850 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY man, organized the Dayton & Springfield Turnpike Company, of which Mr. Harshman was made president, and they built the turnpike from Springfield to Dayton, Ohio. During the Mexican war, Mr. Harshman acted on a committee to raise means for the support of families of the men who had volunteered in the army and was very active in that regard. In everything tending to the growth of Dayton and of his home county, he also took an active part. Susanna Harshman, wife of Jonathan Harshman, died December 5, 1839. Their marriage was blessed with a family of eight children : Elizabeth, born November 17, 1808, married Israel Huston, Catherine, born January 4, 1810, married Valentine Winters. Jonathan, born February 15, 1812, died December 25, 1876. He was named after his father and married Abigail Hivling who was born January 27, 1813, and died June 6, 1879. Mary, born January 17, 1816, married George Gorman. John Rench, born November 6, 1818, died August 31, 1819. Joseph, born October 24, 1820, married Caroline Protzman, daughter of Colonel Protzman. George W., born February 22, 1822, married Ann Virginia Rohrer. Susanna, born May 22, 1823, married Daniel Beckel, Reuben D.. born January 16, 1827, married Mary Protzman. VICTOR E. RUMBARGER. A knowledge of art and science, combined with notable mechanical skill, originality and ingenuity in invention and marked executive ability in handling men and in producing harmonious action in business situations have been the concomitant forces which have won success for Victor E. Rumbarger, now the treasurer and general manager of The R. R. Sign Company, of Dayton. His life began in the little town of Farmersville, Montgomery county, in 1873. The first four years of his life were there passed at the end of which time, in 1877, his parents took up their abode upon a farm in this county. He was there reared to the age of sixteen years, during which time he attended the district schools and also worked in the fields during the periods of vacations. Leaving the farm his parents removed with their family to Dayton so that he had the opportunity of continuing his education in the schools of this city to the age of eighteen. Through his youth he was interested in mechanical devices, studying out every construction and thinking out methods for every improvement. Entering business life, he took up the work of sign writing, using it as a means of maintenance, while giving his thought and energy to the perfecting of various inventions brought forth by a fertile brain and marked mechanical ingenuity. He produced his first invention when seventeen years of age. For a number of years, like most inventors, he did not receive any credit or remuneration for his work, but he soon learned his lesson, realizing the fact that others were willing and eager to take to themselves the credit and the success which were rightfully his. Added to his ability to produce new and original designs in mechanical lines, he had business and executive ability and calling these into play he has forced the world to recognize and make adequate return to him for his work. He never studied drafting, designing or me- DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 853 chanics in any school but his wide reading and his keen observation, by reason of his remarkable mind, have enabled him to grasp the basic principles of an idea or piece of work and he can tell at a glance if it is practical or not. Finding in 1903 that his business was increasing and realizing the vast possibilities for expansion he took in a partner, and in 1904 to simplify and for better control, they incorporated the business under the name of The R. R. Sign Company. In this association he is giving scope to his inventive genius in designing the electric signs which are now so attractive and so widely used as a means of advertising by thousands of business houses throughout the country. His ideas are original and pleasing and their value is indicated in the increasing patronage which is given to the house. In his position as general manager he looks after the entire plant of the R. R. Sign Company, in which connection are carried on a great number of different trades. No matter whether it is a knowledge of art, mechanics, structural steel, electricity or executive ability -in handling men or coordinating business forces, he is ready to meet the demand that is made upon him, understanding, grasping and mastering every situation. His inventions are most numerous and he has handled many patents and appeared frequently in the courts in contention for his rights so that he is very familiar with patent law. It would be impossible to make detail mention in this connection of all of his inventions,. but those which are manifest in the electrical displays of Dayton, Detroit and New York are so wonderful that more than passing notice should be given them.. At a casual glance one hardly understands or 'appreciates the comprehensive knowledge and the expert skill which have been shown in the productions, but careful thought indicates the artistic values which are manifest in connection with the highest examples of structural iron work and in electrical and mechanical lines as well., His inventive genius is not confined to one line but has been manifest in various fields entirely separate and distinct. He has just received patents on a new airless automobile tire which has been pronounced by experts as an inovation and one that is extremely practical. He has a number of design patents and also a number of patents on electrical work of varied nature, including electrical talking signs, electrical flashers, electrical moving pictures and many others. He has also produced inventions in connection with railroad car construction and bicycle construction, hose and pipe coupling and tube expanders. On the 27th of June, 1894, Mr. Rumbarger was united in marriage in Dayton to Miss Emma B. Fricke. They are well known here, having many friends in this city, while their own home is most attractive by reason of its warm-hearted and cordial hospitality. They hold membership in the Lutheran church and Mr. Rumbarger belongs also to the Knights of Pythias lodge. He is independent in politics, nor does he seek office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs. The smallest nor the strongest temptations have no effect on him and all who know him admire and love him for his rugged integrity and high sense of honor and' fair play. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, of which his father was a member, and as a child attended both Sunday school and church. At the age of sixteen years he was confirmed and has since been a member of that denomination, regularly attending its services throughout his entire life. Like many men who have done that which was worthy of note he is extremely modest and shrinks from publicity. This produces a reserve that has caused him at times 854 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY to be regarded as distant, but he is uniformly trusted as a man of high honor and those who come within the closer circle of his friendship find in him many' admirable and lovable qualities. He stands before the world, however, as one of the few successful inventors, his business ability forming a well balanced ratio to his skill as an inventor. WARREN HALL. Well known in local political circles and in business lines as well, Warren Hall, who has served as a member of the board of public safety of Dayton, is now acting as manager of the repair department of the Dayton Motor Car Company. These interests claim the greater part of his attention yet he is also known in other connections which go to produce a well rounded development. He was born on a farm in Butler township, Montgomery county, Ohio, March 15, 1858, and his youthful days were devoted to the duties of the schoolroom and the labors of the fields. Lessons of industry and perseverance were early impressed upon his mind. At the age of seventeen years he came to Dayton to enter the Miami Commercial College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1877. He then entered the employ of the Stoddard Manufacturing Company, with which he has since been connected. The business has since been reorganized, however, and his official connection is that of manager of the repair department of the Dayton Car Company. Mr. Hall has also been well known for a number of years in political circles and once served on the city board of elections, while in March, 1906, he was appointed by Governor John M. Pattison on the board of public safety as a republican. He served until August 1, 1909, in this capacity, proving capable and efficient in the discharge of his duties. He is recognized as one of the strong and effective workers in the ranks of the republican party in Dayton and stands for all that is progressive in citizenship. On the 3d of October, 1888, Mr. Hall was married in Xenia, Ohio, to Miss Minnie F. Fleming, and they have three sons and one daughter : Herbert F., Gaines P., Kenneth A. and Margaret N. The parents belong to the First United Brethren church and are well known socially, the hospitality of many of the best homes of the city being freely accorded them. JEFFERSON F. HERN. Jefferson F. Hern, a prosperous farmer of Brookville, Ohio, was born in Madison township, Montgomery county, July 29, 1862, and is the son of Robert and Katie (Erskine) Hern. Although the father was born in Virginia.; on the nth of February, 1825, he was all but a native of this state, for he was only eight years of age when he came here in the custody of his sister, his own par- HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 855 ents being dead. His wife, who was four years his junior, was born in Randolph township in 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Hern reared a family of eight children: John, Jefferson, Abram, Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, Katie and Dora. Jefferson F. Hern passed the days of his childhood and youth in the company of his brothers and sisters and under the loving care and guidance of his parents. He early learned the ways of farmers and the secrets of the cultivation of the soil, a practical education that amply supplemented the formal training he received from the schools of the township during the months that they were in session. On the 7th of April, 1887, he married Miss Lizzie M. Shank, who was born on the 31st of May, 1866, a daughter of Henry and Susan (Mundhenk) Shank, of Perry township, of which the latter was a native. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hern, namely : Charlie, who was born in 1888 ; Katie, in 1891 ; Dora, born in 1895 ; and Waldo, born in 1901. The parents are consistent members of the United Brethren church, of which Mr. Hern is both a trustee and steward, and both are regular in their attendance at its services and actively identified with its interests. Mr. Hern during all his life has devoted himself to the pursuit of farming. In this he has been more than ordinarily successful ; his fields have produced for him of their most generous bounty, for he has cultivated them early and late, and with a skill that comes only from a joy in the work and a sympathy with the life of the great outdoors. Of recent years he has put up for the enjoyment of himself and family a fine house, equipped with all modern conveniences and accounted one of the best in this community. In the course of years he has made many friends who are well pleased with his good fortune. JOHN M. LEIS. More than a century ago George Washington said: "Agriculture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man." Moreover, it is well known that it is the basis of all prosperity, that upon the products of the soil must depend activity in commercial and industrial lines. Among those who are closely associated with farming interests in Montgomery county is John M. Leis, who resides in Jackson township. He was born October 21, 1857, in Heidelberg township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, a son of Jonathan and Justina (Myer) Leis, the former a farmer by occupation. They were worthy Christian people and on the minds of their children impressed lessons of industry and honesty. The grandfather, Henry Leis, lived and died in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He had two brothers, John Peter and John Adam Leis. The former came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1836, settling in Miami township, in that section known as Gander Swamp, where he secured one hundred and sixty acres of land. He was accompanied by his family, consisting of his second wife, whose maiden name was Shell, and his children, Henry, John, John Adam, Peggy, Hannah, Leah, Kate and Salome. Of this family John Adam Leis became a minister of the Reformed church. 856 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY The subject of this review acquired his education in the common schools of his native county but he was not satisfied with the east as he approached early manhood and desired to travel. However, the necessity of providing for his own support caused him to seek employment and after leaving school in the spring of 1875, he secured a clerkship in a village store, where he remained for a year. In 1876 he took up the trade of house-painting, which he followed continuously until 1893. On the 2d of November of the former year he went to -Wells county, Indiana, but not liking that locality he retraced his steps as far as Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio. From the city he made his way to Farmersville in the same county and there worked at painting. For a number of years he continued to follow that pursuit and then turned his attention to general farming, renting a tract of land from Henry Gable in 1893. Three years later, in 1896, he removed to Preble county, Ohio, where he rented a large farm from C. H. Keener and made his home thereon for three years. He then returned to the farm on which he had previously made his home in Jackson township, Montgomery county, and purchased the property which includes eighty acres of rich and productive land. He has erected modern buildings upon it and made many general improvements which have converted it into a fine farm, constituting one of the model properties of the township. He diligently and persistently carries on his work and his labors are bringing him success. In 1878, in Germantown, Ohio, Mr. Leis was married to Miss Catharine E. Leis, a daughter of Israel Leis, a granddaughter of Henry Leis and a great-granddaughter of John Peter Leis, all of Montgomery county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Leis of this review have been horn the following named : Monroe J., who married Clara Shank ; Calvin J. ; William H., who married Annie Writz ; Ada N. ; Ruth E. ; John A. ; and Roscoe 0. Mr. Leis has been active in community affairs. In the spring of 1880 he was elected a school director in Jackson township and served for twelve years. He was then reelected, in 1899, and served for four years, when he resigned. In 1893 he was chosen to the office of road supervisor in the same township and has ever discharged the duties of these positions in a prompt, capable and efficient manner. His political allegiance is given to the democracy. In 1892 he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and soon afterward passed through the chairs of the subordinate lodge. In 1897 he became a member of the encampment and later he and his wife joined the Daughters of Rebekah. In 1902 he became a member of the Masonic lodge at Farmersville and he is also a member of the Reformed church, in which he has served as an officer since 1899. WILLIAM PFLUM. Not by leaps and bounds but by the orderly progression that results from intelligently directed application and the wise use of every opportunity has William Pflum reached his present position as the vice-president and manager of the National Cash Register Company. He was born in Dayton, September 30, 1869, his parents being Jacob and Louise (Nauerth) Pflum, both of whom were natives of DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 859 Germany, the former having been born in Wurtemberg, while the latter was born in one of the towns that border the Rhine. The death of Jacob Pflum occurred in July, 1908. In the public schools of Dayton William Pflum pursued his education and afterward attended the Miami Business College. His vacations were largely devoted to work and in September, 1886, just after finishing his commercial course, he entered the service of the National Cash Register Company as an office boy. He made application for the position in response to an advertisement in a Dayton newspaper, which he chanced to see while out camping. He at first was paid three dollars per week, but while working in that humble capacity he gave proof of his capability, willingness and diligence and promotions followed. He was made assistant on the books at a salary of four dollars per week, since which time he has filled every intermediate position in the treasurer's office until his advancement has brought him to the present place of administrative direction and executive control which he now occupies. His work continued in the treasurer's office from the beginning until April, 1895, when he left his position of assistant treasurer to become traveling auditor for the company, a position which it was found necessary to create at that time. He served for a year in that capacity, traveling through the east, south, middle west and northwest states, doing excellent service. Having, successfully discharged the duties of his outside position he was then called back to the factory in 1896 and again became assistant treasurer, in which capacity he served with pronounced ability and gratifying success. Upon Mr. Shepherd's resignation from the position of treasurer Mr. Pflum was appointed to succeed him. In January, 1902, he was promoted to the position of general auditor of the company and when the work of the treasurer's department and the general auditor's department was consolidated April I, 1903, William Pflum became the treasurer of the company. On the 29th of June, 1906, he was elected by the board of directors to the office of acting general manager, which position was created owing to the absence of the president and general manager abroad. On the 11th of December, of the same year, the office of second vice-president was created and Mr. Pflum was elected to serve in that capacity in addition to performing his duties as treasurer. He continued in the office of second. vice-president and treasurer until July 16, 1907, when he became general manager of the company. A few months later several of the office departments, constituting the executive branch, were removed to New York city. Mr. Pflum was transferred at that time with the title of first vice-president and manager, in which position he is still representing the company. This is today one of America's most important productive industries and in connection with its management Mr. Pflum has formulated various new and practical plans for the enlargement of the business and the conduct of the interests of the corporation. On the 28th, April, 1896, occurred the marriage of Mr. Pflum and Miss Katie E. Smyth, a daughter of Sidney B. Smyth, a contractor of Dayton. They have three children : Catharine, William G. and Sidney S., all in school. In his political views Mr. Pflum is an independent republican but without ambition for office. He usually gives his support to the men and measures of the republican party, but where the interests of city government are involved he casts an independent ballot, desiring only a businesslike administration of municipal af- 860 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY fairs. He holds membership in Christ's Episcopal church of Dayton, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton Club, and also belongs to the Sphinx Club of New York. He owns a residence at Fourth street and the Boulevard in Dayton, one of the beautiful and attractive homes of the city, but, as the chief offices of the National Cash Register have been removed to New York, he, in consequence, maintains a home there. He is fond of all outdoor sports and athletics. He also delights in the ownership of fine horses and has ever owned horses since old enough to manage them. His own career has made him appreciative of true worth in others and as the years have gone on he has stood for all those things which make for progress and improvement in the complexity of life. His own career illustrates forcibly the value and worth of enterprise and unfaltering effort for it has been alone through those agencies that he has won his advancement, reaching a foremost place in connection with the management of one of the most important industries of the country. SAMUEL YOUNG. Samuel Young, an industrious and enterprising agriculturist of Montgomery county, is entitled to be classed among the self-made men of this vicinity. A native of Ohio, he was born in Jefferson township, this county, January 27, 1845, a son of Thomas and Susan (Dull) Young. The parents were natives of Maryland who came to Ohio about 1837, settling in Jefferson township, where the father became identified with farming. In 1847, they removed to Jackson township. In their family were the following children : Mary Catherine, John Thomas, Sarah Ann, Henry, Samuel and Susan. The last named was reared on his father's farm and soon became familiar with the work that falls to the lot of the country lad. At an early age he undertook the task of providing for his own livelihood and throughout the intervening years has been identified with the agricultural interests of this community.. Energetic, industrious and persevering, he has also been most careful in the management of his business interests until today he ranks among the progressive and prosperous farmers of this district. On the 28th of October, 1873, occurred the marriage of Mr. Young and Miss Sarah Catherine Weaver, a daughter of George W. and Eliza (Patterson) Weaver, and as the years have gone by their home has been blessed with two children, Izore Ellen and Florence Elsie, both of whom are now married and have families of their own. The parents are members of the United Brethren church and have always been deeply interested in its various phases of work. doing all in their power to further its influence in the community. Mr. Young has never allied himself with any fraternal organization, seeking his happiness in the companionship of his own home, to which he is most devoted. Politically he supports the republican party at the polls but has never sought nor desired public office as a reward for party fealty. Depending upon his own resources from an early age, with no special advantages at the outset of his career, he has, through indefatigable energy and undaunted perseverance, made his way DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 861 upward in the business world until he is today recognized as a substantial and prosperous representative of agricultural interests. His life has been one of continuous activity in which has been accorded due recognition of honest labor, while his sterling characteristics make him an honored and respected citizen of Jackson township. THEODORE C. LINDSEY, SR. Theodore C. Lindsey, Sr., prominent among the representative business men of Dayton, Ohio, is conducting a well appointed jewelry and general merchandise establishment. He was born upon a farm in Franklin county, four miles south of Columbus, Ohio, November 1, 1844, and was there reared amid rural surroundings to the age of ten years. The family then resided in Cambridge, Ohio, for a short time and in 1855 removed to Dayton. He soon afterward entered the office of what is now known as The Dayton Journal, where he learned the printer's trade. Following the outbreak of the Civil war, he put aside all business and personal considerations and with a number of boy friends responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting on the 11th of September, 1861, at Dayton as a private of Company H, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. He served with that command until mustered out October 19, 1864, at Columbia, Tennessee, having in the meantime participated in a number of hotly contested engagements which contributed to the sum total of the Union victories that led up to the final close of the war. He was under fire at Chickamauga, again at Stone River and in front of Murfreesboro. He was never wounded but was captured at Huntsville, Alabama, in September, 1862, and sent as a prisoner of war to Macon, Georgia, and there remained for six or eight weeks ; afterward was incarcerated in Libby prison for three or four weeks ; and then paroled, while some time afterward he was exchanged and rejoined his command at Nashville, Tennessee. He was again captured about the 1st of October,. 1863, near Nashville, and sent to McMinnville, Tennessee, where he was paroled and then marched two hundred miles to Mumfordsville, Kentucky. From that point he proceeded to Nashville, where he again rejoined his command. He was captured the third time in June, 1864, again sent to Libby prison for three weeks, and while being transferred to Andersonville, Georgia, a halt was made at Salisbury, North Carolina, where the prisoners were placed on fiat cars for transportation. A guard upon the train became friendly to some of the prisoners and told Mr. Lindsey and two of his comrades that it would mean starvation at Andersonville prison for them, that if they cared to escape while the train was under good speed he would see that the guards would not shoot. Mr. Lindsey and the two comrades accordingly jumped at the same time, being badly bruised and stunned but soon recovered. This was July 22, 1864. They found friends through the colored people whom they aroused the same night and were then directed to a white man named Jesse Goodnight about ten miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. Through the kindness of this man they were provided with shelter for four days and then left on a hike through the Smoky 862 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY mountains and the Blue Ridge mountains to eastern Tennessee, where the subject of this sketch was taken sick in the home of a Union man, Mr. William Cable, prior to that a resident of Ironton, Ohio. The help and kindness of Mr. Cable soon enabled Mr. Lindsey to recover and he then proceeded on to join the company at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, September 4, 1864. Mr. Lindsey's readiness to join in scouting expeditions led to ..some of the personal risks in which he was involved, which have been related, and he met all the hardships and privations of military life, during more than three years in which he faithfully defended the interests of the Union. On leaving the army Mr. Lindsey returned to Dayton, Ohio, where on May 30, 1865, he married Martha Seitters, there being born to them five children, of whom two are deceased : Daisy May died in infancy ; and Anna F., the wife of Harry E. Dill, died in 1902, leaving two daughters, Hazel and Martha Dill. The three living children are : Harry W., a merchant ; Theodore C., Jr., an attorney at law ; and Elsie C., wife of Clarence P. Osborn. Mr. Lindsey's home life has been exceedingly pleasant and he has been an honored and respected head of the family at his present residence, built by him over forty years ago. In the commercial interests of the city Mr. Lindsey is well known, having entered business soon after the close of the Civil war. He has been one of the energetic and enterprising commercial workers here, having long been connected with the jewelry and general merchandise lines and his store enjoys a large and valuable patronage due to courteous management and the excellent and large line of goods carried. Mr. Lindsey has never held nor desired political office but is well known in fraternal organizations. He is particularly prominent in Old Guard Post, No. 23, Grand Army of the Republic ; and in 1907 was elected senior vice commander of the Department of Ohio, has been on the staff of the national commander and is a past commander of Old Guard Post. He is one of the oldest members of Iola Lodge, Knights of Pythias. His religious faith is manifest by membership in the First Reformed church. Loyalty has always been one of his marked characteristics, manifested no more strongly in his military services than in the relations of citizenship and of friendship. ELWOOD E. RICE. There are men whose place of residence is but a feature of their life records, while the place of their business activity does not even localize them. They are men of the world in the broadest sense of the term in that their interests have constituted important elements in the world's work and progress. A splendid example of the spirit of the times is found in Elwood E. Rice, alert and enterprising, recognizing every opportunity and with marked initiative force, which he has displayed by the development of the business interests which he manages in the office of president of the Rice Electric Display Company and the R. R. Sign Company. He was born October 11, 1879, in Montgomery county, a son of Franklin and Mary Victoria (Dryden) Rice. His grandfather was Fleming Rice, his great-grandfather, DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 865 James Rice. The latter was born in Maryland, October 5, 1786, was reared to farm life, and on the 21st of June, 1821, was married to Rebecca Drill, who was born in Maryland, March 5, 1797. They came to Ohio in 1826 and for six years were residents of Ross county, after which they established their home north of Dayton, in Montgomery county. In 1838 they rented one of the Compton farms on the Cincinnati pike, in Van Buren township, and there the death of James Rice occurred September 25, 1842, while his wife passed away five years before. They were both lifelong members of the Episcopal church. Fleming Rice, the eldest of their six children, was born in Maryland, September 26, 1822, and was therefore less than four years of age when the family came to Ohio. In his youth he assisted in the operation of the home farm and when his father died assumed its management, keeping the younger children together and providing for their support. He remained on the farm about nineteen years and in the fall of 1858 purchased two hundred and twenty-eight acres adjoining the place upon which he previously made his home. He located on the latter property in 1861 and in 1872 sold sixty-eight acres of it for the Catholic cemetery, leaving him one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land. He also owned two other quarter section tracts in Van Buren township and a farm of one hundred and twenty-two acres in Harrison township and engaged extensively in the cultivation of tobacco. He was prominent in community affairs. On the 24th of February, 1843, he wedded Catherine Fenstemacher, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1824 and died in January, 1864, leaving four children : Hester Jane, who became Mrs. Daniel Peters ; John W. ; Mary, the wife of Jacob Sheets ; and Franklin. On the 13th of November, 1866, Fleming Rice wedded Mary E. Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania, April 2, 1834, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Miller. They had three children, Charles D., Mrs. Annie E. Bradford and Olive L. The death of Fleming Rice occurred in September, 1907, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-five years. Franklin Rice, the father of Elwood E. Rice, was born in Van Buren township and has spent his entire life in Montgomery county. He formerly engaged in agriculture, living on a farm south of Dayton, Ohio, until 1890, when he put aside the work of the fields to become prominently connected with commercial pursuits. He engaged in the implement business in Dayton but maintained his residence on the farm until 1902, when he gave up country life and removed to the city. After some years he turned his attention to the mill business and operated an elevator in Dayton, in which connection his son had his first business experience as a salesman. Franklin Rice is a most successful man and at the present writing is operating a general elevator business in this city, his constantly expanding trade relations bringing to him gratifying prosperity. He wedded Mary Victoria Dryden, a daughter of David C. Dryden, who was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, and died December 4, 1904. When a young man he came to Ohio and married Jemima Bevington, who was born in Washington township and died December 2, 1902. The grandfather of Mrs. Rice, James F. Dryden, a son of James and Catharine Dryden. was born in Lexington, Virginia, April 18, 1801. He was the third of seventeen children and died June 21, 1860. On the 2d of October, 1823, he wedded Mary B. Goodwin, a daughter of Cornelius and Hannah Goodwin, who was born near the home of her husband August 27, 1801, and was the third of a 866 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY family of eleven children. After a few years they drove west and located at Frankfort, Kentucky, where they lived until their death. Mrs. Mary B. Dryden passed away September 6, 1871. By this marriage there were born eleven children. David C. Dryden, the eighth of the family, was born October 17, 1836, and in early manhood came to Ohio, settling near Dayton, where he engaged in the milling business with his uncle, Joseph H. Dryden. On the 7th of April, 1859, by the Rev. David Winters he was married to Jemima Bevington, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Bevington, and the youngest of ten children. She was born near Dayton, February 14, 1841, and died December 4, 1902, while David C. Dryden survived until the 2d of December, 1904. To them were born five children : Mary Victoria ; David G. ; Lillie B. ; John E. ; and Edwin W. Of these Mary Victoria was born near Dayton, December 31, 1859, and was married to Franklin Rice, at Dayton, by the Rev. David Winters, October 17, 1878. Their early married life was spent on a farm. To them were born three children, Elwood E., Catharine J., and Franklin D. Elwood E. Rice, the son of Franklin and Mary Victoria Rice, was reared on the home farm and attended the country schools until twelve years of age, when his parents removed to Dayton and he completed his education in the schools of this city. His initial experience in the business world was that of a salesman in the employ of his father in connection with the milling enterprise. On leaving that position he turned his attention to the manufacture of wall plaster, organizing the Rice Wall Plaster Company, and still holds the patents on Rice's Diamond Wall Plaster. His father was of an inventive turn of mind and produced several inventions on which he secured patents. Even in this age when fortunes are made in a remarkably short space of time the history of Elwood E. Rice is a notable one. That he possesses exceptional business acumen and executive ability is indicated in the fact that within four years he had built up an enormous business in the manufacture and sale of plaster, increasing it tenfold over the first year's trade. He supplied all of the plaster for the Reibold building, the Conover building and many other large office buildings and apartments in this city. In 1902 he sold his interest in the plaster business and turned his attention to the manufacture and development of electric displays, organizing the R. R. Sign Company, of which he has continuously been the president. This company has created, manufactured and mounted various electric displays all over the country. They have been steadily bringing forth new designs and inventing new and original devices for advertising purposes, their course awakening the interest and admiration of the advertising world from the inception of the enterprise. In 1908 they over-reached any market by displays of such magnitude as to size and construction that to form a market for these powerful displays Mr. Rice organized the Rice Electric Display Company with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars and of which he is the president and treasurer. Offices are also maintained in New York city and the company is known as the operating company which was organized to create a market for the product of the R. R. Sign Company and to operate those displays, the magnitude of such is that they could not be sold outright. In no age in the world's history has there been such marked advancement in producing new, novel and unique features in connection with business affairs as are being brought forth at the present time by the R. R. Sign Company through the DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 867 use of electricity, which has been the magic wand in the production of results such as were undreamed of a quarter of a century ago. No fairy tale of old, or legend of the past has conceived the possibility of flashing before the eye such brilliant pictures and effects as are now produced in electrical displays, not only by means of light that turns night into day but also brings forth all the beauty and symmetry that can be produced in color and form. The Rice Electric Display Company of Dayton was incorporated for the purpose of showing to the world the greatest electric invention of the age supplied in a practical manner to the advertising of various standard commercial products. This company is now engaged on the task of placing at the heart of the business world, on Broadway, facing Herald Square, New York, the most beautiful spectacular operating electrical display that has ever been invented, planned or contemplated any place in the world and containing about twenty thousand electrical bulbs—as many as all the other electric displays burning on Broadway combined. This display will represent a Roman chariot race with all the splendor of the scene faithfully reproduced in heroic proportions, brilliant color and swift action. Already the Rice Electric Display Company has secured for its patrons in this novel method of advertising some of the most prominent corporations, firms, and business houses of the entire country—those which are considered • leaders of the world in their line, and the enterprise as instituted by Mr. Rice is already assured of great success. Before organizing the Rice Electric Display Company Mr. Rice refused several very flattering offers to take charge of the sales force for extensive corporations at almost fabulous salaries, but he preferred to remain in the independent venture for cognizant of his own capacities and powers he recognizes the fact that he had in his present business an enterprise which cannot fail to prove of immense value in this day and age when advertising is regarded as a most essential and result-producing feature of every business. In ten years Mr. Rice has risen from a meager salary as a salesman to that of president and treasurer of a half million dollar corporation. He has a remarkable talent for initiating, promoting and controlling extensive interests, his power arising from his keen insight into the possibilities of every situation and his remarkable sagacity in anticipating the needs and demands for the business world. Mr. Rice's business affairs are to him a source of pleasure as well as of income. He delights in formulating plans and carrying them forward to successful completion. Industry is one of his dominant characteristics and while developing gigantic enterprises, he holds to high ideals as to his personal manhood. He possesses a quality that draws men to him and he easily wins their confidence and respect and in his talk, he seems very deliberate, but after a few minute's conversation, one finds that he has thoroughly mastered the facts that are being presented to him, after which his decision is quickly given and is unalterable. He holds tenaciously to a course that he believes to be right, but his position is ever one based upon reason and- thorough understanding. Quick in his judgment of men and affairs, he is usually accurate in his deductions and opinions. The home life of Mr. Rice is a happy one. He wedded Mary Elizabeth O'Neill, a daughter of W. S. O'Neill, a prominent tobacco merchant, now deceased, and Elizabeth O'Neill, who has also passed away. Their only child, Em- 868 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY est Hugh Rice, was born April 17, 1905. Mr. Rice holds membership in the Dayton Club, has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the First Reformed church, of which he is a trustee. Notwithstanding the magnitude of his business plans and interests, he does not hold himself aloof from participation in projects for the municipal welfare or the social life of the city in which he has lived from early boyhood, but enjoys companionship with old-time friends and readily makes new ones as his business interests carry him into all sections of the country and bring him into contact with those who by reason of their enterprise and success are termed captains of industry. HENRY C. MOSES. Henry C. Moses is now living a retired life in German township, where he owns two fine farms, one just on the edge of Germantown, a tract of one hundred and five acres of excellent land, and the other of one hundred and sixty acres southwest of the city on the Oxford road. He was born in that township on the 25th of September, 1824, at the old Moses homestead, about two miles south of Germantown, and is a son of Robert and Mary (Christ) Moses. His paternal grandparents were John and Catharine Moses, whose home was in Virginia, the grandfather being a retired planter at the time of his removal to this state at an early day. He was accompanied by his father, Robert Moses, who at the time of his demise was ninety-eight years of age and was the oldest man living in this part of the state. Our subject's father, who also bore the name of Robert Moses, was the first of the family to leave Virginia and come to Ohio, the others following some time later. He located near Sunbury, where he engaged in farming throughout the remainder of his life. Henry C. Moses obtained his early education in the common schools of this county and in early life became thoroughly familiar with the occupation of farming, to which he has since devoted the greater part of his time and attention with good results. At an early clay he took charge of the old home farm and in its management met with success from the start. Thorough and systematic in his methods of carrying on his work, he is now considered one of the best farmers of German township, and the prosperity that has come to him is but the just reward of his own untiring efforts. On the 15th of January, 1857, Mr. Moses was united in marriage to Miss Grace Annie Rowe, and to them were born the following children : Elizabeth, the eldest, married C. T. Enninger and became the mother of two children, Harry and Lena, now the wife of Samuel Judy, by whom she has one child, Harold, the great-grandchild of Henry C. Moses. Grace, the second of the family, is the wife of Henry Huffman of Dayton. John married Nettie Emrick. Charles, the son of a former marriage, still resides at home and assists his father in the management of the farm. Mr. Moses and his family are connected with the Lutheran church and he takes a very active and prominent part in all church work, having served as elder DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 871 for a number of years. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend and he has done much to promote its interests as a member of the school board, serving in that position for fourteen years and then resigned. WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT. Wilbur and Orville Wright need no introduction to the readers of this volume or in fact to the scientific world for they were the first to solve the problem of aerial navigation through the invention of a successful flying machine. Their work in this connection has brought them world-wide fame but they wear their honors with becoming modesty and still give their attention to the solution of questions of great interest and of vital importance in scientific circles, while the practical utility of their labors is such as men have dreamed of but into the realization of which they are just entering with untold possibilities ahead. Thinking out along original lines, it is not only possible but probable that their contributions to the world's progress have by no means reached their end. In fact they are making history day by day and there is hardly a name that appears in such frequent mention in the press throughout all civilized countries than that of the Wright brothers. Dayton, once sceptical of the value of their achievements, is now proud to claim them. Theirs has been the history of every successful inventor whose new ideas given to the world in tangible form are first sceptically received until use and familiarity, that brings a knowledge of their value and worth, change its attitude for that of a cordial receptiveness. Wilbur Wright was born in Henry county, Indiana, April 16, 1867, and Orville Wright in Dayton, August 19, 1871. They are descended from a long and noble line of ancestry which can be traced back through a number of generations in Essex, England. The progenitor of the American branch of the family was Samuel Wright, who was among the original settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1636, having previously located for a short time in Dorchester, that state. He was a deacon and lay preacher, by reason of which fact he was usually known as Deacon Wright. The line of descent is traced down through James, Samuel, Benoni, Dan I., Dan II. and Milton Wright to Wilbur and Orville Wright. Family connections have also included the Rev. John Russell, of Hadley ; Rev. Joshua Moody, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire ; Judge John Otis, of Barnstable, Massachusettts ; Edmond Freeman, of Sandwich, Massachusetts ; and John Porter of Windsor, Connecticut. The first of the Wright family in Ohio was Dan Wright, who located in Centerville, Montgomery county, in 1814. His son and namesake was there married in 1818 to Catharine Reeder, whose mother, Mrs. Margaret Reeder, was a sister of Benjamin Van Cleve, one of the founders of Dayton. Her father was killed by the Indians in Cincinnati in pioneer times and her mother, who afterward married Samuel Thompson, was the first white woman in this city. John Van Cleve, the founder of that branch of the family, emigrated from Holland to Long Island about 165o. 872 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY In 1821 Dan and Catherine Wright, grandparents of Wilbur and Orville Wright, removed to Rush county, Indiana, where Milton Wright was born November 17, 1828. He supplemented his country-school education by study in Hartsville College for a short time and then continued his studies privately, remaining throughout his life a broad reader and deep thinker. In 1853 he was licensed to preach by the White River conference of the United Brethren church and in early manhood divided his time between teaching and preaching, acting as principal of the denominational school in Oregon from 1857 to 1859. On the 24th of November of the latter year he married Miss Susan Catherine Koerner, of Union county, Indiana, daughter of John G. Koerner, a wagon and carriage maker. Mrs. Wright was born in Hillsboro, Virginia, April 3o, 1831, and was a student in Hartville College, where she manifested particular skill in mathematics. While of a retiring disposition and extremely modest, she was most devoted to the welfare of her family. She died July 4, 1889. The husband and father, Bishop Milton Wright, was engaged in preaching between 1860 and 1869. In the latter year was made editor of the Religious Telescope, published in Dayton. He continued his editorial work for eight years and in 1877 was elected bishop, in which office he served twenty-four years. In 1878 he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and in 1881 became a resident of Richmond, Indiana, where in connection with his work as presiding elder he edited the Richmond Star. In 1884 he again became a resident of Dayton, where he yet resides. He is a man of strong mental attainment and full of courage and determination and all through his life has taken a cordial interest in his sons' undertakings, stimulating them by his advice and counsel. The members of his family were : Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, twins who died in infancy, Orville and Katharine. The daughter is a graduate of Oberlin College, class of 1898, and is now a teacher in the Steele high school of Dayton and is secretary of the Dayton Association of College Women. As the family removed to various places the children attended school and Wilbur Wright all through his youth manifested keen interest in scientific questions. As a boy and man he has been of studious habits, while Orville Wright is the enthusiast in the partnership, and yet both have been actuated by the same resolute purpose of accomplishing the tasks to which they have set themselves. In 1884-5 Wilbur Wright in the Dayton high school took what was practically the final year's work. His health prevented him from pursuing a college course but he read broadly and assimilated what he read, manifesting at all times a great interest in scientific publications. Orville Wright was about seven years of age when the family removed from Dayton to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and after three years there passed he also spent three years in Richmond, Indiana, and then returned to Dayton, where he supplemented his education previously acquired by study in the Dayton schools, covering five and a half years, which brought him to the age of eighteen. One of his earliest activities was printing. When he was but fifteen years old he and a friend published a little four-page paper called The Midget. The father took deep interest in the undertaking but when in their first issue they ran out of news and left the third page blank he suppressed the whole edition because it was imperfect work. Wilbur Wright was not connected with the DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY - 873 Midget beyond his deep interest in the printing plant. In February, 1889, however, the Wright brothers established a little weekly paper called The West Side News. Wilbur and Orville Wright made a press entirely of wood unlike anything seen before but which performed the work as well. It was soon after this that the publication of The West Side News was begun, Wilbur Wright, however, taking no active part in the work of the office. The paper was published for a year and a half and at the same time a job printing business was conducted. On the expiration of that period the Snapshot, an advertising pamphlet, succeeded The West Side News and was conducted for two years, although job printing furnished the principal sources of revenue to the office and the business of that department continued until 1896. In the meantime the brothers had become interested in a bicycle business, not only engaging in the sale of wheels but also established a repair department and later manufacturing for their own trade, their highest grade wheel being called the Van Cleve, an honored ancestral name. The growth of the bicycle business caused the brothers to discontinue the job printing establishment in 1896. An earlier interest in the flying machine was revived about this time and research, experiment and invention have since led them to the prominent position which they occupy as the world's two greatest aeronauts. They not only had a practical but also scientific knowledge of mechanics and for the purpose of the work and business in which they became engaged secured a working acquaintance with different modern languages. It has often been that the great things of life have been called forth by some seemingly trivial incident, and the interest of the Wright brothers in aeroplanes dates from the autumn of 1878 when their father brought home a toy called a heliocopter, which was so constructed as to rise in the air, its two screws being driven by twisted rubber bands. When Lilienthal, the bold and ingenious German experimenter, lost his life in coasting on the air, in 1896, their attention was more decidedly turned to the problem of mechanical flight. In a spirit of sport, as they imagined, they began their experiments, but were soon impelled by more practical motives and they began the work of experimentation and invention. Having decided on a plan of a machine embodying somewhat the principles of kite flying, they conducted experiments in 1900 and 1901 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and selected Kill Devil hill as the place of experimentation because of the prevailing strong and steady winds. The main object was to devise and test means for guiding and balancing and the use of the forward rudder and the warped planes for these purposes was adopted and proved in a high degree successful. After the experiments of these two years Wilbur Wright, in an extended address delivered at Chicago before the Society of Western Engineers, indicated the point of difficulty toward which the brothers were so persistently directing their attention. He said : "The difficulties which obstruct the pathway to success in flying-machine construction are of three classes : 1. Those which relate to the construction of the sustaining wings. 2. Those which relate to the generation and application of the power required to drive the machine through the air. 3. Those relating to the balancing and steering of the machine after it is actually in flight. Of these difficulties two are already to a certain extent solved. * * * As long ago as 1893 a machine weigh- 874 - DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY ing eight thousand pounds demonstrated its power both to lift itself from the ground and to maintain a speed of from thirty to forty miles per hour, but it came to grief in an accidental free flight, owing to the inability of the operators to balance and steer it properly. This inability to balance and steer still confront students of the flying problem, although nearly ten years have passed. When this one feature has been worked out the age of flying-machines will have arrived, for all other difficulties are of minor importance." The machine referred to was the Maxim machine, which was confined near the ground by an upper rail. A gust of wind struck the machine causing it to break the upper rail, thus permitting a short flight ending in the overturning and wrecking of the machine. In 1902 and 1903 further experiments were conducted at Kitty Hawk leading to improvements in the lines already adopted. .It was found necessary to construct new tables as to air pressure on planes at different angles and on differently formed surfaces to take the place of the faulty and incomplete ones previously existing. The steering and balancing problems having been largely solved, a motor and propellers were now to be brought into use. Purely by scientific calculations the screws were designed and were found exactly to meet the requirements.. The motor made by themselves yielded better results than expected. The shaft, however, broke, three weeks being required to secure another from Dayton. This also broke. Orville then returned to Dayton and provided a shaft that met all requirements. Difficulties and accidents were met in the first attempt at flight, but December 17. 1903, the machine carrying a man rose by its own power in free flight, the first instance of the kind in the history of the world. Other successful flights were made. A little later the machine, while at rest, was wrecked by being overturned by a sudden wind. In 1904 and 1905 experiments were conducted near Simms Station, eight miles east of Dayton, the devices for steering and balancing being greatly improved as a result of these tests. In 1905 Orville flew twenty-one miles. The next day Wilbur flew twenty-four miles. After the successful flights of 1905 the Wright brothers were occupied in perfecting details and in business negotiations. The French government sent a commission to Dayton to make investigations and to negotiate. The reports were favorable but the cabinet turned down the proposed agreements, evidently because some persons desired that the needs of the French government should be supplied by Frenchmen. A contract was entered into with the United States government to furnish a machine to the government that should comply with certain requirements. As a contract has been entered into with a French syndicate, which required that tests should be made in France at the same time that tests were to be conducted by the United States government, Wilbur departed to France with one machine, while Orville arranged to begin tests at Fort Myer, near Washington, as per contract with the United States government. The brothers should have been together, as the new exigencies arising, to say nothing of the demands and interference of the public, were taxing in the extreme. The tests in France and in the United States were entirely satisfactory to all of the parties concerned. The sad accident at Fort Myer, resulting in the serious injury of Orville and in the death of Lieutenant Selfridge, in no way destroyed confidence in the merits