GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 125 Grieve married Johanna Kyle, who died in 1895. He was an active member of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia. Reared on the home farm, Rankin R. Grieve received his early schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and supplemented the same by a course in Smith Seminary at Xenia, meantime taking an active part in the labors of the home farm, and remained there until 1892, in which year he was appointed deputy sheriff of Greene county and made his headquarters at Xenia, where, after his marriage two years later, he established his home. In 1894 he was elected sheriff of the county and in 1896 was re-elected to that office, serving until 1899. Upon the completion of this term of service Mr. Grieve engaged in the insurance business at Xenia and later was appointed station and express agent for the Dayton, Xenia & Springfield Traction Company and was thus engaged until his election in 1908 to the office of county treasurer. In 1910 he was re-elected to that office and thus served in the treasurer's office until 1913, since which time he has been engaged in the real-estate business at Xenia, with present offices in the Allen building. As long ago as 1905 Mr. Grieve entered the ranks of auctioneers and his services have been in wide demand as a crier of public sales and real-estate sales throughout this part of the state. For many years Mr. Grieve was secretary of the Greene County Fair Board and in this capacity acquired a wide acquaintance throughout the county, an acquaintance which has been enlarged by his long connection with the court house and his wide experience as a crier of sales, until it now is generally agreed that no man in Greene county has a wider acquaintance than he. In addition to his other business connections Mr. Grieve is a member of the board of directors of the Commercial and Savings Bank Company of Xenia and formerly served as treasurer of the city of Xenia and as treasurer of the city school board. He is an active Republican, for several years served as a member of the Republican county committee and has been a delegate to conventions innumerable. For some time after taking up his residence in Xenia Mr. Grieve made his home at the corner of West Main and Galloway streets, where he built a house, but later sold that place and bought his present residence at 07 West Market street. On October 11, 1894, at Xenia, Rankin R. Grieve was united in marriage to Bertha J. Richter, who was born at Cincinnati. Mrs. Grieve's father died when she was a child and her mother later married Gustav Seamon and when her daughter was about eight years of age moved from Cincinnati to Xenia, where Mr. Seamon became engaged in the grocery business and where he is still living, since the death of his wife, making his home with Mr. and Mrs. Grieve. Mr. and Mrs. Grieve are members of the Second United Presbyterian church and Mr. Grieve has been for many years treasurer of the church organization. 126 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO WILLIAM H. FINLEY, M. D. Dr. William H. Finley, of Xenia, physician and surgeon, was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, this county, February 2, 1857, a son of Robert and Emma (Channon) Finley, both of whom was of European birth, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of England, who came to this country not long after their marriage and proceeded on out to Ohio, settling in Greene county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Robert Finley was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, and there grew to manhood and married Emma Channon, who was born and reared in Lancashire, England, but who had gone to Ireland to serve as a governess. After a daughter had been born to this union Robert Finley emigrated with his family to the United States, Ohio being his destination, and settled in the Lamb neighborhood in Sugarcreek township, this county, where he established his home along the banks of the Little Miami and was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of his adopted country and went to the front as a member of Company E, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned captain of the same before the, close of the war. Captain Finley was a stonemason and contractor and followed that vocation after coming to Greene county. In 1879 he moved from his place along the river to the village of Bellbrook, where he continued his contracting business and where his wife died in 1888. In 1890 he moved to Xenia and in that city spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in 1903. Captain Finley and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith. There. were six of these children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being John, who is still living at Bellbrook, where he has long followed the business of a building contractor; a daughter who died at the age of four years; Emma, wife of John. Brown, of Bellbrook ; Mrs. Sarah Linscott, deceased, and Lavina, who died at the age of twenty years. Reared in Sugarcreek township, William H. Finley received his early schooling in the district schools of that township, one of his teachers there having been the Hon. M. A. Broadstone, former state senator from this district and for many years a lawyer at Xenia, whose name appears on the title page of this work. Upon completing the course in his home school young Finley attended Xenia College for a time and then for three years taught school in this county, in the meantime studying medicine under the preceptor-ship of Doctor Turnbull at Bellbrook. Thus equipped by preliminary study he matriculated at the Ohio Medical College and was graduated from that institution in 1881. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Finley returned to Greene county and opened an office in the village of Spring Valley, where GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 127 he remained until 1890, in which year he moved to the city of Xenia and there formed a partnership with Drs. H. R. and Ben McClellan, an arrangement which continued until the death of the latter. In 1901 Doctor Finley formed a partnership with Dr. H. R. McClellan which continued until June,. 1917, when he formed a partnership with his son, Dr. Kent Finley, who not long before had been graduated from Jefferson Medical College and had for a year been engaged as an interne in the Miami Valley Hospital at Dayton,, and this arrangement continues. The elder Doctor Finley has taken several post-graduate courses in surgery. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, of the Ohio State Medical Society, of the American Medical. Association and of the Congress of Surgeons. The Doctor is a Republican by inclination, but party bias does not blind him to the need of fit men for public office and on local measures he does not hesitate to vote independently of party ties. For the past seven years or more he has been serving as a member of the Xenia school board. On September 22, 1882, Dr. William H. Finley was united in marriage to Ida Kent, who also was born in this county, at Bellbrook, a daughter of George and Mary Kent, the latter of whom is still living, being now in the ninety-fifth year of her age. George Kent,. who was a member of one of Greene county's old families, studied law as a young man, but after a while: abandoned the thought of entering the legal profession and became a tailor, which vocation he followed at Bellbrook, near which village he also owned and operated a farm. To Doctor and Mrs. Finley four children have been born, namely : Irma, Ethel, Kent and Martha. The Finleys are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Xenia and the Doctor has been for years a member of the official board of the same. Miss Irma Finley, who is now engaged in Young Women's Christian Association work, was graduated from Western College at Oxford, this state, and later taught for some time in the high school at Xenia, resigning her position there to take up the work of the Young Women's Christian Association and, is now engaged in that behalf at Atlanta, Georgia. Ethel, Finley, who was graduated from Western College, at Oxford, married. Lawrence Laudiger and is now living at St. Louis, Missouri, where her husband is engaged as a clerk in the office of the manager in the offices of the: Pennsylvania Railroad Company there. The youngest daughter, Martha. Finley, is now (1918), a student in the Xenia high school. Dr. Kent Finley, only son of Doctor and Mrs. Finley, was graduated from the Xenia high school and then entered Wooster University. A year later he entered the Ohio State University and after a two-years course there entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which institution he was graduated in June, 1916. Following a year of service as an interne: 128 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO in the Miami Valley Hospital at Dayton he returned home and in July, 1917, was taken into partnership with his father and is now practicing in Xenia. During his college course he was made a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. On June 23, 1917, Dr. Kent Finley was united in marriage to Florence Ganiard, of Jackson, Michigan. CHARLES H. HACKETT. Charles H. Hackett, postmaster at Yellow Springs and a former merchant at that place, was born on a farm in Miami township, this county, February 22, 1873, son of James and Ellen (Cavenaugh) Hackett, both of whom were born in Ireland, who were married at Springfield, this state, later coming down into Greene county and locating on a farm in the Cedarville neighborhood, where they both died, the latter in 1915 and the former in October, 1916. James Hackett grew to manhood in his native Ireland and then came to this country, presently coming to Ohio and engaging in railroad work at Springfield. In that city he met and renewed his acquaintance with Ellen Cavenaugh, whom he had known in the old country and who had come to this country with her parents, the family locating in the vicinity of Springfield, and the couple shortly afterward were married. Not long after his marriage James Hackett decided to give up railroad work and engaged in farming and with this end in view came down into Greene county and bought a farm in Miami township, in the vicinity of Cedarville, where he established his home and where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there, as noted above, in the fall of 1916. His wife died in 1915. She has a brother still living, now retired, in the city of London, Ohio. To James and Ellen (Cavenaugh) Hackett were born ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the sixth in order of birth, the others being the following: Richard, a farmer living in Xenia township, wh0 is married and has two children; Thomas, deceased, as also is his wife, the two having left a son, John Hackett, who is now (1918) with the American Expeditionary Army in France ; Margaret, wife of John Downey, a farmer living in the vicinity of Yellow Springs ; Edward, a blacksmith, living at Yellow Springs; Katherine, who married Michael Minnogue, living in the vicinity of Springfield, and has seven children; John, deceased; William, now a resident of Dayton, who is married and has seven children; Joseph, living on the old home place in Miami township, who is married and has four children, and Harry, of Yellow Springs, who also is married and has four children. Charles H. Hackett was reared on the home farm, but early decided on a mercantile career and upon completing his schooling in the high school GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 129 he began working in the grocery store of A. H. White at Clifton. He was then nineteen years of age and for twelve years he continued that employment, in that time gaining a very comprehensive knowledge of the grocery business. Upon the completion of that term of service Mr. Hackett bought the store from his employer and engaged in business on his own account. Two years later he sold that store and moved to Yellow Springs, where he bought the hardware store of George H. Smith and continued to operate that store until his appointment, two years later, in 1913, as postmaster of Yellow Springs, which office he ever since has occupied. Mr. Hackett is a Democrat and has long been recognized as one of the leaders of his party in the northern part of this county. In the winter of 1902 Charles H. Hackett was united in marriage to Clemmie Gram, daughter of David L. and Katherine (Taylor) Gram, of Springfield, this state, and to this union two children have been born, Leo, born on August 12, 1905, and Kathleen, March 27, 1913. Mrs. Hackett has three brothers, John E., Grover and Homer Gram. Mr. and Mrs. Hackett are members of the Catholic church and take an interested part in local parish affairs. JAMES S. McCAMPBELL, D. D. S. Dr. James S. McCampbell, dentist at Xenia and former president of the Greene County Sabbath School Association, has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Greene county since he was eighteen years of age. He was born on a farm in Franklin county, January 1, 1853, son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Winget) McCampbell, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland, who became residents of Greene county in 1871 and here spent their last days. Joseph McCampbell, who was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, was but a lad when his parents, William and Elizabeth McCampbell, left that state with their family and came over into Ohio, locating on a farm in Sugarcreek township, this county, where Joseph McCampbell grew to manhood. As a young man the latter became employed on a farm south of Marysville, in Union county, and while living there married Mary Ann Winget, who was born in Maryland and who was but a girl when she came with her parents to Ohio. After his marriage Mr. McCampbell bought a farm in Franklin county and there made his residence until 1871, in which year he disposed of his interests there, came to Greene county and bought a farm on the Jamestown pike five miles east of Xenia, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Joseph McCampbell died in 1888, at the age of seventy, and his widow survived him until 1892, being seventy (8) 130 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO years of age at the time of her death. They were members of the United Presbyterian church and were the parents of nine children, one of whom died in infancy, the others being the following : William, who lives on a farm in Cedarville township, this county ; Mrs. Jane Vanschoyk, now deceased, who Jived in Franklin county ; the Rev. Luther McCampbell, a United Presbyterian clergyman, now living in Pennsylvania ; Elizabeth, who died in 1870; Dr. James S. McCampbell, the subject of this biographical sketch; John, who is still living on the home farm in Cedarville township; Martha (deceased), who was the wife of Nathan Ramsey ; and Robert, who died on his farm in Cedarville township. Dr. James S. McCampbell's boyhood was spent on the home farm in Franklin county and in the schools of that neighborhood he received his early schooling, having been eighteen years of age when he came with his parents to Greene county in 1871. After a further course of schooling, taken at Franklin College and at Wittenberg College, he entered the Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati and was graduated from that institution in 1877, in which year he opened an office for the practice of his profession at Xenia, where he ever since has been thus engaged, with present offices at 28 North Detroit street. The Doctor is a Republican and has given public service as a member of the Xenia school board. On April 24, 1879, Dr. James S. McCampbell was united in marriage to Ella M. Herritt, who was born in Xenia, daughter of Andrew and Martha Herritt, both natives of Ireland, the former for years a tobacconist at Xenia, and to this union two children have been born, Mary, wife of the Rev. Robert C. Peters, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Patten, Pennsylvania, and Joseph A., who resides on and operates his farm in Xenia township and who married Elsie Harris, of Laporte county, Indiana, and has four children, Mary K., James Robert, Ruth Eleanor and John William. The McCampbells are members of the First United Presbyterian church at Xenia and Doctor McCampbell for some years was a member of the session of his church, for twelve years was superintendent of the Sabbath school, is the present teacher of the Bible class in his Sabbath school and has for years taken an active part in the affairs of the Greene County Sabbath School Association, having served both as president and as secretary of that body. WILLIAM THEODORE JACK. William Theodore Jack, who years ago was well known in the building trades at Xenia and who died at his home in that city in the fall of 1888, his widow still making her home there, was born at Waynesville, in the neighboring county of Warren, January 14, 1847, a son of Harrison and GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 131 Elizabeth (Hart) Jack, whose last days were spent in that county. Harrison Jack was a farmer and landowner and he and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follows : Warren, who is living on the old home place in Warren county ; Hiram, who is living in Florida ; Charles, who is living at Dayton ; Bruce, of Key West, Florida; Wilbur, deceased, and Amanda Frances, wife of Henry Dunham, of Lebanon, this state. Reared on the home farm in Warren county, William T. Jack received his schooling in the Lebanon schools and remained at home until he was twenty years of age, when he began working at the carpenter trade with the building. firm of Dreese & Thornhill at Xenia and continued thus engaged the rest of his life, his death occurring at his home in that city in October, 1888, he then being in the forty-second year of his age. Mr. Jack was an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, as is his widow. On October 21, 1868, at Xenia, William T. Jack was united in marriage to Mary Emma Thornhill, who was born at Ripley, Brown county, this state, a daughter of George D. and Gertrude (Thienas) Thornhill, the former of whom was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a son of John Thornhill and wife, the former a native of England, who came to this country in 1825 and located at Cincinnati. John Thornhill was a millwright and after he had located in Cincinnati he invented a new process for a sugar-mill and went to New Orleans to demonstrate the same. While there he was stricken with yellow fever and died. His widow spent the remainder of her life at Cincinnati. John Thornhill and wife were the parents of four children, George D., the only son, and three daughters, Matilda, Mary and Gertrude. Having been bereft of a father's care when but a child, George D. Thornhill was early thrown upon his own resources and early learned the trade of a carpenter and builder and was ever afterward engaged in that line. At the age of twenty-one he married and located in Cincinnati, later returning to Brown county and moving thence after a while to Chillicothe, where he remained until 1863, in which year he located in Xenia, where he spent the rest of his life. Not long after his arrival in! Xenia in 1863 Mr. Thornhill formed a partnership with Tobias Dreese and engaged in general building contracting, under the firm name of Dreese & Thornhill, and continued thus engaged until his death, which occurred in 1894, he then being sixty-eight years of age. His widow, who survived him until 1915, was born in Germany and was but nine years of age when she came to this country with her parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Thienas, the family settling in Indiana, on a farm in the vicinity of the city of Madison. Jacob Thienas and his wife there spent the remainder of their lives. Of their ten children, 132 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO Mrs. Thornhill was the youngest, the others being Jacob, Peter, Nicholas, Kate, Susan, Lena, Anna, Lizzie and Margaret. Nicholas Thienas enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War and was killed at the battle of Stone's River while fighting in behalf of the cause of his adopted country. To William T. and Mary Emma (Thornhill) Jack were born five sons, namely : Harry Jack, storekeeper for the Hooven & Allison Company at Xenia, who married Elizabeth Ferree and, has four children, Fern, Gertrude, Theodore and Frances; John, a bricklayer at Xenia, who married Cora Heaton and has eight children, Harrison and Walter (twins), Ruth, Emma, May, Gilbert, Elsie and Helen; Theodore, superintendent of Charities and Corrections at Cincinnati, who married Harriet Burton and has one child, a son, George Early ; Oliver, a shoemaker, living at Xenia, who married Cassie McCabe and has seven children, Ernest, Fred, Edna, Ardis, Nicholas, Margaret and Sarah Jane; and Thornhill, also a shoemaker, who makes his home with his mother in Xenia. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Jack has continued to make her home at Xenia, where she has lived since the days of her girlhood. GEORGE W. SHEETS. George W. Sheets, clerk of the court of common pleas of Greene county and one of the best known young men in the city of Xenia, was born and reared in Warren county, this state, but has been a resident of Xenia for nearly twenty years. He was born on November 14, 1885, son of Stephen A. Douglas and Sarah Masters (Ferree) Sheets, both of whom also were born in Ohio, the former in Athens county and the latter in Clinton county, who are now living in Xenia, where they have made their home for about fifteen years. Stephen A. Douglas Sheets was born on February 6, 1861, son of George and Mary Sheets, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Muskingum county, this state. George Sheets was sixteen years of age when he came to Ohio from his native Virginia and located at Chauncey, in Athens county, where he became employed in the salt works. He later became employed on the Hocking Valley railroad and was thus engaged when he met his death in a railway accident in 1869. His widow survived him for many years, her death occurring in 1903, she then being seventy-two years of age. George Sheets and wife were the parents of four children, of whom the father of the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being John, deceased; William, who is a farmer in the neighboring county of Clinton, and Edward, deceased. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 133 After the death of her husband in 1869 the widow of George Sheets moved with her children to Midland City, in Clinton county, and there Stephen A. Douglas Sheets grew to manhood and married Sarah Masters Ferree, who was born in that county, daughter of James W. and Prudence (Garretson) Ferree, the former of whom was born in Maryland and the latter in Hamilton county, this state, not far from the city of Cincinnati. James W. Ferree was but a lad when he went from Maryland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he learned the cooper's trade. He later came to Ohio, where he was married, and not long afterward bought a farm in Vernon township, Clinton county, and became a substantial farmer. His wife died in 1895, at the age of sixty-five, and he survived until 1898, he being seventy-three years of age at the time of his death. They were the parents of three children, of whom Mrs. Sheets is the youngest, the others being James W., deceased, and Mrs. C. J. Mishrow, of Summerfield, Kansas. After his marriage Stephen A. D. Sheets continued working as a farmer in Clinton and Warren counties until 1903, in which year he moved to Xenia, where he has since been employed in the cordage works of the Hooven & Allison Company. He is a Republican. His wife is a member of the Lutheran church. They have nine children, all of whom are at home save the subject of this sketch, the second in order of birth, the others being Francis Edward, Florence E., Jesse, Bessie, Harry, Bertha, Ralph and Everett. Reared in Warren county, George W. Sheets received his schooling in the schools of that county and afterward went to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and was engaged working for that company as a railroad brakeman until he met with an accident which deprived him of both of his legs four years later ; a deprivation, however, which does not prevent him from walking about, for by means of modern appliances he is able to walk With about as much apparent ease as most of men. After he was able to get about again Mr. Sheets opened a barber shop in Xenia and in connection with the same also started a retail and wholesale cigar and tobacco business, in the meantime giving such leisure as he could command to study in order to qualify himself for clerical labors. Mr. Sheets is a man of engaging manners and a "good mixer" and in 1912 he sought the Republican nomination for the office of clerk of the common pleas court. He put up a good race, but was defeated in the primaries,. The experience gained in this initial race proved valuable in the succeeding campaign and in 1916 he was nominated and elected clerk of court, his four-year term of office to begin in August, 1917. On February 5, 1917, however, he was appointed clerk of court to fill the unexpired term of J. Carl Marshall, who had resigned to enter upon his duties as judge of the probate court, and has since then been serving as clerk of court. 134 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO On June 24, 1908, George W. Sheets was united in marriage to Clara Denningham, who was born in Xenia, and to this union have been born three children, Winifred, Marjorie and Paul. Mr. and Mrs. Sheets have a pleasant home in Xenia. CHARLES C. HENRIE. Charles C. Henrie, formerly proprietor of a tinshop in West Main street, Xenia, now operated by his son, Clement B. Henrie, has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Xenia practically all of the time since he was nine years of age, he having been sent at that time to complete his schooling in the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home in that city, his mother, the widow of a soldier of the Union, having died in 1872. He was born on a farm in the neighborhood of Fredericktown, in Knox county, this state, October 29, 1863, son of Samuel and Harriet (Baxter) Henri, both of whom were born near Bellville, in that same county, both members of old families, the Baxters in particular having been residents there since pioneer days. Samuel Henrie was the owner of a small farm. During the progress of the Civil War he enlisted as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command until he met a soldier's death, being killed in battle near Chattanooga, Tennessee, when not yet thirty years of age. His widow did not remarry and died in 1872, leaving two sons, the subject of this sketch having a brother, four years the elder, Waldon Henrie, who is now a clerk in a railroad office at St. Louis, Missouri. In conformance with the dying request of his mother, Charles C. Henrie, then nine years of age, was sent to the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home at Xenia, following his mother's death, and there he remained until he was sixteen years of age, completing his schooling and being trained to the trade of a tinsmith ; receiving instructions there for which he ever has acknowledged a debt of gratitude to that admirable institution. In 1879, he then being sixteen years of age, young Henri received his "honorable discharge" from the state school and returned to Fredericktown, where he became employed in the tinshop of Charles Edwards. Six months later he went to Mansfield and was there employed in the tinshop of Blymyer Brothers for eighteen months, at the end of which time he returned to Xenia and in 1882 became employed in the Flemming tinshop. Two years later that concern was sold to Wolf & Peterson and Mr. Henri continued working for the latter firm until January I, 1888, when he started in busi- GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 135 ness for himself, opening a tinshop of his own in Xenia and engaging in the general sheet-metal and heating business. His first plant was on South Detroit street, but in 1895 he moved his shop and plant to 52 West Main street, where it ever since has been maintained, and there he carried on his business until in April, 1916, when he sold the plant to his son, Clement B. Henrie, and retired from business. Some years ago Mr. Henrie bought and remodeled a dwelling house at 25 West Church street and there he and his wife reside. Since Mr. Henrie's retirement he and his wife have traveled quite a bit and he finds relaxation and enjoyment in keeping up his own with his cronies of the redoubtable quoits team with which he has long been connected. In addition to his long established business connection in West Main street Mr. Henrie has given some attention to other local business enterprises, was one of the charter stockholders of the Shawnee Refrigeration Company of Xenia and was secretary and treasurer of the same until his retirement and resignation from that office in 1916. He is a member of the local camp of the Sons of Veterans, a Mason, a member of the local lodge of the Royal Arcanum and of the Knights of Pythias and he and his wife are members of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. On December 15, 1884, at Mansfield, this state, Charles C. Henrie was united in marriage to Minnie Johnston, who was born at Mansfield, a daughter of Frank and Almira (Sloan) Johnston, the latter of whom also was born at Mansfield and both of whom are now deceased. Frank Johnston was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was but a boy when the scene of his activities was changed to Mansfield. There he married and spent the rest of his life. He was a harness-maker and owned a shop of his own. He died in 1880, at the age of forty-four years, leaving his widow with two children, Mrs. Henrie having had a brother, Frank Johnston, who died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in February, 1917. The widow Johnston married Henry Martin, of Columbus, Ohio, who is still living in that city. She died on January 22, 1910, at the age of sixty-eight years. To Charles C. and Minnie (Johnston) Henrie three children have been born, namely : Marguerite, born on October 28, 1885, who married Dr. Ralph John, now living at Baltimore, Maryland, and has one child, a son, Henrie Edgar, born on August 9, 1909 ; Clement B., September 9, 1887, now owner of his father's old business in West Main street, having bought the same in 1916, and who married Clara Hudson and has two sons, Charles, born on his grandfather Henrie's birthday, October 29, 1907, and Homer Hudson, August 31, 1909 ; and Harriet, August 2, 1890, who is now (1918) taking the course in the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Henrie are members of the First Presbyterian church at Xenia. 136 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO RALPH M. NEELD. Ralph M. Neeld, undertaker and funeral director at Xenia, is a native son of Greene county and has lived here all his life, a resident of Xenia since he was thirteen years of age. He was born in the village of Spring Valley, December 25, 1881, son of William M. and Margaret E. (St. John) Neeld, both member's of old families in this county and the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Xenia since 1893. William M. Neeld was born in Spring Valley on August 10, 1849, son of Jason M. and Susanna (Allen) Neeld, the latter of whom was born on April 2, 1818, in Spring Valley township, this county, a daughter of Benjamin and Rebecca (Campbell) Allen, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of South Carolina, who were early settlers in the Spring Valley neighborhood. Jason M. Neeld was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 7, 1818, and in the fall ,.of 1839 came to Ohio and settled at Spring Valley, where he became engaged at his trade as a shoemaker and where he presently married and established his home, continuing thus. engaged in business there for the rest of his life. He was a Democrat and for some time filled the office of township treasurer. He and his wife were the parents of three children, William M., Benjamin F. and Mary E., the latter of whom died at the age of thirty years. Reared at Spring Valley, William M. Neeld grew up familiar with the details of his father's business and after a while took charge of the shoe shop and after the death of his father continued the business and extended the same by putting in a general stock of boots and shoes and remained in that business at Spring Valley until 1886, when he sold his store and engaged in the undertaking business in the village. In 1893 he moved his establishment to Xenia and engaged in the undertaking business in that city, his establishment being located at 44 West Main street, where he continued in business until his death and where his son, the subject of this sketch, has since carried on the business. William M. Neeld was a Democrat and at one time was the nominee of his party for the office of mayor of Xenia. On the face of the returns his party claimed his election, but the other side secured a recount and he was thus defeated for the office. Mr. Neeld made judicious investments outside of his business and came to be accounted one of the substantial business men of Xenia. He died on September 23, 1916, and his widow is still living in Xenia. She was born, Margaret E. St. John, in Caesarscreek township, this county, in June, 1859, daughter of William and Martha (Smith) St. John, the former of whom was the son of Daniel and Eliza (Bone) St. John, the former of whom was the eldest of the nine children born to John and Rhoda (Wood) St. John, John St. John having been the fourth in order of birth of the ten children born to J0hn and Anna (Lockwood) St. John, who were married in Dutchess county, New York, in GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 137 1780 and who came t0 Ohio about 1790 and settled in Hamilton county, coming thence in 1803 up into this part of the state and locating in the Ft. Ancient settlement in the neighboring county of Warren. The pioneer John St. John was of French parentage, born in New York, and served as a soldier of the Revolution and as nearly all of his ten children grew to maturity,. married and had children of their own, his descendants in the present generation form a numerous connection throughout the country, one of these descendants being former Governor John P. St. John, of Kansas. Mrs. Neeld was orphaned in infancy, her mother having died at her birth and her father having been accidentally drowned not long afterward and she was reared by kinsfolk in this county. To her union with William M. Neeld four children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the firstborn, the others being Edith, who is teaching in the Xenia public schools; Paul W., who lives at Newark, New Jersey, and is a traveling salesman for a glove house, and Charles S., of Xenia. As noted above, Ralph M. Neeld was thirteen years of age when his. parents moved from Spring Valley to Xenia. Upon leaving the high school. in the latter city he took a course in a business college at Dayton and then became engaged as a bookkeeper for the firm of Barnes & Smith, some time later becoming employed as the order clerk for the Hooven & Allison Company, cordage manufacturers at Xenia, and was thus employed for something more than two years, at the end of which time he became engaged with his father in the undertaking business at Xenia and since the death of his father in 1916 has been carrying on the business himself. Mr. Neeld is a. graduate embalmer, having taken a course in that line of instruction upon. taking up the business in association with his father, and gives special attention to that phase of the business. His establishment is well appointed,. equipped with all modern appliances, including a full line of automobiles for funeral occasions. Mr. Neeld is independent in his political views, reserving his right to vote for the best man, irrespective of party. On April 15, 1909, Ralph. M. Neeld was united in marriage to Florence M. Wright, who was born in Xenia, daughter of P. A. Wright and wife,. and to this union three children have been born, William A., born on February 19, 1910; Florence Margaret, August 29, 1911, and Dorothy Jane,. July 19, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Neeld are members of the Reformed church.. JOHN N. WITHAM. John N. Witham, a former member of the common council of the city of Xenia, who is engaged in the grocery business at 48 East Main street, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life with the excep- 138 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO tion of fifteen years of his boyhood, which were spent in Indiana, to which state his parents had moved when he was but a small child and where they remained until he was eighteen years of age, when they returned to Ohio, where their last days were spent. He was born on a farm in the neighborhood of Withamville, in Clermont county, November 21, 1851, Eon of Samuel L. and Rachel (Nordyke) Witham, both of whom also were born in Ohio. Samuel L. Witham was born in Clermont county, son of Nathaniel and Jemima (Lane) Witham, the former of whom came to this country from England about the year 1812 and secured a tract of one thousand acres o f land in Clermont county, this state, where he engaged in farming and also started a store, around which center grew up the village of Withamville, so named for him. Nathaniel Witham and wife were the parents of twelve children and the descendants of that pioneer pair in this generation now form a numerous connection. Samuel L. Witham grew to manhood in Clermont county and early became a school teacher, as well as a farmer. In Cincinnati he married Rachel Nordyke, who was born in that city, of Scotch-Irish stock, and who had a brother, Sylvester, and a sister, Caroline. In January, 1852, hardly two months after the birth of their first-born child, the subject of this sketch, Samuel L. Witham and his wife moved to Indianapolis and there made their home for about eighteen years, Mr. Witham being there engaged in school teaching and for some time in the mercantile business, and then returned to Ohio, later becoming residents of Xenia, where their last days were spent. They were the parents of five children, those besides the subject of this sketch being the following : Jemima, widow of Levi Ludlow, who is living on a farm in Clermont county and who has three children, Fred, Ernest and George ; Mary, now living in the vicinity of Columbus, Indiana, who married Albert Thomas 2nd has a large family ; Grace, a widow, who lives in New York City and who has three children, two sons and a daughter; and Jefferson C., of Xenia, who married Carrie Ridenour, who is now deceased. As noted above, John N. Witham was eighteen years of age when his parents returned to Ohio from Indiana. He early had learned the blacksmith's trade and continued to work at the same for six years, at the end of which time he took employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and after his marriage in 1872 took up his residence in Cincinnati, where he remained until 1884, in which year he moved to Xenia, continuing, however, his employment with the railroad, and was thus engaged there until 1893, in which year he became associated with his father in the grocery business at Xenia. In 1895 his father died and he then continued the business alone until 1907, in which year he returned to Clermont county, the GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 139 place of his birth, and there bought a tract of twenty acres of ground and erected a house on the same, expecting to make his permanent home there, but after a residence of two years at that place sold his interests there and returned to Xenia, where, in 1908, he bought the William Hamner grocery store at 48 East Main street and has ever since been engaged in business at that number. Mr. Witham is a Democrat and in 1911 was elected to represent the first ward as a member of the city common council and served in that capacity for two years. He is a member of the local lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. In 1872, in Clermont county, this state, John N. Witham was united in marriage to Belle Witham, who also was born in that county, a daughter of Lewis and Parmelia (Anderson) Witham, who were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters. Though both Mr. and Mrs. Witham were born to the same name they are not related by ties of consanguinity. To this union two children have been born, Lois, who married Edward Kline, now of Portland, Oregon, and has three children, Loverna, Irma and Leona, and Ellen, who married Theron White, of Xenia, and has one child, a son, Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Witham are members of the Lutheran church and Mr. Witham has been an office bearer in the same. WILLIAM E. FLETCHER. William E. Fletcher, proprietor of a saloon in Xenia, was born at Cedarville on August 18, 1872, son of Joseph and Margaret (O'Connell) Fletcher, both of whom were born in Ireland, but who were married in Greene county. Joseph Fletcher was about twenty-four years of age when he came to this country, coming in at the port of New Orleans. Margaret O'Connell came here during the days of her young womanhood to join her brother, who had become a resident of Greene county, and it was here that she met and married Joseph Fletcher. To that union were born five children, those besides the subject of this sketch being J0hn, now deceased, who was engaged in the railroad service ; Joseph, a grocer, who was a member of the volunteer fire department in Xenia and who was killed while in the performance of his duties at a fire in 1907; James, who is married and lives in Xenia, and Mary, deceased. William E. Fletcher completed his schooling in the schools of Xenia and in 1895 was married in that city. Some time later he became engaged in business at the corner of \Vest Main and King streets, in association with his brother-in-law, and two years later, in 1903, went to Dayton, where he remained for about three years, at the end of which time, in 1906, he re- 140 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO turned to Xenia, resumed business in that city and has ever since been thus engaged there. On June 6, 1895, at Xenia, William E. Fletcher was united in marriage to Ellen Comford, of that city, a daughter of Th0mas and Anna (Dunn) Comford, Greene county folk, and to this union three children have been born, Virginia, who is at home ; Mary, who is now a student in the Jacobson Business College at Dayton, and Louise. The Fletchers are members of St. Bridgid's Catholic church. Mr. Fletcher is a Democrat and by fraternal affiliation is connected with the local aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.. REV. GEORGE J. STEINKAMP. The Rev. George J. Steinkamp, pastor of St. Paul's Catholic church at Yellow Springs and one of the most progressive young clergymen in Greene county, is a native son of Ohio, born at Cincinnati on March 19, 1884, son. of Bernard J. and Elizabeth (Ahrens) Steinkamp, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in the city of Cincinnati. Bernard J. Steinkamp was but thirteen years of age when he came to this country with his parents, the family locating at Cincinnati, where he. finished his schooling and presently learned the carpenter trade. He married in Cincinnati and after a while became engaged as a building contractor on his own account, an architect as well as a builder, and several of the finest flats and buildings in Cincinnati were erected under his direction. Bernard J. Steinkamp died in 1889. He was a Catholic, as is his widow,. and their children were reared in that faith. There were twelve of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born and all of whom are living save John, Mary and Frank, the others being Joseph,. Katherine, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary, Bernard, Rosie and Cecelia. George J. Steinkamp was reared in Cincinnati and his early schooling was obtained in the parochial schools of that city. He evinced much aptitude for study and was graduated from St. Mary's parochial school when thirteen years of age. Having early devoted himself to the service of the: church he then entered the Jesuit College of St. Xavier at Cincinnati and was graduated from that institution in 1904, after which he pursued his philosophical and theological studies at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary and upon completing the course there was ordained to the priesthood in June, 1908,, the ceremony of ordination being performed by Archbishop Miller at Cincinnati. Thus elevated to the holy office of priest, Father Steinkamp was in the following August assigned as assistant pastor of St. Mary's parish at Dayton and at once entered upon the duties of that office, remaining there until GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 141 appointed pastor of St. Paul's parish at Yellow Springs on April 19, 1917. By training and experience Father Steinkamp is admirably qualified for the performance of the duties that have fallen upon him in his new field and .since taking- charge there has made many friends who welcome his assistance in the general uplift movements of the community. His parish consists of eighty families, comprising three hundred and fifty souls, and all departments of the work being carried on in the same are reported to be in flourishing condition, a general impetus having been given to all the work of the parish since the present earnest young pastor took charge. Father Steinkamp is a close student, not only of books, but of men and affairs ; is a fluent and convincing speaker, either in the pulpit or on the forum, and his engaging- qualities as a mingles among his fellow men have created in his behalf many warm friendships during the comparatively short time he has been stationed at Yellow Springs. GEORGE M. STILES. George M. Stiles, formerly and for years superintendent of the cordage plant of the Hooven-Allison Company at Xenia and now engaged in the coal and general building-supplies business in that city, formerly and for years a member of the city council, is a Hoosier by birth, but has been a resident of Ohio since the clays of his early childhood and of Xenia since he was but a lad. He was born in the city of Terre Haute, Indiana, A.ugust 31, 1861, son of Aaron and Sarah (Smith) Stiles, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Indiana, and the latter of whom is still living at Xenia, now past seventy-six years of age. Aaron Stiles was but a boy when he came with his parents. from New Jersey to Ohio in the early '30s, the family locating in the neighborhood of Waynesville, in Warren county, where he grew to manhood and where he married Sarah Smith, who was born in Vigo county, Indiana. He later went over into Indiana and for three years was engaged in farming for a kinsman in the vicinity of Terre Haute, in Vigo county, and was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted for service, but was rejected on account of physical disability. He, however, was accepted for the Home Guards and while serving in that capacity helped to repel Morgan's raiders during the time of their invasion of southern Indiana. Finding that life on the firm was not suitable he returned with his family to Ohio and located at Corwin, where he was engaged as station agent for the Little Miami (Pennsylvania) Railroad for six years, at the end of which time he was stationed at Xenia, as night baggage-master for that road at that place and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1877, he then 142 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO being forty-six years of age. He left five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest, the 0thers being as follows : William, who is. now working in a cordage plant at Bradford, Canada ; Mary, who married Harvey C. Huppman and died at the age of thirty-three years ; Bertha, who married Robert Daughitt and is also now deceased, and Fred, who is employed in the plant of the National Cash Register Company at Dayton. Mrs. Stiles, the mother of these children, later married Andrew McCarty, who is now deceased. She continues to make her home at Xenia, residing at the corner of Second and Mechanic streets with William Stiles. Her parents, Ezra and Sarah Smith, were Quakers and were early settlers in Warren county, whence they had moved over from Clinton county, in which latter county they had lived for a while after coming to this state from Pennsylvania. Though reared a Quaker, Mrs. McCarty has long been a member of the Presbyterian church, with which she became affiliated after taking up, her residence in Xenia. George M. Stiles was three years of age when his parents returned. from Indiana to Ohio and he was about nine years of age when they moved from Corwin to Xenia, his schooling therefore having been completed in the schools of the latter city. When twelve years of age he became a wage earner, starting to work at the Bradley bagging-mill, which then was being operated at the corner of Third and Detroit streets, and was thus engaged for two years, at the end of which time he became employed at the glass. works. A year later he took employment at the Rader brick yards and while thus employed helped to make the brick that entered into the addition that was built to the old court house in Xenia. He worked there one summer and then, in the fall of 1875, entered the employ of the company that then was operating the cordage-mill, now under the control of the Hooven-Allison Company, his first work there being as the wheel boy for a. hand wheel for spinning. For thirty-seven years Mr. Stiles remained connected with the cordage-mill, working his way up until in 1897 he was made superintendent of the plant, a position he occupied for fifteen years, or until 1912, when he transferred his services to the John T. Bailey Cordage Company at Philadelphia and for two years was superintendent: of the plant in that city. He then was engaged by the state of North Dakota. to take charge of the cordage plant. in the state penitentiary at :Bismarck, but conditions there were naturally enough not to his liking and at the end of ten months of such service he returned to Xenia and in July, 1915, bought the coal yard of W. O. Maddox, the oldest coal yard in the city, and has since then been engaged in the general coal business, handling at the same time a general line of building supplies. Mr. Stiles is a Republican and when the city commission form of government was adopted by the people GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 143 of Xenia in the summer of 1917 he announced himself as a candidate for the office of city commissioner, but failed of election. He had previously given similar service to the city, having for eight years served as a member of the city council from his ward. For some time he served as a member of the executive committee of the Republican central committee. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. In addition to his other interests Mr. Stiles is a member of the board of directors of the Home Building and Savings Company of Xenia. In September, 1884, George M. Stiles was united in marriage to Rosa Scheeibold, who was born in the city of London, county seat of the neighboring county of Madison, but who at the time of her marriage was a resident of Xenia, her parents Charles and Barbara Scheeibold having moved from London to Xenia, in which latter city Mr. Scheeibold, who was engaged there in the retail meat business, died in 1910. Mrs. Scheeibold is still living in Xenia. To Mr. and Mrs. Stiles six children have been born, namely : Harry, who is engaged in the tailoring business at Dayton ; Lester, who is engaged in the shoe business at Xenia ; Edward, who was killed in a railway accident on May 24, 1915 ; Paul, who is living at Middletown, this state, where he is engaged as circulation manager for the Middletown Journal; Katrina, who is at home with her parents, and Raymond, also at home, who is employed as a clerk in Sayre & Hemphill's drug store. The Stiles reside at 221 Cincinnati avenue. They are members of the First Reformed church and Mr. Stiles was for three years chairman of the congregation and also has served as a member of the official board and as a member of the board of trustees of the church. WALTER ELMER PRATT. Walter Elmer Pratt, proprietor of a grocery store and a barber shop in Cincinnati avenue, Xenia, was born on a farm in the neighboring county of Warren in 1869, a son of John and Melissa. Pratt, who were the parents of three children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Belle, who married James Kasperson and is now deceased, and Mrs. Ada Dakin, wife of a farmer in the neighborhood of Waynesville. Reared on the home farm in Warren county, Walter E. Pratt received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and remained in that county until about 1892, when his parents moved to Greene county. He later went to Dayton, where he was engaged for a time in the factory of the National Cash Register Company. He then returned to this county and became employed at one of the cordage mills in Xenia and continued thus engaged for twelve or thirteen years, at the end of which time he opened 144 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO a barber shop on Cincinnati avenue, and thus continued in business there for eleven years, or until 1912, when he added to his establishment a stock of groceries and has since been engaged in both the grocery business and in the barber business at that location. On March 6, 1895, Walter E. Pratt was united in marriage to Hannah Milburn. who was born in this county, daughter of Jordan and Mary (Shirley) Milburn, both of whom also were born in Greene county and the former of whom is still living, a resident of Xenia. Jordan Milburn and wife were the parents of seven children, those besides Mrs. Pratt being John and Canter, both of whom are married; Trone, unmarried ; Clay, a widower ; Cliff, who is now living at Portland, Oregon, and Belle, who died in the days of her girlhood. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt have four children, namely : Helen, who married Fred Wilson, of Xenia, and has a son, Charles Frederick ; Elmer, who is in high school, and Carl and Pauline, who are also in school. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are members of the Friends church. Politically, Mr. Pratt is "independent." JACOB KANY. Jacob Kany, president of the school board of the city of Xenia and for many years engaged in the merchant-tailoring business in that city, is of European birth, a native Bavarian, but has been a resident of this country since he was twenty years of age and of Xenia since the year 1883, he having come up here from Cincinnati in that year, the year of his marriage. He was born in the town of. Kleinkarlbach, in Rheinish Bavaria, March 11, 1863, son and only child of Jacob and Barbara Kany, also native Bavarians. Reared at Kleinkarlbach, the younger Jacob Kany received his schooling in the schools of that town. Not desiring to follow the milling business, in which his father was engaged, he became apprenticed, at the age of fourteen years, to a tailor and after an apprenticeship of three years became a qualified tailor. After working at his trade as a journeyman in his home country for awhile he decided to come to the United States and when twenty years of age arrived in this country and proceeded to Cincinnati, where he had friends. That was in 1883. He secured employment at his trade in Cincinnati and in September of That same year married there a girl whom he had known in his home town and who had not long before come to this country with an uncle, the family locating in Cincinnati. Mr. Kany worked for a month at Cincinnati and then came up to Xenia, where he established his home and where he ever since has made his residence. For five years after his arrival in Xenia Mr. Kany was engaged as a tailor in the shop of Charles H. Oonk. In 1888 he opened an establishment of his own at No. 10 GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 145 North Detroit street and has ever since been doing business at that place. He started in a modest way, but the recommendations of pleased customers soon brought him additional business and it was not long until he became recognized as one of the leading tailors in this part of the state. Mr. Kany now employs five tailors and his establishment is well equipped. Mr. Kany has for the past eighteen years or more served as a member of the Xenia school board, for the past five years president of that body ; and has thus helped to oversee the construction of all the new school buildings in the city. Mr. Kany is a Republican and, fraternally, is affiliated with the Masons, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodm.en of America. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the local council, Royal and Select. Masters. He is affiliated with the Presbyterian church at Xenia. It was on September 30, 1883, at Cincinnati, that Jacob Kany was united in marriage to Magdalena Schneider, who also, as noted above, was born in Bavaria, and who had come to this country with an uncle and aunt. Mr. and Mrs. Kany have one child, a son, Arthur S. Kany, who is now living in Dayton, where he owns a store devoted to the sale of automobile parts and accessories. Arthur S. Kany married Mabel Ledbetter, of Xenia, and has two children, Howard and John. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Kany live at 665 South Detroit street. HENRY GROTTENDICK. Henry Grottendick, who for more than forty years was engaged in the bakery business in Xenia and who is now living retired in that city, where he has made his home continuously since 1869, is a Hanoverian by birth, but has been a resident of this country since he was fourteen years of age. He was born in the village of Altendorf, nine miles east of Neuhaus, in what then was the kingdom of Hanover, but now a Prussian province, January 29, 1851, a son of William and Catherine (Von Felder) Grottendick, also Hanoverians, the former a butcher by trade, who spent all their lives in their native country. William Grottendick and wife were the parents of six children, the subject of this sketch having had five sisters, three of whom also came to America, namely : Catherine, who located in Cincinnati, where her last days were spent, and Mellis and Lena, who are living at Ludlow, Kentucky. It was in 1865 that Henry Grottendick came to the United States, he then being fourteen years of age. He located at Cincinnati and there learned the baker's trade, four years later, in 1869, moving up to Xenia, where he became engaged as foreman in George Grauer's "Eagle" bakery, (9) 146 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO and was thus engaged when Mr, Grauer died in 1877. He continued operating the bakery for Mr. Grauer's widow and when the latter died in 1886 he bought the bakery, meanwhile having married a niece of Mr. Grauer, and continued to conduct the same until his retirement from business in 1913, when he sold the bakery plant and settled down to "take things easy," after a continuous service as baker to the people of Xenia for more than forty years. During that time Mr. Grottendick built up a splendid business and his famous "King" butter-cracker attained a reputation that created for it a demand from coast to coast. For fifteen years during the latter period of Mr. Grottendick's connection with the .business his son, .George Grottendick, acted as manager of the establishment. Mr. Grottendick and his wife still own the building in which the bakery is situated in .East Main street, besides several other bits of realty in the city. In 1914 they erected a new residence at 215 West Second street and are now living there. In 1879 Henry Grottendick was united in marriage to Judith Brinder, who had been reared in the household of her uncle, George Grauer, at Xenia. To this union four children have been born, William, George, Fannie and Elsie May, all of whom received their schooling in the Xenia schools and the latter of whom is still at home with her parents. William Grottendick is now a traveling representative of the Time Lock and Safe Company of Cincinnati. He married May Fisher and has one child, a daughter, Freda. George Grottendick, who continues as manager of the bakery his father sold in 1913, married Rosa Carroll and has two children, George and Francis. Fannie Grottendick married John Osterly, who is now conducting a restaurant in Colusa county, California, and has two children, William and Judith. Mr. Grottendick is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the local encampment, Patriarchs Militant, and is also affiliated with the local lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men. Mrs. Grottendick and her children are members of the Catholic church. BERNHARD SCHLESINGER. Bernhard Schlesinger, for the past thirty-six years or more clerk of the Xenia school board, is of European birth, but has been a resident of this country since he was fourteen years of age and of Xenia since the year 1865. He was born in the town of Koenigswalde, in the province of Brandenburg, November 1846. son of Nathan and Marianne (Fleischer) Schlesinger, who were the parents of five children, the subject of this sketch having had three brothers and one sister. Nathan Schlesinger, who was a horse buyer for the government, died in his native land and his widow mar- GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 147 vied Herman Neuman and in 1872 came to the United States with the latter, settling in Madison, Indiana, where both spent their last days. To that union was born one child, a son, Paul Neuman, who later became a clerk in the store of his half-brother, Bernhard' Schlesinger, at Xenia. Bernhard Schlesinger, received his early schooling in his native town and remained there until he was fourteen years of age, when he came to the United States and joined his elder brother, Harry Schlesinger, who had become engaged in the manufacture of trunks and handbags at Newark, New Jersey. It was in May, 1860, that Bernhard Schlesinger came to this country and during the progress of the Civil War he was engaged at Newark in the manufacture of knapsacks for the government. In 1865 he came to Ohio and became engaged as a clerk in a clothing store at Springfield, but did not remain there long, coming down to Xenia in May of that year to take charge of a store the Frankels had started in that city, and he Was thus engaged until in 1872, when he and William Brady bought the stock of a store that then was located on the present site of the Gazette office on Detroit street, and continued in business there, under the firm name of Schlesinger & Brady, until 1885, when they sold out. Mr. Schlesinger then opened a store on the present site of the Howard building on East Main street and continued there in -the clothing business until. he closed out the business in 1895, since which time he has been engaged in the insurance business at .Xenia. Though a Democrat in a Republican town Mr. Schlesinger has been serving, with the exception of four years, as a member of the school board of Xenia for the last thirty-six years or more, or ever since his first election to that office in 1881, and during all this Jong period of service has been retained as clerk of the board. It was not long after" he took up his residence in Xenia that Mr. Schlesinger came under the influence of the companionship of Col. Coates. Kinney, who inspired in him a love of learning and a desire to advance the cause of education. Colonel Kinney was able to set the young "foreigner's" feet on the right path in the way of perfecting himself in the use of the, English language, which had been presenting numerous difficulties, and in turn young Schlesinger was able to help the Colonel out in the matter of the latter's, none too performance in the Teutonic tongue. This love of learning Mr. Schlesinger was able to impart to his children, to all of whom he gave the opportunity to acquire a liberal education. At the time of the dedication of the Orange Hill school house in Xenia township Mr. Schlesinger delivered an address on "The History, of Education in Greene County," which is said to have been a thorough and comprehensive delivery on that subject. Mr:. Salesinger 15,a Royal. Arch Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a Red Man. He is a charter member of the local lodge of the Knights of 148 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO Pythias and has been a delegate to the grand lodge of that order for the state of Ohio. He also has been a delegate to the state grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been a delegate to the great council of the United States of the Improved Order of Red Men for the past eleven years and has served as the great sachem of that order for the state of Ohio. In 1873 Bernhard Schlesinger was united in marriage to Kate Feurle, who also is of European birth, born in the town of Bregenz, in the Austrian Tyrol, and who was but a girl when she came to this country with her parents, George and Rosina Feurle, who settled in Xenia, Where they presently opened a boarding house and where they spent the remainder of their lives. To Bernhard and Kate (Feurle) Schlesinger have been born five children, namely : Olga, who married E. C. Spitler, a London, Ohio, dry-goods merchant, and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased ; Marione, who is a teacher in the high school at Dayton ; Hugo, who was graduated from Ohio State University and is now practicing law at Columbus, this state, where he is serving as assistant prosecuting attorney of Franklin county ; George F., who was graduated from the civil engineering department of Ohio State University, married Frances Kendall, of Xenia, and is now living at Columbus, a member of the faculty of his alma matey, and Arthur Meier, who also was graduated from Ohio State University, later received his master degree from Columbia University at New York City and is now a member of the faculty of Ohio State University, holding there the chair of American history. JOHN B. LUCAS. In the memorial annals of Greene county there are few names held in better remembrance than that of the late John B. Lucas, who died at his home on beautiful "Lucas Hill" on the Dayton pike just west of Xenia in 1916 and whose widow is still living there, occupying the substantial old brick house in which Mr. Lucas was born and in which he died and which was erected on that charming site overlooking the delightful valley of the Little Miami by his mother's family nearly one hundred years ago. As the inheritor of large landed interests Mr. Lucas had for years occupied a position of prominence and influence in the community in which all his life was spent and there were few movements having to do with the extension of the best interests of this county that had not profited by some act of promotion on his part. For at least thirty years he was an active member of the Greene County Agricultural Society and was for about twenty-five years the president of that body, relinquishing his service in that connection only GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 149 about five years before his death. For fifteen years he was a member of the old county infirmary board and in other ways gave of his time and energies to the public service. Generous to a fault and ever liberal with the considerable means at his disposal, there were not many calls either of a private or semi-public character that did not find him ready with instant assistance. As an instance of the public-spiritedness of his responses along this line, it may be recalled that it was he who financed the famous old "John B. Lucas Band," a musical organization that reflected much credit on Xenia back in the '70s. An interesting sidelight on the thoughtful kindliness that actuated Mr. Lucas's movements may be gleaned from the following paragraph taken from a biographical sketch relating to him published by the Xenia Gazette following his death : "For years there was no snow storm which did not bring out Mr. Lucas and his horse and snow plow, and early in the morning workers starting out to their daily toil found the paths cleared for them by this kindly man, whose generous forethought brought him from his country home to help make Xenians comfortable. Many a blessing has been showered upon him by those who, because of his forethought, did not have to wade through snow that often amounted to deep drifts." A small thing, perhaps the reader will say ; but indicative of a spirit all too grudgingly manifested in this age. On the large farm inherited by Mr. Lucas from his parents is situated the famous Kil Kare Park, formerly "Lucas Grove," along the river at Trebeins, now operated by the traction company that has a line through the farm. John Bassett Lucas was born on July 22, 1841, son of Thornton and Mary (Blessing) Lucas, both of whom were born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, the former in 1802 and the latter on June 5, 1797, daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth (Beardsherer) Blessing, who were the parents of four children, those besides Mary having been John, born on December 25, 1793; Elizabeth, February 18, 1806, who remained a spinster, and Jacob. The Blessings had a good property in Virginia, but a growing hatred for the institution of slavery which had fastened itself on the Old Dominion prompted them to seek a new home in a free state and it was decided to move to Ohio. Consequently in 1816 the elder son, John Blessing, then twenty-three years of age and who had served as a soldier of the War of 1812, was provided by his father with a liberal supply of money for investment purposes and was sent 'West to pick out a place of settlement, his objective point being the valley of the Little Miami in this county, excellent reports of which section had been going back to Virginia. In order to minimize the danger of robbery, in those days a no inconsiderable one, John Blessing traveled as a person of no consequence, carrying with him a quite wonderful musical clock, a sort of a music-box, exhibitions of which along the way invariably