500 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO within Jefferson township, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cottrell) Ervin, pioneers of that section, who had come up here from Tennessee and whose last days were spent here, both dying during the time of the cholera scourge. John Ervin and wife were the parents of nine children. To Mr. and Mrs. Burr three children were born, a daughter and two sons, Jennie, who has always made her home on the home place, and George Sewell and Frank Elder, the latter of whom, an undertaker at Jamestown, married. Elvie Miller and has two children, Guy and Marion. George Sewell Burr, who became a teacher in the schools of this county, was killed by the kick of a horse in 1887. He hadmarried Elizabeth Ferguson and after his death his widow married Florence Smith, of Jamestown, and has one child, a daughter, Zora P. GEORGE EDGAR JOBE. George Edgar Jobe, former president of the board of control of the Ohio State Experiment Station at Wooster, former president of the board of the Selma special school district and almost continuously connected with that board since the date of its organization, and the proprietor of a farm of nearly three hundred acres, the old Thorne place, situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of Cedarville, is a member of one of Greene county's old families, and has lived in this county all his life, occupant of the farm on which he now lives since his marriage in 1889. He was born on the old Jobe home place in Xenia township on May 20, 186o, so1860,John Hutchison and Nancy Ellen (Collins) Jobe, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent here. John Hutchison Jobe was born at Xenia on October 31, 1826, son of George and Mary Ann (Hutchison) Jobe, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania on August 31, 1786, son of Isaiah Jobe and wife and one of the six children born to that parentage, three sons and three daughters. George Jobe served as a soldier of the War of 1812, in General Harrison's command, and was present at the battle of Ft. Meigs. In 1816 he came to this county and became engaged in the manufacture of wagons at Xenia. He married here and some years later bought a farm and settled in the Old-town Run school district in the vicinity of Xenia and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on January 29, 1867, he then being eighty years of age. His widow died on May 24, 1884, she then being eighty-two years, of age. Mary 'Ann Hutchison was living in the Bellbrook neighborhood at the time of her marriage to George Jobe. To that union were born nine children, six sons and three daughters, namely : J. Harvey, who became a dry-goods merchant at Xenia John H., father of GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 501 the subject of this sketch; Margaret Ann, who married Hugh Boyd, of this county; William H. and Martha Jane, twins, who died in childhood; Samuel H., who also died in the days of his youth; George F., a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Rebecca E., of Xenia, and Albert A., who died in childhood. John H. Jobe was about eight years of age when his parents moved from Xenia to the farm just east of that place. As a young man he learned the trade of carpenter and for about five years followed that trade, but later resumed farming and so continued engaged the remainder of his active life. He remained at home until after his marriage in 1859, when he bought a farm of three hundred and fifty acres on the Xenia and Jamestown pike, three and a half miles east of Xenia, and there remained until his retirement from the farm and removal to Xenia, where his death occurred on March 15, 1905. John H. Jobe was a Republican and had served as trustee of his home township and for some time as infirmary director. He and his wife were members of the First United Presbyterian church and their children were reared in that faith. On August 30, 1859, in Xenia township, John H. Jobe was united in marriage to Nancy Ellen Collins, who was born in that township on February 25, 1837, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (McClellan) Collins, the latter of whom was the eldest sister of Doctor H. R. McClellan, of Xenia. Samuel Collins was about eight years of age when he came with his parents from York county-, Pennsylvania, to this county, the family settling in Xenia township. Samuel Collins and wife were the parents of eight children, those besides Mrs. Jobe having been the following: William H., deceased; John Q., deceased; James M., of Xenia township; Belle, deceased wife of S. K. Williamson ; Jennie M., wife of John D. M. Stewart, of Xenia; Anna, deceased, who was the wife of R. W. Moore, of Xenia, and Lydia, who died unmarried. To John H. and Nancy E. (Collins) Jobe were born seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the firstborn, the others being the ,following : Samuel Collins, who died when sixteen months of age; Charles L., a Xenia merchant and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; John Riley, who died in 1910 at his home in Xenia, in which city he had for years engaged in the dry-goods business, a member of the firm of Jobe Brothers ; Laura B., who died on May 25, 1909; Harvey Homer, who continued to make his home on the old home farm in Xenia township and who died on April 30, 1918, and one son who died in infancy. George Edgar Jobe completed his schooling at Monmouth College and remained at home until his marriage in 1889, when he established his home on the farm on which he is now living. This is the old Thorne place, developed by a Quaker family of that name, and during the days preceding 502 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO the Civil War was an important station on the "underground railroad" through this section. Mr. Jobe remodeled the brick house built there by the Thornes in 1846 and in other ways has improved the place. In 1892 he built a bank barn, forty by ninety-six feet in dimensions and has a silo of a capacity of one hundred and fifty tons. He gives considerable attention to the raising of Duroc-Jersey hogs and also feeds a good many cattle. Since taking possession of the Thorne place he has enlarged his holdings there until now he has two hundred and ninety acres. Mr. Jobe is a Republican and for some time he has been president of the board of control of the Ohio Experiment Station at Wooster. When in 1905 the Selma special school district was organized, the district being created to accommodate the pupils of certain districts in two of the townships of Greene county and two of the adjoining townships of Clark county, Mr. Jobe was made president of the special school board which erected the new grade and high-school building at Selma and has almost continuously since then been connected with the board. On February 14, 1889, George E. Jobe was united in marriage to Alta Corry, who was born in Miami township, this county, daughter of William R. and Eliza (Brown) Corry, the latter of whom also was born in this county, a member of one of the old families in Cedarville township. William R.. Corry was born at Corry, Pennsylvania, a son of Matthew and Rachel (Jacoby) Corry, the former of whom was a son of Matthew and Ann (Beatty) Corry, who were married in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1774, later moving to a farm in Northumberland county, same state, whence, in 1780, they were driven out by Indians and returned to Chester county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the latter dying in 1824 and the former, in 1826, he then being seventy-seven years of age. Matthew and Ann (Beatty) Corry were the parents of nine children, James, John, Hannah, Eleanor. Nancy, Ann, Rebecca, Jane and Matthew. The latter, Matthew Corry, Jr., was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1793, and in 1814 was there married to Rachel Jacoby. In the spring of 1830 he came to Ohio with his family and established his home in Miami township, this county, where he died on May 5, 1864. Matthew Corry, Jr., was twice married. His first wife, Rachel Jacoby, died in 185o and he afterward married Ann Bigger. To the first union there were born nine children, namely : Sarah, born on May 3o, 1815, who married William Miller and died on May 3, 1839; Ann B., July 31, 1817, who married James Allison and died on February 21, 1896; John J., January 1, 1820, who married Elizabeth Jackson and died on June 9, 1869 ; Matthew, December 11, 1821, who died unmarried on May 12, 1900; James B., March 8, 1824, who married Nancy A. Brown and died on December 20, 1891 ; William R., father of Mrs. Jobe; GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 503 Henry, July 29, 1828, who married Lydia Collins and died on August 28, 1871; Hannah, August 24, 1831, who married George Collins and died on October 1, 1855, and Rachel, October 5, 1834, who married E. C. Fleming and died on September 14, 1896. William R. Corry was born on June 10, 1826, and was four years of age when his parents came to this county from Pennsylvania and established their home in Miami township, where he grew to manhood and where, after his marriage on October 18, 1848, to Eliza Brown, he established his home, his death occurring there on October 31, 1885. He was a Republican and was for years an elder in the Presbyterian church. His widow died. on December 2, 1905. To William R. and Eliza (Brown) Cory were born ten children, namely : Anna Alice; born on October 5, 1849, who married William H. Bull and died on March 27, 1906; Riley J., January 25, 1851, who on October 17, 1878, married May Garlough and is living at Yellow Springs; Matthew W., June 9, 1853, who died on September 3, 1854 ; Lee B., March 11, 1855, who on September 24, 1879, married Nannie J. Stewart; William Edward, April 2, 1858, who died oil September 1, 1859; Harry R., February 24, 1860, who on February 18, 1886, married Effie K. Elder ; Frank M., September 9, 1861, who on September 1, 1887, married Clara L. Anderson; Robert E., November 1, 1863, who on February 27, 1888, married Jessie D. Anderson; Alta (Mrs. Jobe), April 26, 1867, and Ida May, February 10, 1869, who on October 25, 1894, married Frank Currie. To George E. and Alta (Corry) Jobe have been born three sons, namely : John Oliver, born on April 22, 1890, who completed his schooling in the Ohio State University and on February 10, 1914, was united in marriage to Edith Barber, daughter of R. B. and Kate Barber, and Delmer C. and Mereld C., twins, October 15, 1895, the former of whom was graduated in agriculture at Ohio State University in May, 1918, and the latter of whom was attending Colorado State University at Denver, where on April 2, 1918, he was called to the United States service and is now stationed at Camp Sherman. Mr. and Mrs. Jobe and, their sons are members of the United Presbyterian church at Cedarville. LEWIS C. PETERSON. Lewis C. Peterson, proprietor of the farm in Spring Valley township on which he is now living, was born in that township on August 19, 1853, son of John and Elizabeth Peterson, both also natives of this county. John Peterson was born on a farm in the northeast corner of Spring Valley township and his wife was born in Sugarcreek township. Reared on a farm, John Peterson in due time took up farming as his own voca- 504 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO tion and in 1840 established his home on the farm on which his son Frank is now living in Spring Valley township. There he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1881, he then being fifty-seven years of age. His widow survived him for thirteen years, she being seventy years of age at the time of her death on December 1, 1894. She was a member of the Methodist Protestant church. John Peterson and his wife were the parents of six children, five sons and a daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being Sarah J., David A. (deceased), Jonas, a grocer at Bellbrook ; Charles A., a carpenter, now living at Dayton, and Frank, who is occupying the old home farm. Lewis C. Peterson grew up on the home farm in Spring Valley township and was educated in the local schools. After his marriage in 1875, he then being twenty-two years of age, he began farming on his own account, renting a farm in Beavercreek township and there made his home until in 1883, when he bought the John Hepford farm of fifty acres in Spring Valley township, moved onto the same and has ever since resided there. Since taking possession Of that farm Mr. Peterson has made considerable improvements on the same. In addition to his general farming he raises Shropshire sheep and Berkshire hogs and for the past ten years or more has been engaged in the buying of wool. In 1875 Lewis C. Peterson was united in marriage to Josephine Bumgardner, who was born in Beavercreek township, this county, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Benham) Bumgardner, both now deceased and the former of whom was an edged-tool maker. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are members of the Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Peterson is a Democrat, as was his father. RICHARD J. FOWLER. The late Richard J. Fowler, who died at his home, the old Turnbull place, in Cedarville township, March 10, 1917, was a native of South Carolina, born at Chester, that state, but had been a resident of this county since the days of his young manhood. He was born on March 14, 1842, son of Edward and Martha (Lackey) Fowler, both of whom also were born in South Carolina, where they spent all their lives. Deprived of his parents by death in the days of his boyhood, Richard J. Fowler was "bound out" to learn the trade of millwright and remained in his native state until he was twenty-one years of age, when, in 1863, he came to Ohio and became a resident of Cedarville township, this county. Upon coming here he joined the local company of the Ohio state, militia and was thus serving at the time of the scare produced by the raid of Morgan's cavalry up from Kentucky. He GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 505 went with that company to Camp Chase to report for duty but after ten days of service there the company was ordered to return home, the "scare" having subsided by that time. Until 1867 Mr. Fowler was engaged working at various occupations in and about Cedarville and then in that year he rented a small farm in Cedarville township and began farming on his own account. There he bought five acres on the Federal pike. After his marriage in 1870 he established his home on that place and there continued to live until 1874, when he bought seventy-eight acres of the old Turnbull place, including the stone house built there by W. T. Turnbull in 1821, and there spent the remainder of his life. He remodeled the old stone house and it is still doing service as the family residence, having been used as a dwelling place for nearly one hundred years. Mr. Fowler also bought the old John B. Squires farm of seventy-six acres on the Columbus pike, but this latter place he sold in 1913 and bought land adjoining the home place, thus bringing the acreage of the latter up to one hundred and forty-eight acres, which is now being operated by Clarence Fowler, who is managing the same for his widowed mother. Richard J. Fowler was a Republican and by religious persuasion was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church at Cedarville, of which he long served as chairman of the board of trustees and in which he did not miss a communion service for fifty-five years. Mr. Fowler's widow is still living on the old home place. She was born in this county, Martha Ellen Silva., daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Jeffreys) Silva, both long since deceased, the former of whom was a blacksmith and farmer in Cedarville township. To Richard J. and Martha .Ellen (Silva) Fowler were born ten children, namely : Mary Elizabeth, who is now teaching in a mission school at Selma, Alabama; Robert McMillan Fowler, who married Regina Spencer and now lives in Buffalo, New York, where he is engaged in the railroad service; Laura Ellen, who is at home; Annie M., a graduate nurse, who is now located at St. Louis ; Jennie Ethel, a teacher, now engaged in the graded schools at St. Charles, Missouri; William Leonard Fowler, who died in 1902 ; Clarence Fowler, who is now managing the old home farm; Carrie Helen, also at home ; Howard Sprawl. Fowler, who died on August 19, 1915, and Edna Irene, a pianist, who is con= templating completing her musical education with a view to becoming a teacher of piano music. Clarence Fowler, who since his father's death has been managing the home farm, was born on the farm on which he is still living, December 14, 1882. Upon leaving school, he took up the 'study of telegraphy and was for some time thereafter employed as a telegraph operator, in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but since the death of his father has been giving his whole attention to the direction of the home farm. 506 -GREENE COUNTY, OHIO ANDREW GORDON COLLINS. Andrew Gordon Collins, a farmer of Cedarville township, former president of the school board of that township, an elder in the United Presbyterian church at Clifton and the proprietor of a farm of nearly two hundred and thirty acres on rural mail route No. 2 out of Cedarville, was born on the farm on which he is now living and has lived there all his life, excepting nine years that were spent in Xenia. He was born on August 12, 1865, son and only child of James Wallace and Mary J. (Gordon) Collins, the latter of whom was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1830 and died at her home in this county in 1888. She was a daughter of Andrew and Janet (Wallace) Gordon, whose last days were spent in York county, Pennsylvania. Andrew Gordon was born in the north of Ireland, of Scottish descent and the only child of his parents. His father died and he later came to this country with a view to making a home here for his mother, but before he could complete his plans to this end he received word from the old country that his mother was dead. He continued his efforts to get along in this country and in time became a well-to-do farmer in York county, Pennsylvania, where he married and reared his family. He and his wife were Presbyterians and were the parents of five children, those besides Mrs. Mary J. Collins having been Elizabeth G. Collins, David (deceased), Eleanor G. Wilson, and Janet Wallace. The late James Wallace Collins was born on a farm in Cedarville township on February 16, 1832, a son of William and Mary (Galloway) Collins, members of two of the oldest families in this county, as will he noted by further references in this work to the Collinses and the Galloways, who had settled along the banks of the river north of where Xenia later came to be located, as early as 1797, both families coming up here from Kentucky, among the first persons permanently to settle in this section. Mary Galloway was a daughter of Squire George Galloway, who lived to be ninety-six years of age. William Collins was born in 1800, one of the first white children born in the territory that later came to be incorporated in the organization of Greene county, and was a on of William and Lydia (Manifold) Collins, who were married in York county, Pennsylvania, went from there to Kentucky and after a few years of residence in that state came up here into the valley of the Little Miami about the year 1797 and settled on the west bank of the river about seven miles north of the present site of Xenia and about two miles from the place where the Galloways had just previously settled. This pioneer couple were the parents of ten children, Joseph, Samuel, William, John, James, Mary, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Grace and Ibbe, and the descendants of these children in the present generation form a numerous GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 507 connection hereabout. The Collinses, as were the Galloways, were Seceders and when the Rev. Robert Armstrong presently came up here from Kentucky and took pastoral charge of the several families of Seceders faith that had meanwhile settled in this region, the land on which the old Massies Creek church was built was donated out of the Collins lands, William Collins long serving as one of the ruling elders of that congregation. The younger William Collins grew up on the home farm, along the river and as a young man bought a farm of about four hundred acres in Cedarville township, a portion of that tract now forming a part of the farm owned by his grandson, the subject of this sketch. After his marriage to Mary Galloway he established his home there and there spent the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Associate Presbyterian (Seceder) church and was for years an elder in the old Massies Creek church. He was a very active anti-slavery man in the days when opposition to the "sacred institution" meant something to the persons who thus dared openly to confront and defy the authority of the slave-holding power and cast his vote against the institution when there was but one other man in the county to join him in thus registering his defiance. His home was one of the much-frequented stations of the "underground railroad" in those days and he was one of the active "conductors" in the humane work of transferring fugitive slaves from station to station along the line of that "road" through this state. In the days before the coming of the railroads he did much hauling between this section and Cincinnati. 'William Collins was twice married. By his first wife, Mary Galloway, he was the father of four children, those besides the father of the subject of this sketch having been George, deceased, who was a farmer in Cedarville township; Lydia, who is now living at Xenia, widow of Henry Corry, and Martha, who married David Bradfute, a farmer of this county and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased. Following the death of the mother of these children, William Collins married Catherine Dinsmore and to that union were born four children, Dinsmore S., now living in Colorado Mitchell W., a resident of Cedarville, this county ; Clarkson B., now a resident of California, and one who died in infancy. James Wallace Collins grew up on the home farm and after his marriage to Mary Gordon established his home there, buying one hundred acres of the place from his father, and later added to the same until he had one hundred and fifty acres. In 1871 he left the farm and with his family moved to Xenia, where his son Andrew grew up and attended school, and in 1887 returned to the farm, which his son meanwhile had begun to operate and which the latter presently bought, and there he spent most of the rest of his life, continuing after the death of his wife in 1888 to make his home with his son. His death' occurred at the home of Mrs. Corry in Xenia on January 508 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO 21, 1915. He and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian church. For years he retained his affiliation with the Republican party, but in the later years of his life put in his lot with the Prohibitionists. Andrew Gordon Collins was about six years of age when his parents left the farm and moved to Xenia and in that city he received his schooling. Upon leaving the high school he took charge of his father's farm and in due time bought the same and has continued ever since to make his home there, having definitely established his home on the place after his marriage in the fall of 1891. In 1913 he built a handsome new house of the bungalow type on the place. Since taking possession of the old home place Mr. Collins has added' to the same by 'purchase of adjoining land until now he is the owner of two hundred and twenty-seven acres. Though "independent" in his general political views, Mr. Collins's sentiments incline him strongly to the cause of the Prohibition party and he is an earnest champion of the rapidly growing anti-liquor movement. For the past ten years Mr. Collins has been a member of the Cedarville township school board. He was a member of the board at the time of the erection of the consolidated school building at Cedarville, a building regarded as the finest of its type in the state, in comparison with the population supporting it, and naturally feels some pride in the action of the board in that matter. He and his family are members of the United Presbyterian church at Clifton and for the past twelve years or more he has been one of the ruling elders of that congregation. On November 12, 1891, Andrew G. Collins was united in marriage to Mary M. Rife, who was born in Miami township, this county, daughter of John and Mary (Kitchen) Rife, both now deceased, and to this union eight children have been born, namely : Mary Dorothy, born on October 25, 1894, who was graduated from Cedarville College and is now teaching school in Butler county ; John Wallace, December 1, 1895, who was graduated from Cedarville College in 1917 and is now a sergeant of the national army ; William Rife, January 4, 1897, who was graduated from Cedarville College in the spring of 1918; Andrew Roger, November 12, 1898, who is now attending Cedarville College; Marion Earl, June 22, 1903, a junior in Cedarville high school ; Margaret Pauline, July 24, 1904, a student in the Cedarville high school; Ruth Gordon, June 28, 1907, and James Robert, February 16, 1910. John Rife, father of Mrs. Collins, was born on September 24., 1832, in Adams county, Pennsylvania, not far from the Maryland line, son of Daniel and Mary (Foreman) Rife, and there earlylearned the trade of blacksmith. When eighteen years of age he came to Ohio to join his brother, who some time previously had come out here, and some time later he went to Logansport, Indiana, and thence to Springfield, Illinois, continuing to work at his GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 509 trade, but after awhile returned to Ohio and located at Pitchin, in the neighboring county of Clark, where he set up a blacksmith shop. While living there, in the fall of 1856, he married. Two years later he moved down to Selma and there continued blacksmithing until 1862, when he leased the Taylor tract of twelve hundred acres in Clark and Greene counties and for five years thereafter operated the same, eventually effecting a sale of the estate in behalf of the heirs. Meanwhile, in the spring of 1866, Mr. Rife had bought a part of the Randolph farm in Miami township, this county, and in 1867 located on that place, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on Christmas Day, 1899. For some years Mr. Rife served as trustee of Miami township and for more than fifteen years was a member of the Clifton school hoard. Reared a Democrat, he became an Abolitionist and then a Republican, but in 1888 espoused the cause of the Prohibition party. He and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian church at Clifton and he was for years one of the trustees of the congregation and one of the teachers in the Sunday school. In addition to his property interests in this county Mr. Rife owned several hundred acres of farming land in Kansas. During the trial of the Hopkins-Fidelity Bank cases in the federal court at Cincinnati in 1888-89, Mr. Rife was the foreman of the jury which convicted Hopkins. On September 25, 1856, at the home of the bride in Clark county, John Rife was united in marriage to Mary J. Kitchen, a school teacher, who was horn in that county, August I 1, 1836, twin sister of Erasmus J. Kitchen, and daughter of Abraham and Martha M. ( Jones) Kitchen, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Fayette, but whose parents subsequently came over into Greene county, where she was living when she married Abraham Kitchen in 1829. Abraham Kitchen was born in the neighboring county of Warren in 1808, his parents, Stephen and Ann (Bacaw) Kitchen, Pennsylvanians, having been among the pioneers of this section of Ohio, and after his marriage located on a farm in section 4 of Greene township, in the neighboring county, of Clark, but two years later bought a larger farm in that same neighborhood and on this latter place he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, both dying in 1888, the latter on May 28 and the former on June 28. They were the parents of eight children. of whom five grew to maturity, .married and reared families, those besides Mrs. Rife having been Margaret Ann, who married John McCollough; J. S., who made his home in Springfield, Ohio ; I. N., who remained a farmer in Greene township, and Erasmus J., twin brother of Mrs. Rife, who served from September, 1861, to July 30. 1865, as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, and who also remained a farmer in Greene township, Clark county. Mrs. Rife survived her husband for a little more than five years, 510 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO her death occurring in February, 1905. John Rife and his wife were the parents of ten children, those besides Mrs. Collins having been George W., who married Jennie Garlough ; Stephen K., who married Ada Stormont and moved to Kansas; John Bruff, of Greene county ; Frederick F., who moved to Kansas; Anna, who died at the age of three years; Frank A., who died at the age of eighteen years; William C., who is living on the home place; Margaret B., also at home, and Lee E., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. LORENZO D. WELCH. Lorenzo D. Welch, president of the Miami township joint school board, superintendent of roads in his district in that township and owner of a farm one mile south of the village of Yellow Springs, was born in Miami township on March 25, 1871, son of Jasper L. and Barbara A. (Flatter) Welch, both of whom also were born in this county, and who spent practically all their lives here, their last days being spent in Yellow Springs, to which village they had moved upon their retirement from the farm in 1891. Jasper I.. Welch was born on July 21, 1833, on a farm in that part of Greene county now comprised in New Jasper township, where his parents had settled upon coming here from Maryland. He grew up in this county and with the exception of two or three years spent in Darke county, this state, continued to make his home here. On March 5, 1857, he married Barbara A. Flatter, who was born in Xenia township on January 15, 1833, and after his marriage established his home on a farm. in Miami township and there continued engaged in farming until his retirement in 1891 and removal to Yellow Springs, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Jasper L. Welch died on October 6,. 1906, and his widow died on January 1, 1914. They were the parents of nine children, four of whom died in infancy, the others being as follow : Agnes, born on November 29, 1857, who married Morris Beal, of this county, and died on April 9, 1917; Harriet, July 6, 1867, who is now making her home in California, having interests both in that state and in the state of Nevada ; Lorenzo D., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Margaret, December 7, 1873, who died on June 5, 1900, and Grace, April 7, 1877, who married Orman Roe and is now living in Chicago. Lorenzo D. Welch grew up on the home farm in Miami township and received his schooling in the local schools. He was married when twenty-two years of age and he and his bride began housekeeping on a farm in Xenia township. The next year they moved to the Baker place in Miami township and were there for four years, at the end of which time they moved to another rented farm and there made their home for three years. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 511 They then moved to town and after a residence of about a year there resumed farming and for six years thereafter made their home on the Hyde farm. Mr. Welch then, in October, 1903, bought the farm of seventy-five acres on which he is now living, a mile south of Yellow Springs, established his home there and has ever since made that his place of 'residence. .In addition to the home tract he is the owner of a tract of one hundred and thirty-six acres just across the road from his home. Mr. Welch is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Yellow Springs. He and his family are affiliated with the Presbyterian church at Yellow Springs. On March 23, 1893, at Yellow Springs, Lorenzo D. Welch was united in marriage to Nettie Hutchison, of that place, who also was born in Miami township, daughter of James Elder and Esther (Baker) Hutchison, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families. James Elder Hutchison met his death in a tragic manner on April 4, 1882, being killed by a premature blast while blowing up stumps along the Xenia pike. He and was wife were the parents of six daughters, Mrs. Welch having five sisters, Stella, Daisy, Fannie, Josephine and Elda. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have six children, namely : Elder Leroy, born on January 20, 1894, who is a farmer; Esther, born on March 10, 1895, who is a teacher in the Yellow Springs schools; Ruth, September 27, 1897, who is at home; Florence, April 19, 1900, who was graduated from the Yellow Springs high school in 1918; Kenneth, March 2, 1903, a member of that same class, and Margaret, September 6, 1914. There also was a child who died in infancy, August 17, 1901. JOHN STAKE. John Stake, veteran furniture dealer at Bellbrook, a former member of the common council of that village and formerly and for years engaged there in the business of manufacturing furniture, was born at Bellbrook, on September 26, 1847, son of John M. and Harriet (Shriver) Stake, both of whom were born in the state of Maryland, the former in 1808, who were married in that state in 1828 and a few years later came to Ohio and located at Bellbrook, in this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. John M. Stake was an undertaker and cabinet-maker and upon locating at Bellbrook opened an establishment of that character there, later extending his cabinet-making business to include a general furniture factory, which was continued by his son, John Stake, up to about fifteen years ago, the old firm name of J. M. Stake & Son being maintained to the end. John M. Stake and wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the sub- 512 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO ject of this sketch was the seventh in order of birth, the others being the following : George, deceased; Catherine, deceased; Mrs. Ellen McGann, deceased; Mrs. Caroline Stonebreaker, now living at Hagerstown, Indiana; Thomas, deceased; Mary, deceased, and Henry, a resident of Bellbrook. John Stake was reared at Bellbrook and in the schools of that village received his schooling. From the days of his boyhood he was trained in the craftsmanship of his father's furniture factory and became a skilled cabinetmaker, taking charge of the factory after his father's death and continuing the same until about fifteen years ago, when the inroads being made on local concerns by the big furniture factories of the country made it no longer commercially profitable to continue the business. In the meantime, however, he had established a furniture store at Bellbrook and has since continued that business. In earlier days, Mr. Stake also was engaged with his father and brother in the undertaking business, but long ago dropped that end of the business. He is a Democrat and served for some years as a member of the village council and is now a trustee of the local cemetery association. Mr. Stake is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bellbrook. On February 24, 1885, John Stake was united in marriage to Mary Hower, who also was born in this county, daughter of Eli and Catherine (Baumgartner) Hower, of Beavercreek township, both of whom also were born in Greene county, members of pioneer families, and both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Stake died in 1890 and was buried in the cemetery at Bellbrook. She left one child, a son, Harry Mason Stake, who turned his attention to music and is still living at Bellbrook. B. FRANK HAWKINS. The Hawkins family has been represented in Greene county since the year 1814, when Mounce Hawkins, an adventurous lad of seventeen and a cousin of David Crockett, the famous scout and explorer, left his home in the valley of the Shenandoah, in Virginia, and came out here to put in his lot with the hardy settlers who had preceded him into this fair valley of the Little Miami. Mounce Hawkins was born in 1797. In Virginia he married Mary Allen, who also was born in that state, a daughter of Davis and Elizabeth (Antrim) Allen, who came over here and settled in Xenia township, where Davis Allen bought a tract of one thousand acres of land, paying for the same the sum of five thousand dollars. Mounce Hawkins became interested with his father-in-law in the development of that tract and in time became a well-to-do landowner. He died in 1834 and was buried at Xenia. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 513 Reuben Hawkins, son of Mounce and Mary (Allen) Hawkins grew up on that farm and in turn became a farther on his own account, after his marriage moving from the old home place to a farm on what had come to be known as the Hawkins road, where he established his home and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on September 15, 1870. He was a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Xenia. Reared a Democrat, he later espoused the cause of the Republican party and for some time served as director of schools in his local district. His widow survived him for nearly twenty-five years, her death occurring in 1894 and her body was laid beside that of her husband in Woodland cemetery at Xenia. She was born, Lydia Fallis, in the neighboring county of Clinton, a daughter of Jonathan Fallis, who later became a resident of Greene county. Upon coming up here from Clinton county Jonathan Fallis settled in Xenia township, but later moved to a farm in the East Point neighborhood in Cedarville township. Afterward he purchased a tract Of land below Clifton and there erected what for years was known as the Fallis mill, which he operated for some years, at the end of which time he disposed of his interests in this county and moved to Indiana, becoming there engaged in the lumber business and in the flour-milling business at Attica, from which place he moved to Dowagiac, Michigan, where his last days were spent, his death occurring there at the age of eighty-four years. To Reuben and Lydia (Fallis) Hawkins were both six children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch is now the only survivor, the others having been Joseph G., Mary E., Hannah L., who died at the age of fifteen years, Sarah E., who died at the age of twenty-three, and James F., who died in infancy. Joseph G. Hawkins enlisted his services as a soldier of the Union during the. Civil War and was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, he then being but twenty years of age. Mary E. Hawkins married Preston Machael and continued to make her home on the old home place, where she died in March; 1901. She was the mother of three children, Jessie, who married Earl Butt, a Xenia township farmer ; Harry, unmarried, who makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Butt, and Robert, deceased. B. Frank Hawkins, eldest son of Reuben and Lydia (Fallis) Hawkins, was born on December 12, 1841, and is living in the brick house which his uncle erected on the home place. He received his schooling in the school of district No. 1, Xenia township, the school house there having been erected on land donated for that purpose by his grandfather, Mounce Hawkins. In time he assumed the management of the home place, gradually relieving his father of the responsibility of farm management, and still owns an interest in the Reuben Hawkins estate, which remains undivided. In addition (32) 514 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO to this interest, Mr. Hawkins is also the owner of several other farms in Xenia township and in Beavercreek township and has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, in addition to his general farming operations. Politically, Mr. Hawkins is a Republican. His home is on the old Ankeny Mill road, now the Fair Grounds road, rural mail route No. 10 out of Xenia. DAVID HILT. David Hilt, now living retired at Yellow Springs, is of European birth, but has been a resident of this country and of this section of Ohio ever since he was nineteen years of age and therefore feels as much a citizen of Ohio as though born here. He was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg on March 5, 1846, a son of Jacob and Regina Barbara (Schaefer) Hilt, also native Wurtembergers, who weve the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having had a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Swarts, now deceased,. and still has a brother, Jacob, living in Wurtemberg. Reared in his native land, David. Hilt received his schooling there, completing the first year course in the high school, and when past nineteen years of age, in 1865, came to the United States and proceeded on out to Ohio, locating in Clark county, where he began working on a farm in the vicinity of Springfield, and was thus engaged for five years or more, or until after his marriage in 1871, when he rented a farm three miles north of Springfield, where he and his wife began their housekeeping. Five years later Hilt bought a farm of fifty-two acres in the southern part of Clark county and farmed there from 1878 to 1895, during all of that period also operating a threshing-machine in season. In 1895 he moved down into Greene county and rented the B. F. Shigley farm of one hundred and seventy-two acres. in Miami township, and in 1897 bought that farm. The next year he bought an adjoining tract of thirty-five acres off the Dawson farm and now has there a fraction more than two hundred and seven acres of land, besides the farm he still owns in Clark county. In 1904 Mr. Hilt retired from the active labors of the farm and bought a tract of eleven acres at the edge of the city of Yellow Springs, built a comfortable house there and there he and his wife are now living. His farms are rented to responsible tenants and he is in a position to "take things easy" in the declining years of his life. For twelve years during the time of his residence in Clark county Mr. Hilt was a member of his local school board and for eight years since he has been a resident of this county he served in a similar capacity. He formerly and for years took an active interest in the affairs of the Grange and was a member of the National Grange at GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 515 Washington, D. C. Politically, he is a Democrat. He and his wife are members of the Bethel Lutheran church, on the Yellow Springs and Springfield pike, and for twenty-four years Mr. Hilt was superintendent of the Sunday school of the same. On December 6, 1871, David Hilt was united in marriage to Nancy Ann Humberger, who was born on a farm in Mad River township, Clark county, June 27, 1846, daughter of William and Mary (Kinney) Humberger, and to this union five children have been born, namely : Elizabeth, who married Milton Craybill, a Clark county farmer, and has one child, a son, Ralph David; Henry, who married Estella Pentoney and lives on his father's farm east of Yellow Springs and has an adopted daughter, Alma B.; Mary, who married Sebastian Gerhart, of Clark county and has three children, Fern, Philip David and Anna ; Anna Regina, who married Charles D. Clayton, a farmer of Greene county, and has one child, a son David Wayne; and David Elmer, who died at the age of three years and six months. GEORGE R. BARGDILL. The late George R. Bargdill, for years a merchant at Jamestown, who recently died at his home in that village and whose widow is still living there, was a native son of Greene county and had spent the greater part of his life here. He was born, on a farm in Silvercreek township on April 13, 1862, son of Cyrus and Harriet (Spahr) Bargdill, both of whom also were born in this county and who spent all their lives here. Cyrus Bargdill was born on September 7, 1829, and grew up on a farm, becoming a farmer on his own account in Silvercreek township, where he established his home after his marriage and where he died on December 3, 1865. His widow moved to Jamestown with her children after the death of her husband and there spent the rest of her life, her death occurring on June 28, 1912. She was born, Harriet Spahr, December 5, 1830. To Cyrus Bargdill and wife were born two children, the subject of this memorial sketch having had a sister, Margaret, born on September 3, 1858, who married William F. McMillan and who died in August, 1885. George R. Bargdill was but three years of age when his father died and he grew up at Jamestown, to which village his mother moved after the death of her husband. Upon completing the course in the grade schools there he became employed at the postoffice and after a while transferred his services to the dry-goods store of M. O. Adams, where he remained until the early '90s, when he moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and there became connected with the wholesale millinery establishment of J. A. Armstrong, continuing 516 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO that connection for six years, at the end of which time he returned to James-town and bought the dry-goods store of Alexander & Spahr. He carried on that business for eighteen years, or until in September, 1916, when he sold the store to L. S. Farquahar & Company and retired from active business. He and his wife spent the succeeding winter in Florida, the condition of Mr. Burgdill's health requiring a change, but'. he received no permanent benefit from the change and upon his return to his home in Jamestown continued to decline and died there on December 15, 1917, he then being in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Bargdill was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Jamestown, as is his widow, and had for years been an office bearer in the church, a member of the official board and of the board of trustees. On July 22, 1885, George R. Bargdill was united in marriage to Carrie Neiberger, who was born in the neighboring county of Madison, a daughter of Dr. J. A. and Caroline (Moss) Neiberger: Since the death of her husband Mrs. Bargdill continues to make her home at Jamestown. SIMEON CAREY, M. D. The late Dr. Simeon Carey, who for forty years was engaged in the practice of his profession at Spring Valley, and whose widow is still living in that village, was a native son of Ohio and all his life was spent in this state. He was born in the village of Utica, in Licking county, September 5, 1830, son of Joel and Rhoda (Graham) Carey, who later moved to War-ren county, where their last days were spent. Joel Carey was twice married, his second wife having been Amanda 'Watson. By his first marriage he was the father of six children, of whom Doctor Carey was the third in order of birth, the others having been Samuel, Amos, Ocie, Rachel and Alice, all of whom made their homes in Warren county. Reared in Warren county, Simeon Carey received preliminary schooling in the schools of that county and early turned his attention to the study of medicine, presently entering the Cincinnati Medical College, from which he was in due time graduated. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Carey opened an office for the practice of his profession at Clio, but not long afterward came up into Greene county and located at Spring Valley, where he continued engaged in practice the rest of his life, his death occurring there on May 8, 1900, he then having been engaged in practice at that place for a period of forty years. During the last year of his life he had associated with him in practice his son-in-law, the late Dr. Samuel Edward Dyche Doctor Carey also was well known as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a Mason, affiliated with the lodge of that order GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 517 at Xenia, and was a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Improved Order of Red Men at Spring Valley. On December 31, 1857, in Warren county Dr. Simeon Carey was united in marriage to Ruth Ann Cornell, who was born in the vicinity of Waynesville, in that county, in 1833, daughter of Sylvanus and Sarah (Flora) Cornell, the latter of whom was born in that same county, October 17, 1798, a member of one of the pioneer families in the Waynesville neighborhood. Sylvanus Cornell was born in Canada, July 29, 1797, but had come to Ohio with his parents when he was but a child, the family settling near Mt. Holly, on the old state road between Cincinnati and Columbus. As a boy he took part in the War of 1812. He grew up a farmer and in time became the proprietor of several farms. He was for years a local power in Democratic politics and he and his wife were earnest workers in the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of eleven children of whom Mrs. Carey was the ninth in order of birth, the others having been John, Sarah J., William, Sylvanus, Jesse, Daniel, Samuel, Mary Ann, George and David. To Doctor and Mrs. Carey were born three children, Frank C., Flora Alice, and Della. The late Frank C. Carey, who died at his home in Waynesville on April 14, 1917, was educated in the high school at Xenia and at Wilmington and became a farmer in the Waynesville neighborhood, later becoming postmaster of that village. He married Viola Thomas and was the father of a son and two daughters, Pearl, Alice and Raymond, the latter of whom died in 1897 at the age of two years. Frank C. Carey was a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Flora Alice Carey received her schooling ip the schools of Spring Valley and Xenia and on June 21, 1881, was married to Dr. Samuel Edward Dyche, who was born at Berkley Springs, Virginia, February 21, 1847, and whose parents moved to Louisville, Kentucky, when he was but a babe in arms. He grew up in that city, early turned his attention to the study of medicine and after his graduation from the Louisville Medical College was for a time engaged in the practice of his profession in Tennessee. Doctor Dyche later returned to Louisville and after a brief period of practice there came up into Ohio and located at Lytle, in the neighboring county of Warren, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession until 1899, when he became associated in practice at Spring Valley with his father-in-law; Doctor Carey, who died a year later. Doctor Dyche died on July 27, 1909. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Xenia and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is his widow, who continues to make her home in Spring Valley. To Doctor and Mrs. Dyche one child was born, a son, Howard Edward, born on June 19, 1884, who was graduated from the Spring Valley high school, later attended the Ohio State University for 518 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO five years and the university at Pittsburgh for four years, completing there his studies in electrical engineering, and then became connected with the works of the Westinghouse plant, which service he abandoned to accept the position of professor of electrical engineering in the University of Pittsburgh, which chair he has occupied for the past four years. Professor Dyche is a Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Lutheran church. He married Edith May Guy and has one child, a son, Howard Edward, Jr., born on May 14, 1916. Della Carey grew up in Spring Valley, born on January 11, 1887, married Leroy S. Davis, of near Xenia. They now reside in Dayton, Ohio, and have three children, Herbert, Ernest, and Lawrence. JOHN McCONNELL. John McConnell, former internal revenue storekeeper for this district, formerly and for some years engaged in business at Xenia and a land landowner of Greene county now living retired at Xenia, was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, November 28, 1845, and has lived in this county all his life. Mr. McConnell is affiliated with two of the oldest families in Greene county, his parents, who were married here, having been members of pioneer families, and the farm he owns in Sugarcreek township is a part of the tract his grandfather Marshall settled on there in 1803, the same thus having been in the family continuously since this county became a civic unit considerably more than a hundred years ago. In a biographical sketch relating to David McConnell, of Osborn, elder brother of the subject of this sketch, there is set out at considerable length something of the history of James M. McConnell, father of these brothers, and of John Marshall, their maternal grandfather, and it therefore hardly will be necessary to go into the details of Mr. McConnell's genealogy here, further than to say that John Marshall, who was a soldier of the War of 1812 and who later served as one of the associate judges of this county, was a Kentuckian, born in the vicinity of Lexington, in 1784, and was nineteen years of age when he came up into this valley in 1803 and secured a patent to six hundred acres of land along the banks of the Little Miami, in Sugarcreek township, this county, on which after his marriage he established his home and spent the rest of his life. He died in 1866, he then being past eighty-two years of age, and his body was buried on his farm, overlooking the beautiful valley of the Little Miami. He and his wife were the parents of six children, namely : Nancy, who married James M. McConnell and was the mother of the subject of this sketch ; Sarah, who married John Brock; Hester, who GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 519 married Captain Kyler, of Dayton ; Betsy, who married William Morgan ; James, who remained on the farm, and Jesse, who also remained on the farm and was the grandfather of Judge J. C. Marshall, present judge of probate for Greene county. James M. McConnell, father of John McConnell, was a Virginian, born in the vicinity of the salt springs in Kanawha county, in the Old .Dominion, February 14, 1817, a son of David and Nancy (Munn) McConnell, who were born in that same' county, the former in 1787 and the latter, in 1789, who were married in that county on January 5, 1815, and who became the parents of three children. David McConnell met his death while still a comparatively young man by falling from the "natural bridge" in Virginia and his widow, with her three young children, later moved to Cincinnati, where James M. McConnell spent his youth and received his schooling, later coming up into Greene county and locating in the McClellan settlement in Sugarcreek township, where he met and presently married Nancy Marshall, daughter of John Marshall, the pioneer, mentioned above. She had received from her father a tract of about One hundred acres, a part of his original patent there, and after his marriage James McConnell established his home on that tract. He later bought an adjoining tract of one hundred and forty acres. James M. McConnell was one of the first men in the county successfully to raise tobacco and for years was one of the most extensive tobacco growers hereabout. He was a Democrat and for a long time the only, partisan of that political faith in his school district. Late in life he became an adherent of the Quaker church and died in that faith. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She died on March 8, 1874, and he survived until August 12, 1889. They were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch and his brother having had a sister, Sarah Frances, who married Thomas Ginn, of Jamestown, and died in 1916. John McConnell was reared on the farm on which he was born in Sugarcreek township and received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood. From boyhood he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of the farm and after his marriage when twenty-five years of age continued to make his home there until 1883, when he moved to Xenia and there became engaged, in association with his' elder brother David, in the agricultural-implement and seed business, the brothers doing business under the firm name of McConnell Brothers. During the first Cleveland administration Mr. McConnell was appointed internal revenue storekeeper for this district and upon completing that term of service became a traveling salesman and was thus engaged for several years, having in 1891 helped to organize the Tippecanoe Whip Company; at Tippecanoe, this state, one of the leading stockholders in the same, and represented that company "on the road." Some years later 520 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO he disposed of his interest in that company and then, in association with the Hon. John Little, became engaged in the general wholesale tobacco business at Xenia, buying from the growers and shipping to the central tobacco markets. For several years Mr. McConnell was thus engaged in business in Xenia. In the meantime he had retained ownership of his farm and since retiring from business he has devoted his time to the general management and oversight of the same. Mr. McConnell is a Democrat and during the memorable campaign of 1892 was chairman of the Greene county Democratic central committee. He was one time made the nominee of his party for auditor of the county and had the satisfaction of cutting down the normal Republican majority of twenty-four hundred to seven hundred. Mr. McConnell and his daughter, Mrs. Dean, and family are members of the First United Presbyterian church at Xenia. On June 30, 1870, John McConnell was united in marriage to Cordelia Flemming, who was born in the village of New Burlington, on the Greene-Clinton county line. Her father was a carriage painter, who later moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he died ; his widow later marrying William Tate. Mrs. McConnell died on March 24, 1912, she then being sixty-three years of age. Mr. McConnell still occupies his old home on West Market street, Xenia, together with his daughter, Mrs. Dean. Mr. McConnell has two daughters, Imogene, wife of the Rev. Robert W. Burnside, pastor of the Fifth United Presbyterian church at Philadelphia, and Olive K., wife of Walter Levi Dean, former county auditor of Greene county and now a bond salesman living in Xenia. Mr. McConnell had a son, James, who died at the age of nineteen years. To Mr. and Mrs. Dean two children have been born, Flemming M., who is now attending Muskingum College, and Imogene, at home. Mrs. Dean is one of the leaders in local social-service movements and during the recent state-wide prohibition campaign was indefatigable in her labors in that behalf, working literally night and day for the cause. She is superintendent of the department of. Christian citizenship of the Ohio Woman's Christian Temperance Union. JOHN EDMUND MUNGER. John Edmund Munger, of Beavercreek township, proprietor of a farm on the Dayton-Xenia pike, rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, is a native "Buckeye" and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Greene county and of Beavercreek township since the days of his boyhood. He was born on a farm just north of Piqua in Miami county, April 1, 1855, son of Harris and Elizabeth (Cartwright) Munger, both of whom were members of pioneer families in this section of Ohio and whose last days were spent on their GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 521 farm in Beavercreek township, this county, where they both died of pneumonia in February, 1907, and were buried in a single grave, in the Beavercreek cemetery. Harris Munger was born on a farm east of Dayton, in Montgomery county, in 1828, son of Festus and Mary E. (Harris) Munger, the former of whom was a son of Gen. Edmund Munger, pioneer o fthe Dayton district, who was commander of the Ohio troops during the War of 1812 until superceded by General Hull. The Mungers are of an old Kentish family and have been established in this country since the year 1639, when the first of the name to come to the American colonies settled in New England, as will be noted in a further and more comprehensive reference to this family made elsewhere in this volume. General Munger, who had settled in the Symmes Purchase in what later came to be organized as Montgomery county in 1798, was the father of twelve children, ten of whom lived to rear families of their own. Festus Munger and his brother Reuben married sisters, daughters of John and Elizabeth (Bingham) Harris, New Englanders, who had become pioneers of this section of Ohio, Festus marrying Mary Harris and Reuben marrying Laura Harris. The late Judge. Edmund Harris Munger, of Xenia, was one of the three children born to this latter union and the only one of the three to grow to maturity. After his marriage Festus Munger settled on a tract of land just east of the then village of Dayton. He and his wife were Presbyterians and were the parents of six children, of whom Harris Munger, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the first-born, the others being the following : Felix, whose last days were spent at Piqua, this state ; Timothy, who died in California; Lyman, who is still living, now a resident of Kokomo, Indiana ; Alvin, and Laura, the latter of whom also is still living, wife of Doctor Hayes, of Albany, in Delaware county, Indiana. Reared on the home farm in Montgomery county, Harris Munger there married Elizabeth Cartwright, who was born in 1829 and who was reared in the household of Reuben Munger, mentioned above, her parents having died when she was a child. After his marriage Harris Munger moved over into Preble county and bought a farm there, but presently sold the same and bought a farm in Miami county, making his home on the latter place for ten years, at the end of which time he closed out his interests there and bought a farm in Champaign county, later returning to Montgomery county and buying a farm of one hundred and eighty acres three and a half miles east of Dayton, not far from his boyhood .home, and there continued farming for nine years. He them came ..over into Greene county and, bought a farm of one hundred and eighty-six acres in Beavercreek township on which he established his home. There he and his wife spent the remainder of their 522 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO lives, both dying, as noted above, in February, 1907, the former then being seventy-nine years of age and the latter, seventy-eight. Both Mr. Munger and his wife originally were Presbyterians, but upon coming to Greene county became affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church at Alpha. They were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in birth, the others being Matilda, widow of A. F. Herring, of Beavercreek township ; Dr. Perry H. Munger, a physician, now living at St. Paul Park, Minnesota; Dr. William Munger, an osteopathic physician, now living at Carlsbad, New Mexico, and Mary, wife of B. G. Smith, a Dayton photographer. John Edmund Munger was reared as a farmer and due to the several moves made by his father previous to the definite establishment of the family in this county, received his schooling in the schools of Miami county, Montgomery county and Greene county, completing the same in the grade high school in Beavercreek township. He remained at home until his marriage in 1878, he then being twenty-three years of age, when he rented a farm in his home township and began farming on his own account, continuing to farm .as a renter until in 1896, when he bought the Weaver farm of one hundred and seventy-three acres, on the Dayton-Xenia pike in Beaver-creek township, and there established his home. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Munger has made numerous improvements on the farm, remodeling the farm house, building a new and modern barn and erecting on the place a new house for his son, John H. Munger, who is now managing the place, his father having practically retired from the direct labors of the farm. Since taking up his residence there Mr. Munger has added to the acreage of his farm by the purchase of an adjoining tract and now has two hundred and twenty-three acres. In addition to his general farming, he for twelve years carried on a pretty extensive dairy business. Mr. Munger is a Republican, as was his father, and for the past fifteen years has been serving as treasurer of Beavercreek township. He gave his three sons the benefit of schooling in Ohio State University. In 1878 John E. Munger was united in marriage to Mary Ellen Weaver, who was born in this county, daughter of John M. and Elizabeth (Boot) Weaver, Virginians both, but residents of. this county since the days of their childhood, their respective parents having come here from Virginia many years ago. John M. Weaver was but nine years of age when he came here with his parents, the family settling in Spring Valley township. For years after his marriage he lived on a farm on the Fair Ground road, a mile and a half northwest of Xenia, and then, in 1866, moved to the farm now owned by Mr. Munger in Beavercreek township. He later bought a GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 523 farm on the Cincinnati pike and there died in 1892. His wife preceded him to the grave nearly ten years, her death having occurred in 1883. They were the parents of four children, of whom but two now survive, Mrs. Munger, the last in order of birth, having a sister, Olivia, second in order of birth, wife of Frank Hupman, of Xenia ; the others having been Martha and John. Mr. and Mrs. Munger have four children, Elsie, Ralph W., John H. and Walter, the former of whom is unmarried and is at home with her parents. Ralph W. Munger, who married Florence Jackson and had been making his home at Alpha, was recently appointed agricultural agent for Shelby county and has taken up his residence in that county. John H. Munger, who married Laura McClellan, is living on the home place, as noted above, and for some time has had general direction of the farm operations. Walter Munger, who married Minerva Tate, is now living at Cincinnati, where he is engaged in business as a landscape gardener and tree surgeon. The Mungers are members of the Beaver Reformed church. WILLIAM HENDRICKSON BURR. William Hendrickson Burr, a Jefferson township farmer, formerly engaged in the mercantile business at Bowersville, was born in Greene county, and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of the village of Spring Valley on November 20, 1852, son of John H. and Henrietta (Morris) Burr, both of whom were born in that part of the county now comprised in Jefferson township, their respective parents having been among the early settlers of that section. John H. Burr was a son of David and Louisa (Oxley) Burr, who had come over here from Virginia after their marriage and had established their home in that section of the county which in 1858 was set off as Jefferson township, previous to that time having been included in the boundaries of Silvercreek township. There these pioneers spent the remainder of their lives, David Burr living to the age of eighty-four years and his wife to ,the age of eighty-six. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom ten grew to maturity. Reared on the home place, John H. Burr remained there until his marriage to Henrietta Morris, after which lie established his home on a farm in Spring Valley township and there remained until his death in 1861, he then being thirty-three years of age. His widow survived him but six years, her death occurring in 1867. They were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being Louisa E. (deceased), who was the wife of John Miller; Mary E., who married E. E. Horney and who, as well as her hus- 524 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO band, is now deceased; Hannah B., wife of A. L. Smith, of Jamestown, this county, and John H., who died at the age of two years. William H. Burr was but eight years of age when his father died and was fourteen at the time of his mother's death. He then made his home with his grandfather Burr until the latter's death, after which he made his home with the family of his uncle, William C. Burr, until he started out for himself. He received his schooling in the local schools and early learned the blacksmith trade, at which he worked, in the shop of I. C. Stewart at Bowersville, for three years, or until his marriage in 1874, when twenty-one years of age, after which he located on a farm in Jefferson township, two miles northeast of Bowersville, where he continued to reside for twenty years, or until 1894, when he bought the Thomas Smith farm of one hundred and five acres, later selling part of the same to his son, Dwight D. Burr, who now owns it. In 1894 Mr. Burr became engaged yin the hardware business at Bowersville, but two years later returned to farming. Not long afterward he became engaged as a salesman for the International Harvester Company, covering local territory, and for four years continued thus engaged. Since then Mr. Burr has been living practically retired, continuing, however, to make his home on the farm in Jefferson township. Mr. Burr is a Republican and for twenty years served as a member of the local school board. He and his wife are members of the Christian church at Bowersville, with which congregation Mr. Burr has been connected for more than forty years, an office bearer in the church for more than twenty years. On January 8, 1874, William H. Burr was united in marriage to Flora B. Hussey, also a member of one of the old families in Greene county, and to this union the following children have been born : Charles M., a farmer in Silvercreek township; Femmie M., who married W. F. Lewis, a Silver-creek township farmer ; Fred E., a Jefferson township farmer; Horace, a farmer in the neighboring county of Fayette ; Henry S., a Jefferson township farmer ; Dwight D., who now owns part of the old home place ; Kate L., who married Charles Miley, a Jefferson township farmer, and Mary, who married Earl Garringer, a Silvercreek township farmer. Mrs. Burr was born on the old Hussey place in that part of what then was Silvercreek township, now comprised within the bounds of Jefferson township, a daughter of Christopher and Catherine (Lockhart) Hussey, the former of whom had been a resident of this county since he was twelve or thirteen years of age. having come up here from Tennessee with his parents, Christopher and Mary Hussey, in 1807, the family settling in Silvercreek township among the very first settlers in that portion of that township that in 1858 was set off as Jefferson township. The elder Christopher