400 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY in the stove foundry business and was with that house for nine years, being first employed in a clerical capacity in the office while later he went upon the road as a traveling representative. In 1886 he entered the car shops of Barney & Smith in the designing department and there continued for about two years, while in 1888, he joined his brother Walter A. King in organizing the firm of King Brothers & Company, interior architects and decorators. They design interiors and their artistic work in this connection has gained them a foremost place in the ranks of those who are so engaged in Dayton or this part of the state. Mr. King was married April 26, 1883, in Dayton to Miss Elizabeth H. Lytle, a daughter of the late John S. Lytle and they have one son, Rufus J. King. Mr. King belongs to the Buzfuz Club, this being an expression of his appreciation of the social amenities of life. He is also an interested member of Christ Episcopal church while his political allegiance is given to the republican party which, he supports at the polls but does not seek or desire public office. Mr. King has devoted his life to art and has painted many beautiful panels of game, dogs, etc. Had he commercialized his talent in this direction he could have made it very profitable but he has followed art for its own sake. His appreciation of beauty, coloring and design is manifest in the work which he does in a business capacity as a member of the firm of King Brothers & Company, interior architects and decorators. In this connection he has been active in developing a good business and the work of the firm is always satisfactory. JOHN A. KLEY. John A. Kley, who is the owner of ten acres of fine land in Mad River township, Montgomery county, Ohio, is one of the younger generation of gardeners who are doing all they can to uphold the reputation of the county as the locality where some of the finest vegetables are grown. He was born on the farm on which he now lives, it having been the old home place, on the 11th of March, 1860, and is the son of Henry and Mary (Swartz) Kley, of whom some mention is made in another part of this volume. From the schools of Mad River township he received all they had to give him in the way of preparation for life, and at the same time that he pursued his studies he worked hard on the piece of land which was to be the scene of all his future labors, so that by the time he had reached man's estate he had much practical knowledge and was ready to assume the control and management of a farm. The year of his life passed quickly and quietly enough with little of importance to mar the serenity of the days and weeks as they went by. For his first wife Mr. Kley married Miss Tena Schutz, and to them were born three children, namely: Carl, George and Walter. When Mr. Kley married the second time he chose as his bride Miss Daisy Templeton, the daughter of James and Laura (Croak) Templeton. James Templeton was a carpenter by trade, and had come to this county from Clark, and Mrs. Kley was the eldest of his family of five children, the others being Charles, Frank, Walter and Ethel. DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 403 Mr. Kley's second marriage has also been blessed with three children : Harry, James and Laura. The family professes the Lutheran creed and attends the church on St. Clair street. Mr. Kley lives a quiet but earnest life. The garden which he has chosen as the field for his activities demands the most of his time, and he feels repaid in the quality of produce that he is able to win from the soil. He is a man who is not deaf to the calls of humanity, is a good friend, and by faithfulness to his work he sets a good example as a citizen and does his share toward making the world a better place to live in. GRAFTON C. KENNEDY. Among the men whose records have reflected credit and honor upon the history of the Ohio bar Grafton Clagett Kennedy was numbered. In his law practice and his business interests his work was characterized by an intelligent anticipation of possibilities and a recognition of opportunities that others passed by heedlessly. He displayed, too, that commendable confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and a habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities. He was prominently known in the business and religious world and for years his memory will be cherished by those who were his associates and friends while he was still an active factor in the world's work. Born on a farm in Harrison township, Montgomery county, Ohio, March 11, 1859, Grafton C. Kennedy is a representative of a southern ancestry on his mother's side. His great-grandfather, Gilbert Kennedy, came from Scotland in the eighteenth century, locating first in South Carolina, whence he afterward moved to Pennsylvania, while later in the same century he became a resident of Warren county, Ohio, where he died in the opening years of the nineteenth century. It is thought that he was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Joseph Kennedy, the grandfather of our subject, came from Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio in 1805 and settled on a farm of three hundred acres, four miles north of Dayton, which he had purchased from a cousin, the original owner of the land. His birth had occurred in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, but the greater part of his life was passed on his Ohio farm, where his death occurred about 1854, when he was eighty years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Nancy Kerr, was also of Scottish lineage and died in 1861. They were parents of three sons and a daughter but the latter died about 1855. The elder son, Gilbert Kennedy, became a distinguished lawyer of Dayton and Cincinnati and died some time during the '80s. The other sons, John and Joseph, became farmers. Joseph Kennedy, father of Grafton C. Kennedy, was born and reared on the old homestead farm in Harrison township in 1826, early becoming familiar with the hardships and privations of pioneer life and with the arduous work incident to the development of new fields. At the time of the. Civil war he was instrumental in raising a company for the One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment 404 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY of Ohio Infantry and drilled his company for some time on the Fair grounds. It was the understanding that the one reporting to camp the largest number of enlisted men should he made colonel. Mr. Kennedy reported the largest number of men present but the commission was given to another who reported a larger number of men enrolled though all were not present in person. His men, as well as Mr. Kennedy himself, were disappointed over this decision, yet Mr. Kennedy manifested his willingness to go to the front in any capacity but, when the governor learned the true state of the case, he thought it best that Mr. Kennedy be given an honorable discharge and be permitted to return home. In early manhood he had wedded Catharine Clagett, a native of Maryland and a daughter of Grafton A. Clagett, also born in that state. Mr. Kennedy followed farming as his life work, retaining his residence on the old family homestead. His wife died in 1866. There were two sons and a daughter in the family : Grafton C. and Gilbert, both now deceased ; and Caroline, the wife of Edward Martin, of Chicago. On the farm which came into possession of his grandfather in the opening years of the nineteenth century, Grafton C. Kennedy spent the days of his boyhood and youth, working at different times in the fields, while the winter months were devoted to study in the district schools. He also spent two years as a pupil in the public schools of Dayton and in further pursuit of knowledge, qualifying him for life's practical and responsible duties, he entered Wittenberg College, in which he spent five years in the preparatory and college courses, being graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in June, 1879. An earnest desire to become a member of the bar led him to take up the study of law in September, 1879, in the office of Conover & Conover, with whom he read for one year, while later his reading was directed for two years by Warren Munger, then a distinguished member of the Dayton bar. In May, 1882, he was admitted to practice and in February, 1883, opened an office and entered upon the active work of the profession. In March of the same year he was appointed United States commissioner at Dayton for the southern district of Ohio and held the position until October, 1894, when he resigned. Mr. Kennedy practiced law alone until May, 1888, when he formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Mr. Munger, under the firm style of Munger & Kennedy and, when at the 1st of January, 1893, Harry L. Munger, son of the senior partner, was admitted the firm name was changed to Munger, Kennedy & Munger, so continuing until the death of Warren Munger on the 1st of June, 1894. .Later Eugene G. Kennedy, a brother of Grafton C. Kennedy, was admitted to the partnership and the firm remained Kennedy, Munger & Kennedy until the death of the subject of this review. From the beginning of his practice he made continuous. progress until the consensus of public opinion placed him in the foremost rank of Dayton's leading lawyers. He possessed a mind of singular precision and power. It was in a marked degree a judicial mind, capable of an impartial view of both sides of the question and of arriving at a just conclusion. In his practice he was absolutely fair, never indulged in artifice or concealment, never dealt in indirect methods but won his victories, which were many, and suffered his defeats, which were few, in the open field, face to face with his foe. He achieved the highest distinction and he deserved it. He was DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 405 always careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional ethics and in his work exemplified the theory of the law that the counsel are to aid the court in the administration of justice. On the 3oth of April, 1889, Mr. Kennedy was united in marriage in Dayton to Miss Louise Achey, a daughter of John J. Achey and unto them were born two children : Katharine Louise and Grafton Sherwood. The death of the husband and father occurred January 10, 1909, when he was in the fiftieth year of his age. Throughout his life he had been an active factor for good in the communities in which he labored. Public-spirited, he was interested at all times in the welfare of the community and for four years did effective work for public education as a member of the Dayton school board, serving from 1897 until 1901 and acting as president of the board during the last three years of that period. In 1892 he organized the first county board of elections. He was also president of the board of sinking fund trustees of the school funds and whenever his aid was needed for the performance of any beneficial public project it was immediately and heartily given. He found recreation in golf, and his religious faith was sustained and strengthened through his membership in the Third Presbyterian church, in the work of which he took most active and helpful part. His grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, was one of the founders of this church, and the family have remained in active connection therewith to the present time. Grafton C. Kennedy was one of the elders of the church and clerk of the sessions and was deeply interested in all religious work. He was an able, faithful and conscientious minister in the temple of justice and a devoted adherent of every cause which he believed would benefit humanity, while in private life he was endeared to all who knew him by the simple nobility of his character. COLUMBUS C. MOSES. Columbus C. Moses, handling important real estate interests and also conducting a stock and bond brokerage business in Dayton, was born in Germantown, this county, June 7, 1835. His father, Robert Moses, was born in Augusta county, Virginia. near New Hope, in 1800, and died in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1875. His father was a native of Virginia and a son of the progenitor of the family in America, who came from England in the eighteenth century.. Robert Moses devoted his entire life to the work of the farm until he had reached the age of sixty-five years, when he removed from Germantown to Enterprise, Preble county, where he opened a general store which he afterward turned over to his son Ben. He was married in Virginia to Miss Mary Christ and removed to a farm near Germantown in 1822. He was living in Germantown when the war broke out but in the '6os removed to Enterprise. There he made himself felt as a forceful factor in commercial circles of the community, and the reliability of his methods as well as his enterprise, brought him a liberal and well merited patronage. In the family were twelve children, nine sons and three daughters. Only two of the sons, Columbus C. and Henry C. Moses, are now living. All the daughters, however, survive. These are : Elizabeth, the widow 406 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY of Dr. John McKean, her home being in West Alexandria, Ohio ; Eliza Virginia, the widow of Aaron B. Lane and a resident of Olatha, Kansas ; and Lydia A. C., the widow of W. H. Huffman, of Dayton. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Columbus C. Moses in his boyhood and youth. He lived with his parents through the period of his minority and is indebted to the public-school system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. On leaving home he went to Peoria, Illinois, this being prior to the period of the Civil war. He arrived there about 1857 and was employed in a dry-goods store for a year. He then returned to Germantown, where he opened a dry-goods store, which he conducted for .a period and then sold out, removing to a farm. In 1859 Mr. Moses was united in marriage in Germantown to Miss Margaret Emrick, and after living for .,about a year in Ohio they removed to Illinois in 186o, and.Mr. Moses entered the services of his former employer in Peoria. He was thus engaged until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he returned to Germantown. In 1861 he came to Dayton and the first year thereafter was employed as a clerk in a dry-goods store. In 1862 he secured a situation in a wholesale dry-goods house in Dayton, where he remained for a time, after which he engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business on his own account, as a member of the firm of Turner, Walker & Moses. This relation was maintained for about two years, after which Mr. Moses sold his interest. About a year later he established a wholesale dry-goods store under his own name but subsequently admitted I. S. Boyer to a partnership under the firm style of Moses & Boyer. About six months later Jacob Bunstine was taken in and the firm became Moses, Boyer & Bunstine, and so continued until Mr. Moses sold out. Immediately afterward he opened a wholesale notion house, which he carried on for a time and then devoted several years to the grocery trade. When he disposed of his interests in that field he went into the real estate business, in which he has since continued. He has informed himself thoroughly concerning the realty that is upon the market and the valuation of property and is thus able to assist his clients in making judicious investments and a profitable sale. He also deals in stocks and bonds and has made for himself a creditable name in relation to the financial interests of the city. Mr. Moses has served for five years as a director of the Montgomery County Fair Association and is always interested in every movement of a public nature that has for its object the betterment of prevailing. conditions. He has never taken any active part in politics but has always been a republican. His study of the questions and issues of the day has led him to the belief that the principles of the party are most conducive to good government and he therefore gives to it loyal support. While living in Germantown he was a member of the old volunteer fire department and served as secretary of the company. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Moses have been born two daughters, but the elder, Ida May, died in 1876, at the age of sixteen years. The younger, Jennie, is the wife of W. F. Newcomer, and they have two children, Mabel and Leila K. Mr. and Mrs. Moses belong to the First English Lutheran church and are well known in Dayton, where they have now made their home for the past forty-eight years. Although Mr. Moses has passed the seventy-fourth milestone on life's journey DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 407 he is yet an active factor in the business world, thoroughly conversant with financial interests and with the real estate market. The business which he has done in both lines has been such as to place him with the men of affluence in his adopted city. WILLIAM ROEHM, M. D. Dr. William Roehm, who since 1900 has engaged in the practice of medicine in Dayton, the city of his nativity, was born September 26, 1876. His youthful days were here passed and, utilizing the educational opportunities offered by the public schools, he passed through consecutive grades as the result of various promotions and at length was graduated from the Steele high school with the class of 1896. Determining upon a professional career he then matriculated in the Starling Ohio Medical College, at Columbus, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1900. He then located in Dayton, Ohio, and has been busily occupied with professional duties from that time to the present. His ability is constantly increasing as the result of his broadening experience and his continuous reading and research which brings him into close touch with the advanced professional thought of the day. In addition to his private practice he served for one year as workhouse physician. He belongs to the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Montgomery County Medical Society and the Dayton Academy of Medicine. Dr. Roehm was married in Dayton in 1906 to Miss Bessie Luella Emert, and they have one daughter, Ann Elizabeth. In his political views Dr. Roehm is a democrat and an active worker in the party, for he believes firmly in its principles and regards it the duty as well as the privilege of every American man to inform himself thoroughly concerning the questions and issues of the day and then to support those measures which he deems will prove most efficacious in promoting good government. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Fraternal Order of Eagles and affiliates with the Lutheran church. It will thus be seen that his influence is always on the side of progress and improvement and he is interested in the tendency of the times toward introducing wholesale reforms in the social, political and moral life of the city. JOHN CLEMENT DIETZ. John Clement Dietz is a representative of the mercantile interests of Dayton, for he is now conducting a substantial and growing business as proprietor of a drug store. He was born in this city, July 30, 1842, and was here reared, spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Dietz. His father was horn in Bavaria in 1813 and in early manhood bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the new world, settling in Dayton. 408 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY Here he was married and with the passing of the years the family circle came to include nine children, of whom five sons and two daughters are yet living. John Clement Dietz, of this family, was reared in Dayton and at the usual age entered the public schools, wherein he continued his studies until he became a pupil in St. Thomas Seminary, a Catholic institution at Bardstown, Kentucky. There he continued for two years, after which he returned to Dayton in 1856 or 1857 and started in business life, entering the drug store of Thomas Dover. For twelve years he continued with that gentleman and his thorough reliability, enterprise and diligence won him continuous success. He afterward engaged in clerking for Edward Weakley, in whose drug store he remained for two years when, in 1871, he established a drug business for himself at the corner of Wayne and Pearl streets. There he continued until 1886 when he removed to the corner of Jones street and Wayne avenue. He now has a well appointed store, in which he carries a large line of drugs and druggists' sundries and his business is constantly growing as the reliability and enterprise of his business methods are fully understood. Mr. Dietz was married in 1868 in Dayton to Miss Desdemona Dracelin and they had three children : Clara, who died at the age of ten years ; James A., who married Sylvia Ogier and died in 1902 at the age of thirty years, leaving one son, John Wilber ; and Edward C. The last named was married to Miss Sarah Norris and they have one son, James Edward Dietz. Mr. Dietz has been a member of the school board and has done good public work in that connection. His political allegiance is given to the democracy. Those who know him respect him for his reliability in citizenship as well as in commercial circles and his record illustrates what may be accomplished by determined and well directed labor. ODLIN SPEICE. Odlin Speice, agent for the American Express Company in Dayton, his native city, was born February 26, 1849, and was here reared and educated. He attended the public schools between the ages of six and fourteen years when, on the 3oth of September, 1863, he responded to the country's call for troops and joined the Mississippi squadron of the United States navy under Admiral Porter. He was assigned to the United States gunboat Nyanza, a "tin-clad," and went to New Orleans as an ordinary seaman. He was afterward transferred to the United States gunboat Curlew, and in January, 1864, to the General Price, a Confederate ram that had been captured at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A month later he was again transferred and from time to time changes were made until thus gradually he worked his way up the river, finally reaching the navy yard at Mound City, Illinois. There he became ill with typhoid pneumonia and was discharged in May, 1864, on account of physical disability. Mr. Speice then returned to Dayton and in 1865-6 he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, for he realized how important a factor in successful business life is education. Later he turned his attention to the DAYTON AN D MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 411 flour milling business at Greenville, Ohio, his father being interested in a mill there, in which Mr. Speice acted as assistant for eight years. He next entered the employ of the Dayton Short Line Railroad Company and devoted about five years to railroading. In 1879 he entered the employ of the American Express Company in Dayton, and on the 1st of December, 1888, he was made money clerk. On the 15th of April, 1893, he was given his present position as agent of the American Express Company and in this capacity has since served. It is a ness and fidelity for he has carefully systematized the work of the office and position of large responsibility, the duties of which he discharges with prompt-excellent results are being achieved under his direction. On the 3d of January, 1872, at Greenville, Ohio, Mr. Speice was united in marriage to Miss Stella La Motte, and they have two children : Frederick A., who is assistant treasurer of the Dayton Savings & Trust Company ; and Carrie M., a teacher in the public schools. In his political views Mr. Speice is an earnest republican and is deeply interested in the success and growth of the party. He is responsible for the passage of the bill making Dayton a port of entry. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs. He is also a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and he belongs to Old Guard Post, No. 23, G. A. R. He is connected with the National Association of Naval Veterans, belonging to Dahlgren Post of Dayton, and was also aid on the staff of the national commander. He likewise holds membership in the Park Presbyterian church, in which he is a trustee, a fact which indicates that he is not neglectful of the higher, holier duties of life notwithstanding the fact that his business interests make heavy demands on his time for his position is one of large and growing responsibility. MARCELLUS ELLSWORTH COY, M. D. Dr. Marcellus Ellsworth Coy, who since 1901 has engaged in the general practice of medicine in Dayton, was born in Zimmerman, Greene county, Ohio, November 24, 1874. In the paternal line he comes of Teutonic ancestry. His grandfather, Adam Coy, was born in Germany and on crossing the Atlantic to America established his home in Greene county, Ohio, where he entered five thousand acres of land and engaged extensively in farming, his efforts contributing in substantial measure to the agricultural development of that section. His son, Abram Coy, father of Dr. Coy, was born in Greene county and died in 1905. He devoted his entire life to general agricultural pursuits. In early manhood he wedded Catharine Zimmerman who passed to her final rest in 1895 —ten years prior to the death of her husband. They were the parents of eleven children of whom four died from diphtheria in one month, ranging in age from ten to fourteen years. Seven of the family still survive. Dr. Coy, who is the youngest, was reared to manhood in the place of his nativity, attended the common schools of Zimmerman and was afterward graduated from the high school of Alpha, Greene county, Ohio, with the class of 1895. 412 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY Later he pursued a commercial course at Beck's school in Dayton and subsequently engaged in teaching for three years in Greene county, Ohio. He afterward spent two years as a medical student in the University of Chicago and two years at Detroit College of Medicine, from which he was graduated in 1901. He then located in Dayton for general practice and is gradually building up a gratifying business, for the people recognize that his ability is sufficient to enable him to cope with the intricate problems which continually confront the physician in his efforts to restore health and prolong life. In 1901 in Detroit Dr. Coy was united in marriage to Miss Norma M. Rommeck and the hospitality of their pleasant home is greatly enjoyed by the many friends whom they have made during the period of their residence in Dayton. Dr. Coy belongs to no fraternal orders or clubs but has various professional connections, holding membership in the Montgomery County Medical Society, the Dayton Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has built up a splendid practice in his eight years' residence in Dayton and has the unqualified respect of the profession as well as the general public. WILLIAM POEPPELMEIER. William Poeppelmeier, conducting a growing and profitable business in Dayton, as a dealer in paints, wall paper, etc., opened his present establishment in 1900. He has, however, been engaged in business for himself in Dayton since 1889 and in mercantile lines since 1893. He was born in Cincinnati, October 20, 1866, and the following year his parents removed to Dayton, where the boyhood and youth of our subject was passed under the parental roof. His father, Henry H. Poeppelmeier, was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1841, and when a young man of twenty-one years he bade adieu to his native country and sailed for America, landing in 1862. He did not tarry on the eastern coast but, making his way into the interior of the country, took up his abode in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he was married in the same year to Miss Elizabeth Thieman and unto them were born seven children, of whom six are yet living, namely : Frank, of Dayton ; Christ, residing in Cincinnati ; William, of this review ; George, who makes his home in Dayton ; Marie, the wife of Albert Carl, also of Dayton ; and Anthony. living in this city. One daughter, Anna, is now deceased. The mother died in 1888 while the father, surviving for about nine years, passed away in 1897. When a little lad of six summers William Poeppelmeier began his education in the public schools and continued through successive grades until he reached the age of twelve years, when he started out in life on his own account, being first employed in the chair factory of Stomps & Burkhardt. That he was faithful and diligent is indicated in the fact that he remained there for three years, receiving four cents a dozen for painting chairs. He next entered the employ of the Farmers Friend, manufacturers of agricultural implements, where he was employed at painting for eight years. In the meantime he had resolved to enter DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 413 business life on his own account at the first opportunity, and in 1889 he began house painting and to this work devoted his energies for four years, or until 1893. In that year he embarked in his present business as a dealer in paints and wall paper, opening a store at the corner of Brown and Hickory streets. From that location he removed to No. 64o Wayne avenue, where he continued for five years, and in 1900 he came to his present location. He carries a large line of paints and wall paper and has built up a good trade, his patrons recognizing in him a reliable and a thorough-going merchant who at all times conforms his business activities to a high standard of commercial ethics. In 1897 Mr. Poeppelmeier was married in Dayton to Miss Viola Heitzman and unto them have been born five children, Marie, Viola, Mildred, Raymond and Leo. Mr. Poeppelmeier is a member of the fraternal order of Eagles, the Knights of St. John, the St. Joseph's Orphan Society and St. Mary's Catholic church—associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the principles which govern his conduct. He votes with the democracy but is not active in party circles. He is an excellent type of the self-made man who from early boyhood is dependent upon his own resources and works his way upward by industry and careful utilization of each opportunity as it is presented. He has never placed his dependence upon favoring circumstances or sought outside aid, but realizing that the path of industry will lead to the goal of prosperity he has persevered therein and has now advanced far toward substantial success. WILLIAM M. ADELBERGER. William M. Adelberger is now enjoying a gratifying trade as a dealer in cement and lime, his business having reached a substantial annual figure. He has always resided in Dayton where his birth occurred September 2, 1876, and he is the eldest of the three children of Philip and Eleonora (Boedeker) Adelberger. The father, a native of Germany, came to America in early life and, establishing his home in Dayton, was married in this city. Unto him and his wife were born two sons and a daughter : William M., Elizabeth, the wife of Charles E. Klugel, of Dayton ; and George, who is engaged in the meat business with his father in this city. The mother passed away in 1904, leaving behind her many friends. After continuing his education in the public schools until he had completed the work of the eighth grade, William M. Adelberger further pursued his studies in the Miami Commercial College, from which he was graduated in 1894, thus qualifying for the responsibilities which come with entrance into business life. He afterward worked for C. A. Starr, a dealer in building materials, by whom he was first employed as office boy, while in various promotions he made substantial advance to the position of bookkeeper and general manager. He was acting in the dual capacity at the time of Mr. Starr's death on the 24th of December, 1902. Following the demise of his employer he bought out the business in connection with Edmund C. Linxweiler, and the firm has since been known as the Star Coal & Cement Company. They handle coal, cement, lime and other 414 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY building materials and have succeeded in building up a large and satisfactory trade. Mr. Adelberger is also a director of the Market Savings Bank, for his success in other lines has enabled him to make judicious investment in bank stock. In 1905 in Lancaster, Ohio, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Adelberger and Miss Clara Alice Wyman. Their home is now blessed by the presence of a little son, William, Jr. In politics Mr. Adelberger is a democrat but not active as a worker in the party ranks. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge, to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Dayton Turngemeinde and to St. John's German Lutheran church. These organizations, all of which inculcate a spirit of sociability, fraternity and morality, find a stalwart champion in Mr. Adelberger, whose many good qualities are recognized by his extensive circle of friends in his native city. HARRY S. O'NEILL. Harry S. O'Neill, conducting a profitable and growing business as a buyer of leaf tobacco in Dayton, was born in this city, on the 26th of July, 1873. As the name indicates the family comes of Irish lineage. The great-grandfather of our subject was William O'Neill, a native of Ireland, who spent his entire life in that country. His son, Charles O'Neill, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and became the founder of the family in the new world. He learned the carpenter's trade in his native country, became a contractor and crossed the Atlantic to the United States in the interests of an English syndicate to superintend the construction of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. Locating six miles east of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, he lived in that section of the country until his death which resulted from an injury that he had sustained about 1848. He married Elizabeth Sherman, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Salisbury Sherman, who was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where in early life he served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade. He afterward learned the trade of cutlery and was foreman of a factory in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, for a number of years. He then joined a company at Gettysburg and aided in establishing a cutlery factory there. At Gettysburg he married Miss Catherine Whealen and after his marriage removed to Franklin county near Chambersburg, where he resided for sixty-five years. He had reached the venerable age of ninety-eight years at the time of his demise. His daughter Elizabeth became the wife of Charles O'Neill and, surviving her husband for many years, died at the home of her son, William S., in Van Buren township, Montgomery county, Ohio, where she passed away when more than sixty years of age. In his political views Charles O'Neill was a democrat and studied and discussed the questions and issues of the day but never sought office as the reward for party fealty. He superintended the construction of the old Tappewann Railroad from Gettysburg to the Caledonia Iron Works and was then in the employ of Thaddeus Stevens. He was a man of varied experiences and wide learning. In his youth he had been educated for the Catholic priesthood and his brother, Arthur O'Neill, joined the DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 415 priesthood and continued to serve the church throughout his life. The wife of Charles O'Neill was in earlier life a Lutheran but afterward became a Catholic. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Charles O'Neill were born three sons and four daughters, including William S. O'Neill, the father of our subject. He was reared to farm life and acquired a good education in the common schools of Pennsylvania. Early in his business career he worked for twelve and a half cents per day but his energy and ability soon won him a better return for his labor. In 1858 he made his way to Montgomery county, Ohio, and secured employment as a farm hand on one of the farms which he now owns. The second year was spent in raising tobacco and in the following winter he chopped cord wood and split rails. In 1864 he purchased ten acres of land in Miami township which he soon afterward sold and then invested in forty acres in Van Buren township. From time to time he added to his property, becoming owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Mercer county and one hundred and forty acres in Van Buren township, Montgomery county, the latter being the farm upon which he was first employed on coming to Ohio. For two years he carried on general farming in Miami township but with that exception devoted his energies to farming in Van Buren township until his removal to Dayton. In addition to the properties previously mentioned he owns one hundred acres of land in Washington township. For many years his attention was chiefly given to the cultivation of tobacco and from 1868 he engaged in buying tobacco, continuing in that business until his death which occurred on the 29th of December, 1899. He was married in Montgomery county, in March, 1863, to Miss Elizabeth Shroyer, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Himes Shroyer. They became the parents of five children : Carrie May, who died at the age of nineteen years ; Amanda Ellen, who passed away at the age of twenty-one ; Charles Shroyer, who died at the age of twenty ; Harry Sherman, of this review ; and Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Elwood E. Rice. The parents became members of Zion's Reformed church, in which Mr. O'Neill long served as a trustee. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and in all matters of citizenship he was progressive, seeking at all times the greatest good to the greatest number. Harry S. O'Neill, whose name introduces this record, was reared in Dayton and began his education in Van Buren township school No. 12. He spent four years at St. Mary's Institute and he afterward pursued a business course in the Miami Commercial College. He then joined his father, William S. O'Neill, who was engaged in the leaf tobacco enterprise, and they were associated in the business until the father's death in 1899. Harry S. O'Neill has since been alone in business and his interests of this character have reached large proportions. He now handles an extensive amount of leaf tobacco annually and his capable management of his business has brought to him a gratifying competence. On the 28th of July, 1897, in Dayton, Mr. O'Neill was united in marriage to Miss Luella Rahn and they have five children: William Sharp, Sherman Lewis, Marguerite Elizabeth, Harry Rahn and Virginia. In his political views Mr. O'Neill is an independent democrat for while he usually supports the men and measures of the democracy, he does not consider himself bound by party ties and is interested in the independent spirit of the times which is one of the most hopeful signs pointing to reform in politics. He always 416 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY takes an advanced stand along lines of progress and improvement, earnestly desiring the best interests of the community. He belongs to the First Reformed church and the sterling traits of his character, which are many, have gained him a firm hold on the confidence and good will of friends and business associates. ANDREW PLOCHER. Andrew Plocher, proprietor of the City Forge & Iron Works and thus actively associated with the industrial interests of Dayton, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, June 19, 1850. He came to America in 1868, when a young man of eighteen years, and at once took. up his abode in Montgomery county, Ohio, being employed for two years on a farm in the vicinity of Miamisburg. He felt, however, that city life was preferable and removed to Dayton, where he worked at the blacksmith's trade, which he had learned in his native land. He was thus employed until 1894, when his laudable ambition prompted him to engage in business on his own account and he opened a shop. From the beginning the enterprise was successful and gradually he extended his interests in the development of the enterprise of which he is now proprietor. The City Forge & Iron Works constitutes one of the important industries of Dayton. He has occupied his present quarters since 1900 and the constant ring of the iron is proof of the amount of business which is here carried on. His patronage has continually increased in volume and importance until his business is today one of the extensive concerns of this character in Dayton. In 1874 Mr. Plocher was united in marriage in Dayton to Miss Eva Bernhard and unto them have been born three children, namely : John A., who wedded Miss Bertha Lastner ; Carl A., who married Miss Amanda Buehner ; and Flora L., who wedded Leonidas Miller. In his social relations Mr. Plocher is a Mason, belonging to the lodge and the council and he is also connected with the Knights of Pythias. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and he gives his political allegiance to the democracy. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the United States, for the business opportunities which he sought were here found and in their improvement he has made substantial financial advance. His work has brought to him the merited reward of labor and his life record might well serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others, showing what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do. THOMAS H. CRIDLAND. Thomas H. Cridland is the vice president of the Joyce-Cridland Company, of Dayton, manufacturers of railroad jacks. This is one of the largest productive industries of the city, having had continuous existence for about thirty-seven years—an era of substantial growth. He was born in Dayton, November 8, DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 419 1852, and is a son of Thomas W. Cridland, a native of Leicester, England, born in 1811. In the year 1822 he crossed the Atlantic to America with his parents and in 1852 became a resident of Dayton. He was married in Cincinnati, in 185o, to Miss Amanda M. Looker, and they had three children of whom Thomas H. is the eldest. After residing in Dayton until about 1889 or 189o, during which time lie was continuously engaged in business, he went to Los Angeles, California, where he died in 1891. His widow long survived him and passed away in the same city on the 14th of October, 1908. Through the period of his residence here Thomas W. Cridland had conducted a profitable business as a manufacturer of picture frames and molding and had also owned and carried on two photograph galleries. At the usual age Thomas H. Cridland was sent to the public schools wherein he continued his studies through successive grades until he reached the age of sixteen. He then started in business life with his father, Thomas W. Cridland, with whom he continued until twenty years of age, when he entered into partnership with J. 0. Joyce, the father of his present partner, for the manufacture of railroad jacks. Their plant was originally at Franklin, Ohio, but after three or four years they came to Dayton where they continued the business, which waspresent style in 1893. under the present-style of the Joyce Cridland Company, with the subject of this review as vice president. The business of the house has increased year by year for its output fills a demand for high-grade goods of the character which they handle. In 1873 Mr. Cridland wedded Miss Cora A. Joyce, a daughter of J. O. Joyce, and they have one son, H. C. Cridland. In politics a republican, Mr. Cridland has not been active in the party work in recent years nor is he identified with any club, nor fraternal organizations. His interests have largely centered in his business and his administrative power is displayed in its carefully guided and managed affairs. HERBERT C. ROBISON. Herbert C. Robison, resident manager of The Corbin Screw Corporation, was born on a farm in Warren county, Ohio, March 2, 1872. He represents one of the old pioneer families of that locality, his father being James T. Robison, who was likewise a native of Warren county, born in 1824. This fact alone indicates that the family was established in the county when it was still a frontier district, for the work of improvement and development had been scarcely begun in that part of the state during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. James T. Robison was reared to. the occupation of farming, which pursuit he followed throughout his entire life. Ile was married in Xenia, Ohio, to Miss Grizelah B. Law, and they became parents of eight children, all o whom reached years of maturity ;: Belle, the widow of Dr. Lee Corbin, who served for two terms as coroner of Montgomery county and died in Dayton in 1898 ; William Law, living in Warren county ; T. Scott, who makes his home in Franklin, Ohio ; Ralph M., also a resident of Warren county ; Emma Adessa, who died in 1907 ; Fannie 420 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY M.; Herbert C.; and Mary Pearl. The father was one of the old-time Presbyterians and molded his life by his religious faith and belief. He died in 1901, having for about ten years survived his wife who passed away in 1891. They were married in 1851 and, therefore, traveled life's journey together for forty years, Herbert C. Robison was reared on the home farm in Warren county, Ohio, to the age of sixteen years and during that period pursued his education in the district schools. He then left home to attend Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, and was graduated from that institution in 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He afterward came to Dayton where he pursued a business course in the Miami Commercial College and on the 2d of March, 1895, he entered upon his business career by accepting a position of assistant bookkeeper, in the Malleable Iron Works. For seven months he remained there, after which he became connected with the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company, the predecessors of The Corbin Screw Corporation. He went upon the road as a traveling salesman and thus represented the house from the 1st of October, 1895, to the 1st of June, 1907, when he became resident manager at Dayton. The other officers of the company are: Charles Glover, president ; Clarence A. Earl, vice president ; Theodore E. Smith, treasurer ; and George P. Spear, of New: Britain, Connecticut, secretary. Mr. Robison's long experience on the road made him thoroughly acquainted with the trade and its demands as well as the manufactured product and thus he was well qualified by long experience for the onerous duties which devolved upon him in his present connection. On the 8th of June, 1898, Mr. Robison was married in Dayton to Miss Alida Lee Perrine, a daughter of James F. Perrine, and they have become parents of one child, Julia Lee. The wife and mother died May 31, 1899. Mr. Robison belongs to the First Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as deacon. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but while he feels a citizen's interest in the political questions of the day he does not seek nor desire( office, as the reward for party fealty. He belongs to the Beta Theta Pi and those who meet him in social relations find him a genial courteous gentleman, whose ways readily win friendship. CHARLES E. HALLER. Charles E. Haller, superintendent of the Department of Infirmary of Dayton, was born in this city, January 24, 1860, and was here reared, the public schools affording him his opportunities in an educational way. He passed through consecutive grades and at length was graduated from the Miami Commercial College with the class of 1880. Thus trained for business life, he secured a clerkship in a Dayton store and for four years acted in that capacity, but all the time he was imbued with the ambition to one day become the owner of a business that his labors might more directly benefit himself. To this end he carefully saved his earnings until his capital was sufficient to enable him to start upon an independent venture. He then established a wholesale confectionery DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 421 house and for fourteen years conducted the business with growing and gratifying success. He was afterward identified with various other lines, including five years spent in the insurance business, and on the 10th of July, 1908, he was appointed to his present office by the board of public service. His faithfulness and capability in the discharge of his duties thus far have won for him high commendation and the merited confidence and good will of those who are familiar with his public service. On the 2d of October, 1883, in Dayton Mr. Haller was united in marriage to Miss Anna L. Focht and they have one daughter, Myrtle M., who is now the wife of Clarence Crewe and they have one child, Anna May. Mr. and Mrs. Haller have a pleasant home in which they extend cordial hospitality to their many friends. Mr. Haller belongs to the Odd Fellows Society in both the subordinate lodge and the encampment and is a member of the First Reformed church. He gives his political allegiance to the democracy and while the honors and emoluments of office are not sufficiently attractive to him to cause him to seek political preferment, he is nevertheless awake to the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship and seeks the city's welfare through his cooperation in many measures for the public good. CHARLES EDWARD PEASE. Charles Edward Pease, president of the Buckeye Iron & Brass Works of Dayton, occupies a foremost place in the ranks of the representative business men of the city. Possessing an incisive, comprehensive knowledge of all phases of the business, he has also manifested intelligent anticipation of possibilities and thus in his work has ever met the increasing demands of the time. Determined and energetic, he is a dynamic force in business circles of this city and moreover is honored and respected by all, not alone because of the success he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward business principles he has ever followed. Montgomery county is proud to number Mr. Pease among her native sons. His birth occurred in Carrollton, now West Carrollton, August 20, 1836, his parents being Horace and Sarah L. (Belville) Pease. His grandfather, Joseph Pease, was born, lived and died in Suffield, Connecticut, and was a son of Joseph Pease, Sr., also a native of that state. The ancestral home of the family was at Hull, England, whence representatives of the name came to the new world at an early period in its colonization. Horace Pease was born in Suffield, Connecticut, February 14, 1791, and held the rank of sergeant at the time of the war of 1812 but saw no active service. Coming to Ohio in 1816, he located first in Cincinnati, where he resided for seven or eight years and then removed to Montgomery county in 1823, taking up his abode on Hole's creek, five miles southwest of Dayton, where in 1839 he established the first fruit distillery of the locality, making peach and apple brandy. He continued the business for some years and also carried on farming but subsequently withdrew from those lines of business activity and made his 422 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY home in Carrollton, where he established a flouring mill, which he conducted until 1851 or 1852 under the firm name of H. & P. Pease. In 1839 he built a flouring mill in Dayton on East Third at the corner of Canal street, now owned and operated by Joseph R. Gebhart & Son. The mill was conducted by H. & P. Pease until 1866, when Horace Pease retired, spending hi's last days in honorable retirement in Dayton. For a long period he was recognized as one of the prominent business men of the city, being associated with various enterprises, including the old State Bank, of which he was a director from the time of its organization until it was merged into the Dayton National Bank. He then continued as a representative of its directorate up to the time of his demise. In all matters relative to the welfare and progress of city, county and state he was actively and helpfully interested and for a number of years represented Montgomery county in the Ohio general assembly, leaving the impress of his individuality upon its legislation and laboring at all times for the public good. He was serving on the board of county commissioners when the old stone courthouse was erected, the designs for which he made and in the building of which he took a deep interest. He held membership in the old-school Presbyterian church and his life was actuated by its principles and teachings. His death occurred in Dayton in 1875, while his wife passed away in 1862. She was born at St. Georges, Delaware, in 1810, and was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. They were the parents of six children, of whom Walter Belville Pease, the eldest, served as captain of Company C in the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war. This was the first company to report at Columbus under the first call for troops. He participated in the battle of Bull Run and served throughout the period of hostilities, being promoted to a captaincy in the Seventeenth United States Infantry and acting as captain of General George B. McClellan's body guard. After the close of the war he remained with the regular army until his retirement with the brevet of lieutenant colonel. He died at Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 189o. The other members of the family of Horace Pease are : Charles E., of this review ; Frank, who died in childhood ; Josephine, who married James Stockstill, of Dayton ; Anna L., the widow of Horace Phillips, of Dayton ; and Hattie, the deceased wife of Charles B. Clegg, of Dayton. Charles E. Pease was about three years of age when his parents removed from Carrollton to Dayton and in the public schools he acquired his preliminary education, while later he attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison, but left that institution in his junior year, in 1859, and returned to this city. In the meantime he had had some business experience, having worked as a machinist in Dayton, but left the shops in order to enter college. On his return he joined his father, Horace Pease, in the milling business and in 1857 he made his first independent business venture by operating a mill at Fulton, on the Rock river, in Wisconsin, where he continued with varying success for two years. In 1861 he entered the firm of W. B. Pease & Company, of Dayton, and assumed the management of the business when his elder brother, Walter B. Pease, joined the army for service in the Civil war. The following year, however, Charles E. Pease also responded to the call for military aid and in the fall of 1862 became connected with the quartermaster's department at Nash- DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 423 ville, Tennessee, under Captain Charles T. Wing, with whom he was associated until the close of the war. For a time, however, he was at Chattanooga and later returned to Nashville, where he remained until 1865, when he resigned and went to Memphis, Tennessee, where for two years he was engaged in the grocery business. On the expiration of that period he located in Cincinnati and was appointed United States gauger, in which position he was stationed at Covington, Kentucky. After filling the position for eighteen months Mr. Pease resigned and in January, 1870, returned to his old home in Dayton, purchasing an interest in the firm of Hoglen & Grafflin, becoming successor of the latter. The firm at that time was engaged in the manufacture of tobacco machinery. The style was changed to Hoglen & Pease and so continued until the 1st of June, 1876, when Mr. Pease purchased his partner's interest and incorporated the present business under the name of the Buckeye Iron & Brass Works. He has continuously acted as president of the company, which is engaged in the manufacture of brass goods for engine' builders, steam fitters, tobacco cutting machinery and linseed oil and cotton seed oil machinery, all of which are manufactured under patents controlled by the company. As the head of this enterprise, which is one of the most important productive industries of the city, Mr. Pease has long occupied a prominent place in business circles. The business has developed from small proportions until it is one of the largest manufacturing plants of the city, its output being shipped to all sections of the country. The plant is splendidly equipped with the latest improved machinery and the business, expanding year by year; now brings a most substantial income to the stockholders. Mr. Pease is also a director and stockholder of the Dayton Natural Gas Company and has other business interests of importance. On the 3d of October, 1865, in Cleveland, occurred the marriage of Charles E. Pease and Miss Laura G. Erwin, a. daughter of John Erwin, one of the pioneer residents of the Forest city. They have become parents of two sons : Calvin Erwin, who died in 1902 at the age of thirty-five years ; and Edward Gardner Pease, now vice president of the Buckeye Iron & Brass Works. Aside from his business interests Mr. Pease is well known in various connections. He is prominent in the ranks of Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and the Knight Templar degree in the York rite. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine and in his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. Moreover he is a faithful member of the Presbyterian church and in politics is an active republican whose efforts in behalf of the party have been far-reaching and beneficial. He served for twelve years as a member of the city council at Dayton, exercising his official prerogatives in support of many measures which have been of inestimable value to municipal development and growth. Many tangible evidences are given of his devotion to the city's welfare, among which have been his effective efforts to beautify the city with flowers early each spring. His home is a handsome residence at the corner of Second and Wilkinson streets and this is one of the visible evidences of his life of well directed thrift and enterprise. What a man does and what he attains depends largely upon his opportunities but the well balanced man, mentally and physically, is possessed of sufficient courage to venture where favoring 424 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY opportunity is presented and his judgment and even-paced energy generally carry him forward to the goal of success. Such has been the record of Charles E. Pease, who in his life embodies all the elements of what in this country we term a "square man"—one in whom to have confidence, a dependable man in any relation and any emergency. He is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and a habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities. He is among those for whom every one has a pleasant smile and a hearty word of greeting because they know that they are sure to be repaid in kind. ADAM STINE. Adam Stine, a member of the Soldiers Relief Commission of Montgomery county and a resident of Dayton, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1829. He has therefore passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey but his is a vigorous manhood which makes him seem much younger than his years. In 1831 when he was but two years of age, his parents removed to Milton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared and attended school, there acquiring his education. In April, 1844, when fourteen years of age, he entered business life as an employe of the office of the Miltonian, a weekly whig paper which had been established in 1816. There he remained until he attained his majority—a period of a little more than five years—during which time he thoroughly learned the printing trade, becoming familiar with all of the work of the office. At the end of that time he started out as a journeyman printer and was employed at his trade in various places. When the Civil war was inaugurated he was in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and there he enlisted, for he had watched with interest the progress of events in the south and had determined that if a blow was struck to overthrow the Union he would strike one in its defense. Accordingly the smoke from Fort Sumter's guns had scarcely cleared away when, on the 15th of April, 1861, he enlisted as a private of Company D, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for the enlisted term of three months and was then mustered out at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in July, 1861. In August of that year he again offered his services to the government, enlisting at Philadelphia as a member of Company K, Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, in a command known as the Cameron Dragoons. He was then made orderly sergeant, and, going to the front, served in the Peninsular campaign under General George B. McClellan until November, 1862. At that time he was recalled to Harrisburg and was appointed marshal of Montour, Pennsylvania, by the superintendent of state, who was gathering recruits there. There had been some riots in that county on account of the draft and accordingly Mr. Stine was appointed and entered upon active duty, being sent there with a detail of twenty-two men. He remained at that place for six months, after which he was recalled to the head office in Harrisburg, where he continued until December, 1863, when he was mustered out.