GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 375 is deceased, her death having occurred on June I, 1915; Francis Marion, the subject of this biographical review, and Jacob Lewis, born on May 8, 1870, now a resident of Logan county, this state, who married Ida Hite and has two children. Francis Marion Thomas, seventh in the order of birth of the eight children born to Jacob and Eliza (Beeson) Thomas, was born on the home farm a mile and a quarter south of New Jasper on February 1, 868. He was but three years of age when his father died and he thus early became an active factor in the labors of the home farm, the operations of which were maintained by his mother, leaving school at a somewhat earlier age than was the custom. A couple of months after his mother's death he married and took charge of the farm of his father-in-law, Cyrus Brown, in New Jasper township, making his home there for seven years, at the end of which time he and Mr. Brown bought a farm of one hundred and seventy-one acres, the place' on which he is now living in that same township, and there he since has made. his home. A few years after forming that land partnership with his father-in-law, Mr. Thomas bought Mr. Brown's interest in the place and in 1913 bought an adjoining tract of fifty-three acres and now has a farm of two hundred and twenty-four acres. In 1909 he erected on that place a fine new farm house. In addition to his general farming Mr. Thomas has given considerable attention to the raising of Poland China hogs. He is a Republican, and has served as a member of the local school board. On November 2. 1893, Francis M. Thomas was united in marriage to Alice L. Brown, who also was born in New Jasper township, daughter of Cyrus and Mary Elizabeth Brown, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Grace E. Thomas, now (1918) a senior in Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and their daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper and Mr. Thomas is a member of the board of trustees of the church. CHARLES J. MELLINGER. One of the young farmers of Miami township is Charles J. Mellinger, who was born in Clarke county, Ohio, July 16, 1882, the son of B. F. and Emma L. (Johnson) Mellinger, the former of whom was a native of Clark county, Ohio, and the latter of Greene county. B. F. Mellinger comes of Pennsylvania stock, his parents being natives of that state, who came to Clark county in an early day. In 1876 he married Emma Johnson, the daughter of Asahel B. and Mary A. 376 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO (Gilmore) Johnson, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky, who came to Greene county, Ohio, in an early day, settling at first at Clifton, where he engaged in the general merchandise business with his brother. Later he moved to Yellow Springs. A. B. Johnson and wife were the parents of three children : Frank W., a farmer living near Yellow Springs; Charles S., now in the wall paper business at Xenia, 'formerly county coroner and deputy probate judge, and Emma L., who became the wife of B. F. Met-linger, and who died February 4, 1917. Mr. Mellinger was a farmer in Clark county for many years, but is now retired from active farm work and lives in Yellow Springs. Charles J. Mellinger is the only child of his parents, and was reared on the home farm in Clark county, attending the common schools of his township, and later becoming a student of the high school at Springfield for two years. After leaving high school he took a commercial course in Wilt's Business College at Dayton, after which he was engaged as bookkeeper for the Springfield Meat Company for two years. He then took a short course in agriculture in Ohio University, at Columbus, Ohio, after which he engaged in farming in Clark county where he remained until 1910, when he moved to his present farm near Yellow Springs. This farm was owned by his mother for many years before her death, after which it was inherited by him. Mr. Mellinger is engaged in general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of Jersey cattle, having among his herd many show cattle. In May, 1901, Mr. Mellinger was married to Geraldine Hathaway, daughter of Lewis P. and Amanda (Brown) Hathaway, the former of whom was a farmer of Warren county, Ohio, and is now deceased, his death having occurred in June, 1917. To this union have been born three daughters : Janet E., Emma A. and Mary Gretchen. Mr. Mellinger is independent in politics. WILLIAM HENRY HILT. William Henry Hilt, manager of his father's farm in Miami township, rural route No. 3 out of Yellow Springs, is a native of the neighboring county of Clark, born on a farm three miles north of the city of Springfield, but has been a resident of Greene county since 1895, in which year his parents moved down here and became landowners in Miami township. He was born on January 29, 1874, son of David and Nancy Ann (Humbarger) Hilt, the former of whom was born in the kingdom of Wurtemburg, and the latter in Clark county, this state, who are now living retired in the village of Yellow Springs and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 377 In 1878 David Hilt bought a farm of fifty-two acres in Greene township, Clark county, just across the border from Greene county, in the Yellow Springs neighborhood, and moved onto the same, remaining there until he came over the line into this county in 1895 and bought the farm which he now owns in Miami township. Henry Hilt was therefore but four years of age when he became a resident of the Yellow Springs neighborhood. He finished his schooling at Antioch College and after his marriage in 1898 began farming on his own account on his father's farm and since the retirement of his father in 1904 has been in charge of the operations of the same, carrying on general farming and stock raising. Mr. Hilt has a well-furnished home and excellent farm buildings. On February 28, 898, Henry Hilt was united in marriage to Bertha Estella Pentoney, who was born on August 14, 1876, daughter of Nicholas M. and Harriet M. (Collier) Pentoney, of Clark county, the latter of whom was born in that same county and the former (now deceased) in the state of West Virginia. Nicholas M. Pentoney and wife had three children, Mrs. Hilt having a brother, Thomas E., and a sister, Ida Lorena. Mr. and Mrs. Hilt are members of Bethel Lutheran church. They have an adopted daughter, Alma Eleanor, who was born on March 21, 1907. ALVA HUSTON SMITH. Alva Huston Smith, former treasurer of New Jasper township and proprietor of a farm of about two hundred acres on the New Jasper pike a mile and a half east of the village of that name, situated on rural mail route No. i out of Jamestown, was born on the old Smith farm a mile northeast of New Jasper on August 16. 1868, son of James Marion and Eliza (Huston) Smith, both of whom also were born in New Jasper township and the latter of whom is still living, now a resident of the village of New Jasper. The late James Marion Smith, a veteran of the Civil War, who died at his home in New Jasper township on December 10, 1911, was born in that township on February 14, 1839, son of Daniel and Lucinda (Spahr) Smith, the latter of whom also was born in this county, in the vicinity of Xenia, a daughter of Mathias and Susanna (Hagler) Spahr, both members of pioneer families in this section of Ohio, who were married on August 8, 1818. Daniel Smith was born in Virginia and was but a babe in arms when his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Kimble) Smith, drove through to Ohio in 1814, in company with Philip Spahr and family, and settled in Greene county, locating in what is now New Jasper township, the Smiths and the 378 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO Spahrs establishing their respective homes on adjoining tracts of land. Jacob Smith became the owner of three hundred acres of land and his children in due time were given a good start in life. He was a cooper by trade and for years operated a cooper shop on his farm, his sons looking after the farm affairs. He and his wife were members of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were ten of these children of whom Daniel was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow : Sarah, who married William Spahr ; Susan, who married David Paullin and lived in Silvercreek township ; Phoebe, who married Evan Harris, of Caesarscreek township ; Elizabeth, who married James Spahr ; William, who became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and made his home in Silvercreek township; James, who also became a Methodist minister and lived in Silvercreek township ; Nelson, who made his home in New Jasper township ; Catherine, who married Peter Tressler, and Amanda, who married Stephen Beal, of Cedarville. Daniel Smith grew up on the pioneer farm on which his father had settled upon coming to this county and after his marriage established his home on a farm east of New Jasper, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in 1884, he then being seventy -years of age. In addition to his home farm, Daniel Smith was the owner of two other farms in that part of the county. He was for years a class leader in the old Mt. Tabor Methodist Episcopal church. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to maturity, married and reared families of their own. Reared on the farm on which he was born, James Marion Smith grew up there and in due time his father helped him get a farm. James M. Smith and his brother David bought a tract of fifty acres in partnership and for some time operated the same under that arrangement, but later James M. Smith bought his brother's interest in the tract. By that time he had acquired other land and was thus the owner of a tract of one hundred and fifty acres northeast of New Jasper, where he had established his home after his marriage. He added to his land holdings until he became the owner of five farms and nearly five hundred acres of excellent land. In August, 1862, James M. Smith enlisted his services as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War and went to the front as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served for two years and six months, or until he received his honorable discharge following an accident which befell him during the campaign in the Wilderness, an ax which flew off its helve while soldiers were constructing a breastwork nearly cutting off one of his feet and incapacitating him for further service. For some time he was confined in a hospital at Washing- GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 379 ton and when he was in a condition to be removed his father went East and brought him home. James M. Smith was a Republican. In addition to his general farming he was engaged in cattle raising. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper and was a class leader, even as his father had been. On October 17, 1866, James Marion Smith was united in marriage to Eliza Huston, who also was born in New Jasper township, on a farm a miles northwest of the village of New Jasper, in 1845, and who is still living, now a resident of the village of New Jasper, to which place she moved in 1916. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of William Smith and Sarah (Smith) Huston, the latter of whom also was born in New Jasper township, in 822, and who died when thirty-three years of age. William Smith Huston was born in Knox county, Ohio, January 28, 1821, and was fourteen years of age when his parents, Robert and Ann (Lyon) Huston, moved from that county to Greene county in 1835 and located on a tract of land now occupied by the station of New Jasper, Robert Huston there becoming the possessor of three hundred acres of land. Originally a Whig, Robert Huston became a Republican upon the organization of the latter party. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church and their children were reared in that faith. There were eleven of these children, of whom William Smith Huston was the first-born and all of whom save Robert N., the sixth in order of birth, grew to maturity, the others having been George, James, Josiah, Mary L., Eliza Ann, John, Deborah Jane, Margaret and Robert Harvey. All these save Mary L., who married and moved to Mt. Vernon. Ohio, continued to make their homes in Greene county and here reared their families. William Smith Huston grew to manhood on the farm on which his father had settled upon coming to this county and after his marriage bought the old Moore farm of one hundred and fifty acres, nearby his father's place, and there established his home. He later bought two other farms. Politically, he was a Republican and by religious persuasion was a Methodist. His last days were spent on the farm which he had brought to a high state of development and there he died on April 29, 896, he then being past seventy-five years of age. William Smith Huston was twice married. His first wife, Sarah (Smith) ) Huston, died in 1855 and he later married Mrs. Emily (Howell) Fawcett, a widow, who survived him for seven years, her death occurring in 1903. By his first marriage Mr. Huston was the father of three children, namely : Eliza, widow of James Marion Smith; Sarah Jane, now deceased, who was the wife of Isaac Files, of Xenia, and Milton, deceased, who lived on the old home farm in New Jasper township 380 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO By his second marriage he had two sons, Addison J., a farmer in New Jasper township, and John C., a hardware merchant at Xenia. To James M. and Eliza (Huston) ) Smith were born three children, namely : Alva H., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch ; Addison D., who is now living on the old home farm of his grandfather Huston in New Jasper township and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and Jennie, wife of Dr. George Davis, of Xenia, a biographical sketch of whom also appears elsewhere in this volume. Alva Huston Smith was reared on the farm .on which lie was born and there grew to manhood. He received his early schooling in the nearby Schooley district school and supplemented the same by a course in the Xenia high school. After his marriage in 1895, he and his brother Addison, who married about that same time, established their home on the old homestead place of their grandfather, Daniel Smith, owned then by their father, and began farming that place, at the same time taking charge of their father's adjoining farms of three hundred acres. Thus they continued in partnership for ten years, at the end of which time Addison Smith bought the old Huston place and moved to the same. Alva H. Smith continued his operation of the Smith farms, still maintaining his home in the old Daniel Smith house, and after his father's death came into possession of that place, a farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres, on which lie still lives. He bought a fifty-acre tract adjoining and now has about two hundred acres. The house in which he lives, a substantial brick structure typical of the period in which it was built, was erected in 1862 by his grandfather, Daniel Smith, and is in an excellent state of preservation. It stands on a rise overlooking Caesars creek and among the noble old cedar trees that adorn the dooryard are two which were grown from sprouts that were sent by mail to Grandfather Smith from the latter's birthplace in Hardy county, Virginia, about the year 1860. On December 25, 1895, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Rosa May Sutton, who also was born in New Jasper township, daughter of John and Catherine (Beason) Sutton, both members of pioneer families in Greene county, for both the Suttons and the Reasons have been represented here for more than a hundred years, and to this union has been born one child, a daughter, Catherine Eliza, born on August 14, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the New Jasper Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Smith is a class leader, as were his father and his grandfather before him. For the past twelve years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the church and treasurer of the board. Mr. Smith is a Republican and for six years served as treasurer of his home township. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 381 JOHN HARVEY NISBET. John Harvey Nisbet, a veteran of the Civil War, former court bailiff for Greene county and a painter and interior decorator, now living retired at Cedarville, was born in Cedarville and has lived there most of his life. He was born on June 5, 1842, son of John C. and Mary (McMillan) Nisbet, both of whom were born in the Chester district of South Carolina, who were married in this county and who spent their last days here, both living to be eighty years of age. John C. Nisbet was born in 808 and remained in South Carolina until 1834, in which year he came to Ohio and shortly afterward at Xenia married Mary McMillan, who had come to this county from South Carolina about that same time. After his marriage he became engaged in the mercantile business, in association with Corts & Marshall, at Cortsville, in the neighboring county of Clark, six miles northeast of Cedarville, but later returned to Greene county and became engaged in business at Cedarville, where he established his home. John C. Nisbet was a Republican and during the term of John Orr as county clerk served as deputy county clerk. He also rendered public service for several years under Judge Harper. He died at Xenia in 1888, he then being eighty years of age. His widow survived him for ten years, her death occurring at Cedarville in 898, she then also being eighty years of age. They were members of the Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) church and their children were reared in that faith. Of the eight children born to them, five grew to maturity, namely : Catherine, now deceased, who was the wife of Samuel Ewing, of Louisville,. Kentucky ; Hugh M., who was a salesman for the Stewart Dry Goods Company at Louisville and who died on December 28, 1916; John H., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; William K., who was for twenty-five years a railway postal clerk, having had the first fast-mail run inaugurated in the United States, in New York state, and later and for years the run between Cincinnati and Louisville and who died in the latter city in 1892, and James C., now living at Chicago, where for years he has been employed as a bookkeeper. John H. Nisbet was reared at Cedarville and received his early schooling in the schools of that village, completing the same in the school that was long conducted there by the Rev. Hugh McMillan and in the old Grove school. In 1856 he began to work at the trade of painter and paper-hanger and was thus engaged in his home town when the Civil War broke out. On September 14, 1861, he enlisted for service in the Union army as a drummer in the Forty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out in October, 1862. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted and again 382 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO went to the front, as a member of Company D, Eighth Ohio Cavalry. This regiment was reorganized at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, under Capt. Robert Lyle, as Company M, and he then served with Company M until he received his final discharge on July 30, 1865. During the progress of what was known as Hunter's raid, June 10, 1864, Mr. Nisbet was shot in the left ankle. He had not much more than comfortably recovered from that disability when, on January 11, 1865, he was captured by the enemy and was confined in Libby prison, from which he did not secure his release until in February, 865. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Nisbet resumed his vocation as a painter and paper-hanger at Cedarville and after his marriage in the spring of 868 established his home there, continuing to follow that vocation there until 898, in which year he was appointed court bailiff, a position he occupied until January 1, 1906, since which time he has been living practically retired at his pleasant home in Cedarville. He and his wife are members of the Reformed Presbyterian church at Cedarville. Their poet son, Wilbur Dick Nesbit, has done honor to his church in his poem, "The Covenanters," which is presented in connection with the history of that church set out in the historical section of this work. Mr. Nisbet is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past commander and adjutant. For eight years before her marriage Mrs. Nisbet had been engaged as a teacher in the schools of Greene county, a profession upon which she entered when seventeen years of age. It was on March 19, 1868, in Logan county, Ohio, that John H. Nisbet was united in marriage to Isabel Fichthorne, who also was born in this county, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Hardie) Fichthorne, of New Jasper township. Isaac Fichthorne was born in Hardy county, Virginia, in 1812, and was but a child when his parents, who were natives of Virginia, came to Ohio and located in Greene county, establishing their home in New Jasper township. There he grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Hardie, who was born in Ayleth, Scotland, and who was but a child in arms when her parents came to this country and proceeded on out to Ohio, settling in New Jasper township. Isaac Fichthorne was a wagon-maker by trade and later a farmer. In 1867 he and his wife moved to Logan county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. He was a Lutheran and she was a member of the United Presbyterian church. They were the parents of twelve children, ten of whom grew to maturity. To John H. and Isabel (Fichthorne) Nisbet have been born six children, namely : Charles E., since 1890 engaged in the railway mail service, now a resident of Loveland, Ohio, who married Elizabeth Winter and has five children, Lawrence W., Roger C., Mary E., Thomas A. and John Harvey; Wilbur D., one of America's best-loved poets; Edward Harvey, living at Joliet, Illinois, where GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 383 he is engaged as a traveling salesman; Estella, formerly a teacher in the Cedarville schools, who married J. J. McClelland and died in 1911, leaving two children, Dorothy and Marjorie; Kate Belle, who is at home with her parents, and John Emerson, who married Lynna Wamsley and has for years been engaged in newspaper work, formerly connected with the Indianapolis Star and now editor of the Layton Herald. JOSEPH W. ADAMS. Joseph W. Adams, a farmer of Miami township, former assessor of that township and a resident of the Clifton neighborhood, was born on a farm in the vicinity of Xenia, in Xenia township, August 25, 852, a son of James G. G. and Eleanor C. (Hutchinson) Adams, the former a native of the state of Massachusetts and the latter of Pennsylvania, who were married in this county and who later became residents of Miami township, remaining there until their retirement from the farm and removal to Yellow Springs, where their last days were spent. James G. G. Adams was born in 1820 and was but a small child when his father died. His mother, who was a Galloway, not long afterward came to Greene county and here presently married George Townsley. James G. G. Adams was but a child when he came to Greene county with his mother from his native Massachusetts and his schooling was obtained in the Xenia city schools. At the age of eighteen years he became engaged in teaching school and was thus engaged at the time of his marriage in 1849. After his marriage he continued teaching for a few years and then began farming in Xenia township, later moving to Miami township, where he was engaged in farming until his retirement and removal to Yellow Springs, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on January 2, 1898. He was buried in beautiful Woodland cemetery at Xenia. It was on December 20, 1849, that James G. G. Adams was united in marriage to Eleanor C. Hutchinson, who was but a girl when she came to this county with her parents from Pennsylvania, and to that union were born nine children, two of whom died' in infancy, the others being as follows : George T., born on October 8, 1850, who .became an expert telegrapher and who died on January 21, 1876; Joseph W., the subject of this biographical sketch; Anna M., born on October II, 1854, who died when three years of age; Charles Ezbon, April 18, 1858, who became a lawyer and, who died on January 8, 1898; Frank E., January 1, 1861, who is -now engaged in the mercantile business .in the West; James A., October 7, 1862, also living in the West, where he is engaged as an electrician, and J. Harwood, May 15, 1866, now living retired at. Yellow Springs. Joseph W. Adams received his schooling in the Xenia township schools. 384 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO After his marriage in 1879 he began farming on his own account in Cedarville township and later moved to a farm in Beavercreek township, where he remained for eighteen years, or until his return to Miami township in 1903, in that year taking possession of the farm on which he is now living and where he has since resided. Mr. Adams is assisted in the management of his farm by his younger son, Howard, who is still at home. Mr. Adams is a Republican and has served as township assessor and at various times as a member of the school board. On September 24, 1879, Mr. Adams was united in marriage to Minnie A. Anderson, daughter of James and Catherine (Blair) Anderson, of Cedarville township, both of whom were natives of Scotland and who were the parents of two children, Mrs. Adams having had a brother who died in his youth. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have five children, namely : Charles A., born on July 14, 1880, now farming in Miami township, who married Grace Harner, of Beavercreek township, and has one child, a daughter, Elva, born on December 14, 1913; Franke Eleanor, September 17, 1881, who married David J. Schwarz and has one child, a son, Paul W., born on February 4, 1908; James R., now a member of the detective force of the city of Springfield, Ohio, who on June 27, 1912, married Geneva Robinson; Joseph C., April 17, 1890, who became an electrician and who is now a member of the national army, attached to the artillery division in training at Camp Sherman, and Howard, April 8, 1894, who is unmarried and who is assisting his father in the management of the home farm, a member of the Clifton lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Adams and three of the children are members of the Presbyterian church at Yellow Springs. Mrs. Schwarz and Charles A. are members of the Reformed church. DAVID FRANKLIN BELT. David Franklin Belt, proprietor of a farm in Spring Valley township, rural mail route No. 4, out of Xenia, has been a resident of Greene county all his life. He was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township on March 27, 1863, son of John and Amanda (Crumbaugh) Belt, both of whom also were born in this county. The late John Belt, who died at his home in this county in the summer of 1917, was born in Sugarcreek township on June 9, 1834, son of Whiteford and Matilda (Dickensheets) Belt, the former of whom was a native of the state of -Maryland. Whiteford Belt was a millwright and was engaged in that vocation at various places until he established his home in Sugarcreek township, this county, where he and his wife spent their last GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 385 days. On the farm on which he was born John Belt grew to manhood and there remained until his marriage in 1859, after which for a year he made his residence in Dayton. He then lived for a couple of years in Miami county and then returned to this county and settled in the Alpha neighborhood, presently moving from there to a farm in Spring Valley township, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in June, 1917, he then being in the eighty-fourth year of his age. For ten years in the earlier part of his life he was a butcher and he also worked for some time as a carpenter before buying his farm. He was a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. John Belt was thrice married and was the father of nineteen children. On November 2, 1859, he was united in marriage to Amanda Crumbaugh, who was born at Xenia, daughter of Samuel Crumbaugh, a carpenter of that place. She died on April 2, 1863, at the age of twenty years. Of the three children born to that union the subject of this sketch is the only one now living. On October 3, 863, John Belt married Susan P. Loy, who was born in Ohio, and who died on July 5, 1889. To that union were born fifteen children, Marion, Oliver J., John A., Charles E., Ora C., Harry E., Joseph W., George L., Thomas H., Harriet E., Ida V., Ralph A., Kate M., Anna B., and Perry. On July 23, 890, John Belt married Elizabeth Parker, who died in 1913. To that union one child was born, a daughter, Amanda Elizabeth, who is now a student at Antioch College. David F. Belt was reared on the home farm and received his schooling in the Bellbrook schools. He remained at home until he had passed his majority and after his marriage in the spring of 1891 he and his wife began housekeeping on a farm a mile and a half southwest of Bellbrook, a year later moving from that place to the place on which they are now living and have thus been occupying that place for twenty-six years. When Mr. Belt took up his residence there the only house on the place was an old log house, a holdover from pioneer days. In 1900 he bought the farm and has since then made numerous improvements, including the erection of a new house, barn and other farm buildings. Mr. Belt has a farm of seventy acres and in addition to his general farming for years operated a threshing-machine outfit during seasons. By political affiliation he is a Republican. On March 27, 1891, at Xenia, David F. Belt was united in marriage to May Dilts, who was born in that city, March 15, 1867, daughter of Preston and Carrie (Hollingshead) Dilts, the latter of whom also was born in Xenia. Preston Dilts was born at Winamac, Indiana, and was for years a gardener at Xenia. He was twice married and by his first wife, the mother of Mrs. Belt, was the father of six children, those besides Mrs. Belt, the second in order of birth, being Harry, Emma, Frank, Clara and (24) 386 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO Walter. Of these Mrs. Belt and her brother Walter, the latter now a resident of Michigan City, Indiana, are the only survivors. The mother of these children died on November 5-, 1872, and in 1873 Mr. Dilts married Mrs. Susan Wood, a widow, who died on December 7, 1877, leaving two children, Elmer and Albert. Preston Dilts died on October 26, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Dilts are members of the First Reformed church at Xenia. BENJAMIN F. CLAYTON. Benajmin F. Clayton, a veteran of the Civil War, formerly and for years an active minister of the Christian church and also formerly actively engaged in the practice of dental surgery, now and for some years past living practically retired at Yellow Springs, which he has regarded as nis home since 1904, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state most of his life, though his ministerial vocation for some years required his residence in far removed states, he having at different times been a resident of Rhode Island, Iowa and Indiana. The Doctor has also at times been serviceable as a chautauqua lecturer. For years he has been an active worker ;n Pythian circles and for six years was chaplain of the Ohio state grand lodge of the order of the Knights of Pythias. He was born on a farm. in Champaign county, near West Liberty, June I, 1847, son of Jonathan and Eliza (Watson) Clayton, the former a Virginian and the latter a native of Vermont, who were married at West Liberty, Ohio, and whose last days were spent at Marion, Indiana, both living to ripe old ages. Jonathan Clayton was born at Shepperdstown, Virginia, in 1810, of Welsh descent, received his schooling in his native state and remained there until he was twenty-one years of age, when he came to Ohio and located in Clark county, presently .going thence to West Liberty, in Logan county, where, in 1843, he married Eliza Watson, who was born in Vermont on January I, 1821. Jonathan Clayton was a grist-miller by vocation and after following that business for some time became engaged in farming in Champaign county and there continued to reside until his retirement from the farm at the age of sixty-five years, and removal to Marion, Indiana, where he spent his last days, his death occurring there in 1894, he then being eighty-four years of age. His widow survived him for about seventeen years, her death occurring on January 31, 1911, she then being at the age of ninety years and thirty days. They were the parents of ten children, of whom the doctor was the third in order of birth, the others being as follows : John R., deceased; William, deceased; Mrs. Ruhama Ann McElvan, who is now living at Denver, Colorado ; Thomas C., a resident of Pitkin, Colorado ; Mrs. Eliza Jane McGinnis, of Marion, Indiana; Prof. Henry C. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 387 Clayton, superintendent of schools at Marion, Indiana ; Eunice, wife of Doctor Kinley, of Marion, Indiana; Charles, of Wellington, Kansas, and Elmer E., who died in infancy. Benjamin F. Clayton was reared at West Liberty and there received a high-school education. His inclination early being directed toward the gospel ministry he later entered the Christian Biblical Institute at Stanfordville, New York, and after a four-years' theological course there was ordained as a minister of the Christian church. Doctor Clayton's first call was to the church at Jamestown, in this county, and he remained in pastoral charge for four years, at the end of which time he accepted a call to Rhode Island and was for eleven years and six months engaged in the service of the church there. He then returned to Ohio, accepting a call to the church at Franklin, in the neighboring county of Warren, and was for four years in pastoral charge of the church there, later being recalled to that same church for a year. After a residence of thirteen years in Franklin he moved to Yellow Springs and has since maintained his home there, though after locating there he accepted a call to the church at Clemons, Iowa. He did not remain there long, however, presently resigning his charge, but he later was recalled to the same charge. In addition to his wide ministerial service, Mr. Clayton is also quite well known as a chautauqua lecturer and has had much experience on the platform. During his residence at Franklin he was an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, his connection with that patriotic order being based upon his service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, a member of Company I, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served from March 7, 1865, to December 18, 1865. He also for years has been an active member of the Knights of Pythias and for six years was chaplain of Uniform Rank of that order. Politically, he is a Republican. On June 3, 1873, at Marion, Indiana, Mr. Clayton was united in marriage to Ada Maple, daughter of the Rev. James and Sarah (Maxwell) Maple, the former of whom was a minister of the Christian church, at that time pastor of the church of that denomination at Marion. Mrs. Clayton died July 9, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton had no children of their own, but they reared three children. The first of these children, Carrie Brown, remained with them until she was twenty-three years of age, when she went back to Rhode Island, the state of her birth, and was there married to Frank Dawley. The other two were boys, Alpheus McLain, who later took the middle name of Clayton, and John Marlott, the former of whom Mr. and Mrs. Clayton took when he was four years of age and the latter at the age of eleven. Both of these lads were reared to manhood by Mr. and Mrs. 388 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO Clayton and then went to Canada, where each homesteaded a half section of land and are there still making their homes. During the Philippine War John Marlott rendered service in the paymaster's department. He married Flossie B. Parsons, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Parsons, of Yellow Springs, and has two children, Jane Lehlia and John Clayton. Alpheus Clayton McLain married Lizzie Wolff, of Stalwart, Saskatchewan, Canada, and has four children, Clayton Benjamin, John William, Eugene Douglas and Alline Marie. HON. JAMES E. LEWIS. The Hon. James E. Lewis, former representative from this district in the Ohio General Assembly, former clerk of the village of Jamestown, former treasurer of Ross township, present president of the board of education in the latter township, and proprietor of a fine farm in Ross township, situated on rural mail route No. 4 out of Jamestown, is a native "Buckeye" and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in Highland county on September 18, 1867, son of Alfred and Lucinda (Woolums) Lewis, both of whom were born in that same county, the former of whom was a building contractor, and who were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being the following: Mrs. Ida Billingsley, of Adams county, this state; William A., who is now a resident of Los Angeles, California; Arthur N. and Jonathan K., residents of New Orleans; Charles, now a first lieutenant in the national army of the United States, and Mrs. Lydia Pense, of Highland county. Following the completion of the course in the public schools of Highland county, James E. Lewis took two years of supplemental instruction in 'a normal training school and for two years thereafter taught school in his home county. He then became employed as a teacher in this county, making his home in Jamestown, and for eighteen years was a teacher in Ross township. In the fall of 1892 Mr. Lewis married and in 1895 moved to the farm on which he is now living in Ross township and has since then made that his place of residence. Mr. Lewis is operating a farm of about seven hundred acres and makes a specialty of the raising of Poland China hogs. He is a Republican and for fourteen years served as a member of the county central committee of his party. In 1893 he was elected clerk of the village of Jamestown and held that office until his removal to Ross township in 1895. For two terms he served as treasurer of Ross township and for five years served as a member of the Greene county board of deputy state supervisors of elections and was chief deputy at the time of his election to a seat in the state House of Representatives in 1908. Mr. Lewis's course in the House GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 389 proved so satisfactory to his constituents that he was re-elected and thus-served as representative from this county for two terms or until 1913. He has for many years been recognized as the leader in educational affairs in his home township and is now the president of the Ross township board of education. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Jamestown and Mr. Lewis was for some time superintendent of the Sunday school of the same. He is affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the local encampment, Patriarchs Militant, at Jamestown, and with the lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics at that place. On September 14, 1892, James E. ,Lewis was united in marriage to Rosa B. Ballard, who was born and reared on the farm on which she and Mr. Lewis are now living, three miles north of Jamestown. Mrs. Lewis is the only, surviving child of four children born to the late Jackson and Magdaline (Taylor) Ballard, who were for years residents of Ross township. Jackson Ballard, who became one of Ross township's substantial landowners, was born in Adams county, this state, October 25, 1822, and was but six months of age when his parents, Lyman Ballard and wife, came to Greene county and settled in Ross township, where he spent the rest of his life. In May, 1851, he married Magdaline Taylor, who was born on a farm in the Jamestown neighborhood, daughter of Isaac and Frances (Gilmore) Taylor, the former of whom also was one of Greene county's substantial landowners. Isaac Taylor was born on a sailing vessel on the Atlantic ocean while his parents were en route to this country from their native Ireland. They settled in Rockbridge county, Virginia, where Isaac Taylor grew to -manhood and where he married Frances Gilmore, who was borh in that county and whose father and grandmother had undergone a perilous experience years before at the hands of Indians, that experience having had what newspaper writer of the present day would call a "local end," inasmuch as it involved an enforced sojourn at the old Indian village at Chillicothe on the site of the present picturesque hamlet of Oldtown, in this county, Grandmother Gilmore and her then young son having been captured by the Indians during a savage raid into Rockbridge county and brought out here with other captives and held at the Indian village along the banks of the river where Oldtown is now situated until they were some years later rescued by a military party and restored to their family in Virginia. In 1827 Isaac Taylor and his wife came to Ohio and settled in Preble county, but two years later came to Greene county and permanently located in the Jamestown neighborhood: They were the parents of nine children, five of whom, Magdaline, William G., John F., Daniel and Isaac, grew to maturity and reared families. Jackson Ballard and his wife were the parents of four children, of 390 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO whom Mrs. Lewis, as noted above, is now the only survivor, the others having been Frances, Isaac and Minnie. GRANVILLE C. FORD. Granville C. Ford, a young colored farmer of Greene county and the proprietor of a farm of more than eighty-three acres, a part of the old Ferguson place, in New Jasper township, rural mail route No. 8 out of Xenia, has been a resident of this county for about eight years. He was born at Topeka, Kansas, January 7, 1881, son of George L. and Susan R. (Lett) Ford, both of whom were free-born natives of Virginia, and the latter of whom is still living, now a resident of Washington Court House in the neighboring county of Fayette. George L. Ford was born in 1857, a son of Granville" Ford, who came from Virginia to Ohio with his family and settled on a farm in Ross county, where he spent the rest of his life. George L. Ford grew up on the farm in Ross county, having been but a child when his parents came to Ohio, and in 878 went to Kansas and rented a farm in the immediate vicinity of the city of Topeka. Two years later he returned East and married and then went back to Kansas and resumed his farming, but in 1882 he suffered a total loss of his crops by reason of the hot winds then prevalent throughout that part of the country and gave up, pocketing a loss of not less than five thousand dollars, and returned to Ohio, locating in Fayette county, where he is still living, for some time past having operated a moving-van in the county seat, Washington Court House. His wife died in 1903. He is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal church. To him and his wife were born eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the firstborn, the others being George, a teamster, now living at Canton, Ohio ; Goldie, Glenna, Pearl, Beaunola and Alaroma, who are living at Xenia, and Coit C., who is now a senior at Wilberforce University. Granville C. Ford was but a babe in arms when his parents returned to Ohio from Kansas and he grew up in Fayette county, receiving his schooling in the public schools at Washington Court House. Until he was twenty-one years of age he helped his father and then began working on his own account as a farm hand. His employer was superintendent of pikes and his time was thus so greatly diverted from his farm that the management of the place practically fell upon young Ford, who developed into a practical farmer. He remained on that farm for four years and then married and moved to Ross county, where he rented a farm and remained for three years, or until 1910, when he came over into Greene county and rented the Ferguson place in New Jasper township, where he ever since has made his GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 391 home. In 1913 he bought eighty-three and three-fourths acres of that place, and has since erected a barn. He is a Republican. On March 23, 1907, in Fayette county, Granville C. Ford was united in marriage to Frosty Wheat, who was born in that county, daughter of Louis and Sallie Wheat, the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Fayette county, and to this union have been born five children, namely : Harold Percy, born on February 2, 1908 ; Glenwood, October 17, 1910; Mary, February 23, 1912 ; George L., June 5, 1913, and Clarence Henry, January 27, 198. JULIUS CICERO JACOBS. Julius Cicero Jacobs, a Greene county farmer, now living at Yellow Springs, is a native of the state of Maryland, but has lived in Ohio and in Greene county since he was two years of age. He was born on a farm in Allegany county, Maryland, April 10, 1851, son of Ahimaaz and Emily (Trollinger) Jacobs, both of whom were born in that same state and who were married there, remaining there until 1853, in which year they came to Ohio and settled on a farm west of the village of Yellow Springs in this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Ahimaaz Jacobs was of Welsh and English stock, was ...a farmer and he and his wife were the parents of six children, four of whom were born in Maryland and two in this county. Of these children the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being Gabriel, who died in infancy; Laura, who died in infancy; Mary Levina, also deceased; Jacob Thomas, who is now living on the old home place west of Yellow Springs, and William Austin, deceased. As noted above, Mr. Jacobs was but two years of age when his parents came to this county in 1853 and he grew to manhood on the home farm west of Yellow Springs. He completed his schooling by attendance for several terms at Antioch College and then became engaged in the carpenter business, a vocation which he followed for about five years, or until his marriage in 1875, after which he located on a farm in Miami township, where he established his home and where he engaged in general farming and stock raising until his retirement from the farm in 1910 and removal to Yellow Springs, where he and his wife are now living. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On December 9, 1875, Mr. Jacobs was united in marriage to Hannah Miriam Johnson, who was born in this county, daughter of Joseph and Lydia (Estle) Johnson, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union six children have been born, four sons and two 392 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO daughters, namely : James Madison Harris Jacobs, born on January 28, 1877, now living in Dayton, who on March 26, 1915, married Ruth Van Tilburg and has two children, Robert H., born on March 3, 1916, and Russell, May 3, 1917; William Elmer Jacobs, September 4, 1878, now living on a farm east of Clifton, who on April 10, 1907, married Mabel Booghier and has two children, Anna and Earl; Florence Maude, February 23, 1881, who married Carl Hammer, now living at Lansing, Michigan, and has one child, a daughter, Ruth; Mary Pearl, May 29, 1884, who married Howard Birch, now manager of the Woolworth store at Fostoria, Ohio, and has one son, Kenneth ; Charles Walter Jacobs, September 24, 1887, now living on the home place, who married Gladys Nave and has two children, Wendell Walter and Beatrice Alnora, and Homer Harold Jacobs, August 7, 1892, who is now located at Dayton, where he is connected with the work of the Wright aeroplane factory. ARTHUR E. COLLINS. It is but fitting that in the annals of the county in which he was born and in which he spent his whole life there should appear a proper tribute to the memory of the late Arthur E. Collins, who died in the spring of 1914, and whose widow, Mrs. Mary L. Leeper Collins, president of the Greene County Woman's Christian Temperance Union, is still living in Xenia. Arthur E. Collins was a member of one of the first families in Greene county, his great-grandfather, William Collins, having been one of the early settlers in the Massiescreek settlement, a few years later locating in the Oldtown neighborhood, a few miles north of Xenia, where the family home was established. William Collins came to this county with his family from York county, Pennsylvania, and was one of that sturdy band of settlers, of Scottish descent, which formed the basis of that strong United Presbyterian element which has been one of the dominant factors in the community life of this county from the very beginning. He and his wife were the parents of ten children and the Collins connection throughout this part of the state in the present generation is thus a numerous one. Arthur E. Collins was born on the old home farm north of Oldtown, in Xenia township, February 19, 1866, a son of William H. and Mary (Galloway) Collins, the former of whom was a son of Samuel and Rebecca (McClellan) Collins, Samuel Collin§ being the fifth in order of birth of the ten children born to William Collins and wife, mentioned above. Samuel Collins was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, and was but a child when his parents came to Ohio and settled in this county. Here he received his schooling and for a time was engaged in teaching school. In 1836 he GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 393 married Rebecca McClellan, daughter of John McClellan and wife, of Spring Valley township, and straightway after his marriage established his home on the farm north of Oldtown which he had bought and on which he had erected a stone house for the reception of his bride. Samuel Collins was a successful farmer and became the owner of more than five hundred acres of land. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom William H. was the second in order of birth, the others having been Nancy E., who married John H. Jobe; John Q., a veteran of the Civil War; Lydia, who died unmarried; James Martin, who became a substantial farmer of this county; Mary Jane, who married John D. M. Stewart, of Xenia; Isabella. who married S. K. Williamson, of Cedarville, and Anna Rebecca, who married R. W. Moore, of Xenia. William H. Collins was born on the old home farm north of Xenia, above Oldtown, on November 6, 1838, and on that place grew to manhood. On February 22, 1865, he was united in marriage to Mary Galloway, who was born at Paris, Kentucky, May 17, 836, and who was but a girl when her parents, Samuel Galloway and wife, the latter of whom was a Kirkpatrick, came to Ohio and settled in Hamilton county. After his marriage he established his home on the home farm just north of Oldtown and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were members of the United Presbyterian church and their children were reared in that faith. There were three of these children, sons all, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the first-born, the others being Frank and Harvey, both of whom are still living in the Oldtown neighborhood. Frank Collins, who was born on November 6, 1868, is living on a farm north of Xenia and has been twice married. His first wife died without issue and he later married Bartha Tate, to which union three children have been born, Louise, born in 1906; Paul, 1908, and John William, 1912. Harvey Collins, who was born on August 2, 1874, married Nellie Anderson, of Clifton, and lives on the old home farm. He and his wife have four children, Eugene, born in 1898; Frederick, 1904; John Harvey, 1908, and Mary Eleanor, 1915 . Reared on the home farm north of town, Arthur E. Collins received excellent schooling and early turned his attention to practical farming, continuing thus engaged the rest of his life, occupying that part of the home farm that he had inherited. His death occurred on March 29, 1914, and his body is now lying in beautiful Woodland cemetery at Xenia. He was a member of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia. Since the death of Mr. Collins his widow has been making her home at Xenia and has lately built an attractive new house on Detroit street. She has for years been active in church and temperance work and as the president of the Greene County Woman's Christian Temperance Union has rendered invaluable 394 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO service in behalf of the cause of temperance and good government in the city and county. Mrs. Collins has two children, a son and a daughter, Robert Leeper Collins, born on June 11, 1895, who is now serving in the great National Army of the United States, in the service of which he enlisted following the declaration of war against Germany in the spring of 1917, leaving his school work unfinished at Muskinghum College, and Erma, born on March 16, 1904, who is a student in the Xenia schools. Mrs. Collins was born, Mary Leeper, in Hookstown, Pennsylvania, and was there married to Arthur E. Collins on August 31, 1892. She is a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Dallas) Leeper, the former of whom was born at that same place, November 6, 1827, and the latter, at Springfield, Ohio, July 17, 1829. Robert Leeper was a son of Hugh and Esther (Harper) Leeper, who also were born in Pennsylvania, both of Scotch-Irish descent. He inherited the old homestead farm on which he was born at Hookstown and there he reared his family and spent all his life, an energetic farmer and for many years an elder in the United Presbyterian church. His wife, Elizabeth Dallas, was born at Springfield, in the neighboring county of Clark, but grew to womanhood in Greene county, she having been but a girl when she became a resident of Sugarcreek township, where she was living when, on November 22, 1864, she was united in marriage to Robert Leeper, straightway afterward going with him to his home. at Hookstown. To that union were born five children, of whom Mrs. Collins was the third in order of birth, the others being Hugh, William, John and Robert, all of whom are still living. Hugh Leeper, who is living on a farm in the vicinity of his old home in the Hookstown neighborhood, in Pennsylvania, married Elizabeth Campbell and has four children, three sons, Earl, William and Robert, and a daughter, Gene. The Rev. William Leeper, a minister of the United Presbyterian church, now stationed at Chicago, married Lulu McClellan and has two children, Mary and Robert. John Leeper, who is now living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, married Margaret Campbell and has one child, a daughter, Mildred. Robert Leeper, who is still living on the old Leeper farm in the vicinity of Hookstown, which has been in the possession of the family for generations, married Helen Kerr and has five children, Arthur Wallace, Hugh, Elizabeth, Frederick and Helen. ELMER A. HAMMA. tlmer Hamma, formerly and for fifteen years president of the Miami township school board, was born on the farm on which he now living there and has spent the greater part of his life there, a continuous resident on that place since his marriage in 1888. He was born on October 30, 1862, son GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 395 of Andrew and Matilda (Carter) Hamma, who had been residents on the farm here referred to since 1854 and whose last days were Spent there. Andrew Hamma was born in York county, Pennsylvania, and was fourteen years of age when he came with his parents to Ohio, the family driving through and settling in Greene county. Here he grew to manhood and became a farmer. He married Matilda Carter, who was born in the neighboring county of Madison and who was living there at the time of her marriage, and a few years later, in 1854, bought the farm in Miami township above referred to, and there established his home. Andrew Hamma and wife were the parents of thirteen children, three of whom died in infancy, the others being the following : David, deceased; John Madison, also deceased; Angie Belle, wife of Horace Shaw, of the neighboring county of Clark ; Elizabeth, wife of John Shaw, also of Clark county; Matilda, wife of Charles Petrey, of Clark county; Myrtle, wife of Charles Garlow, of that same county; Mabel, wife of Earl Oglesby, of Yellow Springs; Dessie, wife of the Rev. Carl Aue, of Emporia, Kansas; Elmer A., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch ; Dr. Charles Mamma, formerly and for years a practicing physician at Springfield, who enlisted his services upon the declaration of war against Germany in 1917 and is now connected with the medical corps of the national army, attached to the expeditionary forces in France, and Ervine, who is married and is living in California. Andrew Hamma and wife were Lutherans and their children were reared in that faith. Reared on the home farm in Miami township, Elmer A. Hamma received his early schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and when fourteen years of age went up into Clark county, where he remained twelve years, or until his marriage in the fall of 1888, after which he returned to the old home place and established his home there. For fifteen years he rendered service as president of the Miami township school board, holding that office continuously during that period or until his resignation about five years ago. On October 20, 1888, at Clifton, Mr. Hamma was united in marriage to Hattie Gowdy, of that place, daughter of James and Louise (Confer) Gowdy, both members of pioneer families in Greene county, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Howard, who is now working on the Whitehall farm in this county and who married Mabel Dewine and has one daughter, Louise; Nellie, who married Edward Lampert, of Xenia, and has one (laughter, Martha; Mabel, who is at home with her parents; Marjorie, who married Ted Haines, an engineer on the Big Four railroad, now living at Sharonville, in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and has two children, Pollyanna and Frances; and Dorothy, wife of Roy Ferrell, a farmer living in the neighboring county of Clark. The Hammas are Lutherans. 396 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO GEORGE HENRY VOLKENAND. George Henry Volkenand, proprietor of "Sycamore Stock Farm" in the Alpha neighborhood in Beavercreek township, was born in that township on December 19, 1860, son of Herman and Martha (Brod) Volkenand, whose last days were spent at Dayton, this state, and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Herman Volkenand was born in Germany, January 26, 1826, son of Henry and Elizabeth (Haas) Volkenand, the former of French birth, and was educated in his native land, coming to this country in the days of his young manhood, the only member of his family to come over here at that time. However, some years later his sister Elizabeth, now Mrs. Zein, of Dayton, came to this country. Upon his arrival in this country Herman Volkenand came to Ohio and for some months was engaged at work in an oil mill near the Indian Ripple bridge, later accepting employment as a farm hand on the Jacob Coy farm. He then went to Missouri and thence up into Iowa and Minnesota, but a year later returned to this county and in 848, in the Mt. Zion Reformed church in Beaver township was married to Martha Brod, who also was born in Germany, January 3, 1828, and who had not long before come to this country. , For two years after his marriage Mr. Volkenand was employed as foreman in the Shoup & Harbine distillery in Beavercreek township. and then he bought a farm of seventy-five acres on the east bank of the Little Miami, the place now occupied by his son Herman. On October 8, 1871, he started on a trip back to his boyhood home in Germany and there spent three months visiting his mother. In April, 877, he bought property in the village of Alpha and moved to that village, where he remained until July 17, 1877, when he moved onto a farm of sixty-eight acres he previously had bought in that neighborhood, the place now occupied by his son George H., and there he lived until his retirement in 1888 and removal to the old Samuel Edgar home at Dayton, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, her death occurring on January 29, 1899, and his, March 17, 1904. During their residence in this county they were members of Mt. Zion Reformed church and upon their removal to Dayton became connected with the Reformed church in that city. During his residence in Greene county Herman Volkenand served as postmaster at Alpha, under the administration of President Cleveland, during the years 1881-85, also served as railway ticket agent and as express agent at Alpha, for fifteen years was school director in his home district, for eight years was a member of the .board of education and also served for some time as trustee of Beavercreek township. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 397 the fourth in order of birth, the others being Leonard, a building contractor at Dayton ; Anna, wife of Warren Glotfelter, a farmer of Sugarcreek township; Elizabeth, who died at the age of seventeen years ; Herman, mentioned above as the owner of the old home farm along the river; John, who made his home at Dayton and who died in that city in July, 1917; and Martha, wife of John Higgins, of Sugarcreek township. George H. Volkenand grew up on the farm and received his schooling in the McClung district school in the neighborhood of his home. He remained on the farm until 1887, when he went to Alpha and there became engaged in the general merchandise business and , was postmaster under Cleveland's second administration, continuing there engaged in business for nine years and three months, at the end of which time he went to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where for two years he was engaged in the mercantile business. He then returned to Greene county and in the spring of 1900 married and became engaged in the carpenter business, working at Dayton, Trebeins and other place for five years, or until in March, 1905, when he moved to the farm on which he is now living and to which he has given the name of "Sycamore Stock Farm." Since taking possession of that place Mr. Volkenand has made numerous improvements on the same and has added to his holdings until now he is the owner of a farm of one hundred and three acres. In addition to this general farming he makes a specialty of the raising of Shorthorn and Jersey cattle, Duroc and Poland China hogs and keeps a good many horses. Mr. Volkenand votes the Democratic national ticket, as did his father, but in local affairs does not draw party lines. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Alpha; On March 28, 1900, George H. Volkenand was united in marriage to Margaret Neff, who was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and who was but a child when she came to this county with her parents, Joseph and Anna Neff, the family settling in New Jasper township. Joseph Neff was a stonemason. He and his wife were born in Virginia and their last days were spent in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Volkenand have one child, a son, Murrill Leonard, born on January 8, 1905. About six years ago they took into their home a little girl, Delsa Alderman, who they are rearing as one of their family, though they have not adopted her. OLIVER MALLOW SPAHR. Oliver Mallow Spahr, clerk of New Jasper township and a farmer of that township, living on rural mail route No. 8 out of Xenia, was born in that township, a member of one of the old families of Greene county, and 398 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO has lived there all his life. He was born on the old William Spahr place in the neighborhood of the village of New Jasper, December 12, 1873, son and only child of David C. and Sarah Elizabeth (Mallow) Spahr, the latter of whom died on February 26, 1888, her son then being fifteen years of age. She was born in Caesarscreek township, this county, June 3, 1852, daughter of John and Hannah Mallow, who had a farm in that township. David C. Spahr was born on the farm mentioned above as the birthplace of his son, November 20, 1847, last-born of the twelve children born to William and Sarah (Smith) Spahr, further and fitting mention of whom, together with a comprehensive history of the Spahr family in Greene county, is made elsewhere in this volume, William Spahr having been a son of Philip and Mary (Shook) Spahr, who came here with their family in 1814 from Virginia and became pioneers of the New Jasper neighborhood. They were the parents of ten children, as noted elsewhere. Both William Spahr and Sarah Smith were born in Hardin county, Virginia, and were children when they came with their respective parents to this county; the Spahrs and the Smiths having made the trip over from Virginia together. Sarah Smith was born in September, 1807, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Kimble) Smith, who settled on a farm alongside that of the Spahrs when the two families came to locate in what is now New Jasper township, the Smith farm of three hundred acres adjoining that of the Spahrs on the east. Jacob Smith was a cooper and gave his chief attention to his cooperage business, leaving his sons to develop the farm. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom Sarah, who on December 12, 1829, married William Spahr, was the eldest, the others being Susan, who married David Paullin, of Silvercreek township; Daniel, who remained a farmer in New Jasper township ; Phoebe, who married Evan Harris, of Caesarscreek township; Elizabeth, who married James Spahr; William, who became a Methodist minister and lived in Caesarscreek township; James, who made his home in Silvercreek township and who also became a Methodist minister; Nelson, who married Lydia Beeson and lived in New Jasper township; Catherine, who married Peter Tressler, and Amanda, who married Stephen Beal, of Cedarville. William Spahr and his wife had twelve children and further details regarding this family are set out at considerable .length elsewhere. As the youngest son, David C. Spahr, remained on the home place with his father and when not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age was given practical charge of the same, his father's advancing years and crippled condition entailing upon the young man the responsibility of carrying on the operations of the place, making his home there after his marriage in 1871. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 399 His mother died on March 25, 1888, and his father died on October 1, 1891. The farm then was sold and the proceeds divided and David C. Spahr bought a farm of two hundred and forty-two acres in Caesarscreek township and sixty acres in New Jasper township and on this place he made his home until 1917, when he retired and has since been making his home with his sister, Mrs. Phoebe A. Boots, widow of John M. Boots, on her farm, a half mile southwest of New Jasper village. John M. Boots was born on May 20, 1848, and died on February 23, 1913. He married Phoebe A. Spahr, on October 11, 1866. It was on November 31, 1871, that. David C. Spahr was united in marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Mallow, who died in 1888, and, as noted above, to that union was born one son, the subject of this sketch. Oliver Mallow Spahr received his early schooling in the New Jasper district school and supplemented the same by a course in the business college at Springfield. When his grandfather's farm, the place on which he was born, was divided he bought the place, but continued to make his home after his marriage in the fall of 1892 on his father's place in Caesarscreek township, renting his own land. In 1905 he sold the latter tract, one hundred and fifty-two acres, and bought the farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on which he now lives on the New Jasper pike, just east of the village of that name. Mr. Spahr gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, his Shorthorn herd having a registered leader. In 1916 he built on his farm a modern house, with a hot-water heating plant, electric-lighting system and the like. During the past two years or more Mr. Spahr has given up to his son the active operation of the place, but still maintains a general supervisory direction over affairs, at the same time managing his father's farms. He is a Republican, as is his father, and for the past eight years has been serving as clerk of New Jasper township. On September 15, 1892, Mr. Spahr was united in marriage to Lyda Luetta Fawcett, who also was born in New Jasper township, daughter of Hiram H. and Elizabeth (Smith) Fawcett, both of whom are still living on a farm in that township and further and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to that union two children have been born, Leo David, who died in 894 at the age of eleven months, and Hiram Russell, born on December 28, 1895. On December 5, 1917, Hiram Russell Spahr was united in marriage to Rosa Pearl Turner, who was born at Sabina, in the neighboring county of Clinton, daughter of A. J. and Sarah Frances (Dow) Turner, and since his marriage has continued to make his home on the farm, the operation of which he is now carrying on. The Spahrs are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper and Mr. Spahr is a member of the board of trustees of the congregation.