650 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO death of the mother of these children Marion Wildman, in 1885, married Almeda M. Johnson, who had been reared in the household of her grandfather, Moses Walton, at Spring Valley, and to that union was born one child; a daughter, Olive M., who is living with her mother at Richmond. Arthur Edward Wildman was about five years of age when his parents took up their residence on the farm on which he is now living and which he owns and he consequently grew up there. His early schooling was obtained in the "College Corner" district school and he supplemented that course by attendance at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, from which institution he was graduated in 1891. Upon leaving college Mr. Wildman went to Chandlerville, in Cass county, Illinois, where he was for a year engaged in teaching school, and then returned home and resumed his place on the farm, after his father's retirement he and his brother Howard taking the management of the place, an association which was continued for eight years. In the division of the estate following the father's death Mr. Wildman received one hundred and forty-three acres, including the residence site, and after his marriage in the fall of 1904 he continued his residence there and has since made the place his home, managing also the interests held by his sisters in the place, thus operating in all a tract of five hundred and seventy-five acres. In addition to his general farming Mr. Wildman feeds about four car loads of cattle each year. In 1915 he remodeled the old farm house along modern lines. He and his wife are members of the Friends church at Selma. On October 20, 1904, Arthur E. Wildman was united in marriage to Clara Augusta White and to this union four children have been born, namely : Elizabeth J., born on August 19, 1905; Marion W., January 4, 1907; Ruth A., September 18, 1908, and Robert Walton, March 27, 1910. Mrs. Wildman was born on August 7, 1875, on a farm in the vicinity of Raysville, in Henry county, Indiana, a daughter of James and Jemima D. (Henley) White, the latter of whom was born at Carthage, in Rush county, Indiana, and is still living, now in the eighty-fourth year of her age, a resident of Guilford College, North Carolina. James White was born in Perquimans county, North Carolina, in 1826 and was eight years of age when he came west with his parents, Caleb and Mary White, in 1834, the family settling in the Raysville settlement in Henry county, Indiana. There James White grew to manhood, married and established his home on a farm and spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1902, he then being seventy-six years of age. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom Mrs. Wildman was the last-born, the others being Mary E., now living at Guilford College, North Carolina, widow of George W. White ; Elias H., an attorney-at-law at Philadelphia ; George E., who went to the state of Washington, where he is now the proprietor of a great orchard ; Nereus, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 651 who died in the days of his youth ; Caleb, who also died in the days of his boyhood; Sibyl, wife of William T. Raine, of Indianapolis ; Margaret and Miles, twins, who died in childhood, and Francis C., now a resident of Chicago. JOHN W. HARTSOCK Ever since the second decade of the past century the Hartsocks have been represented in the Bellbrook neighborhood in this county. John W. Hartsock was born in that neighborhood and has lived there all his life, proprietor of a farm in Sugarcreek township, on rural mail route No. i out of Waynesville. He was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township on October 6, 1852, son of-Samuel and Mary (Weller) Hartsock, the latter of whom was born in the vicinity of Dayton, in the neighboring county of Montgomery, and both of whom spent their last days in Greene county. Samuel Hartsock was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, this county, December 19, 1823, son of George Hartsock and wife, the latter of whom was a Cremer, born on April 3, 1828. George Hartsock was a native of New Jersey, who came to Ohio in the early 'days of the settlement of this county and took a farm in Sugarcreek township, where he spent the rest of his life. When he settled on that place there was a small log house on the same and a clearing of three acres. There were hundreds of magnificent sugar trees on the place and he long made a specialty of the making of maple sugar, the products of his spring camps being marketed in Cincinnati, to which city he made the long haul in person. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, David, Samuel, George, Fanny, Lucinda, Ann and Abbie, six of whom lived to maturity and reared families of their own, the Hartsock connection hereabout thus becoming a numerous one. Samuel Hartsock grew up on that farm and in turn became a farmer on his own account, here spending all his life, his death occurring on March 28, 1894. His widow died March 14, 1911. They were the parents of six children, namely : Laura, who died when seventeen years of age, October 18, 1866; John W., the subject of this biographical sketch ; Perry, a farmer residing in the neighboring county of Warren; Euphemia, now living at Waynesville, widow of William Hough ; George, a retired farmer, also living at Waynesville, and Frank, a farmer living in Montgomery county. John W. Hartsock was reared on the home farm, received his schooling in the Sugar Creek school and in due time became a farmer on his own account, after his marriage establishing his home on the farm on which he is now living and has resided there ever since. Mr. Hartsock is a Democrat and for one term served as a member of the Bellbrook school board. 652 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO In 1881 John W. Hartsock was united in marriage to Eliza Nelson, of Auglaize county, this state, and to this union three children have been born, namely : William, who married Verda Cook and is now living at Dayton ; Minnie, who married Charles Thomas, of Centerville, now deceased, and has one child, a daughter, Eva; and Edward, unmarried, who is at home assisting his father in the management of the farm. The Hartsocks are members of the Middle Run Baptist church. Mrs. Hartsock is a daughter of William and Mary (Maguire) Nelson, the latter of whom was born in Holmes county, Ohio. SHERMAN JENKS. Sherman Jenks, a Silvercreek township farmer and stockman, now living practically retired on his farm in that township, the operations of the farm now being carried on by his son, Glenn M. Jenks, is a native "Buckeye" and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of this county and of the farm on which he is now living since his marriage nearly thirty years ago. He was born in Jefferson township, in the neighboring county of Fayette, November 5, 1865, son of Levi and Betsy (Sanders) Jenks, both of whom were born in the same county and who were the parents of nine children, those besides the subject of this sketch, the last in order of birth, being the following: Smith, who is now living at Solon, this state ; Ruth, who is living at Yellow Springs, this county, widow of Moses West ; Taylor, of Sabina, in the neighboring county of Clinton ; Solomon, a farmer, living a half mile east of Xenia ; Jane, wife of Gideon Shirk, a Fayette county farmer; Lee, a resident of Edgefield, in Fayette county; John, grain dealer, living at Jamestown, who operates an elevator at that place and at Jasper and Edgefield, and Charles, deceased. Levi Jenks owned a farm in Fayette county and was also a dealer in live stock. Politically, he was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church at West Lancaster. He died at his home in Fayette county in 1900, being then seventy-two years of age. His wife died in 1893, she then being sixty-eight years of age. Reared on the home farm, Sherman Jenks received his schooling in the West Lancaster schools and remained at home until after his marriage in 1889, after which he came over into Greene county and established his home on the farm on which he is now living and which has ever since been his place of residence. Mr. Jenks has one hundred and forty-eight acres and since taking possession of the same has made numerous improvements, the GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 653 most notable of which perhaps is the dwelling house erected there in 1900. In addition to his general farming Mr. Jenks has given considerable attention to live stock, buying and feeding for the market, and has been assisted by his son Glenn, who is now practically in charge of the farm. Mr. Jenks is a Republican and a Baptist. His wife is a member of the Christian church. On December 26, 1889, Sherman Jenks was united in marriage to Annetta Glass, who was born in Silvercreek township, this county, March 29, 1869, daughter of Francis M. and Anna (Thornburg) Glass, both of whom were born in that same township, the latter a daughter of Alfred and Lavina (Hogan) Thornburg, the former of whom also was born in that township and the latter in Ireland. Alfred Thornburg was, a son of John William Thornburg, a Virginian and one of the early settlers of Greene county, and he and his wife were the parents of seven children, those besides the daughter Anna, who married Francis M. Glass, having been James, of Illinois ; George, who spent all his life in this county ; Lizzie, who married Perry Griffin ; Sallie, who married Abraham Aldrich; Melissa, who married Benjamin Gifford, and Nancy, who married James Wendell. Francis M. Glass was born on June 1, 1844, son of William and Lucinda (Stanley) Glass, who had come to this county from Virginia and had settled on the farm now occupied by James Tidd in Silvercreek township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They were members of the Christian church and were the parents of seven children, those besides Francis M. having been Sidney, who married I. K. Evans; Angeline, who married James Bryan ; Louisa, who married William Offrey ; Nancy, who died unmarried ; Lavina, who married William Tidd, and Susanna, the only one of the family now living, who is the wife of Andrew Turner, of Silvercreek township. Francis M. Glass and Anna Thornburg were united in marriage on December 16, 1863, and after their marriage established their home on the McClintock farm, sixty, four acres of which Mr. Glass bought, and there he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on January 19, 1918, and his widow is still living there. She is a member of the Christian church at Jamestown, as was her husband. He was a Republican. They were the parents of four daughters, of whom Mrs. Jenks was the third in order of birth, the others being Lucinda, horn on October 16, 1865, now the widow of Lora Hinckley and making her home with her widowed mother ; Louisa, March 7, 1867, now deceased, who was the wife of Clinton Moorman, and Minetta, April 27, 1873, who died in the days of her girlhood. Mr. and Mrs. Jenks have one child, a son, Glenn M. Jenks, born on July 16, 1896, who on November 10, 1917, married Opal Woods and is now taking charge of the operations of his father's farm. 654 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO BURT L. LACKEY, D. D. S. Dr. Burt L. Lackey, dental surgeon at Xenia, was born in the vicinity of Oakland, in Clinton county, this state, June 15, 1872, son of Enos Ellsworth and Laura (Sellars) Lackey, both of whom were born and reared in the neighboring county of Warren and the latter of whom is still living, now making her home at Xenia. Enos Ellsworth Lackey was born on September 3o, 1844, a son of Enos Lackey and wife, pioneers of Warren county, the former of whom was born in 1802 and who were the parents of fourteen children. Reared in Warren county, Enos E. Lackey later made his home for a while in Clinton county and in 1873 moved to the village of New Burlington, 0n the Greene-Clinton county line and was there engaged in the general lumber business the rest of his life, operating a saw-mill and dealing in lumber, timber and logs and also engaged as a building contractor, his death occurring there on January 9, 1903. Mr. Lackey was a Republican and for years rendered service as a member of the local school board. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is his widow, and at the time of his death was a member of the official board of the same. To him and his wife were born three sons, of whom Doctor Lackey is the youngest, the others being Walter Lackey, of New Burlington, a farmer, and Raymond L. Lackey, who was engaged in the grocery business at New Burlington and who died on September 1, 1907. Upon completing the course in the New Burlington high school Burt L. Lackey began teaching school and for three years thereafter was the teacher of the school in the Buck Run district in Clinton county. He matriculated at the Ohio College of Dentistry and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1896. Thus equipped for the practice of his profession, Doctor Lackey returned to his home at New Burlington and opened an office there, continuing in practice at that place for eighteen months, at the end of which time, in January, 1898, he located at Xenia, where he ever since has been engaged in practice, with present offices in the Steele building. Preparatory to his marriage oin 1902, Doctor Lackey built a house at 20 Home avenue, Xenia, where he is still. living. Doctor Lackey has been twice married. On September 10, 1902, he was united in marriage to Ada Frances Clark, who was born and reared in Gallia county, this state, and who for nine years prior to her marriage had been engaged as a special teacher at the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home at Xenia. To that union were born three children, Clark, born on December 10, 1903 ; Dorothy, May 9, 1907, and Helen, January 1, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 655 1911. The mother of these children died on March 7, 1914, and on June 30, 1915, Doctor Lackey married Jessella Beebe, who was born at Kingman, Kansas, and who was reared at Elwood Indiana, in which latter city her father, John W. Beebe, is still living. MORRIS D. RICE. Morris D. Rice, a practicing attorney at Osborn since 1909, was born on a farm in the vicinity of Circleville, in Pickaway county, Ohio, July 9, 1885, a son of Elliott and Harriet E. (Morris) Rice, both of whom were born in that same county, the former in 1855 and the latter, in 1.853, who are still living there. Elliott Rice is a farmer and he and his wife have two sons, the subject of this sketch having .a brother, Lemuel R. Rice. Reared on the home farm, Morris D. Rice entered the Circleville Business College after leaving the high school in that city and was graduated from the same in 1901. He then became the stenographer in the office of a law firm in Circleville and while thus engaged occupied what leisure he could command in the study of law. In 1906 he entered the law department of Ohio Northern University and by taking both the winter and summer courses was enabled to graduate from that institution two years later, after which he passed the state bar examination and was admitted to the bar in that same year, 1908. Thus qualified for the practice of the profession, Mr. Rice located at Osborn and on January 7, 1909, opened there an office and has ever since been engaged in practice. In 1915 he was admitted to practice in the United tates courts. Though engaged in general practice, Mr. Rice makes a specialty of cases in the probate courts. He is a Republican and for five years served as city attorney for Osborn. On June 17, 1909, Morris D. Rice was united in marriage to Mina D. Davidson, who was born in Clermont county, this state, daughter of Henry W. and Rebecca (Hulick) Davidson, who are still living in that county. Henry W. Davidson is a farmer and he and his wife have four children,' of whom Mrs. Rice was the last-born, the others being Georgia, wife of John Lytle, a contractor and landowner of Williamsburg, this state ; Dr. O. C. Davidson, a physician at Bethel, this state, and Dr. F. L. Davidson, who is engaged in practice at Delaware, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Rice reside on Williams street in Osborn. They have traveled quite extensively, taking a trip to some point of interest in the United tates every year, being intent on "seeing America first." Mr. Rice is a Scottish Rite Mason, affiliated with the local lodge at New Carlisle and with the consistory (32̊), Valley of Dayton. He was selected by the committee in charge of the purchase of 656 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO real estate in the village of Osborn for the Miami Conservancy District in 1915 and in addition represented the same district in taking title to all land in Osborn and several thousand acres in the valley of Mad river. Mr. Rice also was one of the attorneys who looked after the purchase of the two thousand four hundred and seventy-five acres in the vicinity of Fairfield which was converted by the government into the Wilbur Wright Aviation Field for the training of aviators for the army in 1917. JACOB LEWIS LANTZ. Jacob Lewis. Lantz, former trustee of Beavercreek township, a soldier of the Civil War and a retired farmer of Beavercreek township, living at his farm home on rural mail route No. 4 out of Osborn, was born, in that township, September 19, 1836, son of John and Catherine (Rhoades) Lantz, natives of Maryland, who were married in that state in 1826 and who came to Greene county in 1835, locating in Beavercreek township. John Lantz presently bought a farm of two hundred and sixteen acres north of Alpha and later added fifty-nine acres, the old Nesbit farm, which is now owned by his son Jacob L. On that place he spent the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only one now living, the others having been Barbara Ann, who married Sylvester Lafong; John Daniel, who married Rebecca Harner ; Catherine Jane, who married Jonathan Gerlaugh; Mary Elizabeth, who married Ebenezer Hering, and Eliza Ellen, who married John A. Harner. Reared on the home farm, Jacob L. Lantz completed his schooling in the Xenia high school and then began teaching school in the district schools of his home township, continuing farming during the summers. He married in the fall of 1863. In 1864 he enlisted for service in the Union army and served as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, until the close of the Civil War, being mustered out with the rank of sergeant. For eighteen years Mr. Lantz rendered service in his home township as a school teacher and then he bought a farm in the northern part of Beavercreek township and thereafter, until his retirement in the latter '80s, gave his undivided attention to his farm. Since his retirement he has sold part of his land, but still owns one hundred and seventy-two acres of the old home place in the Alpha neighborhood and fifty acres of the place on which he is now living in the north part of the township. Mr. Lantz is a Republican and during the '80s served for four years. as trustee of his home township, while for twenty-one years he rendered service as a member of the school board. He is a member of the Lutheran church .at Harshman and is also connected with the Odd Fellows lodge and with GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 657 the encampment at that place, a representative for four years in the grand encampment. Mr. Lantz has been an extensive traveler and has visited most of the chief points of interest in this country and in Canada. On September 24, 1863, Jacob L. Lantz was united in marriage to Mary M. Mercer, who was born in this county, daughter of Robert Mercer and wife, the latter of whom was a Tingley, and to that union were born four sons, Forest Clay, who died in infancy ; Dayton, who died in infancy ; Harry, born on June 22, 1864, who married Elizabeth Black and is engaged in farming in Beavercreek township, and John Lewis, June i 1, 1866, who is a building contractor at Alpha. Mrs. Mary M. Lantz died in 1910 and is buried in the Fairfield cemetery. She was a graduate of the old Xenia Female Seminary. WILLIAM EDGAR HOUSER. William Edgar Houser, a Zenia township farmer, was born at Point of Rocks, in Loudoun county, Virginia. January 20, 1855, son of Samuel and Caroline (McCray) Houser, both of whom were born in that same county. Samuel Houser, who was the owner of a small farm, had a store at Point of Rocks and was also the postmaster and toll-gate keeper at that place. He was a Lutheran and his wife Was a Baptist. Both died in 1869. They were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch, the first-born ; Samuel, who died at the age of six years, and Ella, who is living at Xenia, widow of J. J. Snyder. Having been but fourteen years of age when his parents died, William E. Houser early commenced working for himself and was thus engaged in his home county until he was twenty years of age, when, in 1875, he came to Ohio and began working on a farm in this county. In 1887 he married and in the following year bought a farm in Cedarville township, where he made his home and where he continued engaged in farming until 1904, when he sold that place and bought his present farm of seventy-six and a half acres in the southern part of Xenia township, where he since has made his home and where he is engaged in general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of Jersey cattle and Chester White hogs. In 1887 William E. Houser was united in marriage to Rosie Swank, who also was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, daughter of Aaron and Alfinda Swank, of that county, and who died in 1898, since which time Mr. Houser's niece, Miss Lillie Belle Baker, also of Loudoun county, Virginia, who has for years made her home with him, has been the housekeeper in his home. Mr. Houser is "independent" in his political views and is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Xenia. (41) 658 - GREENE COUNTY, 01I10 JACOB A. SCOTT. Jacob A. Scott, proprietor of a farm of a fraction more than eighty-three acres in Sugarcreek township, on which. he has 'made his home for about twenty-six years, was born in the village of Lytle, in the neighboring county of Warren, April 7, 1854, son of Vincent and Mary Jane (Duvell) Scott, the former of whom was of Shaker stock and believed to have been born in the state of New York. Vincent Scott was a blacksmith and operated a shop at various times at Lebanon, Lytle and other points in Warren county. He also for some time operated a houseboat on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, carrying on a blacksmith shop and a grocery store on the boat, and was thus ,engaged in the South when the Civil War broke out. He was given sixty days in which to close out his affairs and get hack on the other side of the Mason and Dixon line and thus was compelled to dispose of his stuff at a loss, in fact the war "cleaned" him of all he had. He returned to Ohio, but after the war went to Texas, remaining there about a year, at the end of which time he returned to Ohio and here spent the rest of his life, his death occurring at Xenia when past seventy years of age. Vincent Scott was thrice married. By his first wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, he had three children, those besides Jacob being William Winfield, who died in 1918, and Anna, who died in infancy. After the death of the mother of these children Vincent Scott married Elizabeth Denlinger, who bore him eight children. His third wife was a Chenoweth. Jacob A. Scott was but a child when his mother died and he was reared away from home, for five years making his home with and working for Jarvis Stokes, who owned a farm of six hundred and forty acres in the Lytle neighborhood. He then for three years worked for Turner Hays, and then went down to Mason, also in Warren county, where and in the neighborhood of which place he worked for Asa Coleman and others for five years ; going there without a dollar and having nine hundred dollars at the end of the five years. With this comfortable "nest egg" he returned to Lytle and after two years of further employment there was married. That was in 1881. His wife died fourteen months later and in 1885 he married again and then came up into Greene county and located on a farm in Sugarcreek township. Four years later lie moved to a farm in the Spring Valley neighborhood and a year later, in 1892, bought the farm on which he is now living, in Sugarcreek township, rural mail route No. I out of Spring Valley, and . has since resided there. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Scott has made numerous improvements on the place, erecting his present dwelling house and all the farm buildings. He is a Democrat, for fifteen GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 659 years served as road supervisor in his district, for twenty years as school director and has for several years taken the school enumeration in his district. He and his family are members of the (predestinarian) Baptist Apostolic church. As noted above, Jacob A. Scott has been twice married. In 1881 he was united in marriage to Clara Goodill, who also was born and reared at Lytle, and who died fourteen months later without issue. In 1885 Mr. Scott married Amanda Jane' Wright, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Buckles) Wright, and to this union five children have been born, namely: Nina P., wife of Robert tiles, of Sugarcreek township; John W., who married Florence Gregg and is also living in Sugarcreek township; Nora, at home; Jacob S., who married on March 7, 1918, Lillie Hayle and lives with his parents, and Israel. RALPH BRUCE FERGUSON Ralph Bruce Ferguson, proprietor of a farm, in Miami township. on rural mail route No. 5 out of Xenia, was born on a farm in Xenia township on September 18, 1881, son of William H, and Ella Belle (Galloway) Ferguson, both of whom also were born in this county, the former in Miami township, April 22, 1854, and the latter, in the city of Xenia, November 9, 1857, who are now living retired in the village of Yellow Springs. William H. Ferguson was reared on a farm in Miami township and completed his schooling in Antioch College and in the old college at Xenia. He early became engaged in farming on his own account and after his marriage made his home for a while on a farm in Xenia township, later buying the farm in that same township now operated by his son Ralph, and there resided until his retirement in 1914 and removal to Yellow Springs. He and his wife have three children, the subject of this sketch, the first-born, having a sister, Mary Eleanor, who married Roy McClelland, a farmer living Li the vicinity of Xenia, and has three children, and a brother, William Harvey Ferguson, now living in Philadelphia, a chemist in the employ of the DuPont Powder Company, who married Grace Williamson, of this county, and has one child. Reared on the home farm in Xenia township, Ralph B. Ferguson was early trained to farming and has always followed that vocation. Upon campleting his schooling he became engaged in farming on his own account and after his marriage in the summer of 1906 established his home on the Elmer Ferguson farm and since his father's retirement in 1914 has been in active management of the home farm, in addition to which he rents an adjoining 660 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO farm which he also is cultivating, and in addition to his general farming he is engaged in the raising of live stock. On June 5, 1906, Ralph B. Ferguson was united in marriage to Edna Belle McClelland, who also was born in this county, daughter of Harvey and Laura B. McClelland, the former of whom died in March, 1917, and the latter of whom is living south of Xenia, and to this union seven children have been born, all of whom are living save Howard M., the second in order of birth, who died when three years of age, the others being Edith Elizabeth, Ruth Eleanor, Clarence Leigh, Carl Bruce, James Harvey and Ralph Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are members of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia. In his political views Mr. Ferguson is independent of rigid party lines. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN JAMES. The late Benjamin Franklin James, who died on October 22, 1917, at his home in Bellbrook, where he had been living retired for more than fifteen years and where his widow is still living, was a native son of Greene County and had resided here all liis life. He was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, June 25, 1848, son of David W. and Rebecca (Austin) James, both of whom also were born in this county, the former on November 3, 1805, and the latter, February 5, 1811. David W. James was a son of John and Mary James, who came to this county from Virginia in pioneer days and became residents of the Sugarcreek neighborhood. John James died on September 18, 1841, he then being sixty-seven years of age, and was buried in the Middle Run cemetery. David W. James grew up in that township and became owner of a good piece of farming property there. He died on July 9, 1875, and was buried in the Bellbrook cemetery. He and Rebecca Austin were married on February 9, 1832, and were the parents of nine children, those besides the subject of this memorial sketch having been the following : Nathan, Emily, William and Angeline, deceased; Mrs. Lydia Sloane, who is now living at Osborn, this county ; Julianne, deceased; John, who is now living at Seattle, Washington, and Jane, deceased. Reared on the home farm two miles south of Bellbrook, Benjamin Franklin James completed the course in the Bellbrook high school and later took a course in Smith College at Xenia, meanwhile teaching school for several terms, spending his winters in the school room and his summers on the farm. In the fall of 1874 he married and established his home the old home place in Sugarcreek township, presently buying the interests of the other heirs in the place, and continued to make his home there until GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 661 his retirement from the farm in 1900 and removal to Bellbrook, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there, as noted above, in the fall of 1917. For years Mr. James was a member of the Greene county Republican central committee from his township. His interest in the cause of temperance was sincere and he did much to advance the cause hereabout. He served for some time as a member of the Bellbrook school board and ever took an interest in the cause of education. Until about ten years before his death Mr. James was a member of the Presbyterian church, for years an elder in the same, and then he transferred his membership to the Sugarcreek United Presbyterian church. He had helped in the erection of two churches. He was buried in the Bellbrook cemetery. On September 23, 1874, Benjamin Franklin James was united in marriage to Irene Marshall, who also was born and reared in Sugarcreek township, who had completed her schooling at Smith College at Xenia and who prior to her marriage had been for some time engaged in teaching school. Since the death of her husband Mrs. James has continued to make her home at Bellbrook. She also is a member of one of the real old families of Greene county, her parents, Jesse R. and Ruth (Robinson) Marshall, having both been born here, their respective families having been among the early settlers of the county. Jesse R. Marshall was a son of John Marshall, who was born in the vicinity of what is now the city of Lexington, Kentucky, in 1784, and who in 1803 came up here into the valley of the Little Miami and took up a tract of six hundred acres of land in what later came to be organized as Sugarcreek township, where he established his home and where he spent the rest of his life, all of which is set out elsewhere and at considerable length in this volume. Jesse R. Marshall and Ruth Robins0n were married on May 22, 1851, and to them were born seven children, those besides Mrs. James being Willis, who is living in the New Burlington neighborhood and further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume, as well as reference to his sons, Judge J. C. Marshall, of the probate court, and L. T. Marshall, former clerk of courts and now a practicing lawyer at Xenia; Fannie, unmarried, who is living at Bellbrook ; Daniel W., now a resident of Dayton ; Joseph H., a resident of Bellbrook ; Frank B., who lives three miles south of Bellbrook, and Edwin S., deceased. The Marshall connection in Greene county is a considerable one, the pioneer John Marshall having been the father of six children, two sons and four daughters, those besides Jesse, father of Mrs. James, having been Nancy, who married James N. McConnell; Sarah, who married John Brock ; Hetty, who married Captain Kiler ; Betsy, who married William Morgan, and James, who became a farmer in Sugarcreek township. 662 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO ANDREW FRANKLIN GILL. Andrew Franklin Gill, farmer and dairyman and occupant of the old Galloway place on the Fairground pike at the edge of Xenia, the place on which he spent his youth and of which he has been in active charge for some years past, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Xenia since he was six years of age, at which ,tender ae he became an occupant of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home at Xenia, later being given a home on the Galloway place, which he now has in charge, having returned there in 1912, after some years of absence, to take charge of the place for Miss Rebecca Galloway. He was born at Lattasburg, in. Wayne county, this state, March 30, 1872, son of Joseph and Mary (Swaisgood) Gill, the former of whom died in 1873 and the latter, in 1877, Joseph Gill was born in Pennsylvania and was trained to the trade of a carpenter. As a young man he came to Ohio and was living in Ashland county when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted for service in the Union army in 1862 and went to the front as a member of Company I, One Himdred and Seventy-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the war. During this service Mr. Gill suffered an attack of smallpox and. was so weakened thereby as to be permanently debilitated. His brother, John. Gill, who was serving in the same company, urged. him to secure a furlough and go home, but he was "gritty" and stuck to it to the end. Upon the completion df his military service Mr. Gill returned to Ashland county and there presently married Mary Swaisgood, who was born in that county and to. whom he had been engaged to marry before going to war. After that he engaged in farming, but the disability he had suffered during his army service presently resulted in a state of invalidism and he died in the fall of 1873, leaving his widow with three small children, the subject of this sketch, the youngest, being then but eighteen months of age. The other children* were William, who is now farming in Ashland county, and Harriet Alice, wife of Edward Schweiboldt, living on Cincinnati avenue, Xenia. The mother of these children did not long survive her soldier husband, her death occurring in 1877, and shortly afterward the three orphaned children were placed in the care of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home at Xenia. Andrew F. Gill was six years of age hen he came under the protecting care of the Home authorities and he remained thus cared for until he was thirteen years of age, or until 1885, when he was taken into the home of Richard and Rebecca Galloway on the old Galloway place on the Fairground pike just out of Xenia, where he remained until after he had reached his GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 663 majority, meanwhile receiving further schooling in the Xenia public schools. He later became employed at the freight house of the Pennsylvania railroad at Xenia and after his marriage bought a home of his own, continuing to reside there until 1912, when he returned to the Galloway farm to take charge of the same for Miss Rebecca Galloway, and has since resided there with his family, farming the place and carrying on a dairy business. Mr. Gill is the owner of eleven lots and a house in Galloway Park addition to the city of Xenia. He is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the First United Presbyterian church at Xenia, On May 26, 1904, Andrew F. Gill was united in marriage to Nellie Price, who also was born in this state and who also was left an orphan at an early age, being afterward reared in the home of Mrs. Haines in the vicinity of Trebeins, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Gill. To this union have been born ,six children, namely : Ellsworth Galloway, born on. May 23, 1905; Marion Haines, July 21, 1906 ; Edna Rebecca, who died at the age of eight months ; Andrew Richard, .born on August t0, 1909 Harold, who lived but three days, and Margaret Faye, February 22, 1918. GEORGE H. STILES. George H. Stiles, who has been engaged in the barber business at Fairfield for the past thirty-five years and is thus accounted to be the oldest barber in point of continuous service in one place in Greene county, was born on a farm a half mile west of the village of Fairfield, on the tract now included in the great Wright aviation field established there by the United States government in 1917, December 26, 1853, son of William and Elizabeth (Sensenbaugh) Stiles, the former of whom was born on that same farm, a son of Benjamin tiles, who had come here from New York and had opened to cultivation the tract now occupied as a training field for. aviators who, beginning in the summer of 1917, have been in training for service against the German army in foreign fields. William Stiles was born in 1830 and grew to manhood on the home place just west of where the village of Fairfield came to be established . After his marriage in 1852 to Elizabeth Sensenbaugh, who also was born in this county, daughter of pioneer parents, he established his home on that place and there continued to reside until 1866, when he left the farm and moved into. Fairfield, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in 1875. His widow did not long survive him, her death occurring in the following year. They were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being John W., deceased ; Mrs. Annora 664 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO L. Newcomer, also deceased ; Otis L., deceased, and Adrian T., now living at Akron, this state, where he is engaged in the rubber business and who has been twice married, father of one child, a son, John, by his first wife and of two children, Roy and Naomi, by the second marriage. Reared on the home farm, George H. tiles received his schooling in the Fairfield schools and after leaving school was variously engaged until 1883, when he opened a barber shop at Fairfield and has since maintained the same. Mr. tiles is a Democrat and for the past eight years has been serving as treasurer of the Fairfield corporation. He is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM W. CRESWELL. William W. Creswell, a retired farmer of Cedarville township, now living in the village of Cedarville, where he has made his home since 1904, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on a farm one and one-fourth miles east of Cedarville on December 1, 1867, son of Amos Wilson and Rebecca (Ward) Creswell, the former of whom was born on that same farm, a member of one of the oldest families in Greene county, and the latter, in the state of New York. Amos Wilson Creswell was born on March 13, 187, son of Samuel and Letitia (Wilson) Creswell, both of whom had come here with their respective parents among the very first settlers of Greene county, Letitia Wilson having been the daughter of Amos Wilson, who in older chronicles is said to have built the first house put up in what later came to be the territory comprised within this county. Samuel Creswell had come here in 1803 with his widowed mother, Mrs. Catherine Creswell, and his brother James and his six sisters, the family having come up from Kentucky with the colony of Seceders that accompanied the Rev. Robert Armstrong in that year and established a new congregation on Massies creek, the settlers having left Kentucky on account of slavery conditions in the latter state, as is set out at length in a more detailed history of the Creswell family presented elsewhere in this volume. Samuel Creswell established his home on the farm in Cedarville township above referred to and there his wife died in 1829, the year after the birth of her last-born son, Benoni, who in time established his home in the Cedarville vicinity and reared a large family. There were five children born to Samuel Creswell and wife, those besides Amos and Benoni having been James, who established his home in Illinois ; one daughter, Ann, and Samuel, who died when eighteen years of age. Amos W. Creswell grew up on the home farm and after his father's death in 1855 inherited a portion of the place and afterward added to his holding until he became the GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 665 owner of three hundred and sixty-five acres, on which he had one of the finest houses in that part of the county, the site of his home being an eminence along the line of the railway commanding a view for miles about. During the progress of the Civil War he served as a member of the Home Guards, familiarly known at that time as "Squirrel Hunters." Politically he was a Republican and by religious persuasion was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church at Cedarville. After the death of his first wife in 1875 he left the farm and for two years thereafter was engaged in the grocery business at Cedarville, but later moved back to the farm and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on December 23, 1899. Amos W. Creswell's first wife was Rebecca Ward, who was born in the state of New York in 1837 and who was but a child when she came to Greene county with her parents. To that union were born five children, two of whom died in infancy, the others besides the subject of this sketch being Ada C., who married S. T. Baker and is living on her father's old home place in Cedarville township, and Samuel, who died in 1876, at the age of seven years. Following the death of the mother of these children, Amos W. Creswell married Mrs. Margaret (Townsley) Rainey, a widow, daughter of J. N. Townsley, who survived her husband a little more than ten years, her death occurring in 1910. By her first marriage she was the mother of one son, Dr. Ralph B. Rainey, who is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Lafayette, Louisiana. William W. Creswell grew up on the home farm and received his schooling in the Cedarville schools. In 1894 he left the farm and engaged in the undertaking business at Cedarville in partnership with A. H. Barr, but four years later sold his interest in that establishment and returned to the farm. Upon the division of the home place following his father's death in 1899 he received two hundred and five acres and he continued to live there, managing the place, until a few months after his marriage, when, in 1904, he rented his place and returned to Cedarville, where he since has made his home, he and his family residing on South Main street. On October 9, 1903, William W. Creswell was united in marriage to Ethel Fields, who was born at Cedarville on November 28; 1879, daughter of William and Fannie (White) Fields, both of whom also were born in this county, in the Cedarville neighborhood, and the former of whom is still living, now a resident of Dayton, where he is engaged in the carpentry business. Mr. and Mrs. Creswell have two sons, Alfred Ward, born on June 24, 1905, and James Nelson, June 24, 1909. They are members of the Reformed Presbyterian church at Cedarville and Mr. Creswell has been treasurer of the congregation for the past eleven years or more. In his political affiliation he is a Republican. 666 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO GEORGE A. BIRCH. George A. Birch, proprietor of the old Robert Mitchell farm on the Fairfield pike, rural mail route No. 3 out of Xenia, in Xenia township, this county, is a native of the Sunflower state, but has been a resident of Ohio since the days of his boyhood. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of Hutchinson, in Reno county, Kansas, May 3, 1880, son of George Haviland and Eliza (Kinkaid) Birch, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter, of Missouri, and the former of whom, a veteran of the Civil War, is still living, now making his home in Xenia, where he has resided since 1905, proprietor of the old Eavey homestead place on Columbus street on the eastern edge of the city. The Birches are one of the oldest families in America, the genealogy being of record in an unbroken line back to Thomas Birch, who died at Dorchester, Connecticut, on October 3, 1657, and whose children named in his will, dated June 4, 1654, were named as Joseph, Jeremiah, Jonathan and Mary. Jeremiah Birch, second son of Thomas, went to tonington, Connecticut, before 1670 and there had a grant of land east of the present village of Clarks Falls. His children were Thomas, Jeremiah, Joseph and Jonathan. the latter of whom, Jonathan, born at Stonington, Connecticut, August 22, 1706, married Mary Rathbone and had eight children, Jonathan, Jane, John, Zurviah, Jeremiah, Mary, David and Joshua. John Birch was born at tonington on June 4, 1711, and on June 23, 1737, married Mary Bessey, to which union were born two sons, John and Joshua. This second John, born on December 13, 1738, moved with 'his father to Dutchess county, New York, settling at Pawlingtown, where both were enrolled in the Dutchess county militia for service during the Revolutionary War. The junior John Birch married Patty Ralph and their son, George Haviland Birch, born at Pawling-town in 1778, married Phebe Fairlie Mitchell, who was born in camp at Newburg during the Revolutionary War, her father at the time being post quartermaster. This George Haviland Birch, grandfather of the present holder of the name at Xenia and great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, died in Rensselaer county, New York, July 30, 1852. He and his wife were the parents of thirteen children, namely : Maria, Erastus Mitchell, Sally Ann, Emaline, Elmira, Mrs. Harriet Link, Frederick; Phebe, George, James, Alford, Mrs. Caroline Traver and Henrietta. The second of these children, Erastus Mitchell Birch, was born at Pawlingtown, in Dutchess county, New York, January 19, 1801, and died at Yellow Springs, in this county, July 7, 1885. Erastus Mitchell Birch grew up at Pawlingtown and on January 13, 1830, married Sallie A. Milligan, who was born at Stockbridge, Massachu- GREENS COUNTY, OHIO - 667 setts, in 1812 and died in 1865 at Yellow Springs, this county. Twenty years before this last date, in 1845, he drove west on a prospecting trip, going as far as the then Territory of Wisconsin and liked conditions there. so well that he returned to New York for his family and with them drove through to the site he had selected, and settled on a farm twelve miles south of Kenosha, then called Southport, he having bought a quarter of a section of land divided there by the Illinois-Wisconsin line, an "eighty" on either side of the line. Later he disposed of that tract and moved some miles farther south in Illinois and after a while disposed of this second tract and moved to a farm sixteen miles from 'Laporte, in Indiana, where he became engaged in the operation of a water-power mill. While thus engaged he became associated with the local swamp-land commissioner and bought up much swamp land in that and adjacent counties. In 1857 he came with his family to Ohio and located at Yellow Springs, in this county, where he spent the rest of his life. As noted above, his wife died in 1865. He married again and lived until the summer of 1885. He was a member of the Christian church and by political persuasion was a Republican, having originally been a Whig and a free-soiler. By his first wife, Sallie A. Milligan, Erastus M. Birch was the father of six children, namely : William, whose last days were spent in Reno county, Kansas; George Haviland, now living at Xenia, father of the subject of this sketch ; John, who died at Dayton, this state, in 1915 ; Hugh, a lawyer and real-estate dealer at Chicago ; Sarah Ann, who married Dr. Walter D. tillman and who, as well as her husband, is row dead, and Phebe Jane, who married James Hyde, owner of a four-hundred-acre farm in the vicinity of Yellow Springs, in Miami township, this county, and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased. George Haviland Birch was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, January 2, 1838, and was about eight years of age when his parents moved to Wisconsin. He later lived with them in Indiana and was nineteen years of age when they came to Greene county and located at Yellow Springs. He completed his schooling at Antioch College and was living at Yellow Springs when the Civil War broke out. On April 17, 1861, two days after President Lincoln's first call for volunteers to put down armed rebellion against the Union, he enlisted as a member of Company F, Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with that command went to the front and thus participated in the first battle of Bull Run. Upon the completion of _that term of enlistment he re-enlisted and served until long after the close of the war, not being mustered out until in December, 1865. During this long period of service Mr. Birch participated in many of the most important engagements of the Western campaign and was severely wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Birch 668 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO returned to Yellow Springs and not long afterward went to Indiana and was for some time engaged in farming there with his brother William, who had a farm in Jasper county, that state. As a boy, George H. Birch had been given a tract of seven hundred and twenty-eight acres of swamp land in tarke county, Indiana, a gift from his father, but it later developed that the title was defective and he lost it. In 1875 George H. Haviland accompanied his brother William and the latter's family to Kansas, each of the brothers taking a homestead in Little River township, Reno county, that state. Two years later, in 1877, in the adjacent county of McPherson, he married Eliza Jane Kinkaid, who was born in Missouri, daughter of William C. Kinkaid and wife, who settled in McPherson county, Kansas, in 1874. He continued farming his homestead tract until 1888, when he disposed of his interests in Kansas and returned to Greene county and for four years thereafter was engaged as manager of the four-hundred-acre farm of his sister, Mrs. Hyde, in Miami township. He then bought the Sellers farm in Xenia township and there made his home until 1905, when he sold that place and bought the forty-acre tract comprising the old Eavey place on the east edge of the city of Xenia, where he since has made his home. Mr. Birch cast his first vote for President for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and he has ever since been a Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been twice married. His first wife, Eliza Jane Kinkaid, died on June 25, 1885, in Kansas, leaving two children, a son and a daughter, George A., the subject of this sketch, and Ina May, who is living at home in Xenia. Mr. Birch later married Rosa Belle Longshore, of Reno county, Kansas, and to this latter union two children were born, Edna, wife of B. U. Bell, of Xenia township, this county, and Richard, at home. George A. Birch was but seven years of age when his father returned to Greene county from Kansas and he was reared on the farm. He completed his schooling at Antioch College and some time after his marriage bought a farm of seventy-five acres in Union township, in the neighboring county of Clinton, where he made his home for three years, or until 1906, when he sold that place and returned to Greene county and bought the Robert Mitchell place of one hundred and eighty acres on the Fairfield pike, in Xenia township, where he since has resided. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Birch has sold sixty acres. He has remodeled the brick dwelling house on the place and has made other improvements. Mr. Birch is a Republican and in 1916 was the nominee of his party for county commissioner from his district, but was defeated in the ensuing election. He is a member of the Xenia Business Men's Association. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 669 On September 11, 1900, George A. Birch was united in marriage to Florence Anderson, who was born at Trebeins, this county, daughter of P. H. and Mary Anderson, who are now living at Springfield, this state, and to this union have been born four children, namely: Helen, born on April 27, 1902, who is now a student in the high school at Xenia; Mary, March 21, 1904; Ruth, June 10, 1906, and Frances, May 21, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Birch are members of the First Presbyterian church at Xenia and Mr. Birch is one of the ruling elders of the same. WILLIAM H. BARBER. William H. Barber, president of the Tarbox Lumber Company of Cedarville, a former trustee of Cedarville township and the owner of a farm just west of the village of Cedarville, was born on the farm now owned by John Taylor on July 10, 1853, son of John Alexander and Eliza (Galloway) Barber, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent here. John Alexander Barber was born on a farm northeast of the village of Cedarville, a son of John and Sarah (Martin) Barber, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania after their marriage in the latter state and settled in Greene county, establishing their home on a farm in Cedarville township. John Barber spent the rest of his life on that farm and his widow, who survived him for some years, spent her last days in Cedarville. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom John A. was the tenth in order of birth, the others having been Samuel, James, Martin, David, Hester, Sallie, Al G., Robert, Frank and one who died in infancy. The father of these children was a soldier of the War of 1812 and he and his wife were members of the Associate Reformed church, in the faith of which communion their children were reared, the family becoming connected with the United Presbyterian church after the union of 1858. Reared on the farm on which he was born, John A. Barber remained there until after his marriage, when he established his home on a farm just west of the village of Cedarville and there he spent practically the rest of his life, his death occurring in Cedarville in 1892. John A. Barber was twice married. His first wife, Eliza Galloway, was born in Xenia township, this county, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Collins) Galloway, pioneers of that township, the former a native of York county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Bourbon county, Kentucky, whose respective families were among the earliest settlers in the region that later came to be organized as Greene county. Andrew Galloway and wife were the parents of ten children, Wash- 670 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO ington, Rebecca, Lydia, Eliza, Eleanor, William, Samuel, Isabella, Julia and Andrew H. Mrs. Eliza Galloway Barber died on July 16, 1866, leaving one child, a son, William H., the subject of this sketch. John A. Barber married, secondly, Sarah Townsley, of Cedarville township, also a member of one of the first families of Greene county, who survived him for years, her death occurring on March 15, 1915. To that second union were born two children, Eva, wife of Charles Ervin, of Xenia, and Florence, wife of Jesse Townsley, of Cedarville township. John A. Barber was a Democrat. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church. William H. Barber grew up on the home farm in the vicinity of Cedarville and supplemented the schooling he received in the local schools by a course in Monmouth College. After his marriage in 1878 he established his home on the old home place a half mile west of Cedarville, one hundred acres of which he still owns, and there continued engaged in farming and stock raising for twenty-five years, or until his retirement from the farm in 1903 and removal to Cedarville, where he since has made his home. Mr. Barber is president of the Tarbox Lumber Company, of Cedarville. He is a Republican and has served as township trustee, as township treasurer and as a member of the library board. On January 17, 1878, William H. Barber was united in marriage to Lucy J. Tarbox, who also was born in Cedarville township, February 4, 1854, daughter of John M. and Rachel (Nichol) Tarbox, the latter of whom was born in Belmont county, this state. John M. Tarbox was born at Parsonsfield, in York county, Maine, December 3, 1829, a on of John and Lucy (Merrill) Tarbox, the former of whom was a soldier of the War of 1812. When John M. Tarbox was eight years of age he was bereft by death of his mother and two years later his father died. Thus orphaned he was early thrown on his own resources and when twenty years of age came West and presently located at Cedarville, this county, where he became engaged working as a carpenter and where in 1852 he married Rachel Nichol, whose parents had settled there in 1840. Mr. Tarbox later followed farming for four or five years and then began the operation of a saw-mill on the old McFarland place in Cedarville township, remaining there for fifteen years, or until the water-power became exhausted, afterward working for a tine wit) the Jeffreys cabinet shop and then built a saw-mill at Cedarville. establishing there the business which has ever since been carried on there in the lumber line, now being carried on under the name of the Tarbox Lumber Company.o During the progress of the Civil War Mr. Tarbox served as a soldier of the Union, a member of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His wife died on February 24, 1901, she then being seventy-seven years of age, and since then Mr. Tarbox has made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Barber. GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 671 He is a Republican and a member of the United Presbyterian church. To John M. Tarbox and wife were born six children, those besides Mrs. Barber being Maria, wife of Samuel K. Williamson, living south of Cedarville; Merrill, who died at the age of eighteen months; Mary Elizabeth, who died at the age of ten months; William J., who early became engaged in the lumber business with his father and is still thus engaged at Cedarville, a member of the Tarbox Lumber Company, and Thomas N., former postmaster at Cedarville, who also is a member of the Tarbox Lumber Company. Mr. and Mrs. Barber are members of the United Presbyterian church. WILLIAM B. CLARK. William B. Clark, former postmaster of Clifton and for years a merchant in that village, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Greene county since the days of his early boyhood. He was born on a farm in Richland county, January 7, 1855, son of Nelson and Ann (Reagh) Clark, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Ireland, who became residents of the Clifton neighborhood along in the latter 50s of the past century and there spent their last day, Nelson Clark was born in the year 1812 and was but a child when he came to this country with his parents, the family corning on out to Ohio and settling in Knox county. He later became a resident of Knox county, when he married, his wife having grown to womanhood there, she having been but a child when she came with her parents to this country, the family settling in that county. For some time after his marriage Nelson Clark made his home in Richland county and then moved to Henry county, where he owned land, moving thence, about 1859, to Greene county, locating on a farm in the vicinity of Clifton, where he died in the spring of 1861, leaving his widow with a large family of children. These children, in the order of birth were James, Jennie, Samuel, William B., Alice and Sallie (twins), Marv, Alexander and Clara, of whom but four are now living, the subject of this sketch, Alice, Mary and Alexander. William B. Clark was but four or five years of age when he came to this county with his parents and he was but six when his father died. He grew up on the farm and received his schooling in the Clifton schools, going up into the high school. He early became engaged in the tanning business at Clifton and was thus engaged for fifteen years, at the end of which time he for a time worked on a farm, presently being appointed postmaster of Clifton and in the fall of 1896 became engaged in the mercantile business in Clifton; taking over the old Bennett Lewis stand, and conducted the affairs of the 672 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO postoffice in his store. For nineteen years Mr. Clark was retained as postmaster of Clifton and since the termination of that long term of service has continued engaged in the mercantile business. For the past twelve years he has been treasurer of Clifton and he also has held other township and city offices. He is a Republican and is a charter member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. In the spring of 1874 William B. Clark was united in marriage to Louise Grindle, daughter of Henry Grindle, of Clifton, and to this union have been born three children, Nelson H., Anna B., who died on May 29, 1907, and Clyde A., now living at Clifton, who married Myrtle Highwood, of Van Wert county, and has three children, Louise, Nelson and Eugene. Mr. and Mrs. Clark's oldest son, Dr. Nelson H. Clark, who married Nellie Lewis, of Clifton, has been for some years a practicing physician at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was located there when the United States declared war against Germany in the spring of 1917. Doctor Clark offered his services to the government in behalf of the National Army and was appointed head of a hospital unit which was assembled at Lake Forest, a suburb of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Presbyterian church. BENJAMIN F. COY. The late Benjamin F. Coy, who died at his home in the Zimmermans neighborhood in Beavercreek township on July II, 1911, and whose widow is still living there, was born in that township on August 5, 1841, and all his life was spent there. He was a son of Nicholas and Charlotta (Shoup) Coy, both members of pioneer families thereabout and further and fitting reference to whom sis made elsewhere in this volume, together with a comprehensive history of both the Coy and Shoup families in Greene county. Reared on the home farm, Benjamin F. Coy received his schooling in the local schools and upon attaining manhood began farming on his own account, a vocation he followed with success the rest of his life. He was a member of the Church 0f the Brethren and took an active interest in the affairs of the same, as does his widow. Politically, he was a Republican. On January 4, 1867, Benjamin F. Coy was united in marriage to Catherine Silzel, who was born in Dalton county, Pennsylvania, fourth in order of birth of the ten children born to William and Catherine (Sellers) Silzel, and to this union four children were born, namely : Emma, wh0 married William Glotfelter, now living at Dayton, and to whom two children have been born, Benjamin (deceased) and Russell ; Clara, now deceased, who was the wife 0f John Lesher, 0f Alpha, and who was the mother of two children, but one of whom, Bessie, is now living; Lydia, also deceased, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 673 who was the wife of George Feirstein, of Beavercreek township, and who left two children, Roy and Harold and Florence, wife of Louis Stewart. of Alpha, to whom four children have been born, Marcus, Kenneth, Evangeline (deceased) and an infant (deceased). MILTON A. SMITH. Milton A. Smith, distributing clerk in the postoffice at Xenia, was born on a farm one mile south of the village of New Jasper, in the township of that name, March 7, 1877, and has been a resident of this county all his life, formerly and for seven years prior to entering upon service in the Xenia postoffice having been a school teacher in the county. His parents, William Albert and Keziah (Thomas) Smith, also were born in this county and the latter is still living, having made her home at Xenia since her husband's death in 1908. She was born on December 3, 1855, daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Beason) Thomas, the former of whom was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Bayliff) Thomas, Benjamin Thomas having been a son of Jacob and Ellen Thomas, who settled on Painters run in this county about the year 1802, Benjamin Thomas there marrying Elizabeth Bayliff, a neighbor, daughter of Joshua and Margaret (Fry) Bayliff, who had come here from Virginia about that same time or shortly prior thereto and had settled in the Paintersville neighborhood on Painters run in Caesarscreek township, all of which, together with a comprehensive history of this family, is set out at length elsewhere in this volume. Eliza Beason Thomas, mother of Mrs. Smith, was a daughter of Thomas and Keziah Beason, who had a farm three miles south of New Jasper on the Paintersville road and who were the parents of twelve or fourteen children. Mrs. Smith was the first-born of the eight children born to her parents, the others being the following: Joshua, born on August 4, 1858, who died on November 18, 1863 ; Benjamin, January 29, 1860, who died 0n November 30, 1863; Lydia, June 7, 1862, wife of Jacob R. Jones, of Mt. Tabor, this county Alice, August 7, 1864, who married J. C. Bales and died on January 4, 1892; Loretta, April 10, 1866, who married Frank M. Spahr and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased, her death having occurred on June 1, 1915 Francis Marion, February 1, 1868, who married Alice L. Brown and lives on a farm in New Jasper township, and Jacob Lewis, May 8, 1870, who married Ida Hite and is now living in Logan county, this state. William Albert. Smith was born on a farm in Caesarcreek township, this county, son of Burrell and Mary (Bales) Smith, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and further mention (42) 674 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Burrell Smith was a son of John and Margaret (Burrell) Smith, the latter of whom was born in Caesarscreek township, this county, August 16, 1808. John Smith was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, and was eighteen years of age when he came to Ohio, riding through on horseback to Greene county, where he eventually established his home, becoming the owner of a farm of two hundred acres in Caesarscreek township. He was one of the early assessors of that township and there is a tradition that he had a difficult time convincing some of the settlers that it was their duty to return their property for taxation. He was a Whig and became one of the organizers of the Republican party in this county. By religious persuasion he was a Methodist. His. death occurred on January 31, 1883, he then being eighty-four years of age, and he was buried in the Baptist graveyard near Jamestown. On January 16, 1823, John Smith married Margaret Burrell and to that union were born twelve children, of whom Burrell Smith, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the first-born, the others being the following : William, born on August 3, 1825, who married a Miss Ireland and lived at Blainetown; Elnora, September 9, 1827, who married John Ford and moved to Indiana; Henry, September 12, 1829, who died in childhood; Sarah Ann, April 9, 1831, who married Lafayette Lucas and moved to Indiana ; Eli, March 21, 1833, who married Lucy E. Hobbs and moved to Indiana; Elizabeth, September 21, 1835, who married William t. John and lived in Caesarscreek township Nancy, October 17, 1837, who died unmarried; Alfred, December 6, 1839, a carpenter, who went to Missouri; Mary Jane, December 30, 1841, who married Asa Devoe and moved to Indiana; Margaret, February 11, 1844, who is still living, making her home in Jefferson township, widow of. Janes W. Clark, a memorial sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and Emily, September 7, 1848, who married Joseph Bosman and moved to Indiana. Burrell Smith was born on December 10, 1823, and was reared on his father's farm. After his marriage to Mary Bales, who was a member of one of Greene county's old families, he established his home on a farm on the line between New Jasper and Caesarscreek townships and spent the rest of his life there. He and his wife were Baptists. They were the parents of four children, one of whom died in infancy, the others besides the father of the subject of this sketch being John B. Smith, now living at Xenia, a member of the firm of Bales & Smith, and Emma Jane, wife of J. S. Bales, of Xenia. William Albert Smith grew up on the home farm and at the age of nineteen years began teaching school, a profession he followed with slight