DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1025 position of manager of the company, taking the place of John H. Patterson, who is now the president of the National Cash Register Company. Mr. Caton remained as manager until 1893, when he was appointed a trustee of the company, and afterward wound up its affairs and disposed of the property in 1898. He next became interested in the Reynolds-Easton Company, manufacturers of waterproof signs, which was afterward merged into the Reynolds Aertite Carton Company, of which he became secretary in 1901. He is thus active in control of its business interests, having a voice in its management and sharing in the responsibilities that one must always face in the conduct of an important and growing business enterprise. On the 1st of December, 1886, in Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. Caten married Miss Edith G. Eaton, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Eaton, of that city, where her mother is still living. Her father died in Boston in 1903. He took a prominent part in public affairs and served as a member of the legislature. His other children are Mrs. J. G. Quimby, of New York ; Mrs. W. D. Gunnison, of Brooklyn ; and Mrs. C. S. Heard, of Augusta, Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. Caten have two sons : Walter E. and William L. Mr. Caten belongs to the Beta Theta Phi and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the Dayton City Club, the Bicycle Club and the Country Club. His study of the political issues and questions of the day has led him to give his endorsement to the republican party and at all times he manifests a broad-minded and public-spirited interest in affairs relating to the advancement of the city, whether promulgated through one political influence or another. Personally, he has sought success through the legitimate lines of trade and commerce and while he is making steady progress in the attainment of financial independence, he has ever regarded his own self-respect and the merited esteem of his fellow-men as infinitely more valuable than wealth, fame or position. PETER F. HUBER. No history of Montgomery county would be complete without mention of Peter F. Huber, who owns and operates forty-five acres of fine farm land in Butler township. A native of Indiana, he was born in Franklin county on the 18th of May, 1844, and is a son of Peter and Catharine (Weist) Huber, both natives of Germany. Peter Huber, Sr., whose birth occurred on the 15th of May, 1813, came to the United States at an early age, settling first in Philadelphia, while later he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. He was employed as foreman of construction on the Miami & Erie canal for some time, and then removed to Frank-line county, Indiana, where he engaged in general farming and also conducted a hotel and country store. Subsequently he retired from the farm and moved to Dayton, where his death occurred on the 4th of July, 1901, his 'remains being interred at Greencastle. His wife, who was born in 1811 in the Rhine district of Germany, came to the United States at an early age and was united in marriage to Mr. Huber in Indiana. She passed away in October, 1901, and was laid to rest beside her husband at Greencastle. They were both consistent mem- 1026 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY bers of the German Reformed Lutheran church and passed away in that faith. In their family were eleven children, Louise, John, Mary Ann, William H., Peter F., George P., Catharine, Michael R., Louis P., Rachel and one who died in infancy. Of this number Catharine, Louise, Michael and John are now deceased, the latter being buried in Muncie, Indiana, Michael and Louise in Franklin county, that state, and Catharine in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. Peter F. Huber spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity and acquired his education as a pupil in the common schools during that period. He remained at home until nineteen years of age when, on October 19, 1864, he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company B. Twenty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry-, doing garrison duty at Indianapolis. Later he went to Nashville and participated in the siege of Chattanooga, and then returned to Indianapolis, where he was mustered out on the 8th of May, 1865. When the country no longer needed his services,. Mr. Huber returned home and soon afterward removed to Dayton, where he engaged in the shoe business for seven years. Ill health, however, made it necessary for him to give up that occupation, and for six years, he was identified with the grocery business. About ten years ago, feeling that life in the country would be more congenial and profitable, he purchased his present farm of forty-five acres located in Butler township, which he. has since made his place of residence and he is now engaged in general farming. His son Henry is raising fine poultry, handling only full blooded stock of the White Face Black Spanish and White Crested Black Polish varieties. In this business, he has succeeded even beyond his expectations, becoming known throughout the length and breadth of the country as a breeder of fine chickens, while his word is considered authority along the line of his specialty. His shipments of poultry and 'eggs extend to every part of the United States and to Mexico and are proving a source of most gratifying- profit to him. On September 21, 1865, Mr. Huber was united in marriage to Miss Louise Steiner, who was born February 12, 1843, in Dayton, Ohio, and is a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Ullmer) Steiner. Her parents were both natives of Germany, the father's birth occurring in 1804, while the mother was born in 1817. They came to the United States in 1840 and were married about three months after their arrival in this country. They located in Dayton, where Mr. Steiner engaged in the pork packing business until his retirement from active life. They both passed away in Dayton, the father in 1874 and the mother in 1885, their remains being laid to rest at Fort McKinley, Montgomery county. They had both been members of the German. Reformed church throughout their entire lives. Their three children still survive them, namely : Mrs. Peter Huber; Henry, who was born June 5, 1846; and Mary Ann, who was born on the 13th of August, 1850. The. home of Mr. and Mrs. Huber has been blessed with five children. Henry, the eldest, was born May 19, 1866, and he is now living at home, engaged in the poultry business on his father's. farm. Mary C. was born on the 7th of September, 1868 and is now the wife of Frank Troup,. They reside in Kansas City, Missouri, and have one child, Helen Marie, born September 21, 1892. Lucy, the third in order of birth, was born June 3, 1870, and is now the widow of Charles Smiley, who passed away on the 13th of December, 1904, leaving his wife and one child, Earl, born June 19, 1892. Margaret, born October DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1027 1871, married Harry Hershey and they now make their home in Columbus. Elizabeth, the youngest of the family, who was born on the 30th of May, 1873, died March 3, 1884, when eleven years of age, her remains being laid to rest in Woodens Cemetery, Montgomery county. Mr. and Mrs. Huber are both members of the German Reformed church and are consistent Christian people, who occupy an enviable place in the community in which they reside. Mr. Huber is a republican in politics, while fraternally, he is connected with the Odd Fellows. He possesses many sterling traits of character that have gained for him a wide circle of friends during his residence in this community. His prominence has come to him as the result of close application, indefatigable energy and undaunted perseverance, which characteristics have been the dominant features of his career. FREDERICK CHARLES MERKLE. Frederick Charles Merkle is the senior partner of the firm of F. C. Merkle & Company, manufacturers and importers of granite monuments, in which connection he has won an enviable reputation. His business is now second to none in this part of the state and in fact his fame has spread abroad, bringing him an extensive patronage from many cities of Ohio. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, April 24, 1851, and there lived to the age of fifteen years. The family is of German origin and the grandfather, John Merkle, was born in Wittenburg in 1790. Coming to America in 1855, he located in Wapakoneta, where he resided until his death in 1869, during which period he engaged in buying and selling hides and produce. His father, Maximillian Merkle, had lived and died in Wittenburg. The father, Charles Merkle, was born in Wittenburg, Germany, in 1816 and came to America in 1837, locating in Wapakoneta, Ohio, where for many years he made his home. In 1866, he removed to Dayton, where the succeeding twenty-seven years were passed and death then claimed him in 1893. He was married in Wapakoneta, in 1845, to Miss Anna E. Ketzenberger and unto them were born eight children, of whom four died in infancy, while an equal number reached years of maturity. These were as follows : John, who served on the police force of Dayton for thirty years, wearing badge No. 1, passed away in this city in 1906 at the age of fifty-eight years. He left a widow and four children: Edward J., Bertha, Henry and Albert. The other children of Charles Merkle who reached maturity are : Frederick C., of this review ; Charles F., a resident of Seattle, Washington ; and Joseph C., of Dayton. The mother of these children passed away in 1897 at the age of seventy-five years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merkle enjoyed in large measure the friendship and kindly regard of those who knew them, for they were people of the highest respectability. Frederick Charles Merkle was a youth of fifteen years when he accompanied his parents on their removal from his native town to Dayton and here he completed his education, supplementing his public-school course by study in the Miami Commercial College, from which he was graduated in 1870. He entered business life as an employe of the Dayton & Michigan Railroad Company in the 1028 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY office of the freight department in this city, where he remained for about four years. He then went to Waverly, Missouri, where he began trading in stock, his time being thus occupied for two years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Dayton and soon afterward entered the employ of Thomas Staniland, a marble dealer, with whom he remained from 1883 until 1895, during which period he became thoroughly familiar with the trade and at the end of that time felt that his long experience, as well as the capital which he had saved from his earnings, justified him in engaging in business on his own account. He therefore organized the firm of F. C. Merkle & Company and is now engaged in the manufacture and importation of granite monuments and general cemetery work. In 1907, he also organized the Georgetown (Ohio) Marble Company, of which he is a director. The prominent position which he occupies in his line is indicated in the extensive patronage which is accorded him. Many of the finest monuments in Dayton cemeteries have been put up by him and he has placed probably an equal number in the Cincinnati cemeteries, also in Miamisburg, Springfield, Middletown, Franklin and Georgetown, Ohio ; Winchester, Maysville, Mount Sterling, Paris and Mayslick, Kentucky ; Huntington, Richmond and Knightstown, Indiana ; and Champaign City, Illinois. In various other Ohio towns are seen the evidences of his handiwork and the output of his establishment is always tasteful, artistic and executed in the finest possible manner. He erected one monument in Calvary cemetery at a cost of ten thousand dollars and at Newport, Kentucky, erected the monument for the James Shaw estate, which is the second largest individual spire monument in the world. On the 24th of March, 1874, Mr. Merkle was married in Dayton to Miss Eliza M. Pohlkotte, a daughter of George R. Pohlkotte, and unto this marriage have been born three children who are now living : John Henry ; Anna M., the wife of Harry E. Albert ; and Edith Adell Merkle. Mr. Merkle has attained high rank in Masonry, having taken the degree of the Consistory and also of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to Buckeye Lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F., and to the German Lutheran church, while his political support is given to the republican party and in matters of citizenship, he manifests a progressive and helpful spirit, being interested in all that pertains to the progress and upbuilding of the city in which he has long made his home. He is a man of democratic spirit, easily approachable, recognizing the good qualities in others, and his many substantial and commendable characteristics have gained him a firm hold on the warm regard of those with whom he comes in contact. WILLIAM J. REYH. William J. Reyh, who is successfully and extensively engaged in the dairy business in Mad River township, was born in Germany on the 15th of February, 1875, and when six years of age was brought to this country by his parents, Michael and Christina (Melebeck) Reyh, the family home being established in Montgomery county, Ohio. The paternal grandparents spent their entire lives in . the fatherland. Michael Reyh, the father of our subject, acquired his education in DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1029 Germany and after coming to this county became identified with dairy interests in Dayton, Ohio. His first wife passed away when their son, William J., was about ten years of age and subsequently he was again married, his second union being with Catharine Weng, by whom he had three children. William J. Reyh attended the district schools of this county in the acquirement of an education and also worked on the farm when not busy with his text-books. Under the direction of his father he became familiar with the dairy. business -in principle and detail and has been connected with that line of activity throughout his entire business career. At one time he was in partnership with William Wagner but later purchased his interest and has since been the sole owner and proprietor of what is one of the largest and best dairies in the county. It is situated just outside the city of Dayton, about two miles from the court house, where is found the best pasture land in the state of Ohio. Mr. Reyh owns thirty-five good milch cows and markets the products of his dairy in Dayton, having one of the most extensive routes in the city. He employs several men to assist in the conduct of the business but personally attends to the sales. Beginning with absolutely nothing but his own willing hands and indomitable courage, he has made his way to success and prosperity and his record may well serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others. Mr. Reyh has been twice married and by his first wife had a son, Herbert, now eight years of age. In 1907 he was united in marriage to Miss Marie Trupp. Fraternally he is identified with the Red Men, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church. Flaying been a resident of this county since early childhood, he is well and favorably known within its borders, his many sterling traits of character having endeared him to those with whom he has come in contact. In the management of his business affairs he displays keen discernment and sound judgment and his life has been one of continuous activity, in which has been accorded due recognition of labor. JAMES A. KIRK. James A. Kirk was the promoter and is the proprietor of the Lakeside Park, a popular summer resort at Dayton. In this connection he has shown marked business ability and undaunted enterprise, having made a close study of public demands in this direction. He was born near Wilmington, Delaware, September 25, 1851, and is a son of Michael and Katherine Kirk, who came to the new world from Ireland. His education was acquired in the public schools and after putting aside his text-books he took up the trade of carriage-making, which he followed until 1869, When he came to Dayton. He has since been identified with the interests of this city although his business affairs have also carried him into other districts. In 1876 he began to secure privileges at expositions for the manufacture of fine candies and for several years he conducted concessions at Chicago, Milwaukee and various other places. Constant association with those catering to the amusement-seeking public gave him a valuable experience and he conceived 1030 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY the idea of creating the first amusement park for Dayton. That his labors have been very successful is seen by all who are familiar with the history of the city. He established a summer resort at the main entrance of the Soldiers' Home, sparing neither time nor expense in the transformation of these grounds into a most beautiful district, utilizing the aid of the landscape gardener and the electrician. The park is visited annually by a half million of people. and its popularity is increasing as the years go by. That it has grown to. be the objective point. for all visiting excursions is due to the fact that the management has kept abreast of the times in providing first-class attractions. He makes a close study of wholesome amusements and supplies them regardless of expense. He keeps in touch with everything that is brought out for the entertainment of the public and many rare and novel attractions are found at this place. The strictest attention is paid to orderliness and only high-class attractions are offered. Mr. Kirk was married in 1874 to Miss Anna Wiles, a daughter of Samuel and Christina Wiles, of Dayton. Their handsome home is at the west entrance of Lakeside Park and its hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have long been known in this city, his residence covering forty years. He is a man of excellent business ability, displaying prescience in all of his business affairs and enterprise and energy have long been numbered among- his sterling characteristics. GEORGE W. SMITH. Although George W. Smith has already passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, he is yet an active factor in the business life of the community in which he resides, owning and operating a fine farm in Wayne township. For many years before he took up agricultural pursuits, he was closely identified with the industrial interests of his native county and became recognized as an enterprising, progressive and successful business man. Born in Mad River township, Montgomery county, on the 3d of October, 1836, he is a son of Edward and Mary (Lanpher) Smith. His father, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1803, was there reared and educated. He came to the United States in 1832, making his way direct to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he began working at fifty cents per day. He was truly a self-made man, working his way upward from that humble position until, at the time of his death, he was the owner of an enormous business. His success was honorably won for lie based his operations upon the principle that honesty is the best policy, and never was he known to break a contract, even if by so. doing he could make 'double the amount of money. His wife was born in Ohio, near Chillicothe in 1813 and was the daughter of a minister who also followed the occupation of farming. She married Edward Smith in 1834 and passed away in 1888, while her husband's demise occurred. in 1878. They were laid to rest in Woodland cemetery. In their family were eleven children, namely: Thomas, born November 1, 1834; George W., of this review ; Charlotte, deceased, who was born in 1838; Mary J., also. deceased, who was born in 1842 ; James, who contracted heart disease while serv- DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1031 ing in the Civil war as a member of Company C, First Ohio Infantry and died in 1865, shortly after returning home ; William H., who passed away in infancy ; William H., II, who died at the age of twenty-four years ; Charles and Charles II, both of whom passed away in infancy ; Edward; and Emma. Of this family Edward, Emma, Thomas and George still survive. George W. Smith attended the common schools of his native county in the acquirement of his early education and later supplemented this by a course of study in Dayton and Urbana. After leaving school, he became identified with his father in the distillery business and later, for about three years, was connected with the oil and flour business at Tippecanoe City. Returning to Montgomery county, he was again associated with his father in the distillery, which relationship continued until his father's retirement from active life several years prior to his death, when George W. Smith conducted the business in connection with his brother Edward for a number of years. Throughout his connection with the distillery business George W. Smith displayed keen business ability, basing his operations upon the policy which his lather had instituted before him. As the years passed,, he became very successful, his industry and enterprise returning a handsome competence, and he at length decided to withdraw from the strenuous duties of business life. His parents deeded him a farm near Xenia, 1871, in Wayne township, consisting of two hundred and two and seventy-seven hundredths acres of fine land, and upon this place, which he rents to a tenant, he has since continued to reside. He makes a specialty of raising corn and this season he will have one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty acres of that grain. Exercising the same good management and business ability as characterized his connection with industrial interests, his farm is operated along strictly up-to-date and modern methods and it is a paying and highly profitable proposition. On the l0th of November, 1864, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Ann Catharine Harbine, a daughter of John and Hettie (Herr) Harbine, her birth occurring in June, 1840. Her father was a well known distiller of Green county, Ohio, and was a very wealthy and influential man in the community in which he resided. He and his wife are both now deceased, their remains being interred in the cemetery at Xenia, Ohio. The home of Mr. and Mrs.- Smith was blessed with three children, as follows : Hettie Gertrude, the eldest, was born August 9, 1865, and on the 27th of June, 1889, gave her hand in marriage to Leo M. Flesh, of Piqua, Ohio. They had four children, Alfred Lewis, Henry, George H. and Gertrude, but Henry passed away at the age of twelve years and was buried at Piqua. Mr. Flesh is a wealthy and influential man of that city and is interested in various lines of business conducting a clothing store and underwear factory, while he is also a large stockholder in the telephone company. The second in order of birth was John Edward, who was born on the 29th of March, 1867, and died August 9, 1868, being buried in Woodland cemetery. The youngest, Mary Alma, born September 16, 1868, has also passed away, her death occurring on the 25th of April, 1869, her remains being laid to rest at Woodland. Not only because of his business success has Mr. Smith become widely known throughout the community, but also by reason of the active interest which he has always taken in all community matters. A stalwart republican in his political al- 1032 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY legiance, he gives hearty support to that party and does all in his power to extend its influence. He was township clerk for several years and for two years filled the position of United States assistant assessor. His interests are those of a public-spirited citizen and progressive business man and he occupies a very prominent place among the citizens of both the township and county in which he resides. GEORGE MURRAY YOUNG. George Murray Young was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, April I, 1802, and was of Scotch-Irish descent and parentage, his father, Dr. Hugh Murray Young, who was born in 1742 and died in 1815, having been an early Irish emigrant to America, whose participation in the Emmett rebellion caused him to leave Ireland and seek a refuge in the New World. George Murray Young obtained his education at Exeter and Poughkeepsie Academies. He was fond of study, but, being thrown upon his own resources at an early age by the death of his father, he left school and learned the printer's trade, becoming both a practical printer and publisher before reaching his majority. While residing at Lyme, New Hampshire, in the year 1826 he married Sibel Green, a daughter of Benjamin Green of that place, and a grandaughter of Colonel Ebenezer Green, a Revolutionary soldier, whose grave may still be seen in the old Lyme burying ground. Colonel Green had married a daughter of Benjamin Grant, also of Lyme, New Hampshire, who was the great-great-grandfather of Alice and Phoebe Carey and whose parents were also the ancestors of General U. S. Grant. In 1835 Mr. and Mrs. Young came west with their children and located at Newark, Ohio, where for ten years Mr. Young was extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits, being the owner, among other business properties, of a line of boats on the Miami & Erie canal. In the year 1840, having attained prominence in his new home, he became the whig candidate of Licking county for the state senate, and despite that county's usual strong democratic majority, ran far ahead of his ticket and came within forty votes of an election. In 1845 Mr. Young removed to Cincinnati, where he conducted a large produce and commission business until 1851, when he took up his residence at Dayton, Montgomery county. After coming to Dayton, he retired from mercantile pursuits and served for some years as a justice of the peace, after which, in the year 1854, he was elected mayor of the city and subsequently reelected in 1855. Some years later he was appointed United States commissioner, an office which he filled with credit and ability until his death. His wife died at Dayton in the year 1865. Mr. Young was pronounced in his opinions and was an earnest friend and supporter of all moral and religious movements, being especially prominent in his labors for the cause of temperance. While residing at Cincinnati, he was grand worthy patriarch of the Sons of Temperance, when that society numbered thirty thousand in Ohio, and he was one of the editors of its official paper, The Organ and Messenger. He was, from early manhood, a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, by which organization he was elected to many prominent and re- DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1035 sponsible offices, and in whose charitable and beneficial work he at all times took a warm and active interest. In politics he was first a whig and later a republican, and he was always a bitter and outspoken opponent of negro slavery. While he resided in New Hampshire and for years after coming to Ohio he was prominently identified with the Congregational church, and when, subsequently, about the year 1869, the local church of that denomination at Dayton passed out of existence he was one of its deacons, and being especially appointed for that purpose, closed its financial affairs and disposed of its property. He, thereafter, at once allied himself with the Third Street Presbyterian church at Dayton, of which he continued a leading member until his death. Mr. Young's natural abilities were of a high order. He early made up for his lack of collegiate education by wide and diligent reading, and he was well informed in politics, history and general literature, having at the same time a mind well stored with that diversified practical information which comes from daily intercourse with men and extensive business experience. While he was never admitted to the bar, he had published law books in his younger years, had read law attentively and had acted to such an extent as notary public, conveyancer, master commissioner and receiver and in other ways closely related to the law and the courts, that his legal knowledge and ability were well recognized and highly respected. He was a great admirer of the Puritan race and character and was himself the possessor of many pronounced traits which gave marked evidence of his New England birth and education. While naturally modest and retiring in manner, he had the full courage of his strong convictions, and, when aroused, he was outspoken in their advocacy and fearless and uncompromising in their defense. Faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation, he passed away at Dayton, Ohio, August 30, 1878, having always enjoyed in whatever community he lived the unqualified confidence and respect of all with whom he was associated. EDMOND STAFFORD YOUNG. Edmond Stafford Young, for many years a leading and distinguished member of the Dayton bar, was the eldest son of George Murray Young, (a sketch of whose life precedes) and of Sibel Green, his wife, and was born at Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire, February 27, 1827. At the early age of eight he came west with his parents, who had removed from New Hampshire to become residents of Newark, Licking county, Ohio. While a resident of Newark Mr. Young attended Granville College, (now Denison University) near that city, where he completed his sophomore year in 1845, but his parents having removed to Cincinnati, he subsequently entered Farmers' (now Belmont) College at College Hill, from which he was graduated in 1847. This institution, though comparatively small in size, has had among its alumni not a few men of distinguished ability and reputation, and among them Mr. Young was associated as a schoolmate with President enjamin Harrison, Murat 1036 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY Halstead and John W. Herron, of Cincinnati, and Hon. L. B. Gunckel and Judge Henderson Elliot, of Dayton. Soon after leaving college he began the study of law in the office of Hon. William J. McKinney of Dayton, and subsequently was graduated at the Cincinnati Law School in the year 1853, after which he served for a term as head deputy in the office of the clerk of the courts of Montgomery county, Ohio, an experience which he always considered of great value to him as a lawyer. After entering the practice of the law he became associated successively with George W. Brown, Hon. David A. Houk and Oscar M. Gottschall, his relation with the latter continuing from 1866 to 1879. In the spring of 1878 Mr. Young's eldest son, George R. Young, was admitted to the firm, which, under the name of Young, Gottschall & Young, continued for a year, at the end of which period Mr. Gottschall retired. Mr. Young and his son subsequently remained together in the practice under the name of Young & Young until his death in the year 1888. In September, 1856, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Young married Sarah B. Dechert, a daughter of Elijah Dechert, a leading lawyer of Reading, Pennsylvania, who was a son of Captain Peter Dechert, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Young's mother, Mary Porter Dechert, was a daughter of Judge Robert Porter, also of Reading, Pennsylvania, who sat for more than twenty years on the bench in that city and who was descended from Robert Porter, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to Londonderry, New Hampshire, and afterward removed to Montgomery county, Philadelphia, where he resided until his death. His most prominent and successful son, Mrs. Young's great-great-grandfather, was General Andrew Porter, who was a prominent Revolutionary officer and a close personal friend and associate of Washington. After the close of the war he was commissioned major-general of militia of Pennsylvania, and he was subsequently tendered the position of secretary of war by President Madison, but declined the honor. His son, Judge Robert Porter, while still a mere youth but eleven years of age, served with his father in the army and having been commissioned lieutenant of artillery was probably the youngest soldier and officer in the colonial service. Both General Andrew Porter and his son, Judge Robert Porter, were members of the Order of the Cincinnati, an honor which has passed to their descendants and a de-tailed sketch of their lives is published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. IV, No. 3, published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Young is now one of the oldest members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. When the Civil war broke out Edmond Stafford Young firmly espoused the Union cause and became a stanch supporter of President Lincoln's administration. On October 16, 1861, a military committee, was appointed by the governor of Ohio, to which was given charge and control of all recruiting and organization and of military matters generally in Montgomery county. Mr. Young served as chairman of this committee, and he was thus closely identified with the organization and en-listment of practically all the regiments raised in Dayton and its vicinity. In the fall of 1861 he was one of the "Squirrel Hunters" so called, who rallied to the defense of Cincinnati when that city was threatened by the Confederates under General Kirby Smith, and later he was appointed by Governor Brough commissioner of the draft for Montgomery county and made the largest draft in the state. DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1039 Throughout the period of mob violence and strife, which for years ran riot in Dayton, as a hot-bed of what was then known as "copper-headism," and which at one time brought that city under martial law, Mr. Young was always a conspicuous and commanding figure, and his voice, influence and example were always exerted to the full in the cause of loyalty and union. After the close of the war, while devoting most of his time to the work of his profession, his interest in public affairs still continued unabated. He took a deep interest in the public schools and served efficiently on the board of education and he was a member of Dayton's first non-partisan police board, appointed in 1873, by which the present metropolitan police system was inaugurated. He was also one of the founders of the Dayton Bar Association, now known as the Dayton Law Library Association, by which Dayton's excellent Law Library (now in point of completeness the fourth in the state) has been collected, and he served for years on its board of trustees. During the course of his practice his name was frequently suggested for judicial honors, among others, a place on the supreme bench of the state, but he always personally discouraged such movements, preferring to remain at the bar and in the active practice of his profession. He was a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, in which he frequently took a leading part and also of the American Bar Association. He died suddenly October 14, 1888, while still in full practice and at the zenith of his powers, leaving surviving him his widow and two sons, George R. and William H. Young, all of whom still survive, and a daughter, Mary, a young woman of most lovable personal traits and marked intellectuality, who died August 13, 1895. Of Mr. Young, a contemporary biographer has well said : "He was a man of striking physical appearance and of marked mental characteristics. He was born to be a lawyer. His breadth of intellect, his strong determined will, his sound impartial judgment, his remarkable reasoning powers, his gift of nice and correct discrimination, made up a mental organization distinctively legal ; while at the same time his large and well proportioned head, with its high expansive forehead, set firmly on his broad square shoulders, gave him a personal appearance in keeping with his mental characteristics. He was a strong and pure type of that class of American lawyers, who, eschewing outside schemes for the promotion of wealth and personal aggrandizement, devote to their profession the full measure of their powers and seek happiness in the conscientious discharge of their professional, domestic and civic duties." GEORGE R. YOUNG. In the history of the legal profession in Montgomery county the name of Young has now figured prominently for nearly sixty years, for during that period, the father, Edmond Stafford Young and the sons, George R. and William H. Young, have successively and continuously been leading members of the Dayton bar. And, in the course of time, it has come to pass that the firm name "Young 1040 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY & Young," under which the brothers are still associated and which has now existed for over thirty years, has become the oldest in use among Dayton lawyers. George R. Young, one of Dayton's native sons, was born in that city, October 2, 1857. He obtained his education in the Dayton public schools, having graduated from the Central high school (now the Steele high school) in 1875 as valedictorian of his class and having received a gold medal for scholarship. Fora time he then studied under private tutors, but soon took up the study of the law in the office of his father Edmond Stafford Young, a sketch of whose life precedes. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1878, and was probably at the time the youngest attorney in Ohio, having been admitted some months before reaching his majority. Mr. Young has made the practice of law his life work, and without any of those digressions which result from office holding or lengthy vacations, he has pursued it steadily ever since his admission with a diligence and ability which have both merited and achieved success. Mr. Young is recognized as a sound lawyer and a forcible and convincing speaker, either before the court or jury, and his unusual command of pure and correct English always secures and retains for him close attention and careful consideration. His firm has always enjoyed a large and representative clientage, having been retained in many of the leading cases tried in the courts of Montgomery and adjoining counties. For the last ten years the brothers have been located in their own building, the Young Building, where their handsome suite of offices is widely celebrated for its commodious size and the unusual perfection -of its arrangement and equipment. Mr. Young was president of his local bar association when little more than thirty years of age, and he has been for years a member of both the Ohio State and American Bar Associations. Ever since his father's death, in 1888, he has been a trustee of the Dayton Law Library Association, having succeeded his father in that position, and during that period he has been either its treasurer or vice-president. Mr. Young is popular, not only in his profession but among a large circle of friends in his native city, where he enjoys the respect and esteem of the entire community. He is a charter member of the Dayton Club, was the. first president of the High School Alumni Association and one of the founders and supporters of the Dayton Literary Union, which flourished for many years in Dayton. He has always been interested in literature and the diffusion of useful knowledge and is now the president of the Dayton Astronomical' Society, formed to promote the study of astronomy and kindred sciences. In politics Mr. Young has always been a republican, but never a politician in the sense of seeking office as a reward for party fealty. While absent in the east in 1881, without his solicitation or knowledge, his party nominated him for prosecuting attorney of Montgomery county. Remaining on the ticket with reluctance, notwithstanding a customary democratic majority of more than a thousand he was beaten by only a few hundred votes. In 1885 he was again nominated for office, this time for city solicitor of Dayton. The city was then reliably democratic, and though he ran far ahead of his ticket he was again defeated by a small majority. Since then he has neither held nor sought political office, confining his attention entirely to his professional duties. DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1043 In the fall of 1894, upon the elevation of Judge John A. Schauck from the circuit to the supreme bench, Mr. Young, without solicitation on his part, was prominently mentioned as his successor. A petition to Governor McKinley for his appointment was circulated and signed by practically every member of the Montgomery County Bar, but owing to lack of time, in case of success, to close up his private practice, Mr. Young withdrew his name from consideration. Having been more recently asked to be a candidate for nomination for a supreme court judgeship and promised the united support of his county delegation, he declined to enter the contest, preferring the independence of private life. Neither George R. Young nor his brother William H. Young have ever married ; but since their father's decease, together with their mother, Mrs. Sarah D. Young, who at the advanced age of eighty-four years is still well preserved both mentally and physically, they have maintained their family homestead in the city, which they have greatly enlarged and beautified, and where, as well as at their country home "Willowbrook," near Dayton, they have dispensed a ready and agreeable hospitality. WILLIAM H. YOUNG. William H. Young, who for more than a quarter of a century has been active in the practice of law at Dayton, is the second son of Edmond Stafford and Sarah (Dechert) Young, and was born in his home city, March 2, 1866. Upon his father's death in 1888 he became a member of the well known law firm of Young & Young, in which he has ever since been, and still is, associated with his brother George R. Young. His education was obtained in the Dayton public schools, and upon leaving the high school he studied law in the office of his father and brother, being subsequently admitted to the bar in the year 1884 at Columbus, Ohio, after passing the examination prescribed by the rules of the supreme court. For many years after his admission he took a keen interest in politics, serving shortly after attaining his majority as president of the Blaine and Logan "First Voters," and during this period he made many campaign speeches, some of which made so strong an impression that they are still frequently recalled and gained for him a wide reputation as a ready, eloquent and convincing speaker. At a later period he was often urged to become a candidate for the legislature or for congress, but, although possessing much personal magnetism and enjoying great popularity and being in all respects admirably fitted for public life, like his father and brother, he has continuously declined to enter politics. When he was only about ten years of age Mr. Young suffered from a very malignant attack of scarlet fever, from which hip disease and other complications ensued, confining him to his bed for nearly four years, resulting in permanent lameness and causing a decided limp in his walk, but this disadvantage, which would have proved a serious handicap to many, has in his case, served only to add to his already marked personality, without detracting in any appreciable degree from his energy, his activity or his usefulness. In Dayton, his native city, he has long been a conspicuous and familiar figure, and his genial manners, unfailing 1044 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY good humor and buoyancy of spirits, together with his strong and unique personality, in many respects bearing marked resemblance to his father's, have been such that it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that he has been known to almost every man, woman and child in the city. He has also a large circle of acquaintance throughout the state, not only among members of the legal profession, but including those who for the past twenty years have been prominent in political and official circles. His personal characteristics are such that he is a good mixer and makes friends easily, and when once seen by any one he is rarely forgotten. He has, at various times, taken a leading part in public movements at Dayton, for the promotion of charitable objects and moral and civic reforms ; and the removal from office, a few years ago, of an objectionable chief of police, who had obtained a strong and apparently impregnable foothold, was almost wholly due to his seasonable initiative and courageous, able and untiring efforts. His goodness of heart and sympathy with his kind are well known and constantly remarked upon, not only as exemplified by his devotion to his mother and brother, and to his sister, now deceased, but also by a broad philanthropy extending to persons in all walks of life which has earned for him the deserved gratitude of many who have been assisted by his timely advice and personal aid in hours of sorrow, sickness and adversity. At the bar he has always borne a reputation as a strong jury advocate, and in this field, affording as it does, opportunity for the display of his attractive individuality, his sound common sense and great knowledge of human nature, his efforts have been attended by marked success. He is strong in his likes and dislikes and outspoken in his opinions, but while he is slow to forgive an injury or wrong, he never forgets a friend. While he gives close attention to professional matters, being an excellent judge of land values and experienced in matters of general business, he devotes a part of his time to the management of his own and his brother's real-estate holdings, and to their other private interests. Being unmarried, Mr. Young lives at home with his mother and brother in the family homestead, where his father formerly resided, spending part of the year at their country home near Dayton., whose beauty and popularity are largely due to his excellent taste and to his thoughtful care and attention. ALBERT BENNER. Albert Benner, a successful farmer of Miami township, Montgomery county, owns seventy-six acres of fine land on the Springboro pike about three miles from Miamisburg. He was born on the old Benner homestead, October 15, 1868, and is the son of Valentine and Carolina (Goudy) Benner. He received his early training in the seventh district school of Miami township, but like his brothers worked on the farm during his entire school period, under the guidance of his father. The lessons thus early learned have stood him in good stead in later years, and the habits of industry and thrift inculcated have not been dispelled with the passage of time. DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1047 On the 16th of September, 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Benner and Miss Elizabeth Gebhart, a daughter of David and Frances (Roof) Gebhart. The former was the son of Elias and Elizabeth (Gebhart) Gebhart, who came to this county from Pennsylvania and were the first branch of the family to settle here. David Gebhart was born and reared in this county and attained to a position of prominence among the farmers here. He had learned the carpenter's trade, but forsook it for the more congenial work of agriculture. He was the father of eight children : Elizabeth ; Arlina ; Mary ; Maggie ; Clinton ; Cora, deceased ; Grover, also deceased ; and Roy. Mr. and Mrs. Benner have five children, all of whom are living ; Edna, who finished her education at the local schools and is studying at the Miami Valley Hospital ; Ethel, who is also through school and lives at home, as do the three youngest, Olive, Forest and Robert. The family belong to the Lutheran church and are well known among the congregation for the active part they have always taken in all church affairs. Mr. Benner enjoys fraternal relations with the Miamisburg lodge of the Knights of Pythias, No. 44. He is a man of considerable public spirit, and has served the people of his township well during the two terms he held the position of school director. The many qualities that make for success in the difficult life of farming, the capacity for hard work and perseverance, are his birthright. Of them and of his time he has made the best use, and while winning a competence for himself he has ever retained the good will of his friends and neighbors. VIRGIL L. BROOKS. Among the leading business men of Dayton is Virgil L. Brooks, of the well known firm of Brooks Sons, plumbers, who was born in the city of Cleveland in 1857, and is a' son of John L. Brooks, whose birth occurred in Oxford, England. On coming to the new world he first located in New York city and from there removed to Buffalo, where he made his home until going to Cleveland. In 1860 he became a resident of Dayton and here engaged in business as a contracting heating plumber for a number of years. He died while on his summer vacation at Wick-ford, Rhode Island. In his family were three sons and two daughters, of whom our subject and the two daughters are still living, the latter being Nellie B., the wife of Charles F. Reynolds, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Carrie G., the wife of Alvin H. Plummer. Virgil L. Brooks was only three years of age when brought by his parents to Dayton and in this city was reared and educated, attending the, public schools until after he was seventeen years of age. He then entered the plumbing shop of his father and learned the trade. Becoming thoroughly conversant with the business in every department he was admitted to a partnership with his father under the firm name of Brooks & Son, carrying on the business under that title .until the -death of the father in 1898. The firm name was then changed to Brooks Sons, "by which it is still known. They do a very large and profitable business and stand 1048 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY high in business circles. Mr. Brooks is also vice president of the Ashley Falls Marble Company. In 1894 he was married in Mansfield Center, Connecticut, to Miss Nellie M. Sumner and they have since made their home in Dayton where they have a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Fraternally Mr. Brooks is identified with the -Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, while religiously he holds member-ship in the Linden Avenue Baptist church. In politics he is independent but he takes an active and commendable interest in public affairs and gives his support to all measures which he believes will prove of public benefit. WILLIAM D. WHITEHEAD. William D. Whitehead merits the high regard in which he is uniformly held for his life has ever been an upright and honorable one, characterized by activity in business and devotion to honorable principles. He is the owner of a ninety-acre farm in Madison township and the cultivation of his fields brings him a substantial annual income. He was born on the 12th of November, 1868, on the farm on which he still makes his home, for his present property is a part of the old Whitehead homestead. His parents were David and Mary (Wolfe) Whitehead. His grandfather came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was one of the first settlers in this part of the state. He drove across the country and after reaching his destination he turned his horses out and they ran away, going back over the trail nearly to Pennsylvania. He followed them and at length recovered them. All of the conditions of pioneer life were here to. be found when he took his abode in Montgomery county, building one of the first houses in Madison township. The entire region was covered with a dense growth of timber, so that the early homes were largely log cabins in which was a big fire-place over which the cooking was done and which also served to heat the pioneer home. There were wild animals in the forests and wild game could be had in abundance. The early settlers had many difficulties and dangers to meet in thus reclaiming the frontier, but in course of time the seeds of civilization were thickly sown in this western wilderness and today it seems hardly possible to realize that less than a century ago this was an unsettled and unimproved tract. David Whitehead, the father of our subject, was born at the old family home on the farm now occupied by his son William, and was here reared amid the wild scenes and environments of pioneer life. As the years passed he devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits and his capable management and undaunted enterprise brought to him a measure of success that was most gratifying. As his financial resources increased, he added more and more largely to his place until his landed holdings were extensive and his capital was also con-siderable. He became one of the best known and most influential farmers of Madison township, promoting not only his own prosperity, but also contributing, to the general welfare through his co-operation in many movements for the public good. Upon the old home farm he reared his family of thirteen children, namely: Daniel, Julian, Amanda, Susan, Jacob, Lucinda, Lydia, Ella, Anna, Jessie, Oliver, DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 1049 William and Catharine. The last named and also Amanda and Susan have passed away. The uneventful life of the farm pictured the youthful days of William D. Whitehead, who gave his attention to general agricultural pursuits when not occupied with the task of acquiring- his education in the public schools. Through the summer months he labored diligently and became acquainted with the best methods of tilling the soil, of cultivating the crops and gathering the harvests in the late autumn. To his father, he gave the benefit of his services throughout the period of his minority. Since coming into possession of the farm, he has made all of the necessary improvements and now has an excellent place. In the midst of his fields stands a comfortable and commodious residence of nine rooms, which is one of the most modern and attractive homes of the township. The barn is also large, the loft giving ample shelter for the hay, while below there is much room for the stock. His farm comprises ninety acres of land that responds readily to the care and labor he bestows upon it, and his place is situated on the Salem pike about five miles northwest of Dayton. On the 26th of January, 1890, Mr. Whitehead was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Lightner, a daughter of Daniel and Lucinda (Froutz) Lightner. Her father lived in this county for many years and was a leading and well known agriculturist here. His children were eight in number : William, Harvey, Ira, Edward, Olive, Perry, John and Amelia. Of these all are yet living with the exception of Ira, Edward and Olive. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead has been blessed with three children : Harry, who remains at home and assists in the operation of the farm ; Bessie May, and Ira Lester, both of whom are attending school. Mr. Whitehead is classed with the younger and representative farmers of the county, who carries on his work along modern methods and understands the scientific as well as the practical side of farming. He realizes the value that comes through the rotation of crops and through the judicious use of fertilizers, keeps the soil in good condition and gives careful attention to the time of planting and plowing. Year after year, he harvests good crops of the grains best adapted to the conditions here found, and that he has prospered in his work is indicated in the well kept and thrifty appearance of his place. While managing his personal business affairs, he is not unmindful of the interests of the community and for a period of three years did active work for the cause of education as a member of the school board. He is an active and prominent member of the church of the Brethren and believes in the adoption of all movements and measures that tend to promote material, intellectual and moral progress. ALEXANDER HAMILTON ROMSPERT. Alexander Hamilton Romspert, now deceased, was a worthy and respected citizen of Montgomery county, well known also as a representative agriculturist. He was the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of fine farm land on the Lebanon pike about three miles south of the courthouse in Dayton. He was born