INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE - 225 Zachariah Leatherwood at Sinking Spring, established in 1810, that once shipped flour to New Orleans and New York ; the Gerens and Bingerman mills and later the Kibler and Marconet mills in Clay township, and other thriving industries of a day that is gone forever. Some of those were the origins of industries yet maintained and still bear the names of their founders. Of the present status of manufacturing there is no statement more accurate than the figures of the United States census of 1900. According to this work there are 180 manufacturing establishments in Highland county, with an investment in the various forms of capital of $1,062,392. The wage earners employed average 985, and the total of wages paid is $339,960. The materials used annually are valued at $1,379,019, and the product of the year is estimated at $2,164,974. The part taken by Hillsboro in this showing is as follows : establishments, 48 ; capital, $331,539 ; wage earners, 293 ; wages, $114,135 ; materials, $305,399; products, $574,988. Unfortunately, the figures are not given for Greenfield, or other places of the county. TRANSPORTATION. The pioneer roads have already been noticed. They were for many years in a condition that greatly embarrassed the development of the county, but they were the best, apparently, that the people could afford to make. The first marked improvement came as the result of the apportionment of the surplus in the United States treasury among the states under the administration of Andrew Jackson. The Ohio legislature divided the money that fell to this state, popularly known as the Jackson Fund, among the counties, and the Highland county authorities devoted their share to aiding two turnpikes or toll roads, the Milford & Chillicothe road, which was a link in the communication between Cincinnati and the East, and consequently very important to the people of Highland county, and the Hillsboro & Ripley road, which served to connect Hillsboro and the county with the Ohio river. As originally made, the two turnpikes were sixty feet wide, covered with broken stone and provided with stone culverts and substantial bridges. The cost 'of construction was not less than $5,000 a mile, as the labor of clearing away forests and hauling stone was immense. Through the Jackson Fund the county subscribed $39,450 to the Milford & Chillicothe turnpike company, of which Gen. Joseph J. McDowell was president, and $7,500 to the other, and as the county was required to pay these amounts back to the state treasury in taxation, and no dividends were ever received from the roads, the transaction did not profit the county treasury, except a little interest at five per cent. Yet it was a great blessing to have a temporary use of the money for this purpose, and the script H-15 226 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. that was issued in connection with the subscription by the county served for a good number of years as the local money. How important this item was may be inferred from the fact that the total amount involved, less than $50,000, was as large in comparison with total county wealth and taxation, as a million would be now, and money was very scarce and very uncertain in value. In a much later period the county bought up all the interests in these two roads within her bounds and made the roads free. The next great improvement was under the free. turnpike laws of the state, under which assessments for benefits were levied upon the owners of land within two miles on each side of the proposed road, and paid as taxes for the specified purpose. Under the law land owners were able to "work out" their assessments, which made the burden less onerous when money was scarce. Under this law in 1866 the people of Sinking Spring and vicinity constructed a road from Sinking Spring over the old Maysville and Zanesville road, or "Zane's trace" to the Pike county line, and many other improvements followed. Judge Dittey wrote in 1890: "From, this time on there was a general movement in the county for better roads, and by the year 1876 roads had been completed or were rapidly approaching completion from Hillsboro to Belfast and Locust Grove, Hillsboro to Lexington, Hillsboro to Danville and Pricetown, Greenfield to Cynthiana, Greenfield to Carr's Ford, Greenfield to the county line, Greenfield to Centerfield, Samantha to Leesburg, Lynchburg to Dodsonville and McCarthys, and Lexington to the county line. These roads were built under the same general act as that at Sinking Springs, and were macadamized, but the work was not so elaborate as that done on the Milford & Chillicothe road, although it cost almost as much per mile. The discovery of gravel about this time in large quantities where before it was not known to exist gave new zest to the movement, and from then until the present more than two hundred miles of turnpike roads have been built, making the total aggregate of 341 miles of free macadamized roads in the county. The total number of roads improved at present is sixty-eight. Two, the Milford & Chillicothe and the Ripley roads, have been built by private corporations and afterwards purchased and made free by the county, twenty-one built under the "two mile law" and the remaining forty-five under the "one mile law," which is similar to the "two mile law" except in the extent of territory included in the assessing district and that all persons within the bounds are assessed equally. The cost of this work has been very great. The expense of building the roads has not been less than three-quarters of a million dollars, while the bridges and culverts have cost at least a half million more. There is not a principal road and but few by-roads of importance now unimproved, and it is possible at any season of the year to reach all parts of the county INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE - 227 over roads better than are the streets of many cities far exceeding in numbers the population of the county." Starting at Hillsboro we have the Cincinnati and Chillicothe pike, following the original road way established at an early date between the places named the Greenfield turnpike, the Leesburg and New Lexington pike, the Marshall and Carmel pike, intersected at Carmel by the Sinking Spring road, also a turnpike; the Belfast pike, West Union pike, New Market pike, Danville pike, Gall Hill pike, East Monroe pike, Lynchburg and Dodsonville pike, Careytown pike and quite a number of short turnpikes which cross and recross the county between the main lines above mentioned, such as the Spargur mill road, Cynthiana pike, Prospect pike, and others. All these are first class roads and kept in good repair by superintendents appointed for that purpose. The streams are spanned by elegant iron bridges and every facility is afforded for easy and quick travel from one point of the county to the other. Highland county is proud of her good roads, which are elements and symbols of her progress and civilization and liberality. The first railroad project that gave Highland county hope of that modern system of transportation that has revolutionized commerce and travel seems to have been the Marietta and Cincinnati line, but the difficulties of constructing this line across the hills, valleys and rivers delayed it much beyond other important railroads in Ohio. It was expected that the building of the proposed road would be undertaken by the Belpre & Cincinnati company, under a charter dated in March, 1845, but no work was done until after the reorganization in 1847', at Chillicothe, under the title of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad company, in which Allen Trimble and William O. Collins, of Highland county, were directors. In the course of the survey, two lines were discussed, west of Chillicothe, one called the Paint valley route, by way of Bainbridge, which was shorter but supposed to involve greater expense than the other route, which was by way of Frankfort and Greenfield. This led to large subscriptions of stock by the people on the last named route, to offset the supposed natural advantages of their rivals, and it was decided in May, 1850, that the road should pass through Greenfield. After this point was settled, it appeared that the most economical route westward, the cost of construction only being considered, rather than the probable ratio of cost to business secured, would be through the northern part of the county, leaving Hillsboro off the line. When this policy became apparent, the citizens of Hillsboro withdrew from the Chillicothe company and gave their united and earnest support to the Hillsboro & Cincinnati railroad company, which had been organized in 1849 under the presidency of Gen. Joseph J. McDowell, and was already beginning construction between Hillsboro and Loveland. The negotiations that had been in progress to unite the lines from 228 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. east and west at Hillsboro were broken off, and "war" was declared. The promoters of the Cincinnati line proposed to extend their road east beyond Hillsboro through Piketon and Jackson to Parkersburg, and the promotors of the Marietta and Chillicothe road decided to build an independent line to Cincinnati by way of Blanchester. But the Hillsboro & Cincinnati, after completing its line from Loveland through Lynchburg to Hillsboro in 1853, stopped at Hillsboro, though it sank nearly $450,000 in the effort at extension to Parkersburg, while the Chillicothe company ceased its westward extension at Blanchester. In 1854 the two companies made an agreement of union and the Hillsboro and Loveland line became, for operation, part of the Marietta and Cincinnati line, throwing Hillsboro upon a blind branch from Blanchester, instead of a through line as was anticipated. The town was not to blame for this misfortune, as the people had done everything possible to effect a better result, but the difficulties in the way were insuperable. Greenfield, more fortunate, had its road to Chillicothe opened May 1, 1854, and in the same year the remainder of the line through Leesburg to Blanchester was ready for business. Through the use of the Little Miami railroad trains were soon running from Greenfield and Hillsboro to Cincinnati. In 1860, the old Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, having become insolvent, was reorganized after modern methods, the capital stock was increased and bonds issued, and the Hillsboro & Cincinnati line formally purchased. After many vicissitudes this railroad passed into the hands of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad company. In 1875 the Springfield, Jackson & Pomeroy railroad company was organized, with William W. Bell and George I. Rucker among the incorporators, to build from Springfield through Greenfield, to Jackson. Mr. Bell was the first secretary and one of the first directors. On August 1, 1878, the first train ran over this road from Springfield to Jackson. Bankruptcy. and reorganization soon followed, and the company was reorganized as the Springfield Southern. It is now known as the Detroit Southern. The latest railroad in the county is the branch. from Sardinia, Brown county, to Hillsboro, of the Portsmouth and Cincinnati railroad, now known as the Norfolk & Western. By use of this system, one can leave Hillsboro at five o'clock a. m., and be in Cincinnati or Portsmouth, within three hours. At the same time the service on the older lines is much improved. Greenfield and other points on the main line have ample accommodation, and three passenger trains run between. Hillsboro and Blanchester daily, connecting with main line trains from Cincinnati, Columbus and the East. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. R. Rufus Anderson, M. D., a prominent physician of Buford, is a native of Highland county, born in White Oak township, near Mowrystown, September 24, 1851. Dr. Anderson is the son of Hamilton Anderson, who was born in Cynthiana, Ky., March 3, 1814, son of a pioneer family of that state, of whose interesting career some facts may appropriately be given in preface to the sketch of his son. Hamilton Anderson left his Kentucky home, when twenty years of age, to become a pioneer farmer near Quincy, Ill., and in that region contracted his first marriage by which he had three children, William, who resides in Missouri, and Margaret and Mary Jane, both of whom reside in Texas. His second marriage, following the death of the first wife, was to Elizabeth Davidson, who was born and reared in White Oak township, and through this union the Anderson family was brought to Highland county. Miss Davidson met her future husband when on. a visit in Illinois, and within a. year or so after their marriage they removed to Ohio and made their home in White Oak township. There they lived until 1883, when they moved to Missouri, where the wife died at the age of sixty-three years in 1885. Subsequently Hamilton Anderson moved to Alton, Mo., where he died in June, 1890. He was in comfortable circumstances through life, and at the last was the owner of one hundred and thirty-six acres of land. The children by the second marriage were Isaiah (deceased), John S., of Indian Territory; Dr. R. R. Anderson, Mary E., wife of A. Boyd, of Missouri ; Laira of Indian Territory ; Alexander, of Oklahoma ; Lou, wife of A. Ott, of Kansas. Dr. Anderson received his early education in the district schools of Highland county and in the Georgetown Normal. When twenty years of age he went west and remained a year, then returned and for eight years was engaged in teaching. In 1874 he was married to Albina Winkle, a native of White Oak township, and they made their home on the farm now owned by A. Roberts, where he farmed and taught school for eight. years, continuing farming alone for three or four years afterward. In 1883 he moved to Mowrystown and embarked in business as a druggist, and three years later sold out, and devoted himself entirely to the study of medicine, which he had already 230 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. given much attention. In the progress of his study he read one year with Dr. M. F. Funk, and attended two terms of lectures at the Eclectic medical college at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1889. In the same year be began the practice at Galion, Ohio, but two years later (January, 1891), he made his home at Buford. From the first he made a creditable success of his profession. While at Galion he was local surgeon of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & St. Louis railroad, and at Buford, during the administration of President Cleveland, he was an examining surgeon for the United States pension department. He is a member of the Ohio State and Southwestern Ohio Eclectic medical associations, and highly regarded by his professional brethren. Dr. Anderson is an elder of the Church of Christ, in politics a Democrat, and fraternally is associated with the orders of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, in the latter lodge serving as camp physician. His children are, Perry Lee, Hamer C., Clanie M., and Frank E. Calvin Andrews, of Fairfield township, has long been prominent in the educational and official affairs of Highland county as teacher, office-holder and public spirited citizen. The family is of Virginia origin on both sides of the house, the Ohio branch being founded by Lewis Andrews, who became one of the early settlers of Clinton county. Lewis Andrews, son of the foregoing, married Ellen, daughter of Eli and Mary (Goldsborough) Bolin, also an early Ohio settler from Virginia and a man of mark in his day. Among the children resulting from this union was Calvin Andrews, subject of this sketch, who was born within ten miles of where he now resides on January 25, 1849, and is the only living descendant of the original settler. At an early period of life he nurtured an ambition to become a 'teacher and with a view to preparing himself thoroughly for this vocation entered the National Normal university at Lebanon, Ohio. As soon as he had finished at that institution, Mr. Andrews assumed the task of teaching and followed that occupation with success and constantly increasing reputation for many years. During this period, while publishing a paper at Leesburg, he began the agitation to abolish the fee system and place all county officials on salaries, and it was largely through his active efforts that this wholesome reform was eventually consummated. Mr. Andrews has held all of the more important township offices and proved himself to be an excellent business man by the manner in which he discharged these duties. For five years he was township clerk and for four years he held the office of assessor. He was also elected township trustee but resigned that position in 1889 to accept the office of superintendent of the county Infirmary at Hillsboro. This place he retained for two years and discharged its BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 231 duties so acceptably as to be offered another term, but this honor he declined. Since retiring from public life, he has resided in comparative repose on his country place near Leesburg but maintains a watchful interest in all events and movements affecting affairs in his county, town or township. Mr. Andrews married Margery Ladd, daughter of Jeremiah and Rebecca Ladd, one of the staunch old Quaker families of Fairfield township. She was born in the house where she now resides November 23, 1850, and was the youngest of the thirteen children of Jeremiah and Rebecca (Moorman) Ladd, her father having been born in North Carolina in 1797 and settled near Leesburg, with his parents in 1808. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have two children, Rodney L. and Brice J. The former married Fannie Covan, of Leesburg, and is now engaged in the mercantile business there, is a member of the town council and of the board of education and takes an active interest in all public affairs. Brice J., who married Laura Griffith of Leesburg and resides there, having one child, Lillian Margery, has devoted much time to newspaper work and as a writer is regarded as having superior talents. These two sons and their, wives are all high school graduates. Isaac Armbrust is of German genealogy though a native of Ohio and connected from youth with the industries of the state. Philip Armbrust, now deceased, came from Germany in early life and located in Pike county, Ohio, where for years he pursued the calling of a builder and contractor. He married Catharine Fry, also a native of Germany, and reared a family of seven children, six of whom are living in different parts of Ohio. Isaiah Armbrust is in business at Cincinnati, and Philip is a farmer of Highland county; Lizzie married Edward Hyde, a business man of Milford Center; Louise is the wife of Frank Went, of Portsmouth, and Sadie is unmarried. Isaac Armbrust) who completes the list, was born at. Waverly, Ohio, and received his early education as well as business training in his native place. His first venture in business on his own behalf was as manager of a bakery at Greenfield. This, however, he soon gave over to become a contractor and builder, which occupation he followed eight or nine years and during that time erected many residences in Greenfield. In 1897, he embarked in the planing mill business, and this has absorbed all of his attention since that time. Being a reliable workman and popular citizen he enjoys a fair share of the patronage in his line. In 1883, he was married to Missouri, daughter of John Ely, of Greenfield, Ohio. John W. Armbrust, their only son, is a mechanic of considerable ability and especially efficient as a turner. Mr. Armbrust is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Greenfield and the family are highly esteemed as good citizens and good neighbors. 232 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. Joseph Bailey, one of the large land-owners and representatie farmers of Penn township, comes of an honored old Quaker family which traces its pedigree far back into the seventeenth century. It was in 1687, just five years after William Penn made his historic landing in Pennsylvania, that Joel Bailey was married to Ann Short and from this couple have descended all the Baileys subsequently conspicuous in the various states of America. Thomas Bailey, a great-great-grandson of Joel, was the founder of the Ohio branch of the family and he it was who changed the spelling of the name by introducing the letter "e." His birth occurred August 4, 1777, in Virginia, and there he married Elizabeth Timberlake, with whom and her two children he came to Highland county in 1808. He settled in Penn township on the farm now occupied by his grandson, who is the subject of this sketch, and there he built a small house in which he lived until his death, which occurred at Samantha, November 27, 1858. This worthy progenitor of the Highland county Baileys was one of those quiet, unostentatious men who exert great influence by their probity of character, regard for the rights of others and conformity to all the requirements of good citizenship. He and his son John were prominent and respected members of the Friends' meeting and this influence was transmitted to and since maintained by their immediate descendants. The children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Timberlake) Bailey. were May, John, Christopher, Joseph, Sarah, Ann, Judith, Ansolum, Elizabeth and Moses. John Bailey, second in age of the above enumerated children, was born in Virginia, January 21, 1806, and was an infant between two and three years of age when his parents arrived at their new home in Ohio. He grew up on the farm and in after life became a man of influence in his community, especially active in religious affairs of the denominaton to which he belonged. He married Mary Baker and his children were William Y., Lydia Ann, who married George F. Buzzard and died November 20, 1897, Mary E., Hannah J., wife of Isaac W. Harold, John H., Joseph, David, Sallie C., who married Samuel Smithson, and Jesse, who died in infancy. Joseph Bailey, sixth of these nine children, was born in Penn township, Highland. county, Ohio, January 6, 1845, and grew up to be one of the most successful farmers of his neighborhood. He has well sustained the reputation of his father and grandfather as good citizens and industrious agriculturists, and like them also stands high in his community as one whose daily walk is along the lines of right conduct and the fulfillment of all the duties between man and man. Like all the Baileys for many generations he is a member of the Society of Friends, the historic organization which has done so much to realize the prayer of the' Christian founder for "peace on earth and good will among men." Mr. Bailey has prospered in worldly affairs and now owns BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 233 all told about 583 acres of land, mostly in Penn township, and including the farm of 153 acres half a mile south of Samantha on which he resides. July 23, 1869, he was married to Martha, daughter of Jesse and Ruth (Davis) Engle, and by her has had the following named children: Etta, wife of Benjamin Carey, a farmer of Penn township; Cora Inez John Elber, who married Luella Medsker and is farming near Careytown ; Jesse, Elmer, twin brother of the last mentioned, who died in infancy ; Charles E., died in infancy ; Harlan D., at home, and Walter, who married Osa Roads. William S. Barker, prominent in Salem township as a breeder of fine stock and long connected with Sunday school and other religious work, is descended from honorable Virginia ancestry identified with Highland county at an .early period. The grandfather, John Barker, was a native of Maryland who married at nineteen years of age and moved to West Virginia. He became a noted. hunter and was called out to help suppress the "Whisky insurrection" which occurred in the second administration of President Washington. In 1828, accompanied by his wife and thirteen children, he came to Ohio and after a short sojourn near Hillsboro located in New Market township where he lived fifteen years. In 1842, he moved to the farm in Salem township which was subsequently owned by his son James. The original thirteen children were increased by one birth after the parents reached Ohio, but all have long since passed away. Of all the children, the best known was the late Rev. James H. Barker, whose birth occurred in Virginia, November 4, 1827. May 30, 1846, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Jesse and Nancy (Davidson) Faris, and occupied the homestead farm for many years thereafter. In 1882, he purchased the old Beam farm at Pricetown, where he lived until a few years before his death, much respected in the community, as a good and conscientious man. For many years and until ill health prevented, he was a minister of the Christian church and enthusiastic in the discharge of all the duties connected therewith. Of his eleven children, Nancy J., Alice, Emrick and two infants are dead. Those living are Sarah J., wife of Philip Laniger of Pricetown ; Jesse P., of Clay township ; Dillie, wife of Frank Chaney Ella, wife of Charles Barr, of New Market township ; the subject of this sketch; and Virginia, wife of Robert McLaughlin, of Salem township. William S. Barker, last bust one of these children, was born in Salem township, Highland county, Ohio, January 10, 1865, and remained at home until he was of legal age. Shortly after that period he was married to Louisa (Miller) Turner, a native of Highland county and daughter of William C. and Louisa A. Miller. He located with his bride on a farm of 231 acres where he is engaged 234 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. principally in stock raising, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. He has been township assessor and school director and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Pricetown. Mr. Barker inherited from his father deep religious convictions and a fondness for all kinds of work connected with the church. For seventeen consecutive years he has been superintendent of the Sunday school in the Christian church, which he joined when only twelve years old, and is quite enthusiastic in attention to his class: When a boy he studied music and afterward for several years taught that delightful science, which since has proved of great assistance to him in connection with his Sunday school work. Frank O., the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Barker, is a bright boy who gives promise of worthily carrying forward the honorable careers of his ancestors. Nelson Barrere, a veteran of the civil war and well-known citizen of New Market township, comes of distinguished pioneer ancestry. His grandfather, George W. Barrere, became a settler of Ohio as early as 1802, when he crossed over the river from his old home in Kentucky and after a short sojourn in Clinton county located in New Market township. The new arrival bought from John Eversole a hewed log house of one room, to which he soon added another and fixed up a kind of room in the loft. This structure the proprietor proceeded to use as a tavern which eventually became the leading house of entertainment in those parts and was known far and wide for its good cheer and generous fare. George W. Barrere raised a volunteer rifle company for the war of 1812, of which he was made captain, and membership 'in which constitutes a proud genealogical title for many descendants of the original recruits. After the war, he engaged in mercantile business at New Market and continued his store for several years. He served as state senator in the Ohio legislature almost continuously from 1808 until 1815 and was associate judge of Highland county fourteen years from 1816. He was also one of the first county commissioners and served as such several terms, being one of the most influential and popular citizens during this formative period of the state and county. Morgan Barrere, one of the sons of the old captain, was born in Kentucky, February 27, 1802, the year his father emigrated, and some months before Ohio's admission into the Union. In after years he became one of the substantial citizens of New Market, where his son, Nelson Barrere, was born February 16, 1840. The latter had scarcely passed his majority when the opening guns of the civil war stirred the patriotic blood in his veins and caused him to join the great hosts then answering the calls of President Lincoln. October 10, 1861, he enlisted' in Company B, Sixtieth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, which was recruited for the defense of the border counties of the State and first sent to Gallipolis. In the spring of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 235 1862, however, it was ordered to join General Fremont in Virginia, and under that officer had its first taste of fighting at Strasburg. Later on it was in the sharp fighting higher up the valley, at the battle of Cross Keys, against the forces commanded by Stonewall Jackson. The Sixtieth fought bravely in this heated engagement and suffered considerable loss. Subsequently it was ordered to Harper's Ferry and was part of the unfortunates who were forced to surrender to Jackson's army in September, 1862. This ended the career of the Sixtieth regiment, as it was paroled and mustered out of the service in October, the majority of its members re-enlisting in other organizations and serving gallantly until the close of the war. After his release from service at Chicago, Mr. Barrere returned home and resumed his occupation of farming. In 1863 he was married to Albertine Washburn, a native of Adams county and daughter of Dr. Joseph and Elizabeth Washburn, the former a practicing physician at New Market for many years. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Barrere again went to the front as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth regiment Ohio national guard. June 11, 1864, this regiment was engaged in a severe battle near Cynthiana, Ky., in which it fought well but suffered severe loss in killed and wounded, besides the capture of two hundred and eighty of its members. The latter, however, were only held a short time as prisoners and later did guard duty at Cincinnati until discharged from the service in September. Mr. Barrere again returned home, where he spent two years and removed to Douglas county, Ill. He lived in that state seven years and then came back to Ohio, locating permanently on part of the old homestead farm where he has since resided. Mr. Barrere is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a comrade in Hillsboro post, No. 205, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Barrere have had nine children whose names are as follows: Elvin V., employee of the Hillsboro postoffice; Malissa, wife of Joseph Miller, county recorder; Joseph W., of New Market; Willoughby, guard and teacher at the Mansfield Reformatory ; Edna B., wife of Rev. E. L. Hollingsworth ; Nelson, of New Market; James A. ; Lucretia, deceased, and Charles. James A. and Charles are at home. Capt. David M. Barrett, commander of a company in the famous Eighty-ninth Ohio regiment during the civil war and quite prominent for years in politics and business, is descended from one of those sturdy pioneer families which were identified with Highland in the first years of its existence as a county. The founder was Richard Barrett who brought his family in wagons from their old home near Winchester, Va., to the Ohio and down that river on flat boats and again overland by team until they arrived in the confines of Highland county in 1807. He located in Paint township where 236 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. he bought 150 acres of land at $8.00 per acre, manufactured the necessary material and built the brick house which is still standing on the place as one of the landmarks of "ye olden times." Richard Barrett was a member of the Society of Friends, that historic organization which became famous as the advocate of peace and brotherly love and the uncompromising foe of slavery. He was conspicuous as one of the workers in the Quaker community of Highland county, helped erect a building for worship and was one of the most influential leaders of his people. His death occurred March 20, 1844, at the age of eighty-three, and that of his wife June 6, 1833, at the age of seventy-one years. The names and dates of birth of their children are thus recorded in the family Bible: Rebekah, 1778 ; Eleanora, 1779; Lydia, 1791 ; Phebe, 1793; Sarah, 1796; Rachel, 1798; Sydney, 1800; Amy, 1802; Richard L., 1805. The latter, who was born in Virginia, was about two years old when the family arrived at their Ohio home. In early manhood he married Sarah D. Mitchell, a. native of Kentucky, whose parents had settled in the neighborhood of the Barretts in Paint township. Her father, David Mitchell, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Richard L. and Sarah D. Barrett had seven children, of whom Maria, Rosana, Eleanora and Sarah J. are dead. The three living are David M., Elizabeth A., widow of Andrew Platter, and Richard C., who lives in Clinton county, Ohio. The second wife of Richard J. Barrett was Mary J. Wiley, by whom he had six children: Henry C., the eldest, enlisted in the Twelfth regiment Ohio cavalry and was killed the service ; Lydia married William Wyer and died afterward; John is a resident of Paint township ; Emma is the wife of A. B. Milner; Mary is now Mrs. Merton Wallace of Liberty township; Edmund is a resident of Missouri. The father of these children died at his home in Paint township November 23, 1877, in his seventy-second year. David M. Barrett, who was the third of the first family of children, was born in Paint township, Highland county, Ohio, October 27, 1829. He was reared on the old homestead and remained there engaged in stock-dealing until his marriage to Sally A. Weyer, which occurred September 25, 1855. The next three years were devoted to the management of a store at New Petersburg and in the spring of 1858 he purchased the mill property on the Rocky fork of Paint creek with which his name was so long associated. These mills, the first in Highland county, were built by Jesse Baldwin on Factory branch of Rocky fork in 1805 or 1806 and proved to be an extensive and successful undertaking. The plant comprised not only a sawmill and grist-mill, but a carding and fulling mill and, after 1820, a woolen mill. Later, Mr. Baldwin abandoned the old structures and built another below the mouth of the branch on Rocky fork, where the present mills are. Subsequently the property passed into the ownership of Dr. Boyd, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 237 who enlarged and improved the saw- and grist-mills. Dr. Boyd gave them to his son, J. Milton Boyd, who sold them to Captain Barrett, who in the year 1860 tore down the old buildings and erected much better ones in their place. He remained in charge of the woolen mills, which manufactured a superior article of cloth, for more than thirty-six years. In 1862, he raised a company of soldiers for the Union army of which he was elected captain and which subsequently became part of the Eighty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry. The first great battle in which Capt. David M. Barrett took part as commander of Company I was the famous engagement at Chickamauga, September 19, 1863. During the afternoon of the 20th, the Eighty-ninth went into the hottest of the fight; and, with the Twenty-first Ohio and Twenty-second Michigan, held its position against fearful odds until dark, when they were surrounded and all captured. Captain Barrett was now fit for a round of experiences in those awful dens of starvation and torture called the "Southern prison pens." He was first taken to the notorious Libby prison at Richmond, Va., where he was held about eight months, and subsequently spent more or less time for several months at Danville, Augusta, Macon, Charleston and Columbia. While at Charlotte, N. C., he and two companions bribed a sentinel and escaped from prison, but after five weeks were taken sick and recaptured. Captain Barrett's terms in prison at different places amounted in all to eighteen months and during much of the time he was subjected to hunger, filth and every privation calculated to make life miserable. At the close of the war he was released and returned home, where he resumed his industrious and busy life as miller, manufacturer, farmer, stockraiser and general man of affairs. In fact few men have had so many "irons in the fire" as Captain Barrett, but he has managed to keep everything going and in all his multifarious activities has discharged the obligations with credit to himself and satisfaction to others. In 1865 he was elected representative from Highland county in the state legislature, was again elected in 1883 and re-elected in 1885. In 1885 he was appointed a member of the board of state asylum trustees at Athens, and served as president of the board until he resigned. In 1889 he was a member of the state board of equalization, and during the following year was superintendent of the Boys' Industrial school, which position he resumed in 1893 and held for eight years. He served three years as township assessor and was member of the board of education for about twenty years. He also held the position of township clerk. Captain Barrett has been connected with the Masonic fraternity since 1850 and holds membership in Hillsboro lodge, No. 58. He is a member of the Loyal Legion and one of the most honored comrades of Trimble post, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is commander. Captain Barrett has for many years been extensively 238 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. engaged in the live stock industry and owns at present seven hundred acres of land, his holdings formerly amounting to one thousand acres. He has eight children : Cora M., wife of J. B. Davis; Richard B., in the federal service at Cincinnati, O. ; Horace M., in charge of his father's mill ; Morgan, manager of a mill at Bainbridge; Newton R., in charge of the farm ; Sarah N., wife of J. A. Head of Hillsboro ; Jesse C. and Elizabeth, wife of Ralph Smith of Denver, Colorado. Captain Barrett is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has held various official positions in connection therewith. Sally A., the wife of Capt. Barrett, died July 21st, 1901. Reuben P. Barrett, quite prominent in the business affairs and public life of Leesburg, is descended from one of the pioneers who made the first beginnings of civilization in Fairfield township. His great grandfather, Jonathan Barrett, made his appearance in 1805, the same year in which Highland county was organized, purchased a place on Hardin's creek and there proceeded to make a settlement after the true backwoods style. He bought the land from Nathaniel Pope, the first settler of the township, and built his cabin on the spot which long afterward was occupied as a residence by Josel Wright, the Quaker preacher. Along with Jonathan came his brother Richard and his brother-in-law, Henry Cowgill, all from Virginia and later on prominent in the development of that part of the county. Jonathan Barrett reared a family of six children, Benjamin; Jesse, Ellis, Levi, Rachel and Lydia, all long since dead, the last survivor being Rachel, who married J. Ladd and died in Penn township. Benjamin Barrett, oldest son of Jonathan, was born in Virginia and well grown before his father's migration to Ohio. Like all the family connection he was a member of the Friends church and became quite prominent in the affairs of that religious denomination. He was also successful as a farmer and influential in the public life and general development of the township. Benjamin Barrett married Ruth Slaughter, also a native of Virginia, and had fifteen children, many of whom stood around his bedside at the time of his death in 1880. Among them was his son, John Barrett, who was born in Highland county in 1832, and still resides on his country estate near the old homestead in Fairfield township. He is the father of Reuben P. Barrett, who was born in Highland county in 1859, and during his whole life has been identified with the business interests of Leesburg. He has served as supervisor and member of the board of education and in July, 1897, was appointed postmaster by President McKinley. He is interested in the commercial elevator at Leesburg, and a member of lodge No. 78, Free and Accepted Masons of that city. His wife is Phoebe, daughter of Allen Johnson, of Leesburg, and descendant of a family that emi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 239 grated from Virginia in an early period of the county's history. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Barrett are Maud, Augusta, Georgia, Hubert and Louise. Hannibal A. Beeson, M. D., one of the oldest medical practitioners of Highland county and long prominent in. professional circles, is descended from pioneer people of the best ancestral stock. His father, Dr. Ruel Beeson, was born in Highland county in 1811, of North Carolina parentage, and commenced the practice of medicine at Leesburg in 1833. Later he engaged in the mercantile business, became prominent in politics as a Whig and was elected to the state senate in 1848, but declined a renomination. He was conspicuous as a temperance advocate, in advocacy of the construction of the railroad through Leesburg and later was an uncompromising friend of the Union during the civil war. After the cessation of hostilities he spent much time in traveling and died April 15, 1877. He married Martha Johnson, who came with her parents from Virginia to Ohio in the early part of 1800. Their son, Dr. H. A. Beeson, was born at Leesburg, Highland county, in 1841, and was given a good education in the common schools, the Salem academy and the Wesleyan university at Delaware, Ohio. After a course of study in the office of a prominent physician he entered the United States navy in 1862 as surgeon's steward, and was assigned to duty with the mortar fleet under Farragut, and later under Admiral Porter. At the time the surrender at Appomattox put an end to the war, Dr. Beeson was serving as an assistant surgeon under Admiral Lew Considering his youth and lack of professional medical training at that time, his record of service during the civil war is quite remarkable and decidedly creditable to his efficiency and fitness for high responsibilities. After the war he returned home and assisted his father on the farm until 1876, when he entered Miami college, took a full course in the medical department, and was graduated with honor in the class of 1879. After a year spent in Cincinnati devoted to study in a post-graduate course, Dr. Beeson located in his native town of Leesburg where he has since made his home and headquarters. He is now one of the oldest physicians in continuous prat tice at that point and one of the most popular, standing high both in his profession and among the people. He was appointed medical examiner for the United States pension department, and has served three terms in that responsible position. He was influential in the organization of the Southern Ohio Medical society, and has had the honor of being president of that body. Dr. Beeson is also a conspicuous member of the International Society of Psychic Research, which includes many of the most eminent and learned people in the world. Another organization to which he belongs is the Ohio society for the prevention and cure of tuberculosis. Altogether the 240 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.   Doctor's life has been one of useful activities for the benefit of his fellow men by the spread of mental and social culture and all those things which, in the language of Matthew Arnold, "make for righteousness." He enjoys a large practice in .his native town and the general esteem of the people of his community who have known him from earliest childhood. In 1865, Dr. Beeson was married to Elizabeth T. Anderson, an accomplished lady of Highland county, whose parents were members of an old Virginia family of high standing. Charles S. Bell, prominent for over forty-three years in the manufacturing industries of Hillsboro and one of the most public-spirited citizens of the community, is of Maryland ancestry which dates in that state from a period anterior to the Revolution. At that early day David Bell had taken up land in the region around Cumberland where he pursued the quiet occupation of farming and reared his family. Among his children was a son named David R., who married Nancy Bradley and by her became the father of the subject of this sketch. Charles S. Bell was born at Cumberland, Md., February 7, 1829, and at the age of fifteen years went to Pittsburg to learn the founder's trade. After mastering the details of this business, he spent some years working at various establishments in Cincinnati, Springfield and Dayton, during which time he perfected his knowledge of the trade. In January, 1858, Mr. Bell purchased a small plant which had been run by other parties in Hillsboro about three years on Beech street below the present site of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad depot. He carried it on there eight years, with many enlargements and improvements, but eventually bought seven acres of ground near the Hillsboro depot, on which the large factory buildings covering about one acre of ground were erected in 1889-90. The company, of which Mr. Bell is the head, does an extensive business in the manufacture of bells and various kinds of farm machinery. More bells, forty pounds and upwards in weight, mostly for farms and schools, are said to be turned out here than at any other factory in. America. In 1880 Mr. Bell employed about twenty hands, but at present, gives work to at least one hundred and fifty people. Attention is devoted to the manufacture of sugar cane and feed-grinding machines much in demand throughout the West, and a machine called the. "tortillera," used in Mexico for crushing the hominy of which a popular cake is made, is turned out in large numbers at the Bell establishment. The plant as it stands represents the investment of a large amount of capital and a very extensive business is done over a wide area of country, both national and international. It is and long has been one of the cherished institutions of Hillsboro and the, founder is regarded as one of the city's benefactors. In 1895 Mr. Bell built the Bell opera house at a cost of $40,000. He also erected the building occupied by McKeehan—Hiestand BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 241 Grocery company in 1892 and became largely interested in the stock of that company. He is vice-president and one of the largest stockholders in the Merchants' National bank and a partner, in the hardware firm known as the. John. A. McCoppin & Co.. Aside from his regular business, Mr. Bell has had much to do with the public affairs of the city and has been one of the factors in its growth and development. He served for twenty-one years on the Hillsboro school board and devoted much time and attention to the important subject of education.. As a member of the city council for many years, the community had the benefit of his business experience and ripe judgment in all matters affecting municipal improvements. Besides these, Mr. Bell has held numerous other places of trust, and whatever duty was devolved upon him, in any of the relations of life, he always discharged the, same with a conscientious fidelity to the public welfare. In 1851 Mr. Bell was married to Mary L. Roberts, by whom he has had five children. Charles E., the eldest, is interested in the. C. S. Bell company ; Alice M. is the wife of L. B. Boyd, another member of the foundry arm ; John died in 1891; Cora, E. and May are at home. Joseph G. Bell, the well known hardware merchant and implement dealer of Hillsboro, canes of one of the old families of Highland county. The founder in this part of Ohio was George Bell, who was born in Virginia in 1780, located in Brush Creek township in 1812 and died in 1876 after he had reached the ninety-sixth year of his age. He first married a Miss May and to this union was born one child named Mary, now the widow of Andrew Milburn, deceased, and about 1820 he espoused Mary. Frump, by whom he had a numerous family of children, as follows: John, who died in Brush Creek in 1900; George, now a resident of Quenemo, Kas. ; Sampson, living in Illinois ; Andrew, formerly a merchant at Jeffersonville, Ohio, who died in 1878 ; Ruth, wife of Andrew Sams, of Rains-borough ; Margaret, wife of William Sylvester, of Cynthiana, Ohio; and three daughters who married and moved to the West. Joseph Bell, now a resident of Brush Creek township and second of the children, was born in Brush Creek township, Highland county, Ohio, in 1831, and was married in 1856 to Susannah, daughter of Peter Gorman. The latter was son and namesake of a Virginian, born in 1777, and an emigrant to Brush Creek township in 1803. The second of the name, and father of Susannah, was born in 1809, married Christina Hiestand, and died in 1899. The children of Joseph and Susannah (Gorman) Bell were Mary C., wife of John Fisher, a farmer near New Petersburg; Alice D., wife of Frank Hiser, a farmer residing near Marshall ; George P., a teacher and merchant who died in 1889, aged twenty-eight years ; Margaret, who died in 1883, at the age of H-16 242 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. twenty ; Nanie Ann, living with her father ; the subject of this sketch ; Grant M., who died in 1891 when twenty years old ; Lilly May, wife of Carter Barrett, a farmer at Quenemo, Kas. ; Ida Pearl, at home; and Foster H. G., who graduated at Lebanon College in 1901. Joseph G. Bell, fifth of the above enumerated children, was born in Highland county, Ohio, April 16, 1868, and grew up with the determination of fitting himself as a teacher. With this end in view, he attended the Normal college at Lebanon, Ohio, and after a full course was graduated by that institution in the class of 1885. He then entered the educational field and followed the profession of teaching for twelve consecutive years. At the November election in 1897, Mr. Bell was a candidate for the office of clerk of courts and subsequently formed a partnership with his opponent, J. H. Williams, in the hardware business. The firm of Williams & Bell continued until the in. terest of the senior partner was purchased by C. F. Underwood, and January 1, 1902, Mr. Bell became sole proprietor of the Hillsboro implement store at Court and Short streets. August 25, 1896, he was married to Lelia, daughter of C. F. Underwood, who owns a large farm near New Vienna where his parents were among the early settlers. John Bennett, infirmary director of Highland county, besides being a most excellent citizen in all respects, enjoys the distinction of being one of four brothers who each served three or more years in the Union army. Their grandfather, Isaac Bennett, who took part in the battle of New Orleans in 1815, was a Pennsylvania farmer of the olden times, used to run flatboats from Pittsburg to New Orleans during the navigation season and did a prosperous business in this line before the days of steamboating. With an eye to profitable investments, he made a trip to Highland county, Ohio, at a very early date, and bought a large amount of land in Liberty township, which was subsequently divided between his sons. He remained in Pennsylvania until about 1850 when he removed to Missouri and there spent the remainder of his life. Isaac and Jennie Bennett had six children, Campbell, Isaac, John, Phebe, Jane, and Nancy, all long since deceased. Campbell Bennett was born in Fayette county, Pa., married Sarah Smith, and about 1840 came to Highland county, where he settled on land inherited from his lather. In' 1847 he purchased a farm in Hamer township, on which he lived until 1877, when he removed to Danville and served as postmaster. At the expiration of his term he returned to the farm where he passed away at the age of seventy-eight years, his wife having died in 1874. Of their seven children, George, Joseph and Eleanor are deceased, the living being Jacob, of Lincoln., Neb. ; Francis M., of Kansas ; John, subject of this sketch ; and Henry, of Hamer township. John Bennett, fifth of the children, was born in Highland county, Ohio, on the farm now BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 243 owned by Ira Hiestand, January 1, 1846, and was consequently a little over fifteen years of age when the guns at Sumter electrified the nation. There was no more patriotic family than that of the Bennetts, the younger members of which furnished four recruits for different commands in the Union army. John Bennett, when seventeen years old, enlisted in Company G, Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer cavalry, which did valuable service during its term of service. After a brief campaign against Morgan, the command was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kas., and from there across the plains to Fort Laramie, Wyo. They wintered at that point and later had many fierce skirmishes with the Indian tribes who had been stirred up to hostility by agents of. the Confederacy. The Federal cavalry was kept very busy holding the savages in check and in one of the numerous fights Mr. Bennett had a horse shot under him, though fortunate enough to escape serious personal injury. The Eleventh regiment remained in that wild country for three years, and in July, 1866, were sent to Leavenworth and thence to Columbus, Ohio, where they were mustered out. Jacob Bennett, second of the brothers in order of birth, served gallantly for three years as a member of the Eighteenth regiment Iowa volunteer infantry. Joseph, the third of these patriotic brothers, was among the first to enlist in the First regiment Indiana volunteer infantry, and served with it for three years. Francis M. first enlisted in Company A, Sixtieth regiment Ohio infantry, and later became a member of Company G, Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer cavalry, with which he served three years. After his retirement from the army in the summer of 1866, John Bennett returned home and shortly afterward married Lydia M., daughter of William P. and Rebecca Webster, of Highland county. In 1872, he located in Dodson township and remained there twenty-five years, when he purchased the place in Hamer township, where he has since made his residence. In 1897 he was elected infirmary director of Highland county and was re-elected in 1900, being the only person on the Republican ticket that was successful that year. He is a member of the,. Masonic order, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Grand Army of the Republic at Lynchburg. Mr. Bennett's wife died in March, 1900, leaving four children: Etta J., George E., Myrta B. awl Charles R. John C. Bennington, a prosperous farmer and veteran of the civil war, residing in White Oak township, is a son of Campbell Bennington, before the war a prominent citizen of the township. Campbell Bennington was born on Eagle creek in, Brown county, and coming to Highland county to find employment when a young man, married Lucinda McQuitty, and settled in White Oak township, where he engaged in farming and stock raising. He had six children by this marriage: Lewis W., deceased John C. Mary A., widow of J. 244 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. Peggan, of White Oak ; Anna, wife of J. F. Reams, of Hamer ; Lucinda, wife of John Emery, of New Market, and Adeline, who died in infancy. In 1851 the mother of these children died, and subse quently the father married Elizabeth Umsetter, by whom he had four children, Hester, Charles, Edward and P. J., and removed to Iowa, where he died about 1879. John C. Bennington was born October 27, 1843, on the farm now owned by Amelius Sauner, and after the death of his mother, which occurred when he was eight years old, he lived with his uncle, Cary McQuitty, two years, and later with Cary Hicks. Afterward he was in the employment of Henry Kibler until the beginning of the war of the rebellion. Then he enlisted in Company A of the Sixtieth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and accompanied that command in its invasion of West Virginia from Parkersburg. In the spring of 1862 he was with his regiment in the Kanawha valley, marched to the support of General Milroy at Franklin, and proceeding into the valley of Virginia, encountered the forces of Stonewall Jackson at Strasburg, where they had a fierce engagement. Here Mr. Bennington was wounded, but not seriously, and though he was disabled for a short time he accompanied his regiment in its marches ,and engagements during that famous campaign, including the noted battle of Cross Keys. Returning with his command to Harpers Ferry, he and his comrades were surrendered there to Stonewall Jackson, just before the famous battle of Antietam. Being immediately paroled, he returned to the Union lines, was sent to Annapolis and Baltimore, and thence to Chicago, where he was mustered out in November, 1862. In February, 1863, he re-enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Ohio light artillery, with which he was on duty guarding prisoners at Sandusky, Johnson's island, and Chicago, during the remainder of the war, finally being mustered out at Camp Dennison, in June, 1865. In the artillery company he held the rank of corporal. After the war Mr. Bennington was married in March, 1866; to Lucinda Winkle, daughter of Michael and Sarah A. Winkle, of White. Oak township, and they began their married life where they now live. Seven children have been born to them : Cornelius, deceased ; William, of Concord township; Lewis C., in Oklahoma ; David C., also in Oklahoma; Franklin and Newton, at home, and John, in Hamer township. Mr. Bennington is the owner of 230 acres of valuable land, which he has well improved ; is a member of the Grand Army post at Mowrystown and of the Christian church, and is held in high esteem by his neighbors. William N. Berry comes of a family long prominent in the public life of Hamer township, his father having been justice of the peace for thirty years and he himself being an incumbent of the same office. His grandfather, Thomas Berry, a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, and soldier of 1812, came in 1818 from Baltimore to Green- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 245 field, Ohio, where he bought a small farm and lived on the same until 1846. In that year he removed to Delaware county, Ind., and settled in the vicinity of Muncie, where he died at the age of eighty-eight years. By his first wife, who died some years before he left Ohio, he had six children, all now deceased, and by a second marriage in Indiana he had one child named Elizabeth. John Berry, the eldest son, was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1816, and was consequently an infant when his parents reached Ohio. At the age of sixteen he began learning the tanner's trade, which, with occasional interruptions, he followed until 1867. He married Mary E., daughter of James and Elizabeth Stewart, with whom he located on a place near Leesburg and after remaining there a year removed to a farm in Concord township. Several years' residence in that locality was followed by a removal to Pricetown, where he conducted a tannery for Joseph Gosset about a year, and then made his final move to Hamer township. During his long residence here he became quite prominent in the public affairs of the township, being trustee and treasurer at different times and holding the office of justice of the peace for thirty years. By his first marriage there were nine children, of whom Phoebe A., Rachel E. and Sarah J. have passed away. Those living are James. S., William N., Margaret, Jessie R., Thomas R., principal of the West End high school in Cincinnati, and Cynthia B. of Tacoma, Wash. The mother died when she was fifty years old and her husband married Caroline Kibler, who died without issue, his own death occurring at the age of eighty-two. William N. Berry, third of the children, was born in Concord township, Highland county, Ohio, December 14, 1846, and remained at home until- he was twenty-three years old. He mastered the tanner's trade under the efficient instruction of his father and this he made his means of livelihood until his marriage to Nancy K., daughter of Marcus and Margaret Hawk of Brown county, Ohio. After this event Mr. Berry spent fourteen years as a farmer in White Oak township and then removed to the old home place in Hamer township which he had purchased. Here he passed the seven subsequent years, when he disposed of the property and bought the farm of 125 acres where he now lives. Besides his place he owns another tract of 120 acres in the same neighborhood, the two farms being cultivated for the usual standard crops and used for stock-raising purposes. While living in White Oak, he served three terms as trustee of that township and he is now holding the Ace of justice of the peace in Hamer township. His only fraternal connection is with the order of Odd Fellows, in Lodge No. 25, at Hillsboro. Mr. and Mrs. Berry have had seven children, of whom three died in infancy. The survivors are John H., Thomas E., George A. and Amy E. 246 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. Andrew Bishir, retired farmer of Dodson township, is not only a descendant of old settlers but may be regarded as one himself, his birth having occurred at an early period in the history of Highland county. When his grandfather, Christopher Bishir, after tarrying a while in 1810 at the mouth of Crawfish river, came to Union township there were comparatively few people there to greet him. In fact, the township had only been organized a year or two when this Pennsylvania pioneer arrived with his wife and children. Even in 1833, when he built his log cabin in Dodson township about one mile south of Lynchburg, the country was still wild and sparsely. settled. Aside from the dangers of Indian hostility, which had happily passed, the main features and characteristics of a wilderness were all still present. Neighbors were few and far between, few of the comforts of civilization were to be had and the wolves, still plentiful in the woods, made night hideous with their dismal howl- ings. Deer, turkey, panthers, bear and other wild game were yet abundant and the main reliance of the settlers for fresh meat. The pioneer alluded to had a son named after himself, Christopher Bishir, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, and after he grew to maturity in Ohio was married to Susan Hart, a native of North Carolina. This couple passed away, the mother in 1839 and the father December 24, 1883, after rearing seven children, of whom two sons and two daughters are living. One of the former is Andrew Bishir, the honored subject of this sketch, who was born in Union township, Highland county, Ohio, January 10, 1828. A few years after his birth he was taken by his parents to their new home in Dodson township, where he grew to manhood, and October 23, 1850, was married to Piety Ann Turner. This lady was a daughter d Calvin and Matilda (Wilson) Turner, Virginians who came to Ohio in 1830, and she was born March 5, 1832, during their residence in Preble county. Her parents went to Indiana in 1840, but after remaining there four years returned to Ohio, where they both died, the father in 1872 at Martinsville, when sixty-two years old, and the mother in. 1893 at Farmers Station, in the eighty-fifth year of her age. The grandparents of Mrs. Bishir, Meador and Catherine Turner, the former born in Virginia in 1783 and the latter in 1789, also migrated to Ohio in 1830 and both died in Clinton county, he in 1853 and she in 1872. Andrew Bishir, though reared on a farm, learned the cooper's trade and did considerable work in that line, which was also the calling of his father. He obtained the position of foreman in the distillery warehouse at Lynchburg and retained the same for eighteen years. May 2, 1864, Mr. Bishir enlisted in one of the Ohio regiments organized for the hundred days' service and was out with that command four months. February 10, 1865, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-second  regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. Joseph GRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 247 Gayman, and went with this organization to the lower Shenandoah valley in March. Their service was confined to doing guard and garrison duty at Halltown and other places in that portion of Virginia until September 6, 1865, when they were paid and discharged at Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Bishir at the time holding the rank of sergeant. Mr. and Mrs. Bishir have had seven children, of whom Isadora and Lizzie are dead, the living being Alonzo D., James W., Emma C., Mollie and Arthur A. They celebrated their golden wedding October 23, 1900, and the occasion was a memorable one for the large family connection, as well as the many friends of this venerble and highly esteemed couple. All the children were present except James, accompanied by their wives and offspring, the only notable absence being the wife of Arthur A., who was kept away by sickness. Besides these, Samuel Turner, of Sabina, a brother of Mrs. Bishir, was present, also her two sisters, Mary Dimmitt, of Marion, and Jennie Moon of Clinton county, and Mr. Bishir's two sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Fenner of Marshaltown, Iowa, and Sarah Walker .of Vienna, Ohio. Originally a Democrat, Mr. Bishir was converted to Republicanism by the agitation of the questions growing out of the civil war. He and wife are members of the Christian church and are passing the evening of their days in the quiet and retired life which fittingly ends so many years of activity. Washington Blackburn was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1829. His parents were Ephraim, born 1788, and died 1836, and Barbara (House) Blackburn. His paternal grandparents were Ephraim and Prudence (Rich) Blackburn. This Ephraim was a commissioned officer in General Washington's army' and was the son of Ephraim Blackburn, the Scotch ancestor who emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1728. After serving an apprenticeship of four years at the carpenter's trade, Washington Blackburn worked one season in the Shenandoah valley, and in the spring of 1851 came to Highland county, Ohio. Until 1866 he was a builder of houses and barns that are still a credit to his handicraft.. Since that time he has been a farmer. For many years, while his children were growing to man and womanhood, he resided at what is known as the Blackburn homestead in Penn township. Recently he removed to a comfortable home in New Vienna and relinquished the active management of his real estate to a younger generation. February 25, 1858, he was married to Mary Ann, daughter of Charles and Betsey (Moore) Good, the former being member of a family, belonging to the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania for generations. Charles Good achieved high reputation in Penn township for his modern and progressive methods in agriculture. He was regarded as one of the best farmers in the county, his life being one of great activity and made notable by his conscientious performance of every duty. 248 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. The children of Washington and Mary Ann (Good) Blackburn are Anna, at home; Charles G., mentioned more fully below ; Ella, a graduate of the Philadelphia Woman's Medical College, class of 1898, for two years practicing in Indiana and recently removed to New Vienna ; Howard L., who married Nellie May Jones of Chillicothe and is farming in Clinton county ; Irene, a trained nurse residing in Philadelphia; Frank H., superintendent of the Incandescent Lamp factory at Fostoria, Ohio, and Wilbur, a dentist at Shelbyville. Ind., who married Nellie Arthur. Charles G. Blackburn, second of the family in age, was born in New Vienna, Ohio, in 1863. In 1902 he removed to the Blackburn homestead. Here his maternal grandfather settled in 1854. For more than twenty years Charles Good labored to make the farm his ideal of a country home. Three generations have dwelt there and as yet the death angel has not crossed the portals. May the peace, the thrift, the quiet, of an old-time Quaker home long abound there. December 20, 1894, Charles G. Blackburn was married to Bertha, daughter of Elwood and Mary D. (Phillips) Hallowell, of Chester county, Pa. They came to Fairfield township in 1850, where Mr. Hallowell died July 9, 1885, aged about sixty-one years. The children of Charles G. and Bertha Blackburn are Joseph H., born October 15, 1897, and Charles G., jr., born February 24, 1900. A. S. Boden, member of the milling firm which bears his name, has been prominently connected with the business affairs of Greenfield for many years. His father, Hugh Boden, who is of Irish birth and now ninety years of age, opened business at Greenfield in 1863 and since then in one form or another has been identified with the city's interests. His principal line has been milling and packing and his establishment has long been one of the industrial features ,of Greenfield. This "fine old Irish gentleman" reared three sons to perpetuate his name and continue in the line of employment to which he had devoted the principal part of his life. John Boden, the eldest, now in the milling business in Clinton county, has been quite prominent in politics, being the first and only Democratic sheriff of Athens county, Ohio. Stewart Boden is a member of the firm of Le Ferre & Boden, hardware merchants of Greenfield. A. S. Boden, the third of these brothers, was born in Athens county, Ohio, but reared and mainly educated in Greenfield. He followed general merchandising for many years and in 1899, in partnership with his brother, organized the Boden Milling company, which has since done an extensive business. In connection with Their main line they deal largely in grain, feed and coal; and conduct what. is recognized as one of the strong industries of the city. Since his residence in Greenfield, Mr. Boden has been a conspicuous figure in the political, fraternal and commercial life of the city. In 1900 he was elected BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - 249 to the office of city treasurer, a position which he still holds. He is quite prominent in free masonry, having been master in the lodge, high priest in the Royal Arch chapter, and Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Woodmen of the World. In 1887 he was married to Mary, daughter of J. M. Murray, deceased, who for sixty years was in the undertaking and other lines of business at Greenfield. .Mr. and Mrs. Boden have two sons, Stewart Murray and Hugh Langdon, both bright and promising boys. Andrew M. Boggess, a prominent citizen of Clay township, is of an old Ohio family, being a grandson of John Boggess, one of the pioneers of Clermont county. John Boggess was born in Virginia, of an old family in that state, in early manhood he married Lutitia Mifflin, and soon afterward moved with his wife to South Carolina. Two years later they came with the tide of emigration from that state to Ohio, and settled at Denham's town, or Bethel, in Clermont, where John Boggess followed his profession as a surveyor, holding the office of county surveyor a long time, and marking the lands of many people in the wide area of the Virginia military reserve. He was also a member of the legislature and a justice of the peace, and was held in high esteem in a community which included such men as Senator Thomas Morris, Samuel Medary and Gen. Thomas L. Hamer. Five children were reared by him, all of whom are deceased: Samuel, John, Elizabeth, Jane and Ann. Samuel, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in South Carolina, December 2, 1802, in early manhood married Elizabeth Davis, a native of Kentucky, but reared in Clermont county, and began his career as a blacksmith and gunsmith, his occupation. throughout life. He died at the age of thirty-two years, and afterward his widow removed with her six children—Lutitia, Mary, Jane, Eliza, Andrew M., and Bethana, to Highland county, where she lived to the age of ninety-three years. A. M. Boggess, the only son, was born February 12, 1826, near Bethel, Clermont county, spent his early manhood there, and moved with his mother to Clay township when he was twenty-five years of age. Later he was married to Mary Ellen Roberts, a native of Highland county and daughter of Abraham and Mary Roberts, and they went to housekeeping in a hewed log house on the farm of two hundred acres owned by his mother. In after years they built a commodious frame house, and made their farm one, of the most handsomely equipped in the county. At one time Mr. Boggess was the owner of four hundred acres, but most of this he has divided among his children, of whom he has five : Mary A., wife of Charles Crawford, of Mount Oreb ; Olive J., wife of Charles Brown, of Clay township ; Edward M., M. D., of Washington Court House; Eva M., wife of Walter Brown, of Georgetown, Ohio ; and