HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 825 SAMUEL A. WILLIAMS. One of the fine old characters of a generation that is now a past was the late Samuel A. Williams, who lived for many years in Scioto County and whose descendants are still represented among the honorable and successful citizenship of this locality. Samuel A: Williams was born in Bath County, Kentucky, February 20, 1807. His father, Capt. William A. Williams, was born in England November 16, 1774, as a boy began the life of a sailor and rose to the captaincy of a vessel. Finally retiring from the sea, he came to America and on May 8, 1805, married Harriet L. Forrest. She, too, was a native of England and a daughter of a wealthy sea captain, but at the time of her marriage was visiting the family of Judge Salter in the United States. After their marriage Captain Williams and wife located on a farm in Bath County, Kentucky, and that was their home until death. Captain Williams died March 20, 1845. Samuel A. Williams, who .was one of several children, was reared and educated in Kentucky, and in young manhood moved to Portsmouth, where he was employed in the Gaylord Rolling Mill until after the breaking out of the Civil war. He was more than fifty years of age when the war came on, and was therefore, not subject to duty. However, he enlisted in Company B of the Seventy-third Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, went to the front, and remained in the service until his honorable discharge on account of disability. After his return from the army he continued a resident of Portsmouth until his death on November 1, 1871, at the age of sixty-nine. Samuel A. Williams married Mrs. Sidney A. (Huston) Anderson: She will always have a special distinction in the history of the City of Portsmouth, since she is credited with having been the first white girl child born on the site of that city, August 7, 1808. Her parents were William and Susanna (Boyd) Huston, a family that is sketched elsewhere in this work.. Mrs. Williams died December 8, 1892. She had one child by her first marriage, Eliza A. Anderson, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Williams reared six children: Maria L., William H., Susanna H., Cyrus Brooks, John M. and Samuel Vinton. Three of the sons, William H., John M. and Cyrus B., all saw service in the Civil war, and the two first are the Subjects of special sketches found elsewhere in this publication.. The son Cyrus Brooks enlisted with his father in Company B of the Seventy-third Regiment of Ohio. Infantry, went to the front, and after nearly a year was honorably discharged on account of disability. Returning home and recuperating, he again enlisted, this time in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that subsequently became the First Ohio. Heavy Artillery. After his second enlistment he again went to 826 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION the front and remained with his command until the close of the war. An honorable discharge was followed by return to Portsmouth and some years later. he went West and died in Denver, Colorado, a few years ago. CAPTAIN WILLIAM HUSTON WILLIAMS. While his country needed his services on the battlefields of the South, Captain William H. Williams was a gallant soldier with an Ohio regiment, having enlisted Prom Portsmouth, the home of his childhood and early youth. Since the war Captain Williams has been a successful and thrifty business man, and has enjoyed many tokens of esteem and evidence of the confidence of his fellow citizens in various public offices. Captain William Huston Williams was born, in the City of Portsmouth August 27, 1840, and was the oldest son of Samuel A. and Sidney (Huston) Williams, worthy pioneers whose careers are sketched on other pages of this work. William H. Williams was educated in the Portsmouth schools, and on July. 16, 1861, before he had reached his twenty-first birthday, enlisted in Company A of the 39th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment, according to Evans History, had more re-enlisted veterans than any other regiment from Ohio, and saw as much hard service if :not more and was in more battles than any regiment ever formed in Scioto County. In December, 1863, Captain Williams re-enlisted, and was with his command in all its various marches, campaigns and battles, and a full account of the regiment's services would include a general account of the war, especially in the Mississippi Valley and in the critical campaigns through. Georgia and North and South Carolina and Tennessee. Captain Williams participated in the battles of New Madrid, Missouri, Island No. 10, Iuka and Corinth in Mississippi; Parker's Cross Roads in Tennessee, and was with Sherman's Command in all the engagements from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and also in the siege and capture of that city. Following the fall of Atlanta he accompanied Sherman's victorious army on the march to the sea, entered the City of Savannah on Christmas Day of 1864, thence proceeded through the Carolinas and was present at Johnston's surrender near Raleigh, arriving an hour before he surrendered. Captain Williams 'was then placed in charge of the regimental baggage and went by rail to Moorehead, North Carolina, thence by boat to Washington, and arrived in the capital in time to witness the grand review of the victorious hosts of the Union army. He went with his regiment to Louisville, Kentucky, and was honorably discharged in July, 1865, after having seen fully four years of active service. After the war, Captain Williams enlisted in Company C of the Sixth Regiment of the Ohio HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 827 National Guards, and served for a number of years with the rank of captain. The war over, Captain Williams went to Nile Township in Scioto County and spent about five years in managing a general store for Thomas Adamson. In 1877 he was elected county recorder and gave six years of capable and efficient management to that office. For several years he was a contractor on public works and held the office of deputy United States marshal under President Harrison for four years. He was also assistant sergeant of the Ohio State Senate for two terms. Captain Williams now lives retired. On October 8, 1866, Captain Williams married Nancy Aroyse, who died in 1869. On March 4, 1877, he married Florence Humble. She was born at Bladensburg, Wapello County, Iowa, June 30, 1858. Her father, Sylvester J. Humble, was born in Adams County, Ohio, near Cedar Mills, a son of James 'Humble, who was a pioneer of Adams County, and improved a farm near Wamsleyville, on Turkey Creek, and lived there until his death. Sylvester J. Humble was reared and married in his native county, and in 1857 joined a colony bound for what was then considered the far west. There were twenty teams in line, and for twenty-six days the caravan journeyed slowly to the west and finally reached the new state of Iowa, locating in Wapello County. The greater portion of the state was then uninhabited and the land was sold by the Government at a: price as low is $1.25 per acre. For a part of the year Mr. Humble was engaged in teaming to Keokuk, sixty miles distant, which was the nearest convenient market. He remained in Iowa two years, then returned to Southern Ohio and located in Nile Township of Scioto County. During the Civil war Sylvester Humble enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment of Ohio Infantry and served until his honorable discharge. His last days were spent in Portsmouth. Sylvester Humble married Melissa, F. Mott, who was born in Adams County, Ohio, a daughter. of Henry Mott, who was born in Pennsylvania, April 30, 1799. Henry Mott was a son of Robert Mott, who was probably a native of Pennsylvania, moved from there to the State of Illinois and became an early settler in the Mississippi River valley, in Hardin County, and lived there until his death, Mr. Mott was only a youth when the family moved to Illinois and at an early age left home and engaged in boating up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, operating keel boats. Later he settled in Adams County, Ohio, and, lived near Sandy Springs a few years, then came to Scioto County, bought land in lower Nile Township, twelve miles. From Portsmouth, and after thirteen years as a farmer there sold out and returned to Hardin County, Illinois, lived there seven years and finally returned to Scioto County and lived in 828 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Nile Township until his death on August 24, 1846. Henry Mott married Phebe Woodruff. She was born in Philadelphia, March 22, 1801, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin Woodruff, who was a native of Pennsylvania and served with the rank of lieutenant in the War of 1812. In 1817 Lieutenant Woodruff moved out to Ohio, accompanied, by his family, making .the entire journey overland with ox teams and wagons. The Woodruffs located near Sandy Springs in Adams County and that was his home until .his death. His remains are buried in the Sandy Springs Cemetery. Lieutenant Woodruff married Jane Sheppard. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1776 and spent her last years in Adams County, Ohio. Henry Matt and wife reared nine children: Albina J., Albanus, Almira, Jasper, Melissa, Alvin, William, Phebe, and Clarissa. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are the parents of ten living children: Minnie I., Susan A., Hazel K, Huston S., Ethel I., Frank S., William J. S., Cary McKinley,. Russell D. and Carol. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church of Portsmouth. Captain Williams is a member of the G. A. R. He was at one time commander of his post and at the same time was also commander of the Son's of Veterans. SAMPSON D. ECKHART. By their votes, in 1914 the people of Scioto County placed in the office of county auditor a man whose thorough fitness for official responsibility no one might successfully question. Until this. new honor' came to him, Mr. Eckhart had been an educator, in school work. since" the age of nineteen, and many of his early pupils helped elect .him: He has almost as many personal friends over the county as he had votes in the election. Sampson D. Eckhart was born on a farm in Madison Township February 16', 1876. His father is Jacob A. Eckhart, one of the county's substantial citizens, who was born in Ohio, August 7, 1843. Grandfather Jacob Eckhart; a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was reared and educated, came to America to win a home, crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel, and .became an early resident of Jackson County, His wife was Mary Sherer, and they reared twelve of their family of fourteen children. Four of the sons, George, Adam", John and Jacob, all became soldiers and made good records in, the Civil war. Jacob A. Eckhart, one of the surviving veterans of the war, grew up on a farm in Madison Township, attended rural schools, and was still under age when hostilities broke out between the states. August 13, 1862, he enlisted in Company K of the Ninety-first Ohio Infantry, and going to the front, participated with his command in a number of campains and engagements. At Stevenson's Depot, Virginia, he was HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 829 severely wounded in the right hip. This fight occurred July 20, 1864, and he was sent to the Maryland Heights Hospital, where he remained three months. He never sufficiently recovered for active service, but was not discharged until May 6, 18.65, at Cumberland, Maryland. Two years after his return home the bullet was extracted from his body, and itis now kept as a relic of the war. As soon as he was sable to apply himself to the serious business of life, he bought forty acres adjoining the old homestead, and built a house which he occupied for a number of years. He finally removed to the old homestead to care for his parents, and eventually succeeded to its ownership. In 1900 he moved into Sciotoville, and in the same year was appointed village postmaster, an office he held for several years. In December, 1865, he married Jemima Bussler, a daughter of Samuel Bussler. The eight children of their marriage were : Daniel, who died when fourteen years old, the result of an accident ; George, who died at the age of nineteen; John; Minnie, wife of J. W. Coriell; Maggie, deceased wife of Dr. Samuel Rickey ; Sampson D.; Andrew J.; and Bertha. Professor Eckhart takes much satisfaction in the fact that his youth was spent in the wholesome environment of the country. His schooling was begun in district schools, and advanced by attendance at the normal schools of both Scioto and Jackson counties. His career as a teacher began at the age of nineteen, and he has some interesting and pleasant recollections of his first term, taught at Glade in ,Scioto township of Jackson County. Then followed three years in the Shiner school in the same township, and the next year in the Providence school in the same locality. In .1900 he came to Portsmouth and for two years was connected with the Micklethwait school, and after that was continuously in charge of the New Boston school until he entered upon his duties at the court house. In August, 1900, Mr. Eckhart married Stella Frances Gahm. She was born in Scioto Township of Jackson County, a daughter. of Adam and Maggie Gahm. Mr. and Mrs. Eckhart have two daughters, Marie and Garnet. Politically, Mr. Eckhart cast his first vote for Major McKinley, and has never wavered in his support of republican principles. He is a member of the General Jacob Camp No. 26, Sons of Veterans, and of Ives Lodge, Knights of Pythias, at. Harrisonville. His parents are members of the United Brethren Church, but he and his wife have membership in the Baptist denomination. WILLIAM B. RICHARDSON, In ,his native city of Portsmouth, the metropolis of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, Mr. Richardson has been 830 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION engaged in the practice of law since 1895 and he has worthily and effectively achieved his secure place as one of the representative meinbers of the bar of. Scioto County, his father having become a resident of this county more than sixty. years ago and the family name having been closely identified with the civic and material interests of the City, of Portsmouth .during the long intervening years. William B. Richardson was born and reared in Portsmouth and the public schools of this city afforded him his early educational advantages. He is a son of James and Mary (Orme) Richardson, the latter of whom was born and reared in Scioto County, a daughter of John and Phylura (Hayward) Orme, concerning whom more definite mention is made on other pages of this publication. James Richardson was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, a son of Robert and Martha (McDonald) Richardson, the former a native of Ireland. and the latter of Scotland, the paternal .ancestry likewise having been of Scottish origin. Robert Richardson and wife continued their residence in County Monaghan of the Emerald Isle until their death and his vocation was that of farming. James Richardson was reared and educated. in his native land. and there he wedded Miss Margaret . Simmons, whose sister Jane became the wife of James Connolly, long a representative business man of Portsmouth, Ohio. Mrs. Richardson died in 1860, at Portsmouth. In 1847 James Richardson and his wife immigrated to America, and on the voyage, which was made on a sailing vessel, they were accompanied by their four children. After having. been on the ocean. six weeks they landed in New York city on the 4th of July of that year. Soon afterward the family- home was established at Lansingburg, Rensselaer County, that state., where Mr. Richardson found employment in a brush factory and 'where he remained until 1853, when he came with his family to Ohio, the journey to Cincinnati having been made by railroad and from that city transportation to Portsmouth, Scioto County, having been made by packet boat on the Ohio River. After providing a comfortable home in Portsmouth, James Richardson assumed the position of paymaster for his brother-in-law, James Connolly, previously mentioned, the latter having been at the time the civil engineer in charge of the construction of the Scioto & .Hocking Valley Railroad. In 1856 Mr. Richardson engaged in the retail grocery business in .Portsmouth, his establishment having been at the .corner of Chillicothe and Fifth streets, and his ability, enterprise and honorable methods enabled him to achieve unqualified success in this business. As his financial resources increased he made judicious investments in city and farm "property, and in 1875 he retired from the .grocery business, after which he gave his attention to the supervision of his real estate and to the directing of the HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 831 affairs. of his farms until his death, which occurred at Portsmouth in the year 1908. He was a man of strong personality, inflexible integrity and genial, and buoyant disposition, so that he retained an inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of the community which represented his home for many years. After the death of his first wife was solemnized the marriage of James Richardson to Miss Mary Jane Orme, who still maintains her home at Portsmouth, the five children of the second marriage who are still living being James, Jr., Anna V., Florence A., William B., and Aldred H. The elder daughter, Anna V., is now the wife of John A. Ives. William B. Richardson attended the public schools of Portsmouth until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, and in preparation for his chosen profession he entered the Cincinnati Law School, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. From that time to the present he has been engaged in the general practice of his profession in Portsmouth, where he has long retained a substantial and representative clientage and where he has appeared in connection with much im- portant litigation, his success affording the most effective voucher for his ability as an advocate and counselor and indicating also his possession of those sterling characteristics that ever beget popular confidence and esteem. He has an excellent law business and is one of the leading members of the Scioto County bar. On the 1st of January, 1914, he was, appointed by the mayor, Adam Frick, as a director of public service. From the time of attaining to his legal majority Mr. Richardson has accorded unfaltering allegiance to the democratic party, his first presidential vote having been cast in support of William Jennings Bryan. Though he has manifested no ambition for public office and considered his profession worthy of his undivided fealty, he has taken a loyal interest, in public affairs and has given effective service in the furtherance of the principles of the political party with which he is identified. In a fraternal way Mr. Richardson is affiliated with Aurora Lodge, No. 48, Free & Accepted Masons; Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 23, Royal Arch Masons; and McPherson. Council, No. 307; Royal Arcanum. HON. ANSELM TUPPER HOLCOMB. A man of yersatile talents, and sound judgment, Hon. Anselm Tupper Holcomb, one of the foremost citizens of Portsmouth, has achieved marked success in many lines of endeavor, as a lawyer winning high prestige ; as a business man being eminently successful : and as a public official using his influence at all times to promote the welfare of city, county and state. A native of Ohio, he was born November 19, 1845, in Vinton, Gallia County, a son of 832 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION John Ewing Holcomb, and grandson of Gen. Samuel R. Holcomb. His great grandfather,. Zephaniah Holcombe, was born in Columbia County, New York, coming from honorable New England ancestry. He enlisted as a soldier hi the Revolutionary war, and died in the service in 1778. Gen. Samuel R. Holcomb was born near Spencertown, Columbia County, New York. But an infant when his father entered the Revolutionary army, he went to live with his paternal grandparents, with whom he remained until eighteen years of age. Going then to Virginia, he settled in Greenbrier County, where he wooed and married. Sarah Ewing. Following the march of civilization westward in 1800, he located in Gallia County, Ohio, a part of the Northwestern Territory. At that time all of the country west of the Ohio River was known as the Northwest Territory, and was inhabited by Indians, who, with the buffalo, wild turkeys, wolves, and bears roamed at will through the vast forests. A man of strong individuality, he soon became prominent in public affairs, serving as sheriff seventeen consecutive years; and also representing his district in 1825 and 1835 in the State Legislature. He continued a resident of Gallia County until his death, in the ninety-first year of his age. He served in the War of 1812, on the staff of General Tupper, and as a major-general of the .State Militia. The maiden name of the wife of Gen. Samuel R. Holcomb was Sarah Ewing. She was born in Virginia, which was likewise the birthplace of her father, John Ewing. A lad of fourteen years at the time of the Clendenin massacre, he was taken prisoner by the Indians, held captive for many years, near Circleville, Ohio, and was afterwards known far and wide as Indian John Ewing. Late in life he came to Ohio, and spent his last years in Vinton, his, body being laid to rest in the Vinton Cemetery. His wife's maiden name was Ann Smith. Mrs. Sarah (Ewing). Holcomb lived to the age of seventy years. John Ewing Holcomb was reared and educated in Gallia .County where he carried on general farming until thirty-three years of age. Embarking then in mercantile pursuits at Vinton, he, continued there until 1869, when he removed with his family to Butler, Bates County. Missouri, where having purchased land, he was engaged in the stock and real estate business until his death, in 1889, in the seventy-third year of his age. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Matthews, was born in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio, April 7, 1818, a daughter of Phineas Matthews, and granddaughter of Aaron Matthews, a life-long reside of New England. Phineas Matthews was 'born in 1770, reared and educated in Braintree, Massachusetts. Responding to the lure of the Wild West, he joined the second expedition of Gen:. Rufus Putnam, and with him migrated HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 833 to the Northwest Territory, becoming one of the first settlers of Gallia County. He purchased from the Government land now included within the limits of Cheshire Township, Gallia County. Clearing a large tract, he became a most successful farmer, and one of the influential citizens of the place. He was tax collector of that part of Washington County. He lived on his homestead until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was three times married; his second wife, Mr. Holcomb's maternal grandmother, Abigail Nobles, was a native of Massachusetts. By his first marriage Phineas Matthews had seven children; by his second marriage, six children;' and by his last wife, two children. Mr. and Mrs. John Ewing Holcomb reared six children, namely : Phineas H.; Anselm T.; Eliza S., who married Richard Wilson; Sarah, wife of John C. Bybee; Charles M.; and Sumner C. All of these children are living now, in June, 1915. The mother survived her husband a few years, passing away in 1894,, aged seventy-seven years. Anselm Tupper Holcomb received his elementary education in the public schools of Vinton and Ewington, during his vacations and leisure time assisting his father in the store. Entering the Ohio University in 1863, he was there graduated in 1867. While pursuing his studies in that institution spent a part of his spare time reading law with Hon. Reed Golden, .at Athens. After receiving his diploma, he continued his legal studies in the office of- his uncle, Gen. Anselm Tupper Holcomb, in addition teaching school at Vinton and Rodney; in Gallia County, Ohio, and at Moorefield, Kentucky. Going to Bates County, Missouri, in 1868, Mr. Holcomb was admitted to the bar, and until 1875 was there engaged in the practice of his profession in partnership with Hon. William Page, the firm name being Page & Holcomb. The following four years he was associated with his brother Phineas in the law business. Coming to Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1878, Mr. Holcomb formed a partnership with Hon. Albert C. Thompson, and under the firm name of Thompson & Holcomb was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession until 1881. In 1884 Mr. Holcomb became associated with James M. McGillivary and Judge A. C. Thompson and they opened offices in both Portsmouth and in Ironton. In the latter place Mr. Holcomb lived for nearly two years. From 1886 until 1891 Mr. Holcomb practiced alone, but was afterwards for three years .in partnership with James M. Dawson, an able lawyer, the firm being Holcomb & Dawson. On June 1, 1897, he formed a partnership with Frank B. Finney, with whom he was associated two years. An active and tireless worker, Mr. Holcomb has been quite successful in his various undertakings. While living in Bates County, Missouri, he made an abstract of title to all the lands in the county, and since coming to Portsmouth he has been among 834 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION the foremost in all things calculated to promote the growth and development of the city, and has been personally identified with many of the leading industries of this locality. Mr. Holcomb was president of the Raccoon Coal & Fuel Company ; a director in the Vinton Coal Company ; a promoter, and the largest stockholder of the Buckeye Fire Brick & Clay Company ; and was vice president and director of the Portsmouth Shoe Company. He is now president of the Portsmouth Veneer & Panel Company ; of the Walker Veneer & Lumber Company of Mound City, Illinois ; and recently of the Portsmouth-Radford Veneer Company of Radford, Virginia. He is a director of the Scioto Fire Brick Company ; secretary of the Fluhart Coal & Mining Company, of Wellston, Ohio ; president of the Buckhorn Coal Company of Lawrence County, Ohio ; was one of the original stockholders of the Portsmouth Fire Brick Company and the Wagon Stock Company ; one of the original promoters and director of the Portsmouth Street Railway & Light Company ; and also a promotor and director of the Portsmouth Telephone Company. He is interested in the coal business in Missouri, and he is also a director of the Middle Creek Coal Company and the Purity Cannel Coal Company, both near Prestonsburg, Kentucky, and of the Carroll Vehicle Company of Portsmouth. To the multiplicity of enterprises with which Mr. Holcomb is now identified, he gives personal attention. He bought, in 1896, all the lands of the " Scioto Furnace Company," about 7,500 acres. He still retains over 3,000 acres of these lands. His sales were made to small investors for firms. As administrator of the estate of George Davis, deceased, he sold nearly 3,000 acres of " The Jackson Furnace Lands," in Jackson County, Ohio. Mr. Holcomb was for a number of years president of the Board of Trade. While so acting, he inaugurated the movement to purchase several tracts of land adjoining Portsmouth on the east. These lands were purchased by donations from the citizens, and the title to same was vested in Mr. Holcomb, as trustee. It required hard work, and involved quite a heavy responsibility. The lands were platted and lots sold, the surplus being used to induce new manufactures to locate in our city. It proved a great success, and with it began an era of great prosperity to Portsmouth, which has not since abated. He purchased and laid off the First and Second Additions of what is known as the Hill-top Additions to Portsmouth. He and three others laid out the Kendall Addition to Portsmouth, and with Captain Skelton and Michael Stanton he purchased the Rhodes farm, and laid off the Village of New Boston. Grace Street is named for his wife. He also laid off and platted Scioto Furnace, Union. Mills, and The Breare-Holcomb Addition to Vinton, Ohio. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 835 Hon. Nelson W. Evans, leading attorney of Portsmouth, in his history of Scioto County, speaks of Mr. Holcomb in the following high terms : "It is common-place to say. Mr. Holcomb is a good lawyer. He is much more. He is a fluent and able advocate. He is courteous to all with whom he comes in contact, and is willing to accord to every man all he is entitled to. He is kind and sympathetic, and these traits in him are all taken advantage of. He is wonderfully enthusiastic in everything he undertakes. He is ever courageous and hopeful, and no more public-spirited citizen ever resided in Portsmouth. He favors every project for the public good, and possesses confidence in everything he undertakes, and inspires it in others." He has been admitted to practice, and has practiced law in all the courts, state and federal, except the Supreme Court .of the United States. Mr. Holcomb has had many important trusts confided to his care. In 1893 he became the assignee of the Citizens Savings Bank, and in 1894 was made administrator of the estate of the late George Davis. .These large estates have been fully settled. A stanch republican in politics, he was a delegate in 1876 to the National Convention, and has served as a delegate .to many state and district conventions. In 1891 he was elected as a representative to the State Legislature, where he served as a member of the Judiciary Committee, and on the Committee on Municipalities. He declined a re-election. On October 14, 1876, Mr. Holcomb was united in marriage with Grace L. Breare, who was barn in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Her father, Rev. Robinson Breare, was born and reared in Yorkshire, England, of English. ancestry on both sides of the house. Uniting in early life with the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church, he became a minister in that denomination, and held pastorates in both Liverpool and Manchester, England; and in Edinburg, Scotland. Coming to America, he located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he changed his theological views, becoming a preacher in the Universalist denomination. He subsequently settled in Massachusetts, and held pastorates in Boston, Marblehead and Haverhill. Moving from the latter city to Cincinnati, he was for some time connected with a Universalist paper, the Star in the West, and was later pastor of the Universalist Church at Gallipolis. Retiring from the ministry Mr: Breare bought a home at Wellsville, Vinton County, and there lived until his death, in 1882, at the age of seventy-two years. He married Elizabeth Clarke, who was born in Lancaster, England, where her father, Rev. George Clarke, a preacher in the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church, was a life-long resident. She died in 1874, leaving two children, Elizabeth and Grace L. Mr. and Vol. II-13 836 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Mrs. Holcomb have two children, Ansehn T., Jr., a graduate of the University of Virginia ; and Robinson Breare. Mr. Holcomb has for twenty-seven years been a 'member of the Board of Trustees of the Portsmouth Public Library and is now its president. Fraternally he is a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 23, Royal Arch Masons ; of Calvary Commandery No. 13, Knights Templar ; of Portsmouth Lodge, No. 154, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Massie Lodge, No. 115, Knights of Pythias. HON. ARTHUR JOHN HANNAN. The vocation of railroading has attracted many young men when starting out in life, and has proven a field rich in opportunities for those who are willing to scorn hardships, face dangers and prove fidelity to the systems by which they are employed. The engineer knows that on his judgment, formed in the fraction of a second, the fate of his train may depend. The engineer's position is not the top of the ladder, though no place in the world's work has greater responsibilities. Firing and running a locomotive constitute one of the best vocations to develop a man's best qualities. It is not unusual, therefore, to find men holding high positions in business and public life who began their careers as hostlers and firemen. In this category is found Arthur John Hannan, mayor of Ironton, who but a few years back was to be found balancing himself on the rocking floor of the tender, tossing coal into the insatiable firebox, and subsequently handled the throttle of a .powerful locomotive. Although now retired from railroading, owing to an accident which all railroad men may be called upon to face, Mayor Hannan has not forgotten the discipline of his early training, nor the value of the judgment which it brought. Arthur John Hannan was born July 26, 1880, at Ironton, Ohio, and is a son of John and Katie (Campbell) Hannan. his father was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, November 11, 1859, and is now the oldest conductor on the D. T. & I. Railroad, having been in actual service since 1878 and during this time has had but one accident. Mrs. Hannan was born at Ironton, in 1864, and has been the mother of seven children, as follows: Arthur John, Carl C., Louis, Clarence, Raymond, Marjorie and Elsie. Until fifteen years of age Arthur John Hannan attended the public and high schools of Ironton, and at that age secured a clerkship in the office of the Iron Railroad, where he remained six months, thus securing his introduction to railroading. For three months thereafter he was a tie inspector at the elevator of the same company, and then became a locomotive fireman, remaining with the Iron Railroad for 3 1/2 years HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 837 in that capacity. Firemen as a rule are picked men, and have to be, for theirs is the most tremendous physical task of all, the increasing grate-area of fireboxes of, big engines having brought the limit of their effort distressingly close. Mr. Hannan, during the time he stood on the heaving, pitching steel deck in front of the furnace door, showed he had the muscle and endurance necessary to shovel from 15 to 20 tons of coal in 8 to 12 hours, and when his term as fireman was completed, in 1897; he was given an engine on the ill. T. & I. Railroad. There he continued at the throttle until 1910, when in a head-on collision, at Sand Cut, 1 1/4 miles north of Ironton, he lost one of his legs and was compelled to retire from the service. He was ill for seven months, and when he recovered was elected justice of the peace of Lawrence County, in 1911. During the two years that he thus acted he displayed his official and executive ability so well that in the fall elections of 1913 he As elected mayor of Ironton, taking office January 2, 1914. He has proved himself a capable executive, and is giving the people of his community a sane, progressive and business-like administration. Although his time is given unreservedly to his official duties, Mayor Hannan is interested in the business growth and welfare of his city, and is interested in the Marting Iron & Steel Co. and in the Etna Building and Loan Association of Ironton, of which he is also a director. He continues to maintain membership, in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order United American Workmen. With his family, he attends the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church. On September 19, 1900, Mr. Hannan was married at Ironton to Miss. Lettie Wilson, daughter of John Wilson, of this city, and four children have been born to this union, namely : Gerald, Arthur John, Jr., Clarence and William. JOHN M. WENDELKEN. One of the most familiar names in business affairs at Portsmouth is Wendelken, and the family has had substantial relations with the community in various lines for many years. John M. Wendelken, whose business is a retail grocer, manufacturer and in other lines has made him prominent in the city for many years, was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, August 26, 1850. His village was Wenkelmer in the District of Ottersberg. His father, Martin Wendelken, was born in the same village. in 1823. The grandfather was a lifelong resident there and was identified with the transportation business on the Hanoverian canals. He reared four sons and three daughters. All these sons moved to America, namely : Gerd, George, John and Martin, and all settled in Marietta, -Ohio. George was a car- 838 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION penter and followed his trade throughout his active career. Gerd was in merchandising at Marietta and lived there until his death. John also conducted a store there a number of years and subsequently was in the flour mill business and after the war went West and spent his last days as a farmer in Dakota Territory. Martin Wendelken was reared and educated in his native land and learned the trade- of carpenter. On arriving at military -age he joined the army, and in 1850 was granted an unlimited furlough and accompanied by his wife and three children came to America. The voyage was made in a sailing vessel, which encountered many storms, and several months elapsed before it landed its passengers at New Orleans. The Wendelken family came by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers as far as Marietta, where Martin Wendelken worked at his trade until after the war and was then in the retail grocery business. In this his success finally brought him to the rank of a wholesale grocer, and he conducted business as one of the leading merchants of Marietta until his death in 1902. Martin Wendelken married Adaline Kueck, who was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1825, the daughter of a farmer. She died in 1896. Her six children were Anna, John M., Henry J., Mary, Julia and William. John M. Wendelken was but nine weeks of age when his parents started for America. His early life was therefore altogether spent in Marietta, where he was educated in the public schools. When only a boy he began assisting his father in the store, learned all the details of the grocery trade, and after reaching manhood moved to Portsmouth. In 1874 he became identified with the grocery business at the foot of Second Street and built up an immense trade and was successfully identified with that line until 1901. Selling out, he was for some time interested in the manufacture of shoes, served two terms as a member of the board of public service, but at the present time is engaged in the life and fire insurance business. In September, 1873, Mr. Wendelken married Ottilia Brodbeck. She was born in Portsmouth. Her father, Vincent Brodbeck, was born in Germany, January. 17, 1817, a son of Anthony Brodbeck. When eight years of age Vincent lost his mother, was bound out to live and serve in the home of an uncle, where he received little schooling but much ill treatment, and finally lost his health. When fourteen he hired out to work by the season, and- in 1835, at the age of eighteen, accompanied his father and other members of the family to the United States. The voyage lasted for fifty days on the sailing vessel Bolivar.. They finally landed at New Orleans in November, Where Vincent was employed for a time at the carpenter's trade at $1.75 a day. On March 1, 1836, they HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 839 moved up the river to Natchez, where he worked a month on a railroad. The family then continued its migration with Troy, New York, as its destination, where an elder brother had been living for eighteen months. As they proceeded it was learned that canal communication was interrupted, and the family were thus obliged to stop at Portsmouth. There, on the advice of Vincent; they concluded to remain. Vincent Brodbeck worked for two weeks with the firm of McDowell, Davis & Company, and until the following August was in .Gaylord's rolling mill. His father then persuaded him to take charge of a boarding house, and in 1838 he opened a grocery store and for more than forty years was its proprietor, finally retiring from business in June, 1881. At that time he sold out to John M. Wendelken, who continued the enterprise so that under their united management it had existed for more than sixty years. Vincent Brodbeck was married November 2, 1838, to Ottilia Mees, a native of Germany. Their three children were : Elizabeth B., Rosa Ellen and Ottilia, the wife of John M. Wendelken. Mrs. Wendelken died August 3, 1914. She was the mother of four children: Anna, Rose, Nellie and Charles W. The daughter Anna is the wife of Frank E. Kiefer, now assistant cashier of the Central National Bank of Portsmouth, and they have a daughter Grace. Mr. Wendelken is a member of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, with which his wife was also identified, and their family were reared in the same faith. CHARLES W. WENDELKEN, M. D. A son of the old established and business man of Portsmouth, whose career has been sketched in preceding paragraphs, Dr. Charles W. Wendelken has been engaged for the past five years in the practice of medicine and surgery, and now has a successful place in his profession at Portsmouth. Doctor Wendelken was born at Portsmouth, a son of John M. and Ottilia (Brodbeck) Wendelken, and acquired his early education by attending the public schools. In 1904 he graduated from Baldwin and Wallace College at Berea, and then entered the medical department of the Western Reserve. University' at Cleveland, and took his degree Doctor of Medicine from that institution in 1908. His training was broadened by one year of service as interne in the Lakeside Hospital at Cleveland, after which he returned. to Portsmouth and has been rapidly acquiring position as a rising young physician and surgeon. Doctor Wendelken is affiliated with Aurora Lodge, No. 48, A. F. & A. M., and with River City Camp, No. 29, Woodmen of the World. He is an esteemed member of the Scioto County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and is secretary of the Scioto County Anti-Tuberculosis League. 840 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION H. STANLEY MCCALL. One of the younger able attorneys of the Scioto County bar, H. Stanley McCall represents the present active generation of a family that has been identified with this section of Ohio since pioneer times, and is the son of the well known Dr. Edgar O. McCall, long one of the prominent physicians of Portsmouth. H. Stanley McCall was born in South Webster, Scioto County, Ohio, October 22, 1888. His father, Dr. Edgar O. McCall, was born also at South Webster. The founder of the family in Ohio was great-grandfather Michael McCall; who according to the best information obtainable, was a native of the North of Ireland and of Scotch ancestry. Accompanying his parents he came to America and lived for a time at Pennsylvania, became one of the early settlers in Adams County, Ohio, and buying timbered land near Jacktown did a great deal of hard pioneer labor in converting that portion of the wilderness into a cultivated farm. That was his home until his death. He reared four sons, John Michael, Alexander and Hugh, and three daughters. Hugh McCall, grandfather of the Portsmouth attorney, was born in Adams County, Ohio, was reared there and became a collier and was employed at various furnaces in Adams, Gallia, Jackson and Scioto counties. His last years were spent at South Webster, where his death occurred at the age of fifty-six. Hugh McCall married Margaret Bennett, who was born in Bloom Township. Her father, Gilbert Bennett, was born also in Bloom Township on a farm, where his ,parents were pioneers. As a young man Gilbert Bennett moved to Gallia County, engaged in merchandising a few years at Symmes Creek, then returned to Bloom Township and spent the remainder of his days as an industrious farmer. Gilbert Bennett married Mary James, who was of Virginia ancestry. Margaret (Bennett) McCall died at the age of sixty-five, and reared nine of her twelve children as follows : Elizabeth, Asaph, John J., Mary, Sarah, Margaret, Alexander, Dr. Edgar O. and Stella. Dr., Edgar O. McCall was.for many years successfully identified with the school profession before taking up medicine: His early education was acquired in the schools of South Webster, after which he was a student in the National Normal University at Lebanon, and then took up teaching. His first term was taught at the Pinkerman schoolhouse. in Bloom Township, and -subsequently was teacher at Elm Tree schoolhouse in Nile Township and later at South Webster. His work as a school man continued twelve years. This occupation gave him opportunity for preparation in medicine, and he was a student under Dr. Edward Newell and in the class of 1890 was graduated from the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland. His first practice was done at Centerville in Gallia County, and that was his home for ten years. Since HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 841 then he has been one of the honored and highly successful physicians and surgeons of Portsmouth. Doctor McCall was married in 1886 into one of the oldest and most prominent families of Southern Ohio. His wife's maiden name is Josephine Brady. She was born in Bloom Township of Scioto County. Her father, Davit Brady, was born in the same township, and her grandfather was Levi Brady, -a son of William Brady, one of the first settlers in Scioto County, who is said to have built the first house on the present site of Portsmouth. The Brady family lived only a short time along the river on account of the malaria which was prevalent in early times, and then sought a more healthful location in Bloom Township. In that locality Levi Brady hewed a farm out of the heavy forests, and lived there until his death on January 5, 1862, at the age of sixty-five years. Levi Brady married Emily Enslow, who was born in Pennsylvania March 19, 1801: ,Her father, Captain David Enslow, was probably a native of Pennsylvania, moved from that state to Ohio in 1801, the same year in which Ohio became a state, and a .few years later settled in Scioto County near Wheelersburg, where he was one of the first men of affairs. He served as a captain in the War of 1812. David Brady, father of Mrs. Dr. McCall, grew up on a farm, and eventually succeeded to the ownership of a portion of the old homestead. Besides farming, his activities extended to merchandising for a number, of years, and all his life was spent in Bloom Township, with the exception of the two and a half years he spent in California, where he went in, 1849. David Brady married Sarah Beebe. Her father, David Beebe, was a native of Connecticut, located in Lawrence County, Ohio, was a teacher and lawyer, and, some year later moved to Arkansas and spent his last days in that state. His wife, whose name was Sarah Trowbridge, was a native of' Pennsylvania, and after the death of her husband returned to Ohio and lived till death in Bloom Township. Doctor McCall is a member of the Hempstead Medical Society. He and his wife attend the Trinity Methodist Church at Portsmouth. Their five children are : H. Stanley, David Hill, Edgar Orville, Ethel and Stella. H. Stanley McCall has spent most of his life in Portsmouth, is a graduate of the high school, and acquired his professional .education in the University of Michigan, from the law department in 1911. Since then he has been in active practice in Portsmouth and has succeeded in establishing himself securely in legal circles in that city. In, the fall of 1911 be was elected city solicitor, and was re-elected in the fall of 1913. His fraternal affiiations are with the Benevolent and Pro- 842 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION. tective. Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He attends the Trinity Methodist Church. JOHN WESLEY BYRON. The career of John W. Byron has for many years been a vital part of the life and progress of his home city of Portsmouth, where he is now serving as a justice of the peace. Mr. Byron has lived in this section of Ohio since Ms birth and has won advancement in community esteem and material ,prosperity until he is now one of the best known citizens. John Wesley Byron was born on a farm in Pike County, Ohio, March 8, 1868. His father was, Jacob Byron. born in the same township, a son of Nicholas Byron, who was'born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, where the name was spelled Biron. Nicholas Byron was reared and married in his native land, and then emigrated to America accompanied by his family, and found a home in Union Township of Pike .County. He bought a tract of timbered land and literally hewed a home from out the wilderness, and lived there until his death at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He was one of the true pioneers of Pike County and a man whose work and influence were substantial factors in the improvement of that community. His wife died several .years before him. They reared seven children named John, William, Jacob, Henry, Harriet, Mary and Margaret. Jacob Byron was reared on a farm in Pike County, and has spent a long and .active career as a farmer, being now retired and still living on a farm in Union Township. This farm was his wife's inheritance. Jacob Byron married Nancy A. Givens, who was born in Pike County, where her parents, Samuel and Polly Givens, were pioneers. Jacob Byron and wife reared children, as follows : John Wesley, Lillie and Lydia, twins, Riah, Nancy, Henry and Pauline. John Wesley Byron grew up in the country, attended a district school in Pike County, and by accepting all the opportunities that came his way qualified for work as a teacher and spent six years in the schoolrooms of Pike' County. In 1893 Mr. Byron moved to Portsmouth, and for the following seven years was employed by the Selby Shoe Company and then for four years was with the Heer Shoe Company. In 1907 Mr.. Byron was 'elected to the office of justice of the peace and was re-elected in 1911. He has shown unusual capacity in that office and is a popular as well as useful citizen. In 1889 Mr. Byron married Emma L. Gordon. She was born. in Pike County, Ohio, -and, her father, Charles M. Gordon, was born in Marion Township of that county, February 6, 1839, a son of William V. Gordon, whose birth occurred in the state of New Jersey in 1804. William V. Gordon in 1816 was brought out to Ohio, and was one of the HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 843 pioneers of Pike County. In that county he was married in 1828 to Maria Beauchamp, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Prettyman) Beauchamp, recognized as among the old and substantial families of Southern Ohio. William V. Gordon lived in Pike County until his death in 1860. The son, Charles M. Gordon, lived at home until grown to manhood, and then bought a farm of one hundred and ten acres in Marion Township and occupied that land until his death. Charles M. Gordon married Harriet James, daughter of John James. Mrs. Byron died February 5, 1914. There were three children : Hattie L., Mildred A. and Harold. Mr. Byron is an active' member of the Trinity Methodist Church, which his wife also attended, and is a member of the Bible Class and active in church affairs. . He is affiliated with Portsmouth Lodge, No. 41, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Portsmouth, Chapter No. 11, American Insurance Union, and of River City Camp, No. 29, Woodmen of the World. WILLIAM SEYMOUR WALKER. Among the prominent citizens whom Portsmouth has been called upon to mourn during the past few years, none have been more genuinely missed than William Seymour Walker, a man of great heart and strong character, whom it was a privilege to know, either in the business world or in social circles. A native of New York State, he was born March 18, 1861, in the City of Buffalo. He received his early education in the public schools of .Chicago, where his parents located when he was a small child. After the terrible conflagration that destroyed that city, in October, 1871, he went with the family to Milwaukee, where he and his sister completed their studies. At the age of eighteen years, with the confidence and self-reliant spirit characteristic of one possessing his keen ability and enterprise, he began the battle of life on his own account, first. as a bookkeeper, and later as an expert accountant. Preferring a more active career, he visited various cities of the Union as a commercial traveler. Coming to Portsmouth, Ohio; on one of his trips, Mr. Walker was so favorably impressed with the city and its future prospects that he made up his mind to locate here permanently. In 1887, therefore, he secured a position as bookkeeper with the firm then known as the Goldsmith & Rapp Veneer Company. Thoroughly efficient and industrious, and much interested in advancing the interests of his employers, he was promoted from time to. time, and in 1900 became general manager of the entire business now known as the Portsmouth Veneer & Panel Company. He was also founder and president of the Walker Veneer & Lumber Company of Mound City, Iowa, which is a stock company. He ably and satisfactorily filled the responsible position, winning the 844 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION respect and good will of all with whom he came in contact. Early in October, 1911, Mr. Walker, who was suffering from a malady which nothing but skilful surgery could relieve, went, accompanied by his faithful wife, to Cleveland to consult an eminent surgeon, and died in that city on November 5, 1911, news of his death coming as a shock and a profound sorrow, not only to his family and friends, but to his associates and to the public in general. Many expressions of 'sympathy were tendered Mrs. Walker and her family in their great affliction, not only from personal and business friends, but from fraternal, industrial, financial and other associations with which Mr. Walker was connected, including Portsmouth Camp No. 3993, Modern Woodmen of America, the Employers' Association of Portsmouth, Ohio, and the Central National Bank of Portsmouth. The funeral services of Mr. Walker, held at his home in Portsmouth, November 7, 1911,, were attended by many of his business associates, some of whom came from many miles away, from distant towns and nearby states, all desirous of paying the last mark of respect to a man whose influence for good will long be felt throughout Central Ohio. He was a man of keen intellect; wise in council ; firm in his convictions, yet gracious in yielding to the will Of others; and true as steel in his integrity. In his domestic life, which was one of rare happiness, there were the more sacred and tender qualities that are too hallowed to be spoken by other than household lips. Of Mr. Walker it can truly be said, “His life was gentle, and the elements So, mixed in him, that nature might stand up And say to all the world, this was a man." Mr.. Walker married, on August 14, 1889, Miss Effie May Petrie, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this volume, and into the household thus established three children were born, namely; Paul Norton, Harold Holcomb and Sarah Louise. MRS. EFFIE MAY WALKER. A woman of pleasing personality, energetic and eminently capable, Mrs. Effie May Walker, vice president of the Portsmouth Veneer. & Panel Company, is well known in the business and social life' of her home city, being ever mindful of her official duties, and never neglectful of the pleasant demands of society and friends. She was born near Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, a daughter of James Petrie, Jr., and is the widow of the late William Seymour Walker, for many years a prominent and much-beloved citizen of Portsmouth. Mrs. Walker's paternal grandfather, James Petrie, Sr., was born and bred in Scotland, and there married. Immigrating with his family HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 845 to the United States, coming with a colony of brave Scotchmen, he settled in Pike County, Ohio, near Jasper, and having purchased land, was there engaged in agricultural .pursuits during his remaining days, he and his wife both dying on the home farm. They were the parents of two children, James and Charles. James Petrie, Jr., was born at Patrick, a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, and was but a lad when brought to Ohio by his parents. He grew to man's estate in Pike County, and in 1862 enlisted in Company A, Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Going South with his regiment, he took part in many of the more important engagements of the war, including among others the battle of Monterey, Tennessee, and the engagements at Corinth, Chickasaw Bayou, Black River, Mission Ridge, and in the numerous skirmishes occurring while en route to Atlanta. He was at the front in the siege of Atlanta, and took part in the battles at Jonesboro, Fort McAlester and at North Edisto River. Being honorably discharged with his regiment at the close. of the conflict, Mr. Petrie returned to his home in Pike County, Ohio, and there resumed farming. Removing later to Ross County, he remained there two years, and then again returned to Pike County, settling on a farm located about two miles from Jasper. He was soon apointed postmaster at Jasper, and retained the position until his death, at the age of seventy-three years. The maiden name of the wife of James Petrie, Jr., the mother of Mrs. Walker, was Louisa Frances Ashton. She was born in New Richmond, Ohio, a daughter of Joseph Ashton, Jr., and granddaughter of Joseph Ashton, Sr., who was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Walker. Joseph Ashton, Sr., served .as a soldier in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war, his record as given in the archives of Pennsylvania being as follows: He was commissioned second lieutenant of the Second Regiment of Artillery, commanded by Col. John H. Lamb ; on January 23, 1777, he was promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant ; on May —, 1778, he was transferred to the Pennsylvania Artillery Regiment, under Col. Thomas Proctor; April 19, 1781, he was promoted to the rank of captain; and on January 1, 1783, was made paymaster. He marched with Arnold to Quebec, where he was taken prisoner. He continued a member of the. militia :after the close of the Revolution, and fought the. Indians in the Northwest Territory. He lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1816. Joseph Ashton, Jr., Mrs. Walker's grandfather, was born at Oldtown, Pennsylvania, near New Castle, and in his youthful days served an apprenticeship at the trade of a steamboat builder in Pittsburgh. In 1847, having completed his trade, he came to Ohio, and for eight years 846 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION lived in New Richmond. In 1855 he embarked in .the feed business at Portsmouth, being in partnership with his brother-in-law, Milton Kennedey, for a year. He was afterwards in company with Henry Dinsmore as a bottler of mineral waters. During the progress of the Civil war he removed to Ross County, Ohio, which was his home for ten years. In 1864 he was appointed treasury clerk, and sent South, being stationed at Vicksburg and other points, and at one time while thus employed was captured by the enemy at Goodrich's Landing, Louisiana. Returning from the South, Mr. Ashton lived in Pike and Ross counties a few years, and then assumed charge of the City Hospital in Portsmouth, an office which he filled for a number of years, being quite successful as superintendent of the institution. From 1878 until 1891 he was justice of the peace in Wayne Township. Resigning the position, he moved to Sinking Spring, Highland County, where he resided until his death. Joseph Ashton, Jr., married Matilda Kennedey, a native, of Pennsylvania, and among their children was a daughter named Louisa Frances, who became the wife of James Petrie, Jr. Mrs. Louisa Frances (Ashton) Petrie died at the early age of twenty-six years, leaving five children, namely : Effie May, Jessie, Flora, Harry Victor and Martha. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Petrie married for his second wife Helen McGregor, a native of Scotland, and to them three children were born, namely : George, Charles and Cecil. Effie May Petrie received excellent educational advantages when young, and at the age of twenty-three years became the wife of the late William Seymour Walker; of whom a brief biography is given on another page of this volume. Mrs. Walker is vice president of the Portsmouth Veneer & Panel Company, as previously mentioned, and is president of the New Century Club and of the Country Club. She is a member of the Bigelow Methodist Episcopal Church, and has reared her children, Paul N., Harold H. and Sara L., in the same faith. HON. WILLIAM DAVIS TREMPER. One of the older residents of Portsmouth, Dr. William D. Tremper has been identified with his profession as a dentist in this city more than forty years, and is now representing the Seventh Senatorial District in the State Legislature. He has been a man of such activity in public affairs as to require no special introduction to the people of Scioto County. William Davis Tremper was born at New Richmond, Clermont Township, Ohio, May 9, 1851. He is of colonial and revolutionary ancestry, and the following brief account of the Tremper genealogy is taken from that authentic work, Munsell's American Ancestry, Vol. II. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 847 The first American of the name was Jacob Tremper, a native of Germany, who settled in the Colony of New York about 1713. The name of his wife was Christina Welker. Their son, Jacob Tremper, who was born in Germany about 1712, was a soldier in the New York militia in 1738. He married Anna Maria Peffer, a daughter of Michael and Anna Maria (Hoffman) Peffer. Michael Tremper, a son of the above, and representing the third generation in America, was born in New York March 13, 1745, and was admitted as a freeman in that colony in 1769. After New York City was evacuated by the. American troops in 1776, he removed with his family to Fishkill, and served with the Dutchess County militia during the war. He was married March 15, 1767, to Louisa Van Deusen, daughter of Daniel and Leah .(Hertje) Van Deusen. Their son, Daniel Tremper, grandfather of Dr. William D. Tremper, was born in New York April 15, 1770, was reared and married in his native state, and lived there until about. 1815, when he became one of the early settlers of Ohio. His location was at Walnut Hills. At that time Cincinnati was only a village, and Walnut Hills farming and grazing land. A few years later, having sold his interests there, he removed to Clermont County, bought land and engaged in farming until his death on March 20, 1833. He was married May 16, 1791, to Ariette Keiffer. Johnson Tremper, a son of Daniel, was born in Esopus, New York, February 9, 1809, and was a very small boy when brought to Ohio. In this state he learned the trade of chairmaker, at a time when chairs and other furniture were made by hand. He established a shop and did quite a business in this line, and shipped large quantities of chairs down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on flatboats to the southern cities. Johnson Tremper continued business in New Richmond and remained a resident of that town until his death. He married Laura Jeffries, who was born in New York, a, daughter of John Chapman and Deborah (Starkweather) Jeffries, her maternal grandfather having been. Samuel Starkweather. Johnson Tremper and wife reared six children, named Alma, Louise, Delia, William -D., Robert H. and Allan. William D. Tremper acquired his early education in the public schools of New Richmond, and later was a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He began the study of dentistry under Doctor Mollyneaux at New .Richmond, and continued his professional preparation in the Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati, graduating in 1872. For several years, until 1878, he was engaged in practice at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and since then has been a resident of Portsmouth and for many years was in active practice. Doctor Tremper was one of the organizers 848 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION of the .Royal Savings & Loan 'Company at Portsmouth, and since that time has been secretary of the organization and gives much of his time and attention to this .institution. On December 6, 1880, Doctor Tremper married Mary Todd Hayman. She was born at Newport, Kentucky, and comes of an old southern family. Her father was Hon. Richard Henry Hayman, born in Newport June. 6, 1826, a, son of Isaiah Tilden and Elizabeth (Tarvin) Hayman. Elizabeth Tarvin was a daughter of Richard Tarvin. Both the Haymans and Tarvins were old Virginia families. Richard H. Hayman acquired his education in the public schools of Newport and Covington, Kentucky, and d his father, who was a dry goods merchant, set him up in business at Letart Falls, in Meigs County, Ohio. Eighteen months later he went out to Missouri, where his father had established a store, remained there a year and a half, and, on account of ill .health returned to Ohio. On recovering, he engaged in the dry goods business at Newport, and for eighteen years was one of the successful merchants of that city. Failing health again caused his removal, and after selling out he located in Scioto County, bought a farm in the Scioto bottoms about- five miles north -of the courthouse at Portsmouth. This farm was his home a few years, and in 1882 he came into Portsmouth and built a handsome residence on a hillside overlooking the city, and remained there until his death. Richard H. Hayman was prominent in public affairs and a democrat in politics. He served as. city clerk and member of the council at Newport, and in 1877 was elected to the Ohio State Legislature and .had an active part in the proceedings of that body. Ire also served for several years as tax commissioner for Scioto County. He was twice married. The maiden name of his first wife was Elizabeth Fairman, daughter of Dr. Loyal Fairman. She died May 9, 1863. His .second wife was Mrs. Ellen Sharpless, who died June 3, 1890. The two children of the first marriage were Mary Todd, Mrs. Tremper; and Floyd, who died at the age of twenty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Tremper are the parents of four children: Richard H.; Laura F., wife of Charles H. Blakemore ; William J.; and Hugh H. The son Richard graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree A. B., spent some time in travel in Europe with his grandfather, then studied art for two years, and after two years as a. teacher in the Portsmouth High School is now taking postgraduate work at Ann Arbor. William J., the second son, is a graduate of the Portsmouth High School and the dental department of the University of Michigan, and is 'now in active practice at Portsmouth: Hugh, the youngest son, after finishing the Portsmouth High School, entered the University of Michigan. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 849 Doctor Tremper is affiliated with Aurora Lodge No. 48, A. F. & A. M.; with Solomon Council No. 79, R. & S. M.; with Mount Vernon Chapter No. 23, R. A. M. ; and with Calvary Commandery No. 13, K. T. He and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth. Doctor Tremper's first presidential vote was cast for U. S. Grant, and he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party ever since. It was his recognized public spirit and his thorough qualifications as a business man that led the people of the Seventh District to support him for the office of state senator. GREEN S. NEARY. One of the honored citizens of the Hanging Rock Iron Region is Green S. Neary, who. is now living retired in Portsmouth. His experience covers a period spent as a soldier of the Union, as a hard-working and capable farmer and business man and useful citizen in all the varied relations of life. He was born in Harrisonville, Scioto County, March 12, 1844, and has seen more than threescore and 'ten years of life. His father, Matthew Neary, was born in Roscommon County, Ireland, in 1804. Left an orphan when young, some years later he came to America, being six weeks on a sailing vessel before landing in New York, and in that state found work along the canal. Coming here an entire stranger in a strange land, he had his own destiny to make from the first, his willing hands his only capital. He was married near Geneva in New York and about 1834 came to Ohio, making the journey by canal and river. At Harrisonville he was employed at different work, and his industry and thrift enabled him to make a good account of his time. Finally, he bought a farm on the Little Scioto in Harrison Township, near Harrison Mills, and devoted his time to its cultivation and made his home there until about a year before his death, when he found a home with his son Green. His death occurred when eighty-seven years old. Matthew Neary married Sarah Ann Van Gorder, a native of New York State. James Van Gorder, her father, who is thought to have been a native of the same state and of Holland ancestry, moved to Ohio about 1834, accompanied by his family. The trip was made with wagon and teams, and it was several weeks before they arrived at their destination at Harrisonville. There he built a frame house and opened it for the entertainment of the public, and for several years it was a popular place for travelers. His death occurred at the old home in Scioto County in 1853. James Van Gorder married Rebecca Coryell, who was born in New York State June 2, 1814, and survived her husband a few years. Mrs. Matthew Neary died October 20, 1901. Her five children were Henry, Sarah Ann, Lewis, Daniel and Green S.