up amid all of these discouragements. She was the first woman who went from this county to California, and so far as known was the first woman who crossed the isthmus on a mule. Their career in California was an eventful one, filled with incidents, many of which are quite thrilling. After their return to Ohio, they settled on a farm which he purchased from Thomas Mattucks, two miles west of the village of Staunton, on the road leading from Staunton to Sabina and Green-field pike. They remained on this for twenty-one years, when CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 749 they sold out and purchased what. is known as the Milton Serers farm, containing one hundred and thirty acres, in Concord Township, one-half a mile south of the village of Jasper, on the waters of Sugar Creek. They moved to this farm in March, 1880, where they now reside. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were without children until after their return from California. They now have two, one son and a daughter. John Row the son, is a sprightly boy fifteen. years old. Jenny Riggs is a lovely, bright girl, several years younger than her brother. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are genial and kind, having seen much of life in California and elsewhere. JOB M'CAY. Job McCay, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Jesse and Mary McCay, who were natives of Virginia. His father came to this state, in 1803, and remained but a short time when he returned to Virginia. In 1809, he again came to this state and settled on the waters of Lee's Creek. He had four children by his 'first wife, three daughters and one son : James, married and is dead ; Anna, married and lives in Greene County ; Eliza, married and lives in Clinton County; Charity, married and is dead ; Mrs. McCay is also dead. Mr. McCay married again, and had three sons and two daughters by the second wife : William, unmarried and lives on the old homestead; Sarah, married and died; Jesse, single, has been entirely blind since he was seven years old; Leah, married and lives in Clinton County. Job, our subject, was born March 24, 1833, and married Ann Marie McKee, in 1856. He came to the farm where he now lives, in 1858. They are the parents of ten children, three sons and seven daughters: John M., their oldest son, is by profession a school teacher, at this time following his profession in Nebraska; Jesse, died in infancy; Mary Jane, Olin A., Martha E., Charlie G., Ada, Malissa, Bell, Almia, Maggie. William, the oldest son, was born in May, 1827. He is also a farmer and stock raiser. His post-office is Memphis, Clinton County. The two brothers, William and Job, have been engaged together in business all their lives. Their interests are mutual and agreeable, and they are in perfect harmony. The one married has a large family of children; the 750 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. other single, yet no discord exists. They own some eight hundred acres of land, and are well to do respectable farmers. Their father served in the war of 1812. Job, with his family, located on a fine farm on the the Greenfield and Sabina pike, some four miles south from Sabina. William, some four miles west of this near the county line, on the waters of Lee's Creek. ALFRED H. MARK. Alfred H. Mark, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Jonathan and Susannah Mark, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to this state in an early (lay, and settled on the waters of Sugar Creek, in Concord Township; but subsequently moved on the farm which our subject, Alfred H. Mark, now occupies. The father died, in 1852. The widow remained on the farm until her death, which occurred a few years since. They had ten children, seven sons and three daughters : Joseph, removed to Iowa and died there; John, lives in Iowa; David, died when quite young; James, lives in the State of Indiana; Mary, died when a young lady; Margaret, married Mr. Lewis, but is now dead; Isaac N., lives in the State of Iowa; Mary E., wife of Benjamin Jones, lives in Iowa; Alfred H., born June 23, 1836, and married to Mary Jane Haynes, January 27, 1854, daughter of Isaac and Susannah Haynes, of Clinton County, Ohio. They have had four children born unto them, three sons and one daughter: Frank J., Annie E., Charley and James Bruce. Frank J. was mortally wounded by a kick on the head from a horse, in October, 1874. The accident occurred while with his father in the field gathering corn. After four days of suffering, he died. The daughter and two sons are at home. The family seem to be a family of accidents. Mr. Marks, while yet in his teens jumped from a train in rapid motion, and was dragged a long distance, causing a broken arm. Again, being on the first excursion on the Muskingum Valley Railroad, his head came in contact with a bridge, when near Lancaster, and his head badly scalped, besides being dangerously wounded. After his marriage, while engaged in removing a large barn, he fell quite a distance, which resulted in a broken and dislocated arm. He has received numerous injuries by being kicked by horses and mules. June 23, 1880, he suffered the loss of his right arm, by being CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 751 caught in a threshing machine, on the old Peter Brown farm. The arm was amputated by Drs. Foster and Wilson, of Washington. He remained in bed but fourteen days, after which he was moving about with the activity and cheerfullness for which he was noted. His son, Burch, was thrown from a horse, and had his leg broken. Charlie has had his collar bone broken twice. Annie's collar bone was broken. With all these misfortunes the family is happy and prosperous. In 1878 Mr. Marks built a fine brick residence, at a cost of three thousand dollars, on the spot where he was born, which he now occupies. Politically he is a Democrat. The husband, wife and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His farm consists of one hundred and seventy acres, located on the Wilmington pike, some four miles west of Washington. LORENZO MORRIS. Lorenzo Morris, farmer, stock raiser and butcher, is a son of Zadok and Lydia Morris, who were natives of Virginia. They came to Ohio in 1818, and settled in what is now Green Township, this county, three miles north of Leesburg. Here the wife died in 1863. Mr. Morris remains on the same farm. They were the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter. Lauretta died at the age of sixteen. Jonathan married, and lives near his father. Lorenzo, our subject, was born October 30, 1834. On the 16th of October, 1856, he married Miss Deborah A. Plumer, daughter of Eli Plumer. For ten years they lived and farmed in Clinton County, this state. In October, 1866, Mr. Morris purchased a farm of two hundred and thirty-seven acres, known as the Hays farm, in Concord Township, situated on what is known as the Snow Hill pike, near the Clinton County line. They soon removed to this farm, where they still remain. Mr. Morris has since purchased adjoining lands, so that the farm now contains four hundred and twenty acres; good land, and well located. Our subject is an active, energetic man, continually on the go. He has been extensively engaged in the feeding of hogs—feeding some twelve hundred each year. This business did well for Mr. Morris, until the cholera attacked his hogs, which in due time caused him to cease further operations in this direction. 752 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. Mr. Morris was led by rather peculiar circumstances to engage on his farm in the butchering business, opening a shop in Washington. The slaughtering of cattle, hogs, and sheep, is all clone on the farm, some nine miles west from Washington, and the meat is hauled daily to town, where, from his commodious room, it is sold at low but remunerative prices. In 1879 he slaughtered one hundred and sixty-two beeves. In 1880 two hundred and eighty-two beeves were killed, besides hogs and sheep. During 1881 it is expected to require from four to five hundred cattle, with a large number of hogs and sheep, to supply the demand, which is rapidly increasing. Mr. Morris purchases the majority of his cattle in the Cincinnati market. They are brought to his farm, where they are fattened for the knife. About one hundred head of cattle are constantly kept on hand, and they are fed, summer and winter, in large boxes, corn in unlimited quantities, with the best of grass in summer. As the fattest are butchered, others take their place. Evidently Mr. Morris has succeeded so fully in reducing this business to a system that it must prove quite remunerative. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have six children, five sons and one daughter. The daughter, Olive, is married to James Shoop, who is a school teacher. They have one child, and live on her father's farm. William Azro is a promising young man. He has spent five years at the Adrian, Michigan, University, where he expects to graduate. Walter is of age, and at home, working on the farm. Jonathan, Elwood, and David, are also at home, working on the farm. Mr. Morris is a Republican in politics; in religion a Methodist. S. C. ROBERTS. S. C. Roberts, farmer, stock raiser, and physician. The subject of this sketch is a descendant of John Roberts, who, together with his two brothers, James and Henry Roberts, emigrated to the Colony of Virginia about the period of the English Revolution, in 1688. They were natives of South Wales. William Roberts, son of John Roberts, referred to above, was the great grandfather of S. C. Roberts. He was born in 1724. His children consisted of eight sons: John, Henry, Azariah, Nehemiah, CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 753 Cornelius, William, Hanley, and Minor William Roberts, the sixth son, and grandfather of S. C. Roberts. Minor William Roberts was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, in the year 1762. He was a soldier in the war for American Independence, and held a captain's commission at its close. e was a first cousin to General Andrew Jackson (their mothers being sisters). He was married to Hannah Fink, March 26, 1787. The certificate of said marriage is now in possession of S. C. Roberts, and is very highly prized by him as an heirloom of the family. Hannah Fink was of German descent, but was born in Virginia. Her father, Henry Fink, and her brother, Henry Fink, jr., were . killed by the Indians at or near Clarksburg, Virginia, soon after her marriage to William Roberts. They raised twelve children : John B., Rebecca (Vanmeter), Henry, Hezekiah, Susan (Malone), Daniel, William, James D., Melinda (Mackey), Isaac, Elijah W., and Hannah (Search). John, Henry, and Hezekiah Roberts, were soldiers in the war with Great Britain, in 1812, serving to the end of the war. Soon after the marriage of William and Hannah Roberts, they emigrated to Bourbon County, Kentucky, and in 1798 to Ross County, Ohio, twelve miles east of Chillicothe, on the waters of the Kinnikinnick, where they lived on a farm entered from the government. They both died in the year 1835. Isaac Roberts, the tenth child of William and Hannah Roberts, was the father of S. C. Roberts. He was born at the old Roberts homestead, September 3, 1804, and was married to Mercy Chedister, December 22, 1825. They had a family of eleven children. Two died in infancy. S. C. Roberts, subject of this sketch, was the third child, born August 31, 1832. The next was W. E. Roberts. Wilmeth A. (Barnes), Margaret, Anna M. (Miller), Jacob U., James D., Harriet E., and Isaac A. Roberts. Jacob U., James D., and Isaac A. Roberts, served as soldiers in the Union army during the late rebellion. S. C. Roberts graduated as a doctor of medicine, with the highest honors, at Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, in the spring of 1853, and was married on May 10th, of the same year, to Miss Mary E. Bowen, of Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio, that being her native place. Her parents came from Martinsburg, Virginia. They lived happily together until July 4, 1877, the date of her death. They had six .living children at the time of her death: Anna M., born April 16, 1854; Charles L., born January 23, 1860; 754 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. Frank K., born April 8, 1864; John I., born December 4, 1866; Margaret A., born September 18, 1869; and Samuel C., born March 31, 1872. Anna M. Roberts, the eldest child, died March 29, 1881, after a lingering illness of more than two years, having contracted a cold that caused her death. She was a highly cultivated young lady for one of her years, and had much more than ordinary talent as an artist, besides having received a collegiate education at Delaware, Ohio. Her memory is almost worshiped by her father, sister, and brothers. Every room in her father's house bears evidence of her superior artistic skill. She was loved by all her large circle of friends and acquaintances. Isaac Roberts, father of Dr. S. C. Roberts, subject of this sketch, died at Jackson Court House, January 18, 1873, of pneumonia, having lived there nearly twenty years. He was a lawyer by profession, and was appointed commissioner of the board of enrollment in that district during the late rebellion, and also represented that county in the Ohio Legislature in the years 1863-64. His wife, Mercy Roberts, died May 25, 1869. Dr. S. C. Roberts, our subject, became identified with this county in November, 1868. He, together with the Rev. R. Pitzer, who were then both residents of Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio, purchased of Dr. C. A. Trimble, eleven hundred and eight acres of land, situated in Jasper and Concord townships, immediately next the Clinton County line, what was known as the Trimble prairie lands, bought at a very early day by Ex-Governor Trimble, of Hillsboro (father of C. A. Trimble). Roberts and Pitzer paid for said lands fifty thousand dollars, and divided it equally between them, as to acreage, each residing on their respective parts of said lands. R. Pitzer sold his land several years since, and now resides at Washington. Dr. Roberts still remains on what was his part of the divide in the land. Before coming to this county, he practiced medicine and surgery twelve years, very successfully, at Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio ; and since he has resided in this county he has been a physician and farmer, making a specialty of broom corn for several years. But for the past two years he has been engaged in general farming, and has also given some attention to the raising of fine stock-short-horn cattle and Berkshire hogs—having raised some of the finest and best ever produced in the county, with pedigrees equal to anything in the United States. CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 755 MARTIN ROWE. Martin Rowe, farmer and stock-raiser, is the son of John and Francis Rowe, who were natives of Virginia. Coming to Ohio in 1811, they settled on the waters of the Wabash, this county, remaining there until their death. The mother died in 1828, the father in 1864. They had five children, four sons and one daughter: Willis, married and moved to Illinois, and died there in his seventy-first year; Anderson, married, lived and died in this county; John, married, and lives near Washington C. H.; Mary Jane, married, moved to Illinois and died. Mr. Rowe married for his second wife Mrs. Lydia Furry, by whom he had six children, four boys and two girls: George, married, and lives in this county ; David, married, and lives in Washington C. Ii.; Harvey, married, but his wife is dead; Edwin M., married, and lives in Staunton; Sarah F., married, and resides in Brown County; Catharine E., married, and resides in Greene County, Ohio. Martin, our subject, was born January 8, 1813. He married Sophia M. Johnson, daughter of William and Jane Johnson, September 14, 1838. They at once commenced housekeeping on the farm where they still reside, on the road leading from Staunton to the Sabina pike, about one mile west from Staunton. They have eight children, all living, four sons and four daughters: Malinda Jane was married to E. R. VanPelt, whose biography appears in this book. Amanda A. was married to Henry Mark, whose biography appears in this work. Isaac Newton married, and lives in Green Township; he went into the army as a volunteer in the nineteenth year of his age, and served his country faithfully for three years; he was honorably discharged, and reinstated. Ile was captured by the enemy July 22, 1864, and taken to Andersonville Prison, where he remained for months, suffering from hunger and abuse more than tongue can express. e left home a stout, robust young man, and came back a wreck, physically, unable to do physical labor, but commands the respect of all who know him. Mary F. was married to Lewis Mark, and lives in the neighborhood. Eliza E., married to McStuckey, whose biography appears on another page. John William, married, and lives in this county. Virgil Clark, married, and lives in Green township, this county. Martin is single, and lives with his parents. The farm contains two hundred 756 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. and sixty-one acres, and is in a high state of cultivation. It is adorned with a commodious brick residence and a lovely yard. Mr. Rowe and wife have been members of the M. E. Church for forty-two years. They are a most excellent family, feeling very grateful to God for his rich blessings so bountifully bestowed on them. JACOB SOLLERS. Jacob Sollers, farmer and stock raiser, is a grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth Sollers, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, in 1807, and settled on the waters of Buckskin Creek, on the line between Ross and Fayette Counties. They were the parents of nine children, six sons and three daughters : Nancy died in infancy. John married, and lives on Paint Creek. Hiram died when a young man. Matilda married, and lives near Good Hope, this county. Allen married, and is now deceased. Samuel married, and lives in Highland County, this state. Jacob died when a young man. Mary died when a young woman, much afflicted. Isaac, the father of our subject, was born in this county, December 25, 1808. The 15th day of March 1838, he married Hannah E. Jones. The fruit of this marriage is eleven children, six sons and five daughters: Jonathan J, went into the army, served three years, lost his health, came home, and died. Mary E., a young lady, at home with her mother. Matilda, married to John Craig, lives near Washington. Wells B., married, and lives on the home farm, a portion of which he owns. Was out in the hundred days' service, badly wounded, being shot in the mouth and face. Isaac M., married, and is a minister of the gospel, a member of the Ohio Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now stationed at Roseville, Muskingum County, Ohio. Eliza Jane was married in Washington Court House, Ohio, October 16, 1878, to Wheeler Ellis, of Georgetown, Colorado, by telegraph. A novel wedding! They were united in marriage when more than twelve hundred miles apart. The young wife started for the home of her husband immediately after the ceremony was performed. Alcina M. still lives at home. Barton L., Hannah E., and Samuel L., are at home with their mother. The father, and head of the family, died July 23, 1876. He was a man respected by all who knew him. Jacob, our subject, was the sixth child, and was born May 10, CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 757 1851. Married Martha A. Sharp, December 10, 1874, by whom he has three children: Jonathan L., John A., and Charles. He owns and lives on a portion of the old homestead, which consists of some five hundred and fifty acres of first-class land, situated on the Wilmington pike, five miles from Washington. The mother and unmarried children occupy the homestead residence. The family is much respected, being in harmony and prosperity. JOHN STUCKEY. John Stuckey, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Abraham and Margaret Stuckey, who were natives of Pennsylvania, but came to this state, in 1804, and settled on the waters of Buckskin Creek, in Ross County, this state, where they remained until their death. They were the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters : Jacob, married and died recently at the age of eighty-two years; Samuel, married, moved to Indiana and died there; Elizabeth, married James McCay, but is now dead ; Catherine, married, is also dead; Daniel lived to be an old man, remained single, but is now dead; one died in infancy; Abraham, married, moved to Indiana and died ; David, married and died in this county; Margaret, married, moved to Indiana and died ; Simon, married and is dead; Barbara, died when a young women. John Stuckey, our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, Summersett County, September 2, 1801, and came with his parents to this state, in 1804. He married Mary Jane Kiner, of Ross County, in the fall of 1831. They soon moved to this county. They were blessed with two children: Eliza J., married Milton Irons, and lives near Staunton; Jacob C., married in the State of Indiana and lives there. Mrs. Stuckey died. Mr. Stuckey married for his second wife Margaret Jameson, daughter of Judge Jameson, in the year 1837 ; by whom he had five children, three sons and two daughter Mary E., died in infancy ; Samuel W., whose history will more fully appear in the history of the rebellion ; John D., married to Emma Millikan, daughter of Curran Millikan, deceased, and they reside in the suberbs of Washington; Isabell, remained single and teaches school ; Mathew IF., married Eliza E. Rowe, daughter of Martin and Sophia Rowe, whose biography appears on another page, January 8, 1868. They have five children, all daughters : Margaret E., Sophia M., Minnie B. and Etta M. Mathew IF. was born Au- 758 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. gust 16, 1845, and lives in the old homestead, his aged father living with him. Our subject's second wife died, September 3, 1863. In October, 1866, he married Miss Mary Middleton, of Ross County, with whom he lived most happily until December, 1872, when she died. Mr. Stuckey is one of the oldest settlers of the county, a man of untarnished reputation, honest and upright. e has been a Christian gentleman for nearly half of a century, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ELI RUSSELL VAN PELT. Eli Russell Van Pelt, farmer and stock raiser, Was born in Adams County, Ohio, August 25, 1827. He is a son of Peter and Mary Van Pelt, natives of Tennessee, who came to Ohio and settled on a farm in Adams County, at an early day. In 1831 they removed to this county, and settled on a farm but a short distance south of the village of Staunton. Here the father resided until his death. His widow is still living on the firm with her son Simon and family. She is now in her eighty-second year, and shows marked evidences of' her old age. For more than seventy years she has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were the parents of twelve children : Charles, farmer, living in Highland County ; Sarah, married to William Craig, and lives in Iowa; Mary, married to William Johnson, and lives in Kokomo, Indiana; Susan, married to Andrew Post, both deceased; Peggy A., deceased; Andrew, married, and lives in this county; Elizabeth, married to George Rowe, and resides in this county; William S., died in California, in 1856; Simon P., married, and lives on the farm with his mother; Malinda Jane, deceased; Oliver P., killed at the battle of Shiloh, in 1862. Our subject, Eli R., went to California in 1851, and remained five years in the mines, which proved a financial success. Soon after his return home he married Malinda Jane Rowe, daughter of Martin Rowe. They are without children. They own and live on a most excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres, adjoining the village of Staunton. On Mr. Van Pelt's return home from California, they encountered a most terrible storm of four days' duration, when in the Gulf of Mexico, expecting every moment the vessel and all on board to CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 759 be lost. This vessel was considered unsafe, and was condemned on her arrival at port, but was repainted and given the name of " Central America." On her first trip, when returning, she was met in the same gulf, and went down, losing some four hundred lives, and two millions in gold dust. Mr. Van Pelt in politics is a staunch Republican. He is also a sound temperance man. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WILLIAM WADDLE. William Waddle, farmer and stock raiser, was born in Ireland, May 10, 1827. He is the son of Francis W. and Anna Waddle, who were natives of Ireland. Coming to America in 1840, they located in Chillicothe, Ohio. They were the parents of three daughters and two sons : Elizabeth married, and lives in Ross County, Ohio. Margaret and Ellen were twins; both are dead. Francis is married, and owns and lives on a farm joining our subject's. William married Miss Dorcas Murry, daughter of George Murry, who lived near Kingston, Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1852. They lived six years in Ross County, when he purchased a portion of what was known as the Trustin Adams farm, in this township, situated on the Snow Hill pike, about one mile west from Rattlesnake Creek. In 1858 they removed to this farm, where they still remain. Mr. Waddle and wife, by economy and industry, have been able to purchase other lands, so that the farm, or farms, contains eight hundred and fifty acres, in a good state of cultivation. They are out of debt. They are the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters: Rebecca, the eldest, married John W. Hoppis, with whom she lived some ten years, when she died with consumption, leaving three children. On the 25th of November, 1880, Mr. Hoppis married for his second wife, Anna, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Waddle. George is a promising sons, twenty-six years of age, single, and at home with his parents. He has recently been ordained a minister of the gospel in the Old School Baptist Church, and is said to be a most excellent young man. The son-in-law, Mr. Hoppis, occupies the same relation to the Baptist Church. William is married, and lives on the home farm. Lucy, John, Mary, Oliver, Ida, Dora, and Joseph, are at home with their parents, 760 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. Mr. and Mrs. Waddle feel that they have been highly favored by the Divine Being. Out of a family of eleven children, they have had but one death, and that daughter died in the triumphs of the Christian religion. Except at the birth of their children, they never but once had occasion to call a physician to their aid. In politics, Mr. Waddle is a Democrat. In religion, the family are Old School Baptists, much attached to the church of their choice, and devoted to the service of the Saviour. THOMAS S. WORTHINGTON. Thomas S. Worthington, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of Joseph and Harriet Worthington, whose biography appears elsewhere in this book. He was born in Fairfield Township, Highland County, Ohio, August 18, 1829. At the age of seventeen, he was placed by his father in charge of his large farm, on the waters of Rattlesnake Creek, in this township. Here he remained, and continued to work for his father, until he was twenty-seven years of age, when he married Sarilda Parey, daughter of Samuel Parey, of Highland County. She died in one year and six months after her marriage. Mr. Worthington married for his second wife, Mrs. Margaret Spencer (formerly Margaret Persinger), by whom he had two children : Joseph Burnell, now married, and living on his father's farm, and Harriet, also married, and living on the home farm. Mr. Worthington's farm contains some fifteen hundred acres of as rich, fertile land as can be found in the county, all in one body, being on the east side of Rattlesnake Creek, reaching up to the Snow Hill pike, and situated on both sides of the Charleston road. The entire farm is under fence, and in a good state of cultivation. Much of it is used for meadow and grazing purposes. Our subject confines himself strictly to his business, giving personal attention to the varied interests of this large farm. ROBERT WORTHINGTON. Robert Worthington, farmer and stock raiser, was born September 28, 1831. His father, Joseph Worthington, was born in Ross County, this state, February 8, 1804. In the year 1827, he married Hannah Shields, and the following year moved to Fairfield Township, Highland County, this state, and settled on a farm where he CONCORD TOWNSHIP - 761 has continuously resided until the present time. He has been one of the most widely and well known men of this county; although taking no very active part in politics or other affairs. His occupation has been farming, and he has been remarkably successful, accumulating a large property. This aged couple has been blessed with four children: Thomas, born in 1829 ; Joseph, born in 1833 ; William D., born in 1837, died June 4, 1854. Our subject married Catharine Cox, March 17, 1853, by whom he had one son, who was left motherless by the death of the mother, which occurred in one year after her marriage. Mr. Worthington's mother took charge of the infant babe, and has seen him grow up to manhood. He still remains with his grandparents, though twenty-seven years of age. Robert remained single for eight years, living a lonely life on his large farm. Sometimes having a family with him in his house, and sometimes all alone. In July, 1863, he was called to Chillicothe, this state, in defence of his country, and especially in opposition to John Morgan and his raiders. By a seemingly strange coincidence of circumstances, the was led in the midst of that most wonderful excitement, on that memorable occasion, to the house of Andrew McDonald for food and shelter, where he formed the acquaintance of his present wife, Miss Jennie McDonald, daughter of Mr. McDonald. Miss Jennie, was a bright, intelligent, and cultivated young lady, teaching school in the city and residing with her parents. December 10th, of the same year, they were married; soon after, she came with her husband to his log cabin, on his magnificent farm, on the waters of Rattlesnake Creek, on the road leading from Staunton to Leesburgh. This is quite a change for Mrs. Worthington, from the city, the school room and a nice city home, to the log cabin on a thousand acre farm; but she was equal to the task, and most grandly has she succeeded in this new order of things. Mr. Worthington thinks that the Morgan raid was not so disasterous after all, at least so far as he is concerned. They have two children : Maggie, born December 29, 1866; William, born April 19, 1870. They have also, an adopted daughter, Rhoda Tobin, adopted when but four years of age, now a young lady of nineteen, much loved by the family. Indeed, she is regarded as one of the family. The farm consists of twelve hundred and twenty-two acres, all in a high state of cultivation, mostly used for grazing purposes. 762 - HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY. Some three hundred head of cattle are fed and grazed by Mr. Worthington each year on this farm. In 1871, he built a magnificient residence, which is one of the finest in the county, at a cost of more than nine thousand dollars, which he occupies. This family are devout Christians, all member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The writer of this sketch has been in the ministry for more than thirty years : In all that time, seldom, if ever, has he met a family of so much wealth and business, so fully devoted to God and his cause as this family. ANTHONY WAYNE WRIGHT. Anthony Wayne Wright, farmer and stock raiser, was born in March, 1812. He is the son of John Wright, whose biography, or family history appears in the sketch of Concord Township. Our subject married Sarah Wright (no relationship existing) in 1833, by whom he had three children, one son and two daughters: Margaret, Samantha Jane, and Jasper W. Mrs. Wright died October 19, 1840. In 1843, Mr. Wright married Margaret Caylor, by whom he had one son, John A., who lives on a farm near Jeffersonville, in this county. Jasper W. owns and lives on the portion of his father's home farm lying on the east side of Sugar Creek, in Union Township. The two daughters are living at home with their parents. Samantha Jane has been married twice; both husbands are dead. She has an interesting son, ten years of age, James L. Cannon, living with her and his grandparents. Mr. Wright is the owner of a most excellent farm on Sugar Creek, where he resides, and is quite active and enterprising for a man of his years. His wife is his senior by several years, and shows signs of advancing age.