1250 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION harked in the insurance business. This occupied his attention and activities until 1882, when he was elected probate judge of Jackson County, and continued to ably and impartially discharge the duties of that office until 1888,. when he resumed operations in the insurance business, in which he has continued to the present time with ever-increasing success. He is accounted one of Jackson's substantial business men and as a citizen has lent his aid to every movement which has Made for progress and advancement. In politics he is a .stalwart republican. An earnest worker in the Methodist Church, which he joined in 1874, this has been his chief interest, aside from his home and his business, and at present he is a member of the official board. He has ever maintained an interest in the Grand Army of the Republic .and holds membership in Francis Smith Post, No. 365, of Jackson. Mr. Miller is the owner of a comfortable home and -five acres of land within the city limits. On July 6, 1865, shortly after his return from the war, Mr. Miller was married at Jackson to Miss Anna M. Roberts, the daughter of Isaac and Mercy Roberts, of this city, and seven children have been born to them.: James C., who is deceased.; Margaret A., who resides with her parents ; Cora A., who is now Mrs. H. A. Lloyd, of Chillicothe, Ohio; Arthur R., who is, a conductor on the Hocking Valley Railroad and lives at Wellston, Ohio ; Samuel A., who is a clerk in the offices of the Northwestern Railroad, at Chillicothe, Ohio ; Ida P., who is deceased ; and one child who died in infancy. The children were all well trained and fitted for the positions in life which they have been called upon to fill, and all have proven a credit to their rearing' arid the communities to which they belong. JOHN K. HASTINGS.. On the 30th of April, 1914, John K. Hastings retired from the office of postmaster of Sciotoville, Scioto County, a position of which he had been the incumbent for nearly a decade and in which his efficient service had given him even stronger hold on popular confidence and estheem in the community that has long been his home. "His career has been one of signal industry and usefulness; he gave valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and as a citizen be has always exemplified the utmost loyalty, with clear conceptions of those agencies and conditions that touch and affect the general welfare of the community. As one of the honored and representative citizens of the Hanging Rock Iron Region Mr. Hastings is properly given consideration in this publication.. John K. Hastings was born at Malden, Kanawha County, West Virginia, on the 25th of April, 1844, and is a son of Joel and Drusilla Hastings, both .of English lineage and representatives of families early HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1251 founded in America. The father followed the vocation of borer of salt-wells during practically his entire active career, was a man of sterling character and resolute opinions and was a staunch whig in his political proclivities. Both. he and his wife passed the closing period of their lives in West Virginia and the subject of this review is their only child. The rudimentary education of John K. Hastings was acquired in the schools of his native state and he was a lad of twelve years when he first crossed over into Ohio, but later he continued his studies in the schools of West Virginia. In the winter of 1859-60 Mr. Hastings was _residing at Ironton, Ohio, the present metropolis of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, and when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation he promptly tendered his aid in defense of the Union, though he was but seventeen years of age at the time. In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, for a term of three months, Mr. Hastings enlisted as a private in Company A, First Ohio Cavalry, in which he served until the expiration of his term, John S. George having been captain of Company A, which was largely recruited in the vicinity of Ironton. The patriotic ardor of the young soldier had not waned in the comparatively brief period of his initial service, as shown by the fact that at the expiration of his term he enlisted, at Parkersburg, in Company K, Second West Virginia Cavalry, with which he served three years, taking Part in numerous engagements and, living up to the full tension of the great conflict through which national unity was preserved. After receiving his honorable discharge, only a short time prior to the close or. the war, Mr. Hastings returned to Ohio and established his residence at Ironton, the judicial center of Lawrence County. In 1860 he had initiated an apprenticeship to the trade of boiler making arid sheet-iron work, and as a youthful veteran of the war he engaged in the work of his trade at Ironton, where he continued to maintain his home until. 1883. He then removed to Sciotoville, where he soon afterward left his family with and under the care of their kinsfolk, while he himself went to Birmingham, Alabama, as an employe of the Williamson Iron Company. He remained at Birmingham six years, having in the meanwhile been 'there joined by his family, and at the expiration of that period he returned to Sciotoville, which has since represented his home and been the stage of his activities as a business man and public official., In Sciotoville Mr. Hastings was employed as a stationary engineer until 1905, when he was appointed postmaster of this thriving little city, a position in which he continued to serve, with all of circumspection and marked efficiency until a change in the administration of national politics brought about his retirement, on the 30th of April, 1914. No citizen of Sciotoville is better known and few can claim a wider circle of loyal Vol. II-39 1252 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION friends than Mr. Hastings, who has always given his influence and co-opertion in the furtherance of measures projected for the best interests of the community. It is scarcely necessary to state that Mr. Hastings has not been deflected from his stalwart allegiance to the cause of the republican party and that recent defections in its ranks have not met with his approval. He is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in his home city and he is as a member of its official board. Mr. Hastings served as a member of the city council of. Ironton prior to his removal to the South, mid at the present time he is collector for the United Fuel Gas Company and the Portsmouth Telephone Company at Sciotoville and of the Columbus Building & Loan Association, of Ohio's capital city. These incidental duties demanding the major part of his attention since his retirement from the position of postmaster. He is affiliated with Lawrence Lodge, No. 198, Free and Accepted Masons, in the City of Ironton, and was master of the' same in 1882-3. He holds membership also in the Masonic chapter and council at Ironton and is president of the Masonic Past Masters' Association of Scioto County. With the passing Of years Mr. Hastings has permitted nothing to abate his interest in his old comrades of the Civil war, and this is indicated in his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has served as a staff officer of the Department of Ohio, as well as in various offices in his local post at Ironton. In Company K of the Second 'West Virginia Cavalry Mr. Hastings held the office of duty sergeant, and he was one of thirty of his company who were the first to cross the Ohio River, at Point Pleasant, at the time of the war and to participate in the first battle between the contending forces in that state, the Battle of Seamy. There the first soldier of his company to meet death from Lawrence County on the battle field was Richard Lambert, in whose honor the Ironton post of the Grand Army of the Republic is named. Mr. Hastings is the owner of his attractive home in Sciotoville and the same is a favored rendezvous for his many, valued and sterling friends. On the 26th of March, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hastings to Miss. Casandra Mathiot, who was born in the State of Pennsylvania and who continued as his devoted companion and helpmeet for nearly half a century, the supreme loss and bereavement of his life being that which came when she was summoned to the life eternal, on the 31st of January, 1914. Of the children the eldest is. Laura, who is the wife of Nathan C. Terry ; Willard is married and resides at Portsmouth, the judicial center of Scioto County ; Leona is deceased ; Eva M. is the wife of Frank H. Baumgardner, of St. Paul, Minnesota; Florence M. remains HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1253 at the paternal home ; and Halsey B. is engaged in the drug business in Kentucky. HENRY H. NOEL. The family of which Mr. Noel is a popular representative is one whose name has been long and prominently identified With the history of Scioto County, where it was founded in the very early pioneer days. He himself is a native of this county, and here he has found ample opportunity for successful enterprise and achievement, as shown by the prosperous business Which he controls in his well .equipped general merchandise store in Clay Township, the building utilized being likewise his own property. He is a progressive young man who has a host of friends in his native county and it is a pleasure to present in this publication brief record concerning his career. Henry Hugh Noel was born on the old homestead farm of his father, in Clay Township, Scioto County, on the 3d of January, 1880, there having been three children, all sons, and he being the younger of the two now living ; his brother, Hal Berton, was graduated in the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and is now a successful horticulturist in Scioto County. Arthur Orrin, the other brother, died at the age of five years, and the parents, William H. H. and Mary (Huston) Noel, still reside on their farm, in Clay Township, being well known and highly esteemed citizens. The father was born in this county and the "mother is a native of the State of Iowa. The childhood and early youth of Henry H. Noel were compassed by the conditions and influences of the home farm and he .continued his studies in the public schools of the locality until he was about eighteen years of age, after which he was identified in turn with farm and railroad work' and later was employed in the shoe factory at Portsmouth. On the 15th of June, 1912, he established his present general merchandise business, and effective service has combined with fair and honorable dealing to enable him to build up a substantial and representative trade in the fine rural community in which his establishment is located. Mr. Noel is aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party, is affiliated with Aurora Lodge, No. 48, in the City of Portsmouth; and both he and his wife hold membership in the Valley Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In February, 1902, Mr. Noel wedded Miss Ethel G. Gable, who was reared and educated in Clay Township and who is a daughter of Nicholas Gable, a prosperous farmer of Scioto County. Mr. and Mrs. Noel have five children, namely : Ethel L., Pauline V., Mary L., Hugh L., and Arthur P. B. 1254 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION GEORGE B. LEE. In each of the various counties of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio are to be found men whose energy, progressiveness and business abliity. ha ve given them prominence as leading exponents of the great basic industry of agriculture, and in Vinton County such a valued citizen:, George Baker Lee, who has maintained his home in Swan Township. for nearly forty years and who is the owner- of one of the well improved and valuable landed estates of this county, where his character and achievement have marked him as altogether worthy of the unqualified popular esteem in which he is held. Mr. Lee has the distinction of claiming the historic Old Dominion as the place of his nativity, though he was born in that section of Virginia that was later formed into the State of West Virginia. He is a scion of the patrician old Lee family whose name has been conspicuous in the history of Virginia and that of the nation, Gen; Robert E. Lee having been a representative of one branch of this distinguished family. Not far distant from Harper 's Ferry, in what is now Jefferson County, West Virginia, George Baker Lee was born on the 5th of October, 1850. His father, James H. Lee, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, on the 15th of October, 1807, and his father, Asahel Lee, was one of the prosperous planters and influential citizens of that county until the time of his death. James H. Lee, was reared and educated in his native county and as a young man he there wedded Miss Margaret Hensen, who+ die in middle life, all of the sons and daughters of this union being now deceased. For his second wife James H. Lee wedded. Miss Rachel Baldwin, who was born in Maryland and who was a young woman at the time of her removal to Virginia, in company with her parents. After his second marriage James H. Lee continued his activities as an agriculturist in what is now Jefferson County, West Virginia, until after the. birth of four of his children, and in 1852 he came with his family to Ohio, where he resided for a time in Guernsey and later in Noble County. From the latter county he removed to Muskingum County, where he purchased the old Hayden farm, upon which he continued to reside until after the close of the Civil war. In 1866 he removed to Coalgate, Hocking County, and in 1872 he established his residence on a farm in Athens County, where he continued to maintain his home until his death, which occurred in November,. 1886, when he was 'seventy-nine years of age. His widow later sold the home farm, for which she received $100 an acre, and thereafter she passed three years in the home of her son George B., subject of this sketch. She then purchased a good residence property at Besmer, Hocking County, where she continued to maintain her home until her death, at the age of seventy-one years, both she and her husband having been earnest and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1255 and having exemplified their deep Christian faith in their daily lives, which were marked by kindliness, sympathy and tolerance in judgment. Concerning. their children brief record is given in the following paragraph: Charles W. holds a position in the capitol of the State of Ohio, in the City of Columbus, and has a family ; Margaret A. is the wife of Jacob . Errick, a prosperous farmer of Swan Township, Vinton County, Ohio, and they have children ; James W., who owns and operates a saw mill at Coalgate, Hocking County, has three sons and three daughters; George of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Harrison is an able physician and surgeon and is engaged in the practice Of his profession at Athens, Ohio, his children being one son and three daughters; Sarah is the wife of Hiram Wilson, a carpenter and contractor residing at Groveport, Ohio, and they have a large family of children; Catherine is the wife of George Phillips, a farmer in Vinton County, and they have sons and daughters. George B. Lee was reared under the benignant discipline and influences of the farm and has never severed his allegiance to the basic 'industry of agriculture, through the medium of which he has found adequate opportunities for the achieving of substantial success and definite independence. He has been a resident of Swan Township, Vinton County, since 1878 and has owned and lived upon his. present fine farmstead for nearly thirty years of this period, the while he has shown his strength and versatility in the carrying forward of agricultural and livestock operations with. great sagacity, progressiveness and success. His homestead place, one of the model farms of this section of the Buckeye State, comprises 237 acres, and the total area of his valuable :landed estate is 524 acres. The home farm has good buildings, including a it attractive residence of eight rooms and a bank barn that is 77 by 35 feet in dimensions. his land gives fine yields of the various cereals and other agricultural products and he also gives much care and attention to. the raising of excellent grades of live stock, including Hereford cattle and also horses, sheep and swine. The farm is effectively drained through the medium of Raccoon Creek and is to be traversed by the new state turnpike road between Logan and McArthur. His home is supplied with modern appointments and facilities, with free-delivery of mail on rural route from McArthur and with service from two lines of telephone. Mr. Lee has shown a loyal interest in community affairs, is aligned as a Staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party and has served With marked efficiency as a member of the school. board of his district, as well as treasurer of the same. Near Hemlock, Perry County, Ohio, in the year 1873, was solemnized 1256 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION the marriage Of Mr. Lee, to Miss. Charlotte Priest, who was born in Muskingum County, this state, on the 8th of April, 1855, but who was reared and educated In Perry County. She is a daughter of Harrison and Jemima (Wilson) Priest, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. The Maiden name of the first wife of Mr. Priest was McCleary, and she died within a short time after her marriage, leaving three children. From Muskingum County. Mr. Priest removed with his family to Perry County, where his children, were reared to adult age, and finally he and his wife came to Vinton County, where they passed the residue of their long and worthy lives in Swan Township. They were folk of sterling worth of character and commanded the high regard of all who knew them. Mr. Priest was a democrat in his political proclivities and his wife was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Concerning .the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lee brief data are given in the concluding paragraph of this .article., Harrison D., who holds a position as motorman in the street-railway service: in the City of Columbus, Ohio, married Miss Flora Hitt, and they have two children,—Flora and Etta. Dr. William- H. was graduated in Starling Medical College, the present medical department of the University of Ohio, and is now engaged in the successful practice of his profession at Plain City, Madison County, .Ohio, the maiden name of his wife having been: Anna Cody. Charles E., who resides at McArthur, the judicial center of Vinton County, holds the office of township clerk. He wedded. Miss Alice McVey and they have One daughter, Anna. B. George Riley Lee, who is one of the progressive farmers of Swan Township, married Miss Clara Ross and they have one son, Herbert C. F. Walter, who is a popular teacher in the public schools in the Village of Dundas, Vinton County; married Miss Mary Falkner, and their one child is a son, Francis E. Clyde is identified with farming and with the operation of an oil well in Vinton County, his homer being in Jackson Township. He wedded Miss Ora Horton. and they have one son, Maxwell M. John R., who attained to his legal majority on the 11th of December, 1915, completed course in the high school at McArthur and now assists in the work and management of the home farm. Ida M. is the wife of Valentine Rheinsheild, a farmer of Vinton County, and they have four children, William, Callie, .Baker and Kenneth. Eva became the wife of Arthur Tinsley and died shortly after the birth of her only child, who survived her by only a' week. Alice remains at the parental home. Bertha was. a successful teacher in the public schools for two years prior to her marriage to Ray Griffith, of Perry County, where they now reside on their farm, their two children being Charlotte. and HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1257 Catherine. Emma; the youngest of the children, is a member of the class of 1919 in the high school at McArthur. HON. HENRY W. COULTRAP. In the judiciary of the Hanging Rock Region of Ohio there is no more justly honored name than that of Hon. Henry W. Coultrap, judge of the county court of Vinton County. Legist, jurist, energetic and influential citizen, temperance leader and factor in every movement making for advancement in morality, education and good citizenship, he has endeared himself to his fellowmen and fully and honorably won their confidence. No work relating to the representative men of this part of Ohio would be complete without a review of the circumstances of his busy, useful and successful life. Judge Coultrap is of revolutionary stock and of English descent, his great-great-grandfather having come to America long before the winning of American independence from England. His son, William Coultrap, was born at Ligonier, Pennsylvania, from whence he went to Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), subsequently moving to Harrison County, Ohio, and settling on a new farm in the vicinity of Deersville. There the remaining years of his life were passed in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring about the year 1824, when he was seventy-five years of age.. Before leaving Pennsylvania he had been married to Mary Holtz, who was born in the Keystone State, of German parents, and who died at Deersville, Ohio, when in advanced years. The great-grandparents were faithful members of the Methodist Church. Henry Coultrap was born in Pennsylvania, accompanied the family to Virginia, and later to Ohio, and in the latter state was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Cramblit. For many years Henry Coultrap was engaged in following the trade of carpenter at Zanesville, Muskingum County, and there both he and his wife died when well advanced in years. William Coultrap, the father of Judge Coultrap, and son of Henry Coultrap, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, in August, 1821, there grew to manhood and was educated in the public schools, and was married February 23, 1844, to Miss Rebecca Wilson, who was born May 29, 1817, in that county, daughter of James Wilson, a pioneer farmer and stockraiser of Muskingum County. Under the preceptorship of his father, he early learned the trade of carpenter and became a skilled mechanic, and shortly after his marriage went to Morgan County, Ohio, where, April 22, 1848, his eldest son and second child, Henry W., was born. Later he returned to Muskingum County, residing there and following his trade until 1851, when he came to Vinton County, and settled on a farm in Jackson Township. The quiet pursuits of the farmer occu- 1258 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION pied his attention and energies until the Civil war came on to disturb the even routine of men's lives, and he became a participant in that struggle, donning the uniform of blue and joining the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he saw a service of ninety days, On receiving his honorable discharge he returned to his farm, where the rest of his active life was passed, and where his wife died in 1894, at the age of seventy-seven years. William Coultrap died at the home of his son, Judge Coultrap, in February, 1910, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. In the family there were the follow- ing children : Harriet, who married Mathias W. Smith, both now being deceased ; Henry W. ; Prof. Fletcher S., a member of the faculty and head of the preparatory department at Ohio State University, Athens, who married and has a family ; Mariah, who is the wife of Fred Amerine of Lancaster, Ohio, and the mother of a son and daughter ; and Professor McKendre, who has the chair of mathematics at Northwestern College, Naperville, Illinois, is married but has no children. Henry W. Coultrap grew up on the home farm and received his preliminary educational training in the country schools. After some further preparation, he entered Ohio State. University, at Athens, from which he was graduated in 1871, and later began his legal studies. under Hon, H. C. Jones, now deceased, who was long ,a member of the McArthu bar. Admitted to practice in 1875, Judge Coultrap began his proles. sional labors at McArthur, and soon was recognized as one of the fore ful, learned and thorough attorneys of this locality. His first elevation to the bench came in 1885, when his fellow-citizens, in recognition of his ability and integrity, elected him judge of the judicial district embracing the counties of Athens, Gallia, Meigs, Monroe, Vinton and Washington. In 1899 he was again elected to this office, for a term of years, this time, without opposition. At the expiration of his term he returned to his practice, but, in 1914 was again called to the bench, this time as judge of the County Court of Vinton County. His tenure of office is for six years, this having become a law, January 1, 1914. A man of the highest character, of unusual intellectual endowments, with a thorough understanding of the law, with distinctive patience, energy and urbanity, he has brought to the county bench the very highest qualifications, and his record has been in harmony with his character as a lawyer and a man, distinguished alike by unswerving integrity and a masterful grasp of legal problems. Aside from--or connected with—his judicial labors, Judge. Coultrap has ever taken a commendable interest in whatever tends to promote the , welfare of the community in which he lives. A warm friend o education, he has been a member of the local school board, and was HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1259 appointed a member of the state board of trustees of Ohio State University by Governor Bushnell, at the suggestion of United States, Senator Foraker. He has served also in the capacity of city solicitor and in other public offices, and in each has labored faithfully and conscientiously in the best interests of the people. The judge has always been, a stalwart and unswerving republican. Judge Coultrap was married in 1880, at New Plymouth, Ohio, to Miss Millie M. Hughes, who was born near New Plymouth, and died at McArthur. She was a daughter of the Rev. David and Susan P. (Lee) Hughes, the latter a cousin of ex-Lieut.-Gov. John C. Lee, of Toledo, 'Ohio, and, the former a Presbyterian preacher,, of Scotch stock, who for many years ministered to the spiritual needs of the people of Vinton County. Mrs. Coultrap was reared as a Presbyterian, but later adopted the faith of the Methodist Church, in which she died. She was the mother of four. children : Harry, Bernice, Manley and Anna. Harry Coultrap, a graduate of the University of Colorado, at Boulder, was for three years head of the department of history at Elgin, Illinois, was for one year superintendent of the public schools of McArthur, and for the past four years hats been superintendent of public schools at Geneva, Illinois, at an annual salary of $2,200. He married Miss Anna Will, daughter of Aaron and Minnie Will, and they have two sons : James and Paul, Bernice Coultrap, a graduate of the Ohio State University, at Athens, taught for several years in the public schools of Zanesville, prior to her Marriage to Benjamin C. Gerwick, a graduate in civil engineering of Ohio. State University, who is now superintendent of, construction at Sacramento, California. They have one daughter : Betty. Manley Coultrap, a graduate of Ohio. State University, taught in the high school at Aurora, Illinois, for two years, and is now a teacher at Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona. He is single. Anna, a graduate of the normal department of the Ohio State University, is now a teacher in the primary department of the Youngstown (Ohio) High School. Judge Coultrap was again married, in Gallia County, Ohio, to Miss Frances' Gibbons, a graduate of Wesleyan College, Delaware, Ohio, and a teacher before her marriage. She is a daughter of the late Rev. William H. Gibbons, who was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Conference for many years, but who retired some years before his death. Two children have been born to this union : William G., who is now attending the graded schools ; and Elizabeth. Judge and Mrs. Coultrap are leading members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the judge being a member of the board of trustees and a liberal contributor to religious, and charitable movements. Fraternally, he belongs to McArthur Lodge No. 207, Ancient Free and, 1260 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; McArthur Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Subordinate Lodge No. 364, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM M. WILLIS. Among the business men of Ironton who have established themselves firmly in the public confidence through their integrity and fair dealing, William M. Willis, blacksmith and wagon manufacturer, is deserving of more than passing mention. Coming here as a stranger, in 1902, he accepted employment in a humble capacity, soon won the esteem and respect of those with whom he came into contact, and from that time to the present his popularity has steadily increased. He is the fortunate possessor of those qualities which are essential to success in any line of business, and in addition has manifested public-spirited citizenship which makes him a desirable resident of his adopted community. Mr. Willis was born in Greenup County, Kentucky, September 23, 1876, and is a son of Edward and Helen (Corm) Willis. His father was born in Kentucky in 1854 and has spent his entire life in Greenup County, where he is a successful tiller of the soil. Mrs. Willis, who was born in Greenup County in 1858, died in 1884, the mother of four children : Jacob, Edith, William M. and Viola. Edward Willis was married the second time to Hilda Adams, who still survives, and they have been the parents of five children : John, Gertie, Luther, Maggie and George. Until he was sixteen years of age William M. Willis attended the public schools of Greenup County, in the meantime, as was ,the custom with Kentucky farmers' sons, assisting his father with the work of the home farm during the summer months. Following the completion of his education, he concentrated his attention upon farming on the family homestead, where he remained until attaining his majority, at which time, deciding that he did not care for an agricultural life, he entered the machine shops of the C. & 0. Railroad, at Huntington, West Virginia. Eighteen months later Mr. Willis went to the West and for one year was employed as a bookkeeper in Denver, Colorado, but at the end of that time came to Ohio, and for eight months was an engineer at the mines at Blackfork. In 1902 Mr. Willis came to Ironton and entered the employ of Compton Brothers, wagon manufacturers, his first salary being fifty cents per day. He was advanced, from time to time, and finally, in 1911, feeling himself qualified to enter business on his own account, purchased the business from his employers, and has continued to conduct the enterprise under his own name, with a constantly increasing trade. This is now one of the firmly established ven- tures of Ironton, the plant, machinery and stock being valued at $12,000, HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1261 and its success must be accredited to Mr. Willis' forceful and energetic personality, his excellent workmanship and the honorable manner in which he has met each of his engagements. Mr. Willis was married to Miss Eziouria Dingness, in 1890, who died in 1898, having been the mother of three children : Imogene, who is deceased ; Maxine, a student in the schools of Cleveland, Ohio ; and Cletine, who is deceased. Mr. Willis was married a second time to Sallie Forte, June 16, 1901, she being a daughter of Kit Forte, a farmer of West Virginia, and four children have come to them : Clifford, Buford, Merrill and Pauline. Mr. and Mrs. Willis and their children reside in their own comfortable home at No. 320 Monroe Street and are members of the First Baptist Church. He is a democrat in politics, holds membership in the Chamber of Commerce, and is fraternally identified with the Masons, in which he has reached the Knight Templar degree ; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; the Junior Order United American Mechanics and the Knights of the Golden Eagle. Mr. Willis may claim a record which it is probable can be equalled by few : He attended the second wedding of his father, the second wedding of his geeat-grand¬father, Seymour Hardy, and the second wedding of his grandfather, who married the daughter of John Young, who was a color-bearer for General George Washington during the American Revolution. WILLIAM H. WEIDNER. To the community of Porter Township in Scioto County William H. Weidner is known not only as a practical and successful farmer, but as an auctioneer, a public spirited citizen, and a man whose service on more than one occasion and in various capacities has been useful to the public. William H. Weidner was born at Wheeling, West Virginia, April 6, 1869, a son of William H. and Rosa C. (Piehler) Weidner. Both parents were natives of Germany, came to the United States when young, were married at Wheeling in 1868, and in 1878 moved to Scioto County, Ohio, locating on Dogwood Ridge in Porter Township. That was their home the rest of their lives. The mother died February 26, 1913, and the father on February 26, 1910. The senior Weidner was a blacksmith by trade, and from work in that line saved enough to buy forty acres of land, and subsequently purchased forty acres more. There were two children. Anna. C., the daughter, is a graduate of the common schools and is the widow of Edward Poetker, and the mother of six children. William H. Weidner grew up on a farm at Dogwood Ridge, was educated in the common schools and began early in life to support himself and acquire the experience and capital needed for an independent career. 1262 - HANGING ROCK IRON. REGION . For ten or twelve years he worked for others, and finally bought land of his own and began his independent career. On June 6, 1900, he married Rena F. Allard, who was born in Porter Township, Scioto County, March 9, 1870, and was educated in the common schools with two years in the High School. They are the parents of seven children : Harry E., born March 25, 1901; Claudius M., born March 30, 1902; Dorothy A., born. March 25, 1904 ; Millard A., born October 15, 1907; Pauline L., born April 24, 1909 ; Luella M., born February 28, 1911, and William Andre, born December 1, 1915. Mr. Weidner is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Dogwood Ridge, and his wife belongs to the Christian Church in Sciotoville. He is present master and is also a past master of Western Sun Lodge No. 91, Free & Accepted Masons, and also belongs to the Grand Lodge of Masonry. Mr. Weidner owns ninety-eight acres of land three miles northeast of Wheelersburg, and besides the management of his excellent farm is frequently called to perform auctioneer work. He is the present incumbent of the office of superintendent of the County Infirmary. In politick he is a republican, and was a director of the Infirmary four years. He is a member of the Porter Grange No. 1671, and was its master for two years. GEORGE W. KARNS. For more than four score years the Karns family has been identified with the Hanging Rock Iron Region and one of the oldest living native sons of Vinton County is George W. Karns, who is a grandson of the original immigrant to this section. George W. Karns has now reached the age of three score and ten and having always enjoyed a generous prosperity through his efforts as a farmer and business man is able to live quietly and without effort beyond that which will satisfy his energetic disposition. His ancestors were Virginians. His great-grandfather, Michael Karns, was born either in Holland or in Germany and arrived in the American colonies before the Revolutionary war. Ile took part in that war as an American-soldier and with an official rank. He spent most of his years after coming to America in Virginia, and in his family were two sons, Fred and Nicholas. Fred was also a pioneer in Southern Ohio. Grandfather Nicholas Karns was born in Virginia about the time the Revolutionary war began, grew up in Pochahontas County, and married a Virginia girl whose first name was Lena. While they live in Virginia three children were born named Henry, Catherine and Cornelius. Then in 1802 the family moved to Greenbrier County in what is now West Virginia, locating about five miles from Lewisburg. While there, three other children were born, John, Sarah and Caleb. All these chil- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1263 dren grew to maturity and all married except Sarah.  Henry in early manhood moved to Pennsylvania, where he married, and afterwards went west to Iowa City and died there. Caleb and John both married in Virginia and the former moved to Missouri where he died, while John spent his last years in Ohio. Catherine was first married in Virginia, but after separating from her husband came to Ohio and married Lewis Clark and spent her last years in Vinton County. Sarah died in Vinton County unmarried, and all the children were quite old. A fact which should be recorded of grandfather Nicholas Karns is that he was a blacksmith, and fully a hundred years ago, while still living in Virginia, he assisted in putting on the first solid tires on wheel felloes. Up to that time the custom had been to put the iron tires on in strips instead of a complete band, and so far as known this Virginian blacksmith helped to do the first job of the kind in the country. Cornelius Karns, who was born in old Virginia in August, 1801, only a few months More the family moved to Western Virginia, grew up in Greenbriar County and lived there until he was about thirty-one. For a number of years he worked as a teamster. He was still unmarried when he accompanied his parents and other families to Vinton County, Ohio. They made the journey in an old fashioned mover's wagon and were several weeks on the road. They arrived at the present site of the Village of Creola in Swan Township January 10, 1833. Here they acquired a partly improved tract of land, with a two-story hewed log house. It was in that house, which was superior to the usual type of structure then found in this section of Ohio, that Nicholas Karns spent he rest of his days. in politics he was a Whig. After getting settled in Vinton County Mr. Karns went to Gallia County, Ohio, and married there Christina Swisher. She was born either in Virginia or in Gallia County, Ohio, in 1808. She was reared in Gallia County, and was an aunt to Congressman Robert M. Swisher of that county. After his marriage. Cornelius Karns brought his bride to Swan Township where he had previously secured a tract of 120 acres including what is now the village site of Creola. Here he and his wife labored hard and developed a large property comprising 600 acres lying around Creola. The village is built on a part of this land and a station was located there in 1880 when the Hocking Valley Railroad was completed. Cornelius Karns was one of the early subscribers to the construction of this railroad, while it was being promoted by William Langley, and lost about all be put into it, since the first and second attempt to construct the line were failures. At the old homestead Cornelius Karns died January 12, 1881, when in his eightieth year. His wife passed away in September, 1868, at the age of sixty. He was a strong republican in polities and took a very active 1264 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION part in local affairs, serving as trustee of Swan Township, and his integrity and business judgment caused him to be frequently called upon to administer estates. Though sixty-one years of age at the time Cornelius Karns volunteered for service in the Civil war, and became captain of Company F in the 114th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He fought at Arkansas Post and also in the first engagements around Vicksburg, but after about six months of service he resigned his commission. His son, .John S., was in the Seventy-fifth Regiment, Company I and campaigned in the eastern) division. He was in the second Bull Run and Gettysburg battles, He joined his old comrades at their fiftieth celebration at Gettysburg in 1913. Cornelius Karns and wife had eight children : John S. lives in Corning, Iowa, and has several children. Mary has never married. Catherine died unmarried in Vinton County at the age of seventy-two, Virginia died in infancy. Rebecca is the widow of John Moore and lives with her children in Columbus. George W. comes next in age. Eliza died young, and Samuel Vinton lives at the old home and is a farmer near Creola. George W. Karns was born in the old hewed log house already mentioned at Creola, November 9, 1846, He acquired only a limited education in such schools as were maintained here during his youth, and for a number of years he helped manage the large estate of his father, and subsequently acquired an independent interest in a portion of it, and for many years has been a successful general farmer and stock raiser. He and his sons now own 335 acres of fine land in the vicinity of Creola. With his children he resides in a fine nine-room house built according to strictly modern plans, and Mr. Karns and his sons constructed the house with their own hands, and there is no better piece of carpentry work iii the county. In politics he has been a republican and has cast his vote forty-seven times in his home district and township, where practically his entire li has been spent. Mr. Karns married a neighbor girl and schoolmate, Mary Defigh, who was born October 19, 1842, in the same school district as her husband, and has never lived in any other one community. She was a warm hearted and devoted wife and mother, and it was a severe loss to her family and large circle of friends when she passed away July 20, 1913. She was reared a Methodist, but later for many years was an active member of the Christian Church and died in that faith. Her parents were Philip and Elizabeth (Dawson) Defigh, both of whom were born at Dawson Castle in Ireland. As a boy Philip Defigh joined the English HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1265 navy and at the age of fourteen was on one of the English boats at New Orleans during the battle which closed the war. He later returned to Ireland, married there, and they had their honeymoon in a six weeks' voyage crossing the Atlantic Ocean to America. They landed in Baltimore in 1826. Philip Defigh was a weaver by trade, an occupation he followed in Maryland, but later moved to Muskingum County, Ohio, and a few years after that to Swan Township in Vinton County, where he. acquired a forty-acre farm. He died at the age of seventy-five and his widow at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Karns, at the age of seventy-nine, They were active Methodists. Their six children, three sons and three daughters, grew up in Swan Township and all of them were married except one daughter and one son. Two of Mrs, Karns' brothers served as soldiers in the Civil war, Samuel Defigh in Company B of the Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and James J. Defigh was a captain of Company L Twelfth Ohio Cavalry from 1863 until end of the war. The children of Mr. Karns are : Charles C., who is unmarried and lives with his father and is a general merchant at Creola ; Lizzie, who is also interested in the general store and besides helping in its management is housekeeper for her father and brothers ; -John, who is a partner in the store at Creola, and lives at home ; and Cora, who married George Wagner and they live on a farm in the State of Minnesota, Mr. Wagner by a former marriage having a daughter, Virginia, now twelve years of age. THOMAS HARTMAN. A business man at Lucasville, Thomas Hartman has been successfully engaged as a livery man and undertaker in Scioto County for the past fourteen years, and in that time an increasing community has come to put a high value on his services and his thorough integrity as a factor in local affairs. Thomas Hartman was born at Wheelersburg, Ohio, September 23, 1855. His parents were Daniel and Margaret J. (Sreet) Hartman, the former from Virginia and the latter a native of Scioto County, Ohio, His father was for many years well known in Wheelersburg as a harness maker, and died in that village at the age of eighty-five, while his wife was eighty-nine when death called her. Of their eleven children, six are still living: Caroline, unmarried ; Ruth, unmarried ; Margaret, wife of Charles Long of Freeport, Illinois ; John, of Wheelersburg ; Thomas ; C. M,, who lives in Northern Ohio. Thomas Hartman was reared in Wheelersburg and was educated in the public schools. He began the undertaking business at Wheelersburg in 1902, and in 1903 moved his establishment to Lucasville. He keeps an up-to-date livery and has all the facilities for first-class service. 1266 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Mr. Hartman is a graduate of a regular school of embalming, and is a careful and conscientious practitioner. In 1879 he married Ruby Chaffin, who was born in Green Township, Scioto County. They have three living children : Lucy, wife of R. G. Mahaffey ; Fannie M., wife of Richard Fite of Clairton, Pennsylvania ; and Claude T., who married Carmen Decker of Columbus, and is asso. ciated with his father in business in Lucasville. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Hartman is affiliated with Lucasville Lodge No. 465, Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is a republican. MICHAEL CORKERY. Thirty-nine years of connection with the coal business at Wellston has given Michael' Corkery a broad and extensive acquaintance in commercial circles of Jackson County and entitles him to mention among the men who have developed the coal industry of the Hanging Rock Iron Region. While his activities have been devoted almost unreservedly to the coal business, he has found time to perform the duties of good citizenship and to aid in the promotion of enterprises for the public welfare. Mr. Corkery is a Kentuckian by nativity, born at Ashland, Boyd County, August 5, 1858, and is a son of the late Andy and Mary (Farbery) Corkery, natives of Kentucky, the latter being of German descent, There were nine children in the family, namely : Kathryn, Marion, Bridget, Hannah, Ella, Rose, Andy, William and Michael. Michael Corkery grew up at Ashland, where he secured the advantages of a public school education, and as a youth of twenty years, in 1878; left his native state and came to Wellston, where he entered the coal business, Through energy and ability he has succeeded in the development of a profitable and prosperous business, and by reason of his integrity and straightforward dealing has established an excellent reputation among his fellow-men. Mr. Corkery married Miss Mary MacWayne, and they became the parents of the following children : Mary E., William and Daniel, all of whom have their homes in Cincinnati, Ohio. WILLIAM L. SCHWEICKART, As president and general manager of the Schweickart Lumber Company, this well known citizen of Lawrence County holds distinctive prestige as one of the representative business men of the City of Ironton, the while his sterling loyalty and civic progressiveness mark him as a citizen fully entitled to the status which he securely maintains in popular esteem. Though he has been ,a resident of Lawrence County from his child- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1267 hood, Mr, Schweickart was born at Dover, Kentucky, on the 28th of October, 1871. He is a son of Frederick and Louisa (Fridley) Schweickart, the former of whom was born in Germany, in 1833, and the latter of whom was born near Ripley, Brown County, Ohio, in 1838. Frederick Schweickart came to Lawrence County, Ohio, when he was about twenty-five years of age, and he became one of the successful contractors and builders of this section of the state; besides which he served many years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ironton Hospital, He was an honored and venerable citizen of Ironton at the time of his death, which occurred in 1907, and his widow still resides in this city. The names of their nine children are as follows : George, Lena, Charles, Maggie, William L.; Albert, Frank, Amelia and Otto. William L. Schweickart attended the public schools of Lawrence County until he had attained to the age of fifteen years, and thereafter he gained practical experience by becoming a newsboy in Ironton, a dignified position which he held four years, Thereafter he was employed in clerical positions for two years, at the expiration of which he became a machine operator in the plant of the Ironton Wood Mantel Company. Two years later he became 'associated with his father in the contracting and buildng business, under the firm name of Schweickart & Son, and after four years his father retired from active business and left the enterprise to be continued successfully by William L. until 1913, when he became associated with Edward Kurtz and William A. Ault in the organization and incorporation of the Schweickart Lumber Company, which hues its operations on a capital stock of $15,000 and which has built up .a substantial and prosperous enterprise, Mr. Schweickart being president and manager of the company, Mr. Kurtz vice president and Mr. Ault secretary and treasurer, Mr. Schweickart is president also of the South- Side Building & Loan Company, and a stockholder of the German Building & Loan. Company; besides which he is a member of the directorate of the South Side Theater Company. He still continues active. Operations as' one of the leading contractors and builders in Ironton and here he is the owner of four houses and lots besides his own attractive residence and his interest in the mill and yards of the Schweickart Lumber Company. Mr. Schweickart is an active and valued member of the Ironton Chamber of Commerce, is a republican in his political allegiance, served two years as a member of the Ironton Board of Public Works, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Seven Wise Men, and the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife hold membership in Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church. January 18, 1899, recorded the marriage of Mr. Schweickart to Miss Vol. II-40 1268 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Rozzie McCarty, daughter of Michael and Jane McCarty, of Scioto County, and the three children of this union are : Paul G., George G., and Phyllis Irene. JAMES MAYHEW. A worthy representative of the agricultural interests of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, a citizen who has proved his patriotism in times of both war and peace, and a member of a family that has been well known and favorably regarded in this section for many years, is James Mayhew, who is residing on his well-cultivated farm in Franklin Township, Jackson County. Mr. Mayhew is a Pennsylvanian by nativity, having been born at Burgettsville, Washington County, January 20, 1838, a son of Hiram and Elizabeth (Wilson) Mayhew. The Mayhew family was founded in this country at an early day, in New England, from whence the grandparents of James Mayhew emigrated to Washington County, Pennsylvania, as early settlers. Subsequently, after some years, they went to West Virginia and settled on a farm one-half mile from Parkersburg, where they spent the remaining years of their lives. Among their children were four sons : John, Truman, Hiram and Walker. Hiram Mayhew remained a resident of Pennsylvania until the year 1855, when he came to Ohio accompanied by his family and purchased lot No. 9, in Franklin Township, Jackson County, only a few acres of which property were cleared. While he had never served an apprenticeship to a skilled trade, he was a natural mechanic., was skilled in the use of various tools, and after some years of work as a carpenter developed into a contractor and builder. At that time there were no sawmills in the near vicinity, and Mr. Mayhew hewed the timber for the greater number of buildings which he erected, as well as for railroad bridges and other structures. He was a man of great energy, capable of accomplishing a great deal of hard work, and while continuing his building operations also superintended the work on his farm, which he brought to a high state of cultivation and productiveness, Mr. Mayhew married Miss Elizabeth Wilson, who was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Fullerton) Wilson, who came from Pennsylvania to Jackson County, Ohio, about the year 1840, locating in the northwest part of Franklin township, where the father purchased 200 acres of land, and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, dying at a ripe, old age, Mrs. Mayhew died when still in the prime of life, but her husband survived until the age of eighty-seven years and remained active almost until the last. They were the parents of five children, as follows : Mary Ann, James, Joseph, Robert and Richard. James Mayhew received his education in the public schools of Wash- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1269 ington County, Pennsylvania, and was seventeen years of age when he came to Ohio with his parents. After attaining his majority he became associated with his father in contracting and building, having received , his business training under the elder man's instruction, and remained with him until May 14, 1864, when he enlisted in Company I, 172d Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His services as a soldier during the Civil war were largely confined to patrol and guard duty on the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, and his service lasted until September 24, 1864, when he received his honorable discharge, with an excellent record. While Mr. Mayhew's operations as a contractor had been successful, he had shown a predilection for farming, and had previously purchased a tract of twenty-six acres of land adjoining the homestead of his father, where there were located a small unfinished frame house and a log barn. After completing the house and furnishing it, he was married, but misfortune overtook him soon thereafter, fire completely destroying the residence and its contents: Mr. Mayhew had only limited means at this time and the blow was a severe one, but kind neighbors soon came to his relief and in a short time another house was erected and furnished and Mr. Mayhew resumed his agricultural operations: In this line he has been very successful, and now has a handsome tract of 310 acres, finely cultivated, well stocked, and furnished with excellent buildings and modern equipment. An honest, industrious, hard-working citizen, Mr, Mayhew's success has come to him as a result of his own labors only, and in its accumulation he has had at all times the regard and friendship of all with whom he has come into contact, Mr, Mayhew married Miss Ory Ann Howe, who was born at Galena, Illinois, daughter of Henry and. Harriet (Hale) Howe, the former of whom was a teamster and for many years lived in Lick Township, Jackson County, Ohio, Mrs. Howe died when Mrs, Mayhew was an infant, and the latter was reared in the home of her maternal aunt, Mrs, Tacy Bunn. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mayhew : Ida T., who married Asa Farrar and has had four children : .Frank, Margaret, Talmadge .and James Roy; the last named of whom died in infancy ; Frank, who married Eliza Schellenberger and has two children : Inez and Clyde; Charles, who married Harriet Rogers and has four children, Cyril., Gladys, Marie and one other; and Inez and Ernest, who reside with their parents. Mr. Mayhew has not been a politician in regard to office seeking, but. has. supported the men and measures of the republican party ever since he cast his first, presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, DAVID E. FRI. Amid all the changes. and chances of this mortal life he whose privilege it is to cause the kindly earthto bring forth its increase 1270 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION may well consider. himself favored, and such a privilege has been granted to Mr. Fri in his native county, where he stands as one of the progressive and representative agriculturists and stock-growers, with a well improved landed estate of large area, He: is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Vinton County, which has been his home from the time of. his birth, and he is here the owner of fine farm property, in Swan and Elk Townships.. His well improved homestead farm is eligibly situated in Swan Township, near the Village of Creola., and in addition to his prominence as an agriculturist he has served as mail carrier on rural route, No. 1, from Creola, for the long period of thirteen years and from the time this route was established, in 1903, Mr. Fri states that in his entire services on this route there was only one day's duties omitted. He is one ofthe vital, enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Vinton County and on the maternal side is a scion of one of the old and influential families of the county. His father is deceased. Jacob F. Frick, maternal grandfather, was born and reared in Baden-Baden, Germany, and as a young man he immigrated to America, the voyage having been made on a sailing vessel from which he in due time disembarked in the port of New York City, He established his residence near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a brother who had accompanied him to America having made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio; where he married and where he passed the residue of his life, a number of his children having survived him, Jacob Frederick Frick had married several years prior to coming to the United States, and was accompanied by his wife and children. It was in the early '30s. that he thus left his. German fatherland and after remaining a few years. in the Old Keystone State he came with his family to Ohio and settled in that part of Hocking County which Was.later organized as Vinton County. Here he became one of the pioneer settlers of Swan Township, where he instituted the reclamation of a farm from a virtual wilderness and where he continued:. his activities as an agriculturist until his death, which occurred a number of years prior to the Civil war, His widow, Mrs, Christina Barbara Frick survived him by forty years and was still a resident of Swan; TownshiP at the time of her, death, at a venerable age, Both were zealous, communicants of the German Lutheran .Church and were influential in the establishing and maintenance of a church of this denomination in: Hocking County. Of their children Caroline E., mother of the subject of this review, is now the only one living. Two sisters have become. residents of Illinois. Caroline. E. Frick was born on the old homestead in Swan Township, in 1842, and she maintains her residence in the Village of Creola, and her circle of friends being limited only by that of her acquaintances, HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1271 She was reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, later became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for a number of years she has. been actively identified with the Church of The Reorganized Latter Day Saints. Though. she is now venerable in years she retains fine command of her mental and physical powers and is one of the well known pioneer women of Vinton County—one who has been a devoted mother and who has given to her children the best possible advantages. David E. Fri was born in Swan Township, Vinton County, on the 18th. of January, 1862, was here reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and after profiting duly from the advantages afforded in the public schools he availed himself Of those of the normal school at Lebanon; Warren County. After leaving this institution he put his scholastic attainments to practical use by entering the pedagogic profession, of which he continued a successful and popular representative as a teacher in the schools of Vinton County. for a period of nineteen years, besides which he served for some time as a member of the County Board of School Examiners. He has continued to take a deep interest in educational affairs and has done all in his power to further the advancement of the schools of his native county. Upon leaving the work of the school room Mr. Fri was appointed the first carrier on rural free-delivery route No. 1, having its base at Creola, and he has since continued the incumbent of this position, his salary being that of a standard route. During a service that has covered a period of thirteen years he has proved a most efficient and popular representative of the rural mail system in Vinton County, and he daily traverses a route of twenty-five miles. The homestead farm of Mr. Fri is situated at the corner of crossroads one mile from the Village of Creola, and is a place of much local historic interest. It is on Raccoon Creek and is the old Rager homestead, which was settled in the early '30s and on which formerly stood an old-time tavern or inn, known as the Red House, this place of entertainment for wayfarers having long stood as one of the landmarks of Vinton County. This farm comprises seventy acres, and Mr. Fri owns in Swan Township another farm, of fifty-two acres, and still another of forty acres, besides which he is the owner of forty-two acres in Elk Township, so that the total area of his landed estate is in excess of 200 acres. He has shown his Progressiveness and good judgment in the proving of his farm property, which he has brought up to a high standard and over which he continues to maintain a general supervision. On his homestead place he has a commodious and substantial residence of eleven rooms, and all other farm buildings are of excellent order and' kept in the best of repair. Mr. Fri is known as one of the thrifty and pros, perous farmers and stock-growers of this section of the state and takes 1272 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION just pride in his achievement as a farmer, as does he also in having been able to give to his children the best of advantages. He is a broad-guaged and public-spirited citizen, is a democrat in his political allegiance and he and his family hold membership in the Church of The Reorganized Latter Day Saints. In Swan Township the year 1887 bore record of the marriage of Mr. Fri to Miss Emma Rosser, who was born in Hocking County and her parents removed to Vinton County when she was five years old. Further data concerning the Rosser family is given on other pages of this work, in the sketch of the career of her brother, Elmer E. Rosser. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Fri : Olan E., who has been a successful teacher in the public schools, is attending, in 1916, the Ohio University, at Athens. He married Miss Irene Worthman and they have no children. Ilber E. is likewise at Athens, in the Ohio University. J. Lloyd was graduated in the High School at McArthur and has attended both Ohio University, at Athens, and the Ohio State University in the City of Columbus. He is, in 1916, serving his second year as principal of the public schools of the Village of Zaleski, Vinton County. Ethel C. is a graduate of McArthur High School and is a student in Ohio University and has also achieved marked success as a teacher. Ada Naomi is a graduate of the McArthur High School and is now teaching in the Fee School District of Swan Township. Thelma E. E. is a student in the McArthur High School ; and Elvey C. and Frederick, who remain at the parental home, are attending the graded schools. The family is one of special prominence and popularity in the representative social life of the community, and it is pleasing to be able to give the foregoing record in the history of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of the fine, old Buckeye State. JARED JOHNSON RARDIN. The treasurer of the Selby Shoe Company of Portsmouth, Mr. Rardin has been identified with his city for a period of about forty-five years, has been continuously in business, has gained a worthy success, and through his family has some interesting relations with early Ohio history. Mr. Rardin is one of the few men now in active life who can claim a log cabin as a birthplace. At the time a log cabin did not signify poverty or backwardness of family circumstance so much as it was significant and typical of usual conditions. Jared Johnson Rardin was born in such a home November 30, 1848. His parents then lived three miles from Bartlett in Bern .Township of Athens County, Ohio. His direct ancestry connects him with Revolutionary stock. His father was Levi Rardin, who was born on a farm adjoining the birthplace of the son, January HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 1273 12, 1823. Levi was a son of William, who was a native of Pennsylvania. William Rardin was the son of Henry Rardin, who was born in Pennsylvania November 17, 1756. He had just about reached manhood when the war broke out between the colonies and Great Britain, and he became a member of the Frontier Rangers and did active service for the colonial cause, as is shown in the Pennsylvania records on pages 453 and 453 of volume 4 in series IV. Henry Rardin was married in Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Hull. In 1807, nearly thirty years after independence had been won, he came to Ohio. Like many of the early settlers he journeyed down the Ohio River on a flat boat and landed at Marietta. He located in the wilds of Washington County, buying a tract of land in Wesley Township. Ohio had been a state about five years, but most of its area was a wilderness, the land being owned by the Government, and for sale except in a few settled localities at a dollar and a quarter per acre. One of the chief sources of provisions at that time was the wild game so plentiful in all the woods and streams. Henry Rardin lived at Marietta for a time, and then removed to the country. He was a millwright and supervised the construction of several grist mills on Wolf Creek and Muskingum River. His death occurred November 17, 1855, at the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. His wife, Elizabeth Hull, was born in Pennsylvania in 1762 and died February 18, 1836. Both are buried in the old cemetery 1 1/2 miles north of Bartlett, Grandfather William Rardin was born at Georgetown, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1797. His death' occurred December 11, 1876, interment at Mount Hermon, Athens County, Ohio. He was fond of the chase and much of his time was devoted to hunting. He was a naturalist by training and observation, and knew the habits and peculiarities. of practically all the birds and animals found in the native wilds of Ohio. Soon after his marriage he bought a tract of timber land in Bern Township of Athens County three miles west of Bartlett, and his nearest neighbor at the time lived in Bartlett. His first home was a log cabin, followed by a 'hewed log house, and that in turn by a frame house, in which he lived until his death on December 11, 1876. William Rardin married Elizabeth Anders.- She was born in the vicinity of the old Redstone Fort, .in Southwestern. Pennsylvania where Brownsville is now located, on July 16, 1799, a daughter of Michael and Mehitable (Gard) Anders. She came to Ohio with her widowed mother and sisters and brothers, and was a woman of great capacity in assisting her husband during pioneer times and did much to influence her children during the formative years of their lives. Her nine children were named Mehitable, Sarah. Ann, Levi, Agnes, Elizabeth, Rebecca, George, Adaline and William Henry. Levi Rardin, father of the Portsmouth business man, was reared on 1274 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION a farm and had a thorough training in agricultural pursuits. At the time of his marriage, he bought a tract of land adjoining his father 's farm, and went through practically the same experiences of pioneering as Were the lot of his, father. He built a log cabin. and for the floors split puncheons and for the roof split boards which in the absence of nails were weighted down by weight poles. He devoted many years to clearing up his land and tilling the soil, and effected much improvement that has been enjoyed by later possessors. After a few years he supplanted the log cabin with a frame dwelling that was his home until his death at the age of forty-four. Levi Rardin married Fanny L. Selby, daughter of Dyer and Tabitha Selby. An account of the Selby family will be found in a sketch of George D. Selby on other pages. Levi Rardin and wife reared six children, named Jared Johnson, Willard W., Charles C., Eunice E., Elizabeth E. and Joseph S., only two of whom, Jared and Joseph are living. The latter is a practicing physician in Portsmouth, Ohio. Jared. J. Rardin was reared on a farm and had his early training in country schools, supplemented by two terms of attendance at the Bartlett Academy. His assistance was given to his father on 'the old homestead until twenty-one. On June 11, 1870, he came to Portsmouth and has exerted his vigorous ability in commercial affairs since that time. He was first a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and his successful work in that field brought his promotion to general manager, directing the sales over twenty-two. counties. He continued to represent that company until T.895, and then with other associates organized the Star Shoe Company, of which he became secretary and treasurer. In 1902 Mr. Rardin traded his stock in the former company for an interest in the Drew, Selby Company and became treasurer, and with the reorganization under the present name of Selby Shoe Company was retained in the same office and has been an important factor in the upbuilding of that business at Portsmouth. On July 5, 1876, Mr. Rardin married Mary Adrian Webster; daughter of Isaac Webster of Meigs County. Mr. and Mrs. Rardin have reared three, children, Irma B., Glen E. and Earl W. All the children are graduates of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. The daughter is the wife of Rev. George L. Davis, a missionary to China, and they have a daughter, Juliet, and a son, Enan G. Glen married Crete Brant and has a son, Jared Joseph. Earl married Carrie Goddard and has a daughter named Marcella. Mr. and Mrs. Rardin have membership in the Bigelow Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics he is a republican.