600 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO On November 8, 1870, Benjamin Wolf was united in marriage to Lenora Schauer, who also was born in the vicinity of Byron, this county, a daughter of George and Catherine (Brown) Schauer, ;the former of whom was born in this county, in 1825, and the latter in the state of Maryland, in 1830. George Schauer, who spent most of his life as a farmer in Greene county, was a son of Samuel Schauer, who had settled here in 1818, and he was reared on a farm in the Byron neighborhood. After his marriage he for a time lived in the neighboring county of Miami, but later returned to this county. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and were the parents of children, of whom Mrs. Wolf was the second in order of birth, the ofhers being Sarah C., wife of Simon H. Wolf, of Springfield, this state; Samuel William, deceased; G. K., the seed man, of Osborn, and Flora, wife of J. C. Smith, a dry-goods merchant at Dayton. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have two daughters, Cora, who married George Will-iamson and has one child, a daughter, Grace Mae, who married Harvey Ferguson and has one child, a son, Richard Benjamin ; and Harriet,. who married Frank Routzong and has three children, Wilfred Wolf, Cora Eleanor and Catherine Louise.. SAMUEL MILTON SPAHR. The late Samuel Milton Spahr, who died at his farm home in Beavercreek township on March 14, 1917, and whose widow is still living there, was a native son of Greene county, a member of one of the pioneer families hereabout, and all his life was spent here. e was born on a farm in New Jasper township, April 19, 1853, son of Gideon and Amanda (Hagler) Spahr, the former of whom also was born in New Jasper township, son of Philip and Martha (Shook) Spahr, who had settled there upon coming to this county from Virginia. Reared on the home farm, Gideon Spahr remained there until his marriage to Mary' Amanda Hagler, daughter and one of the fifteen children born to Samuel and Anna (Fudge) Hagler, Virginians, who had come up here from the neighboring county of Warren. For nine years after his marriage Gideon Spahr continued to make _his home in New Jasper township and then he moved with his family over into Jay county, Indiana, but after two years of residence in the Hoosier state he returned to Greene county and here spent the rest of his life, his last days being spent at Bellbrook, where he died on September 4, 1891. His widow died on August 9, 19104. She was born on January 17, 1825. Gideon Spahr for years conducted his operations, farming hundreds of acres, in partnership with his son Samuel M. He was a Republican and by religious persuasion GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 601 was a Methodist. To Gideon and Amanda (Hagler) Spahr were born six children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being John L., a retired farmer of Cedarville township, who married Hannah Peterson and has three children, James Milton, Ida Jane and Osman P.; Mary Louise, who married Boyd G. Hopping, of Xenia, and died leaving three children, John, David and William; Philip R., now a resident of Dayton, who married Ella Cyphers and has six children, Lora, John, Ina, Emma, Philip and Esther; David M., who died in 1916, a farmer of Beavercreek township, who married Elizabeth Keiter, who now lives at Xenia, and had two daughters, Pearl and Edith Amanda; and Moses B., a Sugarcreek township farmer, who married Harriet Gatrell and had two children, Ethel M. (deceased) and Walton M. Samuel Milton Spahr grew up in Beavercreek township and received his schooling in the schools of his home neighborhood. In due time he effected a partnership with his father, the two extending their operations to cover the cultivation of a farm of nine hundred acres in the Trebeins neighborhood and later a farm of 'six hundred and forty acres in Sugarcreek township, where they spent eight years, at the end of which time they took over the Maxwell farm five and a half miles west of Xenia on the Indian Ripple. road in Beavercreek township, and in 1893 Samuel M. Spahr bought one hundred and thirty-three acres of that farm, the place on which his widow is now living on rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there, as noted above, in J917. Mr. Spahr was a Republican and served for some time as supervisor of highways and as a member of the school board. For many years he was a deacon in the Reformed church. On November 11, 1886, Samuel M. Spahr was united in marriage to Margaret Wolf, who was born in Cincinnati, daughter of Frank and Margaret (Sorg) Wolf, who had come to this country from Frankfort-on-the-Rhine in 1852 and had located in Cincinnati. Frank Wolf was a locksmith by trade and after working at his trade in Cincinnati for some time moved to Columbus, from which place in 1861 he came to Greene county with his family and settled on the Crawford farm on the Springfield pike. Later he bought a farm of. one hundred acres in Beavercreek township and on this latter place he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Spahr was the second in order of birth, the others being the following: Catherine, now deceased, who was the wife of Andrew Fisher ; Mary, wife of Charles Buck, of Xenia ; Frank, also a resident of Xenia ; Elizabeth, who married A. A. McElwain and is now living at Kansas City, Missouri ; Clara, unmarried. who is living on the old home place in Beavercreek township ; Charles K., who owns a farm 602 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO adjoining Mrs. Spahr's, and Emma, who married Harry S. Gerlaugh and died in 1917. To Samuel M. and Margaret (Wolf) Spahr were born four children, namely ; Harry E., who is now engaged in the plumbing business at Xenia; Edna Mae, who was for years engaged as a teacher in the public schools of this county ; Homer Milton, who is operating the home place, and Florence Louise, also. at home. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Spahr has continued to make her home on the home farm. FRANK ZEINER. Frank Zeiner, a member of the firm of Zeiner Brothers, furniture dealers and undertakers af Jamestown, is a native son of Greene county and has lived here all his life. He was born in Cedarville on February 15, 1855, a son of John G. and Mary (Barr) Zeiner, the former of whom was of European birth, a native of the city of Bremen, and the latter a Pennsylvanian, who were married at Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and later came to Ohio and settled in this county, about 1862 moving from the Cedarville neighborhood to Jamestown, where John G. Zeiner opened an establishment for the manufacture and sale of furniture and developed the concern now operated by his sons. To John G. Zeiner and wife were born six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being Margaret, wife of Cal Crane, of Xenia; Albert, who married Famey Ginn and makes his home in Jamestown, where he is associated in business with his brother Frank ; James O., who was murdered at Bowersville, state, about thirty years ago; Florence, who married Charles Ridgeway and lives at Cedarville, and J. W., of Jamestown. Having been but seven years of age when his parents moved from the Cedarville neighborhood to Jamestown, Frank Zeiner completed his schooling in the schools of the latter village and early became employed in his father's cabinet-shop and furniture store, making coffins when he was but fourteen years of age. e also became a carpenter and builder and after he had attained his majority was for about three years engaged in building operations in and about Jamestown. He then resumed the furniture and undertaking business, in association with his father, and after his father's death with his brother Albert, and the firm firm of Zeiner Brothers has ever since been thus engaged at Jamestown. Zeiner has been twice married. In 1879, he was united in mar-riage to Anna Hickson, daughter of Elbridge and Ellen Hickson, of Jamestown, and to fhis union were born two daughters, Una Clare and Frances, the latter of whom married Glade Thomas, now living at Elyria, and has GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 603 two children. Miss Una Clare Zeiner, who died in New York City at the age of twenty-one years, just as she had reached a point of assured success as a dramatic reader and actress, was fitted both by nature and preparation to be a reader and competent critics had bestowed upon her compliments which more experienced readers would be glad to claim. From the days of her childhood Miss Zeiner had been accustomed to public appearances and had earned some very complimentary press notices, among. these having been references to her "wonderful dramatic talent," her "remarkable versa-tility," her "rare ability as a reader," her "unmistakable talent and pleasing personality" and her "wonderful powers as an elocutionist." Mrs. Anna Zeiner died in 1899 and on January 12, 1905, Mr. Zeiner married Alice Sheffield, of Athens, this state. To this latter union one child has been born, a daughter, Marguerite, born in 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Zeiner are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. JOHN J. WHALEY. John J. Whaley, commercial traveler and the owner of a home and a tract of land adjoining the village of Osborn, where he has made his home for many years, is a native of the Empire state, but has been a resident of Ohio since he was three years of age. He was born at Utica, New York, June 23, 1850, a son of Daniel and Mary (Cain) Whaley, natives of Ireland, the former born in 1813 and the latter, in 1814, who came to Ohio in 1853 and settled in Clark county, where Daniel Whaley died in 1862. His widow later bought a piece of land in Clark counfy and there spent the rest of her life, her death occurring in 1903. Daniel Whaley and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch Was the sixth in order of birth, the others being Thomas, deceased; James, deceased ; William, who lives at Osborn, his home place adjoining that of his brother John; Mary, wife of John Mahoney, of Roanoke, Virginia; Catherine, who married S. M. Morris and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased; and Margaret, who died recently, unmarried. As noted above, John J. Whaley was but three years of age when his parents came to Ohio and he received his early schooling in the. common schools in the neighborhood of his boyhood home in Clark county, supplementing the same by a course in the Clark County Academy. e then learned telegraphy and two years later, in 1872, was appointed station agent for the railroad company at Osborn, which position he occupied until 1883, in which year he moved to Akron as agent for the Erie railroad, remaining there for eighteen months, at the end of which time he moved 604 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO back to Osborn, which ever since has been his home. In 1897 he became a traveling representative of the Thomas Phillips Company, paper manufacturers at Akron, which position he ever since has occupied. Mr. Whaley resides just at the. east edge of the village of Osborn and owns there a farm of one hundred and sixteen acres, thirty acres of which lies in Greene county and the remainder over the line in Clark county, renting his land for farming purposes. Mr. Whaley is a Democrat on national issues, but reserves his right to vote independently in local elections. e and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On August 24, 1874, John J. Whaley was united in marriage to Mary E. Miranda, who was born at New Carlisle, in the neighboring county of Clark, where she was reared and where she received her schooling, and to this union have been born five children, namely : Earl E. Whaley, editor of The Implement Age, a trade paper published at Springfield, this state; Paul M. Whaley, a resident of Columbus, this state, and a traveling salesman for the Fisk Rubber Company; William Marvin Whaley, proprietor of a flour-mill at Arcanum, in Darke county, this state; Mary E., wife of Dr. R. B. Hoover, of Dayton, and Cora A., wife of Fred McConnell, a Dayton lawyer. CHARLES HOOVER. The late Charles Hoover, who died at his farm home in Jefferson township on July 30, 1914, and whose widow is still living there, was born on a farm in the vicinity of Wilmington, in Clinton county, Ohio, June 14, 1845, son of Jacob and Rachel Hoover, both of whom were born in that same county, and who were the parents of eight children, those besides Charles being Calvin, Milton, Leander, George, Caroline, Amanda and Ella. Charles Hoover remained on the home farm in Clinton county until his marriage in the fall of 1871, when he established his home on a forty-acre farm in Jefferson township, this county, the place where his widow is still living, and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in the summer of 1914. He improved the place and increased his acreage to one hundred and fifty-three acres. Mr. Hoover was a Democrat and had served on the school board. e was connected with the Odd Fellows lodge at Bowersville. e was buried in the cemetery at Sabina. On November 9, 1871, Charles Hoover was united in marriage to Delitha A. Hunt,. who was born in Jefferson township, this county, daughter of Hezekiah and Rachael ( Johnson) Hunt, the former of whom also was born in this county and the latter, in Clinton county. Hezekiah Hunt was the owner of a hundred-acre farm in Jefferson township and there died at GREEN COUNTY, OHIO - 605 the age of sixty-seven. His wife died at the age of sixty-five. They were Quakers. and were the parents of six children, those besides Mrs. Hoover being Stephen, deceased ; Eliza J., deceased; Jefferson T., who is still living on a part of the home farm ; Clayton, deceased, and Almeda, deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoover eight children were born, namely : Calvin Albertus, married Ollie Harness and is farming in the vicinity of Jamestown ; Elmer J., who married Allie Claybaugh and is farming the home place; John A. and James M., twins, the former of whom married Lola Stewart and is farming in the neighborhood of Bowersville and the latter of whom is farming at home; Clarence C., a clerk in a store at Sabina, who married Tina Pope; Donna E., who married Howard Cochran, of Dayton; Claude, proprietor of a garage at Wilmington, who married Loie Stewart, and Bertha A., who is at home. GEORGE FEIRSTINE FERGUSON. George Feirstine Ferguson, former trustee of Beavercreek township and the proprietor of a farm On the Dayton-Xenia pike, rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, where he has lived since the days of his childhood, was born in that township on March 7, 1850, son of John W. and Anna (Feirstine) Ferguson, the latter of whom was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1820, a member of one of the prominent Pennsylvania Dutch families of that county, her father, a landowner and tavern-keeper, having been for some time a member of the Pennsylvania state Legislature from his district. Her mother's name was Susan Illick. Anna Feirstine's eldest brother, George Feirstine, came to Ohio and located in Montgomery county and she later joined him there, thus being a resident of that county at the time of her marriage to John W. Ferguson One of her younger brothers, Samuel Feirstine, also came to Ohio and was here when the Mexican War broke out. He enlisted his services, went to the front and died of a fever in the service. John W. Ferguson was born in the neighboring county of Montgomery on August 18, 1818, a son of William and Jennie (Watson) Ferguson, the latter of whom was born in Ireland, of Scottish descent, and was but two years of age when she came with her parents to this country, the family locating in Delaware, where she grew to womanhood and married Will-iam Ferguson., who was born at Wilmington, that state, also of Scottish stock. Soon after their marriage William Ferguson and his wife came to Ohio, about the year 1812, and became pioneers in Montgomery county, establishing their home in Mad River township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They had eight sons. John W. Ferguson grew 606 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO up on the home farm in Mad River township, Montgomery county, and there married Anna Feirstine. Two years later he came over into. Greene county and began working on the Gerlaugh farm, now owned by John Harbine, in the Alpha neighborhood in Beavercreek township, and presently was enabled to buy a farm of two hundred and twenty-one acres on the Dayton-Xenia road in that neighborhood, the place now owned by his son, George F., and had the same paid for when he died on May 15, 1861, he then being forty-two years of age. His widow was left with six children, the eldest of whom was but thirteen years of age. She did not remarry, kept the family together, maintained the operations of the farm, her sons taking over the management of the same when they arrived at proper age, and there she spent the remainder of her life, her death occurring in December, 1898, she then being seventy-six years of age. She was a member of the Hawker Reformed church, as was her husband, and her children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being William, a Beavercreek township farmer; Charles, who died of diphtheria in 1861, the year of the father's death, he then being nine years of age; Jennie, wife of John Kable, a Sugarcreek township farmer, living two miles north of Bellbrook; John, who died of diphtheria in 1861, he then being five years of age, and Robert, now a resident of Dayton, where he is employed as a bookkeeper in the service of the Miami "conservancy" board. George F. Ferguson was but eleven years of age when his father died. e grew up on the home farm in Beavercreek township, receiving his school-ing in the Coy school and in the Lantz school, and he and his brother William continued the operation of the farm together until their mother's death in 1896, after which Mr. Ferguson bought the interests of the other heirs in the place and has Ave been proprietor. Since taking possession of the farm he bought an adjoining tract of sixty-six acres and now has two hundred and eighty-five acres. After his marriage in 1.874 he erected a new house on the place and the same is still serving as a place of residence. Of late years Mr. Ferguson has been living practically retired from the active labors of the farm, having- turned the management of the same over to his elder son, Edwin J. Ferguson, who is operating it. Mr. Ferguson is a Democrat, as were his father and grandfather, and for fifteen years served as trustee of Beavercreek township and was also for several years a Member of the township board of education. In addition to his general farming Mr. Ferguson has for years made it a point to feed a car load of cattle for the market every winter, as well as a big bunch of hogs, and was one of the first in that neighborhood to recognize the value of alfalfa as a forage crop. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 607 On December 18, 1874, George F. Ferguson was united in marriage to Martha J. Zimmerman, who also was born in Beavercreek township, on a farm a mile west of where she is now living, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Shoup) Zimmerman, members of pioneer families in this county and both of whom are now deceased. To this union four children have been born, namely : Edwin J., unmarried, who is now operating the home place for his father and who is the owner of a farm of eighty acres of his own; Mary, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-six years; Clarence, who married Ora Morris and is now living at Louisville, Kentucky, where he is employed. as an inspector for the National Lumber Association, and Lida M., who is at home. CARL V. DRAKE. Carl V. Drake, junior member of the firm of W. F. Drake & Son, building contractors and dealers in building supplies, stoves, electric-lighting fixtures and the like at Yellow Springs, was born in the neighboring county of Clark on December 30, 1888, son of William F. and. Melissa (Collier) Drake, the latter of whom was born in that same county, March 3, 1852, and both of whom are still living, for thirty years residents of Yellow Springs. William F. Drake was born on a farm south of Xenia, in this county, December 14, 1848, and was married to Melissa Collier on March 3, 1870. He had been early trained to the carpenter trade and presently became a building contractor on his own account, eventually establishing his headquarters at Yellow Springs. In 1910 he admitted his younger son, Carl V. Drake, into a partnership in the business, which since has been carried on under the firm name of W. F. Drake & Son. To William F. Drake and wife have been born five children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the last-born, the others being Grace May, born on July 25, 1871; Edith Pearl (deceased), January 18, 1873; James Earl, March 3, 1875, and Franklin C., September 18, 1877, who died on August 14, 1907. Reared at Yellow Springs, for he was but an infant when his parents made their home in that village, Carl V. Drake received his schooling in the schools of that place. He early became familiar with the details 'of house building under the direction of his father and in 1910 became asso-ciated with his father as a partner in the business, junior member of the firm of W. F. Drake & Son, and has since been thus engaged, the firm also con-ducting a mercantile.. business at Yellow Springs. On October 26, 1911, Carl V. Drake was united in marriage to Bertha 608 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO G. Weiss, who was born at Goes, in this county, December 9, 1888, daughter of Paul and Josephine (Schury) Weiss, the latter of whom is still liv-ing, now a resident of Springfield, and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, in a biographical sketch relating to Paul W. Weiss, a merchant at Yellow Springs and a brother of Mrs. Drake. To Carl V. and Bertha G. (Weiss) Drake three children have been born, namely : Martha Elizabeth, born on December 22, 1912; Irma Josephine, born on December 7, 1913, who died on January 29, 1914, and William Eugene, born on July 6, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Drake are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Drake is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM H. COY. The Coys were among the real pioneers in this part of Ohio, for it was in the year 1800, three years before Ohio was admitted to statehood and Greene county became a civic entity, that Jacob Coy effected a settlement here. On the Jacob Coy farm in Beavercreek township was erected the first school house built in that township and in that little log school house were held the first formal religious services held in fhat township, it being there that the congregation now strongly represented in the Mt. Zion neighborhood effected the organization of the Reformed (then known as the German Reformed) church in Greene county. Jacob Coy was of German birth and was about eighteen years of age when he started with his parents and fhe six other children of the family for the United States. The parents died during the progress of the passage over and were buried in mid-ocean, their effect's being confiscated by the ship's crew, the seven children thus being thrown penniless upon the. shores of the New World. The children, in accordance with the hard custom of the day, were "sold" to pay transportation and Jacob Coy was thus thrown into the hands of a Pennsylvania planter, for whom he worked for six years to free himself and his younger brothers and sisters from debt. He afterward located in Maryland, where he married, borrowing the money with which to cover necessary expenses, and established his home there, in time coming to be the owner of three hundred and fifty-acres of land, on which he made his home until the year 1800, when he disposed of his interests there and with his wife Susanna and their children, emigrated to the then promising Territory of Ohio, coming down the river as far as Cincinnati, the village that had sprung up around old Ft. Washington. Though importuned to remain there he had decided on a settlement further up state and two months' later With his family drove up here info the beautiful valley of GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 609 the Little Miami, having meantime invested in a tract of three thousand acres of land in this section, in what later came to be organized as Beaver-creek township, Greene county, and established his permanent home here, the Coys thus becoming. accounted as among the earliest settlers in this county were the pioneer Jacob Coy spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1836, he then being ninety-three years of age. His widow survived him about four years, she being eighty-three years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of twelve children and the Coy connection in this county in succeeding generations became a numerous one. William H. Coy, former trustee of Beavercreek township and proprietor of a farm on the Shakertown pike, rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, was born on that farm, a great-grandson of Jacob and Susanna Coy, the pioneers mentioned above, April 9, 1854, son of Jacob H. and Rebecca Ella (Buck) Coy, the former of whom was born on that same farm, a son of enry Coy, who was one of the twelve children born to the pioneers, Jacob and Susanna Coy. Henry Coy, who was one of the charter members of the Reformed church in Beavercreek township, became the owner of about five hundred acres of land. He and his wife were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, namely : Leonard, who spent his last days in Elkhart county, Indiana ; William, who moved to Iowa and thence to California, in which latter state his last days were spent; Jacob H., father of the subject of this sketch; Daniel, who was married at the age of eighteen, later going fo Iowa and settling in Davis county, where he and his wife spent their last days, both dying in 1916, he then being ninety-two years of age; Susan, who married Doctor Kyler and later moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, and Mrs. Catherine Bingaman. Jacob H. Coy was born in 1820 on the place now owned and occupied by his son William H. and there spent all his life. After the death of his father he bought his mother's dower right in the home place of one hundred and fifty-four acres and continued to make his home in the house which his grandfather had erected there in 182o, in that house spending his last days, his death occurring there on October 1, 1894. Jacob H. Coy was a Republican and by religious persuasion was a member of fhe Reformed church, in which for years he was an office-bearer. His widow survived him for nearly twelve years, her death occurring on July 27, 1906. She was born, Rebecca Ella Buck, in the vicinity of Sheppardstown, Virginia, in 1833. Jacob H. and Rebecca E. (Buck) Coy were the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being the following : Martha, wife of George Loy, of Miamisburg, this state; John F., a farmer, living in the Mt. Zion neighborhood in this county ; Charles N., who farms with his brother; Dr. Joseph M. Coy, who was grad- (38) 610 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO uated from the dental department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and who engaged in the practice of his profession at Dayton, where he died; Emma, unmarried, who is now a resident of Chicago; Louie M., also unmarried, who lives near her brother William; Perry, who died soon after his marriage, and Anna, who married Rosco Rockafield and is now living at Fairfield, this county. William H. Coy was reared on the farm on which he was born and on which he is still and received his schooling in the neighborhood school, old district No. 4, Beavercreek township, one of his schoolmates there being M. A, Broadstone, whose name appears on the title page of this work and for whom he still entertains the same high regard that marked the boyhood friendship. For some time after his marriage in the spring of 1882 he continued to farm on the home place and he and his brother Charles then bought a farm in the vicinity of Mt. Zion, in that same township, and William H. Coy later bought one hundred and twenty-one acres of the old home place, established his home there and has since made that place his home, having added to the place until now he is the owner of one hundred and seventy-eight acres. In addition to his general farming Mr. Coy has for years given considerable attention to the raising of Poland China hogs and also has a herd of dairy cattle. In 1915 Mr. Coy erected a new house of cream-colored brick, equipped with an individual electric-lighting plant and all modern conveniences. Mr. Coy is a Republican and for six years served as trustee of Beavercreek township. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics at Bell-brook. His wife is a member of Mt. Zion Reformed. church. On March 30, 1882, William H. Coy was united in marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Merrick, who also was born in Beavercreek township, and to this union three children have been born, Lawrence, a farmer of Sugarcreek township, who married Ida N. Keiter and has one child, a son, Robert, and Guy and Glenn, who are at home assisting on their father's farm. Mrs. Coy is a daughter of David and Ann (Kable) Merrick, both of whom also were born in this county, the former in Beavercreek township and the latter in the village of Osborn, April 21, 1837, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Garver) Kable, Virginians, who came to this county from the vicinity of Harper's Ferry in 1831 and here spent the remainder of their lives. Samuel Kable died on November 25, 1864, he then being sixty-three years of age, and his widow survived him for nearly nine years, her death occurring on May 31, 1873. They were the parents of seven children, those besides Mrs. Merrick having been Mary E., Joseph, Sarah E., Martha J., John W. and Isaac N. David Merrick was born on October 3, 18310, a son of Joseph D. and GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 611 Susan (Boston) Merrick, the former of whom was born in Kent county, Delaware, October 9, 1779, and the latter, in Frederick county. Maryland, December 25, 1793. Joseph D. Merrick was the son of the Rev. John Merrick, a Methodist minister, and was trained as a weaver in the days of his youth and was working at that trade in Maryland in 1812 when he married Susan Boston. In 1814 he and his wife came to Ohio and presently became located in Beavercreek township, this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Joseph D. Merrick dying there On March 3, 1857. His widow died on January To, 1873. They were the parents of five children, three sons, John, Israel and David, and two daughters, Elizabeth, who married David Stutesman, and Mary Ann, who died at the age of fourteen years. David Merrick grew up in Beavercreek township and' at the age of twenty years began teaching school, a profession he followed during the winters for a period of twelve year's. In 1858 he purchased a tract of sixty acres of land east of Shakertown and after his marriage in the following spring to Ann R. Kable established his home there, remaining there until the spring of 1865, when he moved to a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres which he had purchased, a mile and a half west of the village of Alpha. David Merrick and wife were the parents of nine children, seven of whom grew to maturity, those besides Mrs. Coy being William K., Joseph S., Emma H., Ellen C., Martha J. and Benjamin D. The Merricks were members of the Reformed church. ARTHUR A. SHOUP. Arthur A. Shoup, proprietor of a farm of one hundred and nine acres in Beavercreek township, rural mail route No. 8 out of Dayton, was born on that farm on August 5, 1872, son of Daniel M. and Maria (Wampler) Shoup, the former of whom was born in that same township, a son of Moses W. Shoup, a minister of the Dunkirk church and one of the largest landowners among the pioneers of that section, a son of George Shoup, who had come to the then Territory of Ohio from Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1796, and had entered two sections of land in what later came to be organized as Beavercreek township, this county. The Shoups are of Swiss origin. Daniel M. Shoup was born on September 10, 1822, and in August, 1844, married Maria Wampler, who was born in Starke county, Ohio, February 24, 1827, but who at the time of her marriage was living in Montgomery county, whence her parents, Philip and Catherine (Royer) Wampler, had moved when she was little more than an infant. The Wamplers came to this state from Carroll county, Maryland. Ten years after his marriage Daniel M. Shoup 612 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO bought the farm on which his son Arthur is now living and fhere spent the rest of his life. He also, following the precepts of his father, was a minister of the Dunker church. He had five sisters, Mrs. Charlotte Coy, Mrs. Catherine Gearhart, Mrs. Sarah Wampler, Mrs. Harriet Brubaker and Mrs. Rebecca Ann Darst. His wife died in 1900 and he survived until 1911. Reared on the home farm, Arthur A. Shoup completed his schooling in the Beavercreek township high school. After his marriage in 1894 he established his home on the home place, taking charge of the same for his father, and after the latter's death in 1911 bought the interests of the other heirs in one hundred and nine acres of the place, including the old home, and still lives there. e gives considerable attention to the breeding of high-grade live stock and also maintains a herd of Guernsey cattle for dairy purposes. On his farm is one of the best apple orchards in the county. Mr. Shoup is a Republican and for four years served as a member of the township board of education. e is a member and one of directors of the Greene County Improvement Association. On November 14, 1894, Arthur A. Shoup was united in marriage to Anna Ozias, who was born in Preble county, this state, daughter of R. J. W. and Jane (Markey) Ozias, and to this union six children have been born, Grace, wife of Lawrence Howard, of Bath township, this county ; Daniel, who took two years at Ohio State University and in the spring of 1918 enlisted in the aviation corps of the National Army, and Elizabeth, Charles, Ruth and Rebecca. FRANKLIN M. HAVERSTICK. The late Franklin M. Haverstick, a veteran of the Civil War, who died at his farm home in Beavercreek township on April 8, 1908, and whose widow is now living at Zimmermans, was born on a farm south of Xenia, in Xenia township, January 14, 1843, son of John and Elizabeth (Holly). Haverstick, who had come to this county from Maryland about the year 1830. John Haverstick and wife were members of fhe Reformed church and were the parents of eight children, those besides Franklin, the fourth in order of birth, being Thomas, who served as a soldier of the Union dur-ing the Civil War; John, who made his home in Sugarcreek township; William', who is overseer of Woodland cemetery at Dayton; Christ, who is still living in Xenia township; Matthew, deceased ; Maria, also deceased, who was the wife of Daniel Neckman, of Dayton, and Mignon, who died unmarried. John Haverstick, who was a stone contractor, died in 1853, at the age of forty years, and his widow survived him until 1882. Her GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 613 father was a soldier of the War of 1812 and her grandfather was present by invitation at the funeral of George Washington. Left fatherless at the age of ten years, Franklin M. Haverstick was early thrown on his own resources and did such work as his hand found to do in the community until his enlistment on August 14, 1862, at Alpha, for service in the Union army. He was sent to the front as a member of Company E, Ninety-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until mustered out in June, 1865, the war then being over. During his service Mr. Haverstick was severely wounded at the battle of Chattanooga, and though thus off duty for a time did not go to the hospital. He participated in the many battles and engagements in which his command was involved and was with Sherman on the march to the sea. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Haverstick returned to Greene county and began working on the Thomas Hawker farm. On April 9, 1867, he married Catherine Coy, a daughter of Nicholas and Charlotte (Shoup) Coy and a granddaughter of Moses Shoup, the Brethren minister, and for a year thereafter he and his wife made their home in Kosciuski county, Indiana. They then returned to Greene county and bought a small farm in the vicinity of Hawkers church in Beavercreek township, where they lived for five years, at the end of which time they, bought ninety-five acres of the Nicholas Coy farm, Mrs. Haverstick's old home place, and there established their permanent home, Mr. Haverstick spending the rest of his life there. Mr. Haverstick was a Republican and was a member of the Brethren church at Zimmermans, as is his widow, he for years having served as a deacon of tile church. To Franklin M. and Mary Catherine (Coy) Haverstick were born eight children, namely : Delilah, widow of Louis Hower, who is making her home with her mother at Zimmermans; Martha, now deceased, who was the wife of Edward Snyder; Charlotte, wife of Frank Koogler, of Beavercreek town-ship; Joseph, who is assistant superintendent of a traction line at Chicago ; Harry, who is farming the home place in Beavercreek township; Huber, who is now connected with the aviation corps of the National Army, stationed (spring of 1918) in Minnesota; George, who is also with the National Army, at Camp Sherman; and Elizabeth, who is living with her mother at Zimmermans. After the death of her husband Mrs. Haverstick continued to make her home on the farm until the spring of 1918, when she bought a house in Zimmermans and has. since been living there. She was born on April 9, 1849, in Beavercreek township, her father's farm being situated just west of where the railway viaduct crosses the Dayton pike. er father, Nicholas Coy, was born in that same township, on the Shakerton pike, January 31, 1811, and her mother, Charlotte Shoup, also was born in Beaver- 614 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO creek township, the Shoup homestead being just north of Mt. Zion church. They were members of the Brethren church at Zimmermans. Nicholas Coy died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Haverstick, in April, 1897. His wife had long preceded him to the grave; her death having occurred on January 25, 1874. She was born in 1819. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Haverstick was the fifth in order of birth, the others being Elizabeth, who married John Engle ; Benjamin, who made his home in Beavercreek township; Jane, who married William Nisley ; Aaron, who is now living in Beavercreek township; Martin, who. was drowned while fishing; Ella, who died at the age of twelve years, and Oren, who died at the age of fifteen. JOHN A. THUMA. John A. Thuma; member of the Adams & Thuma Lumber Company at Jamestown, is a native of Virginia, born in Augusta county, in the Old. Dominion, December 16, 1851, son of Robert and Catherine (Brennaman) Thuma, both of whom were born in that same state. Robert Thuma was born about the year 1830 and in 1850 was married. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted his services in behalf of the Confederacy and went to .the front as a member of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's brigade, with which command he was serving when killed at the battle of Port Republic, June 9, 1862. He was the father of, four children, those besides the subject of this sketch having been Thomas N., who is now living in the vicinity of Winchester, Indiana ; Hiram, who died in infancy, and Mrs. Fannie E. Shobe, who died near Winchester, Indiana. About 1866 Mrs. Catherine Thuma, mother of these children and widow of Robert Thuma, married John Crum, of Virginia, and moved to Indiana, where she spent the rest of her life, her death occurring at Saratoga, that state, in 1902. To that second union was born one child, a daughter, Florence, who married C. M. Shierling. Reared in Virginia, John A. Thuman received his schooling in the common schools of his home neighborhood and was early trained to the carpenter trade and the saw-mill business. After his marriage in 1875 he made his home in Virginia and there continued engaged in the carpenter and milling houses until the spring of 1882, when he came to Ohio and located at Jamestown, arriving there on May 6, of that year. Mr. Thuma presently bought a half interest in the business of the J. L. Ginn Lumber Company and has ever since been engaged in the lumber business there, the firm also operating a planing-mill. After J. L. Ginn was succeeded by E. E. Ginn Mr. Thuma continued his association With the latter until Ginn sold his GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 615 interest in the concern to J. Q. Adams, who is still connected with the company. On April 15, 1875; in Virginia, John A. Thuma was united in marriage to Virginia H. Clark, who also was born that state, a daughter of William. D. and Rachel (Miller) Clark, who were the parents of eight children, namely : Mrs. Mary J. Staubus, of Reesville, this state; Mrs. Sallie A. Landis, of Augusta county,, Virginia; John, deceased; Virginia H., wife of Mr. Thuma ; Alexander, deceased; Mrs. Ida C. Early, of Stanton, Virginia; Mrs. Rebecca McConnoughey, of Reesville, and William D., of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Thuma have three children, namely : Charles Ernest Thuma, born in Virginia on February 4, 1876, now associated with his father in business at Jamestown, who married Bertha Gregg and has two children; Willard and Lela; Clara Edna, born on October 29, 1879, who married George H. Eckerle, a biographical 'sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and has two children Catherine and Clark; and Mable Grace, March 18, 1885, who married 0. F. Reeves, a clothing merchant at Jamestown, and has three children, Frances, Virginia and Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Thuma are members of the •Methodist Episcopal church at Jamestown. CHARLES K. WOLF Charles K. Wolf, the proprietor of a farm of one hundred and twenty-one acres in Beavercreek township, rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, was born on a farm in Xenia township, this county, February 3, 1865, son of Frank and Margaret (Sorg) Wolf, natives of Germany, whose last days were spent in this county. Frank Wolf, Sr., was born in 1823 and. was married in his native land. In 1849 he and his wife and their first-born child, a daughter, Catherine, came to this country and located at Cincinnati.. .Ten years later he came up here with his family and settled in Xenia township, becoming a farmer. He died in October, 1905, and his widow survived him until 1914. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Charles K. was the seventh in order of birth, the others being Mrs. Catherine Fisher, deceased ; Mrs. Margaret Spahr, of this county ; Mrs. Mary Buck, also of this county ; Frank, Jr., who is living at Xenia; Mrs. Elizabeth McElvaine, of Kansas City; Clara, who is living on the home farm near Xenia, and Mrs. Emma Gerlaugh, who died in 1917. Reared on the home farm, Charles K. Wolf completed his schooling in the old Xenia College, which he attended for three years, a member of the last class in that institution. Upon leaving school he resumed his labors on the home farm and .after his marriage early in 1903 continued the season 616 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO there, or until in October of that year, when he bought the farm on which he is now living. in Beavercreek township and there . established his home. Mr. Wolf is a Democrat and has served as township assessor and as a member of the township school board, having given seven years to the latter office. About twenty-five years ago he served as district land assessor. He is a member of the Grange and is recognized as the man who pointed out the Way to the elimination of the foot and mouth disease in live Stock by compelling the railroads to keep stock cars clean. Mr. Wolf also is regarded as one of the original promoters of the present widely adopted system of inter-county highways, his .original suggestions along that line having started the movement. He was formerly a member of the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On February 3, 1903, Charles K. Wolf was united in marriage to Julia Stryker, who was born near Ft. Ancient, Warren county, Ohio; daughter of Peter and Nancy Ann (Patterson) Stryker, the latter of whom is still living and who were the parents of seven children, Charles, Frank, Jacob, Alice, Julia, Minnie and John (deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have three children, Ethel, born April 20, 19.o4; Alice, September 8, 1905, and Margaret, July 5, 1907 FRANK H. HARPER. Frank H. Harper. proprietor of a farm of more than two hundred acres in Ross township, was born in that township and has lived there all his life with the exception off a period of about nine years during the days of his youth when his family was living in Missouri. He was born on February 27, 1881, son of Thomas Henry and Cinderella (Herriman) Harper, both now deceased, the latter of whom was born and reared in the vicinity of Lisbon, in Columbiana county, this state. The late Thomas Henry Harper, who died at his home in Ross township on November 12, 1910, was born in that same township on March 1834, a son of Thomas and Mary (Sirlotte) Harper, natives of Maryland, the latter of whom was a daughter of George and Elizabeth Sirlotte, also Marylanders, of French descent Thomas Harper was one of the four sons in the family of seven children who accompanied their father and mother, John Harper and wife, over into Ohio from Maryland in 1804 and settled in Greene county, which had just been organized as a civic unit the year before. John Harper was a soldier of the Revolution and was a brother of Thomas Harper, who operated the ferry across the Potomac river at the point which thus came to be known as Harper's Ferry and is still so. known. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 617 a name familiar to every student of American history, and inseparably associated with the enthusiastic attempt made by John Brown, the Kansan, in 1859, to start a movement for the liberation of the slaves. Upon coming to this county in 1804 John Harper bought a tract of more than one thousand acres of land in what later came to be organized as Ross township, there erected the first log cabin in that part of the county and with the aid of his sons soon had a clearing in the woods. John Harper, the pioneer, lied there in 1820 and his land was divided, among his children, whose descendants in the present generation form one of .the most numerous family connections in this part of Ohio. Thomas Harper, one of the sons of this pioneer, was born at Harper's Ferry and was named in honor of his uncle Thomas, the owner of the ferry and also then the owner of much of the land thereabout. He was a well grown lad when he came to this county with his parents and he at once began to take his part in the labors of making a farm there in the wilderness. On May 17, 1818, he married Mary Sirlotte and established his home on a part of the paternal acres and in time so increased his holdings that he became the owner of nine hundred and ninety-five acres of land. He died on January 8, 1875, he then being eighty-two years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave about two years, her death having occurred on April 6, 1873. They were the parents of five children, William Harrison, Minerva Ann, George W., Thomas: Henry and Mary L., all of whom lived to maturity. Thomas H. Harper grew up on the home farm in Ross township and in due time became a farmer on his own account and the owner of nearly seven hundred acres of land. On January 16, 1865, he married Cinderella Herriman and continued to make his home in this county until 1889, when he moved with his family to Missouri, where he remained for nine years, at the end of which time he returned to Greene county and here spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in the fall of 1911. His wife died February 4, 1900. She was a member of the' Christian church. To Thomas H. and Cinderella (Herriman) Harper were born six children, namely : Idella, who married Lon Cross and is living at South Vienna, in the neighboring county of Clark ; Otis, deceased; Thomas Henry, a resident of Cleveland, this state ; William, who died at the age of four years; Mary, who died at the same tender age, and Frank H., the subject of this biographical sketch. Frank H. Harper was eight years of age when his parents moved with their family to Missouri and his boyhood was spent in that state, he having been about sixteen when the family returned to Greene county and resumed their residence on the home place in Ross township. After a year of further schooling in the local schools he entered Nelson's Business College at Spring- 618 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO field and upon completing the course in that institution returned to the home farm and was there engaged assisting his father in the management of the place until his marriage in the fall of 1906, when he began farming on his own account and has since been thus engaged, now the owner of two hundred and thirty-two acres. In addition to his general farming he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock. By political inclination Mr. Harper is a Democrat, as were his father and grandfather. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics at Jeffersonville. On September 5, 1906, Frank H. Harper was united in marriage to Nora E. Linkinhoker, who was born March 29, 1887, in the neighboring county of Clark, daughter of George E. and Mary E. (Gutshall) Linkinhoker, and to this union two children have been born, Thelma, who died at the age of two months and nineteen clays, and George Henry, who was born on April 21, 1915. Mrs. Harper is a member of the Lutheran church. MT. ST. JOHN NORMAL SCHOOL Mt. St. John (Catholic) Normal School in Beavercreek township, this county, rural mail route No. 16 out of Dayton, was organized at Dayton under the direction of the Society of Mary (Brothers of Mary) in 185o, but in 1915 was moved to the advantageous site it now occupies on a natural elevation a few miles east of that city, just over the line in Greene county, where a commodious establishment was erected. The founder of the Society of Mary was William Joseph Chaminade, who was born on April 16, 1761, at Perigueux, a city in southern France. At the outbreak of the French Revolution, after years of teaching in a Catholic college, he repaired to Bordeaux, where, at the peril of his life, he exercised his priestly office during the bloodiest clays of the Reign of Terror. Subsequently, being exiled to Spain, he spent three years in retreat near the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Finns at Saragossa, where he responded to the call to go forth as an Apostle of Mary. Returning to Bordeaux in 1800 he made' the chapel of the Madeline the headquarters of his sodalities and there organized the movement that became the mainspring of extensive reforms, these sodalities becoming the nursery that later on gave rise to Father Chaminade's two religious congregations, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, founded in 1816 at Agen, and the Society of Mary (Brothers of Mary), founded at Bordeaux in 1817. In 1839 Gregory XVI praised the orders established by Father Chaminade; in 1865 Pius IX gave the movement the formal approval of the Holy See, and in 1891 Leo XIII GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 619 approved the rules and constitutions of the Society of Mary A distinctive feature of this olatter society is that in its composition both priests and Brothers observe the same rule and pursue the same works of zeal, all the professed members, both lay and ecclesiastical, making the vows of poverty; chastity and obedience, and, in making the final or perpetual vows, add the vows of stability ; its members devoting themselves to work of education. In some countries the Brothers also manage agricultural. schools and orphan asylums. The superior general of the society has maintained his residence in Belgium since the expulsion of the religious orders from France. He has four assistants, two of whom are priests and the other two lay members. The society is divided into groups called provinces, at present the Society of Mary in Europe being divided into five provinces, three in France, one in Spain and one in Austria. There is also a vice-province in Japan, with colleges in four of the chief cities of that country, there being more than one thousand students enrolled at the School of the Morning Star in Tokio and seven hundred in the school at Osaka. In the United States there are more than five hundred religious students of the Society of Mary' engaged in educating more than twelve thousand boys and young men. The founder of the American province was Father Leo Meyer, one of the disciples of Father Chaminade, who, with four other Brothers, established a humble home outside of Dayton in March, 1850, having there purchased some property to which they gave the name of Nazareth, which it still bears. Notwithstanding two disastrous, fires and financial difficulties, the work prospered and Nazareth grew into what is now St. Mary College: From Nazareth the missionaries or Brothers of Mary have gone forth into more than twenty dioceses, into Canada and as far as the Hawaiian Islands, where the Brothers conduct three schools, one of them being St. Louis College at Honolulu, where there are more than nine hundred boys in attendance. In 1908 the American province was divided into two provinces, the province of Cincinnati, the central house of which is at Mt. St. John, this county, and the province of St. Louis, with headquarters at Clayton, Missouri. Mt. St. John Normal School has excellent buildings and adequate paraphernalia and is carrying on an admirable work in the way of preparing young men for teaching in the Catholic schools of the country and also in giving instruction preliminary to the seminary course of those seeking to enter holy orders. Young men between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one are received at the school and all branches are taught, embracing courses up from the, first year of high school to the full college course. The president of the house is the Rev. Lawrence Yeske, who presides over the faculty, which now numbers eighteen. The vice-president and director of the school 620 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO is Brother George Deck, who has been connected with the institution since 1909. The present enrollment at Mt. St. John Normal School is one hundred and twenty-five and progress is reported in all departments of the school's work. ELMER E. SPENCER. Elmer E. Spencer, proprietor of a Cedarville township farm of one hundred acres situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of Cedarville, a part of the old Spencer original tract developed there by his great-grandfather in the early days of the settlement of this county, was born on that place and has lived there all his life. He was born on July 27, 1863, son of Thomas W. and Amanda (White) Spencer, both of whom also were ,born in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent here. Thomas W. Spencer was born in Cedarville township in 183o, a son, of James W. and Sarah (White ) Spencer, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. James W. Spencer had come up here from Kentucky with his father in the early days of the settlement of Greene county, the family settling on a thousand acres of land three miles east of Cedarville, and there he established his home and spent the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, Michael, Joseph, Daniel, Thomas W. and Frank, who made their homes on portions of the paternal tract in Cedarville township.; James, who moved to Iowa ; David, who moved over into Montgomery county ; Martin D., who moved to Illinois, and Delilah, who spent her last days on the home place. Reared on the home farm in Cedarville township, Thomas W. Spencer helped to develop the place and after his marriage established his home on a portion of the old home place and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring at the age of seventy-four years in 1905. His wife had preceded him to the grave many years, she having died at the age of forty years. She was the third in order of birth of the four children born to Joseph and Susan White, who had settled in the neighborhood of Clifton upon coming to this county from Virginia, the others of the White children having been Belle, who married Joshua Cain; Nancy, who married Simeon Jones, and Joseph, who died in the days of his youth. Thomas W. Spencer was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. Of the children born to them the subject of this sketch is now the only survivor. Elmer E. Spencer was reared on the farm on which he still lives, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and in time succeeded to the ownership of the farm, on which he has made numerous improvements since GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 621 coming into possession of the same. In 1892, some years after his marriage, his father built a new house on the place and he and his family are living there. In addition to his general farming he has given considerable attention to the raising of livestock: Mr. Spencer is a Republican, but has not been a seeker after public office. He and his family are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church at Cedarville. On July 28, 1885, Elmer E. Spencer was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary F. (Albright) Harris, widow of John Harris, who died at his home in Cedarville township on October 3, 1883, leaving his widow and one child, a son, Charles Marion Harris, the latter of whom is now living at Dayton. Charles M. Harris has been twice married, his first wife having been Emma Belle Cline and his second, Myrtle Brown. By his first marriage he was the father of two daughters, Maude M. and Ilo Blanche. Mrs. Spencer is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Gardner) Albright, the former of whom died in Kentucky. His widow married Daniel Switzer, also of Kentucky, and located at Cedarville, where she died in 1893. She was the mother of five children by her first marriage, those besides Mrs. Spencer being George. Samuel, Martha and Amanda. DAVID V. McCLELLAN David V. McClellan, proprietor of a farm in Beavercreek township, on rural mail route No. 7 out of Xenia, is a native on of Greene county, born on a farm in Sugarcreek township on July 6, 1853, son of William S. and Mary C. (Bagford) McClellan, both of whom spent their last days in that township. William S. McClellan also was a native son of Greene county, born at Xenia, March 10, 1825, a son of John McClellan and wife, the latter of whom was a Simpson. John McClellan was the first of this branch of the McClellan family to come to Greene county. He was a Virginian and a blacksmith by trade. Upon locating at Xenia he opened a smithy and wagon-making shop and there continued engaged in that business until his retirement, his last days being spent in the household of his son William S. in Sugarcreek township. John McClellan and wife were the parents of five children, those besides William S. having been Robert, who died at. Piqua, Martin, Samuel and Mary, the latter of whom married George Filson. William S. McClellan, who was the eldest son, was early trained to the trade of blacksmith and worked at the same more or less all his life, even after buying his farm and settling in Sugarcreek township, maintaining a shop on the farm. He was a Republican and he and his family were members of 622 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO the United Presbyterian church. William S. McClellan married Mary C. Bagford, who was born in Maryland on March 17, 1824, and both he and his wife spent their last days on their farm in Sugarcreek township, her death occurring there in 1884, she then being sixty years of age, and his in 1893, he being sixty-eight years of age at the time of his death. They were the parents of nine children, namely : James WI., a retired farmer now living at Beavertown, who married Ella Benham ; Alice R., who married Bert Benham and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased; David V., the subject of this sketch; John O., who married Alice Cline and became a farmer in this county and who, as well as his wife, is now deceased ; Mary C., wife of Eugene Barney, of. Dayton; Harry B., who married Anna Spencer and is also living at Dayton; Edward, who became a carpenter and who died unmarried ; Elizabeth, now deceased, who was the wife of Philip Boots, and Sarah, wife of Grant Koontz, of Dayton. David V. McClellan was reared on. the home farm, received his schooling oin the local schools, and remained at home until of ter his marriage in 1880, when he located on the farm on which he is now living, in Beavercreek township, and has ever since made that his place of residence. Mr. McClellan has seventy-five and one-half acres and in addition to his general farming he gives considerable attention to the raising of Poland China hogs. In December, 1880, David V. McClellan was united in marriage to Anna Babb, who was born at Xenia, daughter of James M. and Susanna (McCreary) Babb, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ireland. James M. Babb was born in 1811 and was nineteen years of age when he came to this county in 1830 and began to work at his trade, that of a carpenter, at Xenia, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in March, 1876. James M. Babb was twice married and by his first wife, Hannah Smith, was the father of four sons, James, Thomas, George and Charles, all of whom are now deceased. Following the death of the mother of these children, he married Susanna McCreary and to that union were born three children, Mrs. McClellan having a brother, Lon H. Babb, a carpenter, living at Xenia, and a sister, Lizzie, wife of John McLain, also of Xenia. Mrs. Susanna Babb survived her husband for nearly thirty years, her death occurring in 1905, she then being seventy-eight years of age: To David V. and Anna (Babb) McClellan three children have been born, namely : D. Oliver, born on December 31, 1881, now living at Dayton, where he is employed as a toolmaker, and who married Hazel Shartel and has three children, Sarah Margaret, George V. and Sue-Anna ; Sue Ethel, March 23, 1883, who married Ernest Bull, a Xenia township farmer, and has to children, Delmer D. and Harold E.; and Leon C., May 8, 1885, row GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 623 employed with the gas company at Xenia, and who married Clara St. John and has one child, a daughter, Frances Clara. Mr. McClellan is a Republican and he and his wife are affiliated with the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia. ORAN P. MITMAN. Oran P. Mitman, a member of the Greene county board of education and first president of that board, a landowner of this county and a former banker at Osborn, where he is now living and where he is engaged in the insurance business, was born on a farm in Bath township on February 25, 1871, son of Lewis C. and Laura I. (Bryan) Mitman, both of whom also were born in this county and the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Osborn for many years. Lewis C. Mitman was born in Bath township, a son of Peter and Anna Mitman, who had come to this country from Pennsylvania and had settled in the northern part of the county, where they spent their last days. Reared on the farm, Lewis C. Mitman received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and after his marriage established his home on a farm in his home township and there engaged in farming until about 1897, when he retired from the farm and moved to Osborn, where he died on December 2, 1907, and where his widow is still living. Lewis C. Mitman for a number of years served as trustee of Bath township and was also for some time president of the local school board. He and his wife were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch having had a sister, Nettie, who died in 1904. Reared on the home farm in Bath township, Oran P. Mitman received his early schooling in the local schools and supplemented the same by attendance at Wittenberg College at Springfield, from which institution he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For two years after leaving college Mr. Mitman taught school and then he became a bookkeeper in the Osborn Bank and was thus engaged for three years, at the end of which time he married and returned to the home farm and was there engaged in farming for ten years. He then returned to Osborn and resumed connection with the Osborn Bank, for five years serving that institution as assistant cashier, after which he began to devote his chief attention to the fire and life insurance business, in which he already had become more or less interested, and has since been engaged in that business. Mr. Mitman is the owner of two farms in this county, aggregating two hundred and ninety acres. He is now a member of the county board of education, of which he was the first president, and is also a member of the local school board at Osborn. By 624 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO political persuasion he is a Democrat, with "independent" leanings on local issues. On December, 22, 1897, Oran P. Mitman was united in marriage to Edith K. Mouk, daughter of Andrew and Susan Mouk, and to this union two children have been born, Clarence L.., Who is now a student in the Stanton Military Academy, Virgina, and Mildred Mae, who is in school at Osborn. The Mitmans are members of the Lutheran church at Osborn, of which . Mr. Mitman is an elder. He. is also treasurer of the congregation and superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Mitman is a Scottish Rite (32̊) Mason, affiliated with the consistory at Dayton, and a member of the . local. lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Osborn, which latter now seems doomed to a cessation of its wonted activities by reason of the project looking to flood prevention, which, if carried out as contemplated, will necessitate the abandonment of Osborn. HARRY JOHNSON. The late Harry Johnson, Who died at his farm home in Cedarville township in 1908 and whose sons, John and George Johnson, are still operating that farm, was a native son: of Ohio and had lived in this state all his life, a resident of Greene county since the days of his boyhood. He was born at South. Charleston, in the neighboring county of Clark, August 24, 1840, a son of John Johnson and wife, the former of whOrn was a native of Highland county, this state, and both of whom died when their son, the subject -of this memorial sketch; was a child.: Thus early bereaved of his parents, Harry Johnson was taken into the home of George Weymouth, of Cedarville township, this county; and there grew to manhood, completing his schooling in the schools in this county. He married Trankalina Rock, who was born at Springfield, this state, August 26, 1842, and after his marriage was for some time engaged in the grocery business at Cedarville. Presently desiring to return to the life of the farm Mr. Johnson sold his store and bought the McHatton farm of one hundred acres, on which he made his home for six years, at the end of which time he said that place and . bought the old Creswell farm, the place where his sons now live, as noted above, and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on December 28, 1908. His widow survived him for nearly eight years, her death occurring on September 8, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and• Mr. Johnson was a Republican. To Harry and Trankalina (Rock) Johnson were born nine children,