1880	1916
Coal consumed per day Wood used per year Lime used per year Soda ash used per year Employes Value of plant Pounds of paper made per day Annual Sales	28 tons 1,500 cords 18,000 bushels 240 tons 50 $50,000 6,000 75,000	100 tons 9,000 cords 56,000 bushels 550 tons 275 $1,000,000 175,000 2,550,000

GEORGE HOUK MEAD. For three generations the Mead family has been identified with the paper industry in Ohio, and George Houk Mead, now president of the Mead Pulp and Paper Company, of Chillicothe, practically grew up in the business and was educated to become a "paper man." Born in Dayton, Ohio, November 5, 1877, his family have been true and loyal Americans for many generations. In fact, the paternal ancestry goes back to the early colonial settlement of New England. His direct ancestor, William Mead, who was of the English gentry, was born in Sent County, England, about 1600, founded the 'family name in the New World as an early settler in Connecticut. In subsequent generations the family moved from New England to Cooperstown, New York, where Mr. Mead's grandfather, Daniel Eldridge Mead, was born in 1817. As already noted, Col. D. E. Mead was a prominent factor in the early paper industry, not only at Dayton but also at Chillicothe. In 1841 he became a resident of Dayton, and lived there until his death in 1891. In 1846, with sevcral other young business men, he organized the firm of Ells, Clafflin & Company for the manufacture of paper. In 1856 the firm name was changed to Weston & Mead, in 1859 it became Mead & Weston, in 1866 Mead & Nixon, and in 1881 Mr. Mead, having obtained full ownership, adopted the name The Mead Paper Company. Subsequently the control of The Mead Paper Company came into the hands of Harry Eldridge Mead, father of George H., and of Charles D. Mead, a brother of Harry E. Harry E. Mead was married November 30, 1876, in Dayton, to Marianna Phillips Houk, daughter of the Hon. George W. Houk and Eliza Phillips (Thruston) Houk. Of the four children born to this union, three died in childhood, and the only survivor is now George Houk Mead, of Chillicothe. After a common school education George H. Mead graduated B. A. from Hobart College at Geneva, New York, and from Hobart entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned the bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 503 In the meantime, during vacations, he had worked in his father's paper mill, and on graduation from the college accepted a position in the practical end of the business and served his apprenticeship. He is thus a practical paper manufacturer, and it has been largely due to his technical understanding of the industry, as well as his executive powers, that The Mead 'Pulp and Paper Company has been so firmly established and has prospered much during the last ten or fifteen years. After his apprenticeship at Dayton, Mr. Mead felt that a broader experience was desirable and he accordingly went East and engaged in the work of chemical engineering, being finally made general manager of the General Artificial Silk Company, of Philadelphia. This responsible position he resigned in order to recognize and rehabilitate The Mead Paper Company, which in the meantime had become somewhat involved. By his untiring efforts, his thorough knowledge of the paper industry, and also, it should be added in strict justice, by his dominant characteristics of honesty and sincerity, he succeeded in developing a business which is second to none in the paper trade. In 1905 Mr. Mead became a resident of Ross County, having moved the Dayton plant to Chillicothe. As a Ross County citizen he has enjoyed the love and esteem of all who know him, and is looked upon by much older men in the trade as one of the. foremost paper manufacturers of the United States. His interests are not entirely local, since he is an important factor in the newspaper industry in Canada, where he was instrumental in organizing the Lake Superior Paper Company with a capital stock of $10,000,000. He is vice president of this company. In November, 1914, Mr. Mead married Elsie Louise Talbott, of Dayton. They have a daughter, Elsie Louise. Mr. Mead is a member of the Dayton Club, the Dayton Country Club, the Dayton Polo Club, the Buz Fuz Club of Dayton, and at Chillicothe belongs to the Country Club and Lodge No. 52 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His recreation he finds in polo, tennis and golf. Though rather below the average in height, he is very athletic, a fine horseman, and excels in his favorite games of polo and golf. ROBERT THRUSTON HOUK. As secretary of The Mead Pulp and Paper Company, Robert Thruston Houk became a resident of Ross County in 1912, and has since closely identified himself not only with this important local industry, but also with general affairs of citizenship and is one of Chillicothe's leading business men. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, September 27, 1862, a son of the late George W. Houk and Eliza P. (Thruston) Houk. Both parents are now deceased, and his father was long distinguished both as a lawyer and civic leader and also a gentleman of scholarship and literary ability. Mr. Houk's mother had a talent which expressed itself in the writing of prose and verse, but she exercised her best influence in her home and by her pure and Christian character. The Houks came originally from Holland early in the seventeenth century and settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The Thrus- 504 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY tons were originally English people and from Bristol, England, they emigrated during the early '60s and settled in Virginia. Mr. R. T. Houk's grandfather, Adam Houk, in 1827 started west with wagon and team, accompanied by his wife, and established a home in Dayton, then a small village almost on the western edge of civilization. It was in Dayton that the late George W. Houk was reared and obtained a common school education. He then took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1848, and his first distinction in public life came in 1852, when he was elected a member of the state Legislature. He was a democrat all his active career, but repeatedly refused political honors in order to devote his whole time to his profession, until 1891, when he was elected by his district a member of Congress and re-elected in 1893. His death occurred at Washington in 1894, while in his second term as congressman. On Christmas day of 1856 George W. Houk married Eliza Phillips Thruston. They became the parents of four children : Marianna, who married Harry Eldredge Mead; Gates Phillips, who died at the age of twelve years ; Robert Thruston ; and Katherine, who was married June 7, 1887, to Harry Elstner Talbott. By inheritance and by the environment of his early years Robert Thruston Houk had ample opportunity to develop those qualities of character that have since made him a successful business man. In 1881 he graduated from the Cooper Academy of Dayton, and began his business career as a salesman for A. A. Simonds, manufacturer of paper mill supplies. In 1884 he resigned from that company to become assistant superintendent of a silver mine in Mexico, where he spent about a year. Returning to Ohio, he was for several years connected with the H. E. Mead & Company, wholesale paper jobbers, but in 1889 resigned to become identified with the National Cash Register Company, of Dayton. For eighteen years he was one of the efficient men in the service of that model institution and occupied many positions of responsibility and trust. In 1907, on leaving the National Cash Register Company, he became general factory manager of the Dayton Motor Car Company, and looked after the duties of that position until the company was bought by the United States Motor Company. Mr. Houk then removed to New York City and for a year was sales manager of the Stoddard-Dayton branch of the United States Motor Company. Mr. Houk left the automobile business to become secretary and take an active part in the management of The Mead Pulp and Paper Company at Chillicothe. He had been one of the reorganizers of the company in 1905, and though holding a substantial interest, had acted only as a director and was not active in the management until 1912, when he moved to Chillicothe and established his home in Ross County. Though always a busy man, with many affairs to demand his attention, Mr. Houk finds time to assist in any public movement for the betterment of the community. He has twice been elected president of the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce, and Governor Cox appointed him a member of the Ross County Memorial Association. He is a member HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 505 of the Chillicothe Country Club and of Lodge No. 52 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was reared in the Episcopal Church, and in politics he has been essentially in harmony with the democratic platform, although he is inclined to take some pride in the fact that he has voted a straight ticket only twice since he reached his majority. On September 20, 1887, Mr. Houk married Lily Elstner Talbott. To their marriage have been born five children : Robert Thruston, Catherine T., Sarah E., George W. and John T. All the children are living. R. T., Jr., was married September 18, 1915, to Ruth Millikin, of New York. The daughter, Sarah E., married June 19, 1915, Alexander M. Hammer, of Boston, Massachusetts. HECTOR MCVICKER. General superintendent of The Mead Pulp and Paper Company, of Chillicothe, Hector McVicker has spent the greater part of his life in the service of the paper mill industry at Chillicothe, is a native son of Ross County and represents one of the old and prominent families. He was born in Chillicothe December 7, 1863, being the second child of Alexander and Cecelia (Conley) McVicker. Alexander McVicker, when twelve years of age, came with his sister from Glasgow, Scotland, and located in Chillicothe. He was a poor boy and, as was the custom of the time, found home and opportunity to learn a useful calling by apprenticeship to John Burkline, a blacksmith who operated his shop near Chillicothe. By that apprenticeship he learned a trade which later enabled him to accumulate property which has made him comfortable in his declining years. In the late '50s Alexander McVicker married Cecelia Conley. They became the parents of eight children : Sarah, who married James Green, of Chillicothe ; Hector ; James, who married Flora Snyder ; Emma, who married Thomas Vorus ; Minnie, who married Alonzo Huff ; Edith, who married Thomas Edmonson ; Robert, who married Georgia Ramsdale ; and Charles, who married Ida Neal. It is a fine testimony to the splendid qualities of the parents that all these children are now comfortable and prosperous, and each in his or her respective sphere has played a. part not without honor and usefulness. Mr. Hector McVicker has never considered any other place his permanent home except Chillicothe. He grew up in the town, gained his education in the common schools, and when still a boy found a place as a humble employee of the Ingham Mills Company, owners of the paper mill located on the same ground now occupied by the mills of The Mead Pulp and Paper Company. For forty years Mr. McVickerhas been in the service of this local paper industry, and it was an ability to produce results that brought him to his present position as general superintendent. His associates regard him as a man of particular genius in his line, but his own modest explanation of his success points to an unremitting industry which has been characteristic of him all these past forty years. Outside of business, much of his interest has gone into the Masonic order and he has an influential place in that fraternity, and at the 506 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY present writing is serving as eminent commander of Chillicothe Commandery of the Knights Templar. In 1884 Mr. McVicker married Margaret Wiegand, in Chillicothe. Their three children are all living. Bertha, the oldest, married Eugene Francis, of Flora, Illinois, and they have a son named Arthur. Russel, the second child and only son, is now one of the responsible men in the offices of the paper mill of which his father is general superintendent, and by his marriage in 1911 to Maybelle Ludwig has a daughter named Judith. Hazel, the third and youngest child, lives at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. McVicker now own and occupy a residence on South Paint Street formerly owned by James Ingham, who, it is a matter of special interest to state, was Mr. McVicker's first employer. CAPT. LOUIS S. HOUSER. Noteworthy for his public spirit and good citizenship, Capt. Louis S. Houser, of the firm of Houser Brothers, occupies a position of prominence in mercantile circles, and is a worthy representative of the native-born citizens of Chillicothe, his birth having occurred here, September 19, 1879. His father, Berthold Houser, a native of Baden, Germany, was the only member of his family to come to America. Brought up and educated in the fatherland, he came from there to this country in 1860, and after living for a time in Portsmouth, Ohio, located in Chillicothe. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and continued as a farmer during the greater part of his life. He died at his home in Chillicothe at the age of sixty-eight years. He married Mary Moll, who was born, of German parents, in Pike County, Ohio, and is now living in Chillicothe. Of the four children born of their union, three are living, namely : Joseph, Louis S., and Mabel. At the age of seventeen years, Louis S. Houser, who had obtained a practical education in the Chillicothe public schools, enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, becoming a member of Company H, Seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he remained until the close of the conflict, receiving his honorable discharge in 1899. Mr. Houser was subsequently variously employed until 1905, when, in partnership with his brother Joseph, he established himself in business as a grocer on Water Street, and as a member of the enterprising firm of Houser Brothers has since built up a large and profitable trade. In 1898 Mr. Houser joined the Fourth Ohio National Guards, becoming a private in Company H, of which he has since been a member, having been promoted through the different grades to the rank of captain. Captain Houser married, in 1908, Martha Page, who was born in Chillicothe, of English ancestry, being a daughter of John and Susan Page. Five children have blessed their union, namely : Martha Elizabeth and Mildred Louise, twins; Anna Mary ; Louis Joseph ; and Robert Page, the first Ohio war baby, and who was born a few days before his fathcr left for the Texas border. Politically, the captain cast his first presidential vote for William McKinley, and has since been a zealous supporter of the principles of the republican party. Fraternally he is a HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 507 member of Sereno Lodge, No. 28, Knights of Pythias, and of Tecumseh Lodge, No. 80, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in both of these organizations he has filled all of the chairs. He is also a member, and past commander, of Weidler Camp, Spanish War Veterans. GEORGE W. COX. Although not confining himself exclusively to one line of business, George W. Cox, the well-known and popular agent for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad at Richmond Dale, Ohio, has given many years of a busy life to railroad affairs. He was born October 19, 1854, in Jefferson Township, Ross County, Ohio, and is a son of Abram and Sarah (Raines) Cox. Abram Cox was born in Liberty Township, Ross County, in 1810, and his wife in the same township in 1814. They had five children, the two survivors being George W. and Abel, the latter being a brakeman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and living at Hamdon, Ohio. By a second marriage Abram Cox had three children : Margaret, who became the wife of G. A. Vaughters; Rachel, who died at Londonderry; and Sarah, who married James Counts. Abram Cox, after marriage, located 1 1/2 miles east of Vigo. He became the owner of 300 acres of fine land along Salt Creek, a part of which he inherited from Joseph Cox. In politics he was a democrat. George W. Cox was reared on the farm in Jefferson Township and attended the district schools in boyhood. He was not very much interested in farming in youth and that led to his learning the art of telegraphy in the offices of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with which corporation he worked for twenty-one years as operator and agent. He then bought a farm in Liberty Township, Ross County, and managed it for seven years and then sold and removed to Ruple, Ohio, where he conducted a store for one year and then sold that business. Mr. Cox returned then to railroad life and continued with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad at Richmond Dale until December 7, 1910. In October, 1911, he went to Florida and also bought a store at Richmond Dale, and in 1913 returned to railroad work as agent at this point. From 1892 to 1896 he lived at Ray, Ohio, and during that time was postmaster. In politics he is a democrat and while living in Liberty Township served three terms as justice of the peace. On March 1, 1877, Mr. Cox was married to Miss Calferna Holcomb, who was born in Gallia County, Ohio, October 2, 1860. They have no children. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of the Baptist Church at Richmond Dale, he being one of the trustees of the same. MAJ. WILLIAM POLAND. The history of the last half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth in Chillicothe, finds the name and impress of Maj. William Poland on every page. A local paper commenting on his death, which occurred on September 24, 1908, says: "No one man in Chillicothe will be more greatly missed, as in civic and business enterprises he was always a prominent figure, while in his 508 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY private life he was beloved by a wide circle to whom his taking away will be a keen bereavement." William Poland was born in Ballymore Eustace, Ireland, January 19, 1830, the seventh child of John Poland and Mary Tourney, his wife. Of a family of twelve children he was the last. He came to America in company with his brother James, May 29, 1847, coming direct to Chillicothe, where an older brother, Patrick, was engaged in the grocery business. After a short stay here he went to Cincinnati and became a clerk in the establishment of John Shillito, afterwards with David Carr, wholesale grocer. When his brother Patrick removed to Cincinnati, William Poland returned to this city, October 16, 1848, and, at the age of eighteen, went into the retail grocery business for himself on Paint Street, where Brandle's shoe store now is. Shortly after this he removed to West Water Street and engaged in the wholesale grocery business, succeeding the firm of Holcomb & Co. In this business he remained until March 22, 1874, when he sold out to J. P. Dieter. In his business career, Mr. Poland was eminently successful, being a man of much grasp and capability. His financial interests were many and varied and he was connected in one way or another, with nearly all the larger enterprises in the city. In 1869, with others, he bought the old Cincinnati iron furnace, at Richland, Vinton County, and was treasurer of the company until 1881, when he became sole owner of the property. He became a director of the Ross County National Bank February 3, 1873; vice president, January 10, 1888; and on the death of A. P. Story, succeeded him as president, August 6, 1888. He built the Ross County Block, the first modern office building in the city. He was president of the Chillicothe Gas Light & Water Company for many years and it was largely on his initiative that the water system was installed. In 1876 he was instrumental in organizing the first street railway company, and remained its president and treasurer until its sale to a Tiffin syndicate in 1890. He was active in street railway affairs and after the Woolston failure and receivership, on his own decision, bought out the reorganized Tiffin holders, turning over the control to the Ross County Bank syndicate. In earlier days he was a member of the old Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company, on West Main Street. He was president of the old Fidelity Building and Loan Association, was instrumental in organizing the Ohio Insurance Company, and was its president. At one time lie took an active part in city politics, as a democrat, and served two terms in council, where, with the late George Bovey, he materially aided in instituting the city park system. He became one of the park commissioners in January, 1884, and served on it until the time of his death, always taking much interest in the parks, and giving liberally of time and money towards them. He was known as the "Father of Yoctangee Park" and when the city acquired the land on the corner of Fifth Street and Madeira Avenue, it was christened "Poland Park" in gratitude for his work in this line. He was president of the Chillicothe Foundry and Machine Works ; HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 509 president of the Board of Trade for fifteen terms; was a charter member of the Eintraeht Singing Society; helped found the Columbus Club and was its president four terms ; a trustee of St. Mary's Church for over thirty years, and a member of the first Catholic Church, on South Walnut Street. In 1892 he organized the St. Margaret's Cemetery Association and remained its president until the time of his death. He took an active interest in all civic affairs, giving freely of time and money to further the city's interests. He was chairman and treasurer of the executive committee of the Chillicothe Centennial, 1896, and was chairman of the joint committees of the Ohio Centennial in 1903. During the Civil war, he was one of the famous "Squirrel Hunters" who rallied to the defense of Cincinnati and helped turn back Gen. Kirby Smith from invading the North. Here he received his title as "Major." He married, on November 15, 1864, Miss Catherine Ryan of Cincinnati, who survives him. Of their union, there are five surviving children, William B., of Cincinnati ; John A., Agnes M., Florence and Charles, all of Chillicothe. Two children, Walter and Irene, preceded their father to the hereafter, and Nicholas within a few years afterward. Mrs. Poland's father was an architect and builder of note in Cincinnati, and many of the public buildings and edifices of that city were the creations of his genius. The Poland family and their estimable mother are all products of universities and convents, ranking high in the culture and literary attainments of their city. No man was more missed from his accustomed places than_ Maj. William Poland, by high and low, rich and poor alike, irrespective of creed or condition. He was a citizen to whom the good of his home city was of prime importance, a business man of ability and one foremost in promoting all worthy interests and enterprises. Genial comrade, wise adviser, especially to young men, his was a charity so broad and a liberality so great that no worthy request was turned away. A model husband and father in his home, he was also a close and dear personal friend to his associates, whether in business or social relations. JOHN A. POLAND, for over twenty years one of the ranking leaders of the Ross County bar, has enjoyed many of those worthy distinctions which comes to the truly qualified and successful lawyer, to the high-minded citizen, and to the energetic business man. His position has been such that he needs no introduction to the people of his native county. His father was the late Maj. William Poland, one of the fine figures in Ross County's history during the last century. It is said that every person in Chillicothe and most of them in Ross County knew Major Poland and those who knew him best found the best reason to express for him the admiration and esteem in which he was so long held. He was a constant worker for the good of the community, and in many ways impressed his life and influence upon this section of Ohio. In his own career John A. Poland continues the splendid character- 510 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY istics and worthy part acted by his father in Ross County. John A. Poland was born at Chillicothe in September, 1868. He attended the local schools of his native city, and completed his literary training in St. Mary's College in Kansas, where he was graduated as valedictorian of his class. Reference should be made to another phase of his education in addition to what he learned from books. This was suggested in the words of one of his old friends writing of Mr. John A. Poland on an occasion when a sketch was required: "The woods and fields, the boyish carpenter shop, a little printing office, particularly appealed to him; and outdoor life with boating, fishing, swimming and camping gave him the grounding that every American boy should have." On his literary foundation Mr. Poland reared a superstructure of, thorough training for his chosen profession. He entered the University of Georgetown, D. C., where by hard work and the exercise of those talents granted him by nature he finished with post-graduate honors in a class of 160. On returning to Chillicothe he entered the law office of the late Hon. Lawrence T. Neal. Mr. Neal frequently said that John Poland was the best student he ever had in his office, and the one who gave him the most satisfactory work he ever received from any of his students in the law. After this preparation he led as first in a class of fifty applicants in the examination for admission to the bar before the Ohio Supreme Court. For two years Mr. Poland was associated with Mr. Neal in the latter's law office, and in 1893 was his private secretary when Mr. Neal was candidate for governor. Mr. Poland has been one of the liberal and progressive democrats of Ohio, and has a large acquaintance with politics and politicians, though he never sought the honors of politics for himself. In 1897 he was private secretary to H. L. Chapman in the latter's campaign for election as governor and was also a member of the state executive committee. He was also campaign manager for L. A. Sears and Congressman Horatio C. Claypool. As a lawyer Mr. Poland's attention has been primarily given to office practice, corporation, probate and commercial law. He has held the position of legal adviser to a large proportion of the industrial and financial organizations of Chillicothe, and ranks in this work as one of the ablest business lawyers in the state. He is the legal adviser of many of the public utilities of Southern and Central Ohio. Mr. Poland is also a man of thoughtful interests and avocations. He has for twenty-five consecutive years served on the important committees of the Chillicothe Board of Trade, and succeeded his father as a member of the Chillicothe Park Commission, giving much thought and labor for the benefit of the people's playgrounds. Governor Harmon honored him with appointment to the Ohio-Columbus Centennial Commission, and the other members of that commission appointed him historian. Mr. Poland has long been a student of Ohio history and of standard literature and the historical work of the Centennial Commission could not have been placed in better hands. His varied intellectual interests have made him a favorite member of the Sunset Club of Chilli- HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 511 cothe, made up of the leading professional and business men of the city, whose meetings are enlivened not only with social good fellowship but with a serious discussion of important topics of the day. Mr. Poland is the vice president of the Ross County National Bank, and is a director or trustee in a dozen corporations or associations in the city. He combines in himself cultured dignity, good-nature, public-spiritedness, and in a word is considered among the ranking first dozen prominent and influential men of his community. He still clings to single blessedness, although fond of social life. He is a practical Roman Catholic. GEORGE D. BROOKE. There has been a steady progression in the career of George D. Brooke from the time he first carried a rod in a surveying party until now, in his thirty-eighth year, he is Ohio division superintendent of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway, with headquarters at Chillicothe. He is the chief railway official located at this city, and before gaining this official precedent he served a long and thorough apprenticeship in the minor grades of the service. He was born September 15, 1878, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, a son of T. V. and Fannie (Doswell) Brooke. His father, a native of Virginia and descendant of a prominent Virginian family, is still living in Virginia at the age of seventy, and for a great many years has practiced his profession as a physician. Doctor Brooke is a great-grandson of Robert Brooke, who was at one time governor of Virginia and was also a noted Mason, having served as grand master of the Grand Lodge. George D. Brooke was the third in a family of six children. He received his early education in the Virginia public schools, and finished in the Virginia Military Institute. His first experience in practical life was as instructor for two years at Culver Military Academy. At Somerset, Pennsylvania, he entered the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway as rodman of an engineering corps. He was subsequently made levelman and transit man, and operated the latter instrument eighteen months. He next became field engineer-in-chief of a surveying party, and after one year of that kind of service became assistant engineer at Baltimore, Maryland, on special work. He was transferred as assistant engineer to Cumberland, Maryland, and Morgantown, West Virginia, later was made assistant division engineer at Pittsburgh, then division engineer at Baltimore, assistant engineer operating department, and assistant superintendent at Cumberland and at Keyser. His last position before coming to Chillicothe was as superintendent at Winchester, Virginia. On April 6, 1914, he was appointed to his present office as Ohio division superintendent of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway, and has since had the management of the operating service .over all the Ohio lines of that company. Mr. Brooke is an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is also a member of the American Association of Railroad Superintendents. Fraternally he is 512 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY affiliated with Peyton Coles Lodge, No. 54, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. On January 14, 1900, in Virginia, he married Miss Sue Scott Herbert. Their three children are : Sue, born April 18, 1907; Ann, born September 22, 1911; and Thomas, born September 29, 1914. FREDERICK SCHREINER. Many of the most enterprising and successful business men of Ross County have come from the land beyond the sea, prominent among the number being Frederick Schreiner, who, having accumulated a competency, is living retired from active pursuits in Chillicothe, having a beautiful home on Carlisle Hill. He was born February 16, 1854, in Baden, Germany, where the birth of his father, Frederick Schreiner, Sr., occurred in 1825. Several years after his marriage, Frederick Schreiner, Sr., who had followed the wagonmaker's trade in his native land, emigrated with his family to the United States, being the only member of his father's family to cross the ocean. Locating in Chillicothe in 1873, immediately after his arrival in this country, he was engaged in market gardening during the remainder of his active life, continuing a resident of this city until his death in 1910. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Heinzelman, died in 1909, leaving seven children, as follows: Frederick, Louis, Elizabeth, Catherine, Charles, Albert, and Jacob. Frederick Schreiner attended school regularly until sixteen years old, and afterwards assisted his father in the factory, becoming familiar with the trade of a wagonmaker. Leaving the fatherland in 1872, he came to America, and for a year worked as a farm hand. The following five years he was employed as car carpenter by the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Company. Taking up his residence then in Chillicothe, Mr. Schreiner purchased a tract of land on South Avenue, just outside of the city limits, and there established a market garden. Very successful in his venture, he enlarged his operations, buying additional land until acquiring title to twenty-six acres, the greater part of which he placed under a high state of culture. After spending thirty-two years as a market gardener, Mr. Schreiner invested a portion of his savings in his present attractive home on Carlisle Hill, where he is now enjoying all of the comforts of life. Mr. Schreiner married first, in 1879, Magdalena Heinzelman, ho was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of George and Margaret Heinzelman. She passed to the life beyond in 1911. In 1912 Mr. Schreiner married Margaret Uhrig, who was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of Philip and Fredericka Uhrig. Mr. and Mrs. Schreiner are members of the Salem German Evangelical Church. Fraternally, Mr. Schreiner is a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons ; of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons ; of Chillicothe Council No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; and of Chillicothe Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar. DE WITT CLINTON MARSHALL. A man of pronounced business ability and judgment, enterprising and progressive, De Witt Clinton Marshall, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 513 a prominent lumber manufacturer and dealer, has long been a power in the industrial and commercial life of Chillicothe, his home city, and in the lumber trade of Ross County. He was born near Wait Station, Scioto County, Ohio, a son of De Witt Clinton Marshall, Sr., and grandson of Jesse Marshall, who was but a small child when he was brought by his parents to Ohio, in early pioneer days. Mr. Marshall's great-grandfather, Samuel Marshall, was born, reared, and married in Pennsylvania. A soldier in the Revolutionary .war, he served as a private, under Capt. David Marshall, in the Third Company, Third Battalion, Cumberland County Associates. Leaving Pittsburgh in the summer of 1795, he went down the Ohio River to Adams County, Ohio, locating in what is now Manchester, where he remained until after Wayne's treaty with the Indians. Locating then in Scioto County, on the present site of Boston Township, opposite the mouth of Taggart Creek, which is in Kentucky, he there built, according to the "History of Scioto County," written by N. W. Evans, the first log cabin in that county. His cabin when completed, in 1796, was the only habitation between Gallipolis and Manchester. When he came to Ohio, his family consisted of his wife, whose maiden name was Polly Hazelrigg, and three children, Zabina. Jesse, and Samuel. His daughter Fanny, their next child in succession of birth, was the first white child born in Scioto County. Born in Pennsylvania, Jesse Marshall grew to manhood in Scioto County, as a boy assisting his father in clearing and improving a homestead. The country was heavily timbered, and settlers were few and far between. Wild game was plentiful, and, with the fish found in the streams, furnished food supplies for the family larder. After his marriage he settled on a farm, and was thereafter engaged in tilling the soil during his years of activity. Born in Scioto County, De Witt Clinton Marshall, Sr., was early initiated into the mysteries of farming, becoming familiar with all of its branches. On arriving at man's estate, he decided to try a business career, and from that time until his death, at the age of three score years, was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He married Julia Ann, who was born in Scioto County, at Powellsville, a daughter of Josiah and Malinda Powell, and a descendant of William Powell, the first settler of Powellsville. She died in early womanhood. De Witt Clinton Marshall was an only child, and after the death of his parents he made his home with Rev. H. J. Carr, a Free Will Baptist preacher in Jackson, Mrs. Carr having been his aunt. He received a. practical education in the schools of that city, and having completed the regular course of study, came to Chillicothe in search of work. Entering the service of William H. Reed, a prominent lumber dealer, he remained in his employ twenty-two years. Upon the death of Mr. Reed, Mr. Marshall formed a partnership with Edward Reed, and continued the business which had been so firmly established. In 1910 Mr. Edward Reed died, and since that time Mr. Marshall has been sole proprietor of the business, which he is managing with characteristic 514 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY ability and success. He has a large planing mill, amply supplied with all of the improved and approved mechanical devices for successfully carrying on his work, and keeps a full stock of dressed lumber and all kinds of building material. On April 30, 1875, Mr. Marshall was united in marriage with Sarah Cardwell, a daughter of Samuel and Maria (Wollam) Caldwell. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely : Mabel and Margaret. Mabel, wife of S. Andrew Roach, of New Lexington, Ohio, has four children, Wilson, Clinton, Sarah, and Robert. Margaret married Victor Pickett, and they have two children, Marshall and Miriam. Mr. and Mrs. Pickett reside in Waseca, Minnesota.. Fraternally, Mr. Marshall is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 24, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; and of Serene Lodge, No. 28, Knights of Pythias. FRANK TILDEN MARR, M. D. Possessing marked ability as an investigator, and being well fitted by temperament and training for the medical profession, Frank T. Marr, M. D., of Chillicothe, is meeting with excellent success in his chosen work, as a physician and surgeon, having a large patronage. He was born in Chillicothe February 7, 1877, a son of Frederick Marr, who was the -third in direct line of descent to bear that name. The doctor's great-grandfather, Frederick Marr, the first, was a prominent distiller and brewer in his native place, Wurtemberg, Germany, and also kept a public house, in which he entertained Napoleon Bonaparte, who presented him with a decanter, which is still owned by the Marr family. Frederick Marr, the second, grandfather of Doctor Marr, was born in 1797, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and as a youth of eighteen years emigrated to the United States. After working for a while in a brewery in New York State, he purchased a farm near Seneca Falls, but the title proved defective, and he lost the $1,000 that he had invested. Somewhat discouraged, he made his way to Ross County, Ohio, locating in Kingston, where he opened a general store, and kept a hotel for a time. Disposing of that property, he went first to Cincinnati, and from there to Sinking Springs, where he lived a short time. Returning to Ross County, he bought a farm lying nine miles south of Chillicothe, and there resided until his death, in 1869. He married Mary Hoselton, who was born at South Perry, Hacking County, Ohio, where her parents settled in pioneer days. She survived him a few years. Three children were born to them, as follows: Frederick, Joseph, and David. Mary Hoselton, however, the doctor's grandmother, was the second wife of Frederick Marr, the second, and by her marriage with him became the step-mother of five children, Elizabeth, George, John, Alonzo, and William. Frederick Marr, the third, was born July 14, 1843, at Sinking Springs, Pike County, and was educated in the rural schools. He was a natural mechanic, and without serving an apprenticeship became an expert at the cooper's trade. Patriotic and enthusiastic, he enlisted in September, 1861, in Company F, Second Battalion, United States Infantry, which was assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps, commanded by HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 515 Gen. George H. Thomas, and continued in service until honorably discharged, on account of disability, late in 1862. In 1863 he joined a company of state militia, organized in Chillicothe for state protection. In 1864 he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went with his command to Virginia. After the battle at New Creek, on August 3, he was detailed to guard prisoners en route to Camp Chase, Columbus, and was subsequently thus employed until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he was honorably discharged from the service. Returning home, he followed his trade a while, and then clerked a short time in a mercantile house, later being in the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company as a brakeman and fireman. Renting land near Frankfort in 1869, he farmed there four years, and then purchased, in Huntington Township, a farm, which he operated three years. Selling out, he came to Chillicothe, where he first worked at his trade, later. becoming a clerk, and at the same time running a dairy in the city. The latter proved profitable, and he continued in the dairy business for a period of thirty years, in 1877 buying, on Carlisle Hill, the house which he has since occupied. On March 31, 1867, Frederick Marr, third, married Mary Moritz, who was born in Blumberg, Baden, Germany, November 20, 1852, and came with her parents, John and Mary Moritz, to Salem, Ohio, where she was reared. Four children blessed their marriage, as follows : John Frederick, a druggist in Columbus; Frank Tilden, of whom we write; Della Mary, wife of Ray Simpson ; and Grace Elizabeth, stenographer and bookkeeper in a mercantile establishment at Columbus. Having received his diploma at the Chillicothe High School, Frank T. Marr taught school in Scioto Township two years, and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Baltimore, where he was graduated with the class of 1901. The ensuing two years, Doctor Marr was resident physician at the Baltimore City Hospital, during which time he took a post-graduate course at the Johns Hopkins University. In 1903 the doctor returned to Chillicothe, and opened an office, and has since been extensively and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in this city, by his professional skill and ability having won a place of distinction among the leading physicians of this part of the country. Doctor Marr married, in 1914, Sue Barton Dunlap, a daughter of Phillip Marion and Mary (Lutz) Dunlap, of Ross County, and granddaughter of John and Mary A. Dunlap. The doctor is a member of the Ross County Academy, of Medicine; of the Ohio State Medical Society ; and of the American Medical Association. JOHN MOFFATT LESLIE, M. D. It is now nearly forty years since Doctor Leslie began to practice medicine in Ross County. More than thirty years of that time have been spent in the City of Chillicothe. While Doctor Leslie himself would be the last to make such a claim, there is no doubt that he is one of the most widely known physicians and surgeons in Southern Ohio. Particularly in the field of surgery have his abilities received recognition. In the opinion of people best 516 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY qualified to judge and according to the popular reputation in which he is held, Doctor Leslie has few peers in Southern Ohio as a skillful and scientific operator. A native of Ross County, Ohio, where he was born April 20, 1850, John Moffatt Leslie is a son of John and Eliza (Moffatt) Leslie. Both parents were natives of the North of Ireland, came across the ocean to the New World when quite young, became acquainted and were married in this country and then settled on a farm in Ross County. Doctor Leslie was the fourth in their family of nine children and seven of them are still living. Reared in the wholesome environment of a farm and country life Doctor Leslie after finishing his studies in the Frankfort High School became a private student under Rev. R. C. Galbraith. In 1872 he enrolled as a student of medicine under the late Dr. E. J. Galbraith, and in 1874 entered the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, where he was graduated doctor of medicine in 1876. While in the medical college he won the W. W. Dawson prize for the best surgical dissection. He had unusual opportunities as a student, and during his entire course at Cincinnati he studied and worked in the Good Samaritan Hospital. After graduation he began practice with his old preceptor at Frankfort, Ohio, under the name of Doctors Galbraith & Leslie. It was in 1882 that they removed to Chillicothe and continued their practice there until Doctor Galbraith's death in 1907. Since that year Doctor Leslie has practiced alone. After coming to Chillicothe Doctor Leslie began to limit his practice more and more to surgery. For a while he spent one day of each week with Dr. W. W. Dawson in the hospitals of Cincinnati. In 1888 he took a course of lectures in the Polyclinic at Chicago and later attended the Post-Graduate Medical School at New York. By means of this extensive course of study and observation and the exercise of his native abilities he attained the distinction which has long been associated with him as one of the ablest surgeons in the southern part of the state. In 1892 Doctor Leslie married Miss Woodie Boyd, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Leslie makes his home one of charm and culture and is a woman of many excellences of mind and heart. She is of Virginia birth, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Southwood) Boyd. Since his marriage Doctor Leslie has been devoted to his home. It may be stated as an interesting evidence of this that after his marriage he gave up his membership in the Order of Elks and in the Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Doctor Leslie and wife are members of thc Presbyterian Church. For more than thirty years he was a member of the American Medical Association and of the Ohio State Medical Society. In politics he is a democrat, and at the present time is serving as a member of the Board of Pension Examiners, and in 1914 was elected to his only important political office, coroner of Ross County, and is now giving much of his time and attention to that office. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 517 JOHN B. LONG. Now serving his second term as county treasurer of Ross County, John B. Long regards with special satisfaction the fact that he is a native son of Ross County and has enjoyed several important honors at the hands of his fellow citizens who have known him from childhood to the present. He was born in Frankfort, Ross County, February 25, 1862, son of William and Mary Long. His father, who died in Frankfort October 20, 1879, was a blacksmith by trade, an honest and capable workman and citizen, a member of the Methodist Church and in politics a democrat. Mary A. Briggs, who married William Long on February 23, 1859, died at Frankfort December 11, 1901. John B. Long early in his career chose to be independent and mold his own destiny. He attended the common schools at Frankfort, but never went further than the grades. By his individual work in different capacities he quickly showed himself worthy of confidence, and has always enjoyed a high reputation for integrity and general ability. In politics his work has been done in the ranks of the democratic party. For four years he held the position of postmaster at Frankfort. For four years he was deputy county treasurer, and as already stated is now in his second term as chief of the office of county treasurer. Mr. Long is also serving as treasurer of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church at Chillicothe. On August 9, 1893, at Frankfort he married Miss Leora B.. Wisehart, who was born in Frankfort March 21, 1871. His father, James M. Wisehart, was a soldier in the Civil war. To their union have been born four children. Madge Cozzens Long, born May 25, 1895, at Frankfort, was graduated from the Chillicothe High School with the class of 1913, and on April 22, 1914, was united in marriage to Lloyd D. Teeters, who is now assistant secretary of the Ohio Industrial Commission and they reside in Columbus. James William Long, second child, was born at Frankfort April 13, 1900, and is now in the second year of the High School at Chillicothe. Isabel Virginia Long, born August 9, 1903, and is in school. John Robert Long, born April 2, 1905, is also a schoolboy. HON. THADDEUS MINSHALL. Among the prominent citizens whom Chillicothe has been called upon to mourn within the past few years, none are more genuinely missed than Hon. Thaddeus Minshall, whose services as lawyer, judge and chief justice are entitled to honorable recognition and praise, while as a man and a citizen he was held in the highest esteem. Fitted for the legal profession by natural gifts and temperament as well as by great learning, untiring industry and incorruptible integrity, the bench was undoubtedly the place that gave best scope to his highest attainments, and as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio his name will hold a lasting place among those of his illustrious predecessors. A son of William Gilmore Minshall, he was born, January 19, 1834, in Colerain Township, Ross County, of English descent, his immigrant ancestor having been one of the little band of Quakers that came from England to this country with William Penn. His grand- Vol. II-3 518 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY father, Ellis Minshall, who served as a soldier in the War of 1812, came from Virginia to Ohio about 1800, becoming a pioneer settler of the state. William Gilmore Minshall was engaged in agricultural pursuits during his entire life in Colerain Township. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Jones, died in 1841. Left motherless when but seven years of age, Thaddeus Minshall obtained his rudimentary education in the rural schools, and being thrown upon his own resourccs when quite young worked for five years in a woolen mill, in the meanwhile continuing his studies at home by the dim light of a candle. Later, as opportunity, and his means, afforded, he attended the Kingston Academy, acquiring a good education, and at the age of twenty years began his professional career as a teacher. He subsequently read law in the office of Samuel Logan Wallace, and in the very early part of 1861 was admitted to the Ohio bar. Responding to Lincoln's call for troops, in April, 1861, Mr. Minshall enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three months, and was soon promoted to the rank of sergeant major. Honorably discharged at the expiration. of his term of enlistment, Major Minshall returned home, and immediately set about raising a company, which was organized as Company H, of the Thirty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and of which he was elected captain. In that capacity he took an active part in many of the more important battles of the Civil war, among the more noteworthy of them having been thc engagements at Perryville, Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. Accompanying Sherman's command in the Atlanta campaign, Captain Minshall participated in the battles at Ringgold, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peach Tree Creek, and in the siege and capture of Atlanta, and in the Jonesboro fight. From a time prior to the siege of Atlanta until receiving his honorable discharge, at the expiration of his term of enlistment, in October, 1864, the brave captain had command of his regiment. Soon after his return home, Mr. Minshall, in November, 1864, was elected prosecuting attorney for Ross County, but at the expiration of his term he refused a reelection, preferring to resume his private practice of law, in which he was eminently successful. In 1876 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for that subdivision of the Fifth Judicial District that included the counties of Ross, Highland and Fayette, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Thomas Gray. In 1878 he was reelected to the same position, and again in 1883. In 1885 he was honored with an election to the Supreme Court, and was twice reelected, first in 1890, and again in 1896, his term of service on the Supreme bench covering a period of sixteen years that he so ably per formed the duties devolving upon him as chief justice. Resuming his practice in 1902, Judge Minshall continued until compelled by ill health to give it up, and he afterward lived retired at his pleasant home in Chillicothe until his death, November 22, 1908. On April 9, 1873, Judge Minshall was united in marriage with Julia Ewing Pearson, who spent her entire life in Chillicothe, her birth occurring February 20, 1848, and her death September 30, 1903. Her father. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 519 Addison Pearson, was born in, or near, Waynesboro, Virginia, and on coming to Ohio settled in Chillicothe. Active in public affairs, he served as treasurer of Ross County ; and a prominent member of fraternal organizations, he served as grand master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and as master of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons. His wife, whose maiden name was Rosanna Ewing, was born in Ross County, of pioneer ancestry. Judge and Mrs. Minshall reared three sons, namely : Addison Pearson, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this work; William Edwin, an attorney, with an office in Cleveland, resides at East Cleveland, where he is serving as mayor of the city ; and Thaddeus Ellis, with the Union Iron Company at Erie, Pennsylvania. From a memorial written by Judge Minshall's associates at the bar, we take the following eulogy :- "These few brief sentences record all that is generally known of a life that did honor to the community in which he lived, to the profession to which he devoted his life, and to the bench which he adorned. Born to a station in life that did not favor his advancement toward a successful career, he was not quite ten years old when he was thrown upon his own resources and compelled to make his own way. Gathering fitfully, and as if by accident, the merest rudiments of an education begun by the light of a tallow candle between the hours of work in a woolen factory, passing thence to the village school, and then to the position of teacher in a country school, in the very dawn of his early manhood he chose the law as his profession. He soon began to show the stern stuff that laid at the base of his character ; but his advancement was not rapid. There was never indeed anything meteoric about his career. The strength of his mind, however, was above the average. That he had talent of a high order will be admitted by those who define talent as a capacity to make labor productive ; but he owed his success far more to paticnt and ceaseless study of legal principles, and the careful investigation of the facts involved in his cases, than to any inherent or unusual strength of intellect. Many men as well equipped mentally as he have failed at the bar or upon the bench. In the practice of the law, few men have been favored less than he by luck or happy accident ; his victories were always fairly won as the fruits of earnest, honest effort. He learned early that the law is a jealous mistress, and he gave his entire life to his profession with complete- devotion. "His character in all of its phases was intense. His passions, his opinions, his prejudices, even, were all and always at high pressure. At the bar and on the bench his conclusions were reached with great care and much caution, but when once arrived at, to him at least, they meant verity. This intensity of disposition made him one of the most self-reliant of men, and added greatly to the force with which he presented questions of law or fact. Those who heard him believed that, whether he was right or wrong, he felt that he was right, while the innate modesty of the man prevented the fault that is apt to attend such a disposition. It is believed that his whole professional career presents few, if any, instances of boastful self-assertion or claim of superiority. His life was 520 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY guided by a high standard of right that would not bend to circumstances or yield to conditions, but was ever present to sustain and strengthen his conduct. His mind and character were cast, however, in a partisan mould; and at the bar he was always ready for the fray, and enjoyed the intellectual sword practice sometimes necessary in the trial of cases, yet he would not fight with poisoned weapons, or take an unfair advantage of an opponent in order to win a victory. In a hotly contested cause, and although his fighting blood was up, he has been known to pass by without comment the testimony of a witness greatly favoring his side, because he believed the witness had not told the whole truth. "Judge Minshall brought to the bench the same painstaking devotion to the duties of the great office that had characterized his efforts at the bar, and with it a quiet dignity that at once commanded the respect of those who practiced before him. As a common pleas judge he was apt to be a. trifle impatient with the man babbler who had nothing to present, and who wasted the time of the Court with empty words devoid of logical thought ; but to the lawyer who had an argument to present, he was a patient listener, and he was always considerate and kind to those who had business to transact in his Court. His intellectual processes were not rapid, and his off hand opinions delivered during the progress of a trial were not apt to be as safe as though he had time to more fully consider; and there is little doubt that the position he so long occupied as a member of the Supreme Court was the one best suited to the character of his mind ; his published opinions while judge or chief justice of the Supreme Court are found in volumes forty-four to sixty-five, both inclusive. Many of these opinions in important cases exhibit great legal learning, logical reasoning, and remarkable powers of keen and discriminating judgment. He cared morc for good reasons than for precedents ; and indeed both as a lawyer and a judge he acted upon Lord Mansfield's idea that 'the law does not consist of particular cases, but of general principles which are illustrated and explained by the cases.' "As a private citizen no man in the community in which he spent his life was more highly regarded, and he died crowned with the honor, ,respect and good will of every one who knew him. As citizen, soldier, lawyer, judge, throughout a life lasting, beyond the allotted three-score and ten, he acted well his part always. "The ripest fruit of his learning and wisdom are recorded among the decisions of the Supreme Court of Ohio ; the private life of the man, his unceasing adherence to principles of truth and justice are written, as it were, in water ; nevertheless, the application of the final test of sterling manhood exhibits his last and greatest success. The world is better for his having lived in it. "Respectfully submitted, "J. P. Bradbury, "S. F. Steele, "Mills Gardner, "John H. Vanmeter, "Willis H. Wiggins." HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 521 ADDISON PEARSON MINSHALL. Possessing good mental abilities well trained, and the will and disposition to work, Addison Pearson Minshall, prosecuting attorney of Ross County, has. gained high standing in his profession through close and persistent application to his business. He was born April 26, 1874, in Chillicothe, a son of the late Hon. Thaddeus Minshall, of whom a brief personal history is given elsewhere in this volume. Having completed the course of study in the Chillicothe public schools, Addison P. Minshall attended the Ohio State University three years, being in the preparatory department two years, and in the collegiate department one year. In 1894, having read law in the office of Col. J. C. Entrekin the previous year; he entered the Cincinnati College of Law, where he ranked well as a student, and was popular with his fellow-mates, being made president of his class. He was graduated in 1896, and in May of that year was admitted to the Ohio bar. Returning to Chillicothe, Mr. Minshall began practice in the office of Stone & Massie, with whom he remained until the retirement of his father from the bench. He was subsequently associated with his father as a member of the firm of Minshall & Minshall until his father retired from active practice on account of ill health. Mr. Minshall subsequently practiced alone until January, 1911, when he formed a partnership with H. C. Claypool, and as junior member of the firm of Claypool & Minshall continued his legal work four years, retiring from that firm on January 4, 1915, to assume the duties of prosecuting attorney of Ross County, to which office he had been elected the previous November. In 1914, just after his election, he resigncd his position as Unitcd States Commissioner, an office that he had held for ten years. Mr. Minshall married April 30, 1901, Miss Edith Doty, a daughter of Theodore and Martha Doty, and they have one child, Julia Martha Min. shall. Mr. Minshall belongs to the Chi Phi College fraternity. He is also a member of Scioto Lodge No. 6, and is past master of the lodge, an office which his Grandfather Pearson held many years ago ; he is also a member of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons ; of Chillicothe Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters ; and of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. GEORGE C. RITTENOUR. Among the native-born citizens of Ross County who spent the major part of their lives within its precincts, aiding as far as possible its growth and development, whether relating to its agricultural, mercantile, or financial interests, was George C. Rittenour, who died December 30, 1915, at his home in Jefferson Township, aged ninety years, nine months and nineteen days. He had a good record for length of days and useful activity. A son of Jacob Rittenour, he was born March 11, 1825, in Jefferson Township, of German ancestry, his great-grandfather, John Rittenour, having emigrated from Germany to America in colonial days, locating in Virginia, where he remained permanently until his death. 522 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Anthony Rittenour, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared in Rockingham County, Virginia, and, with the exception of one year spent in Washington County, Pennsylvania, resided in Virginia until 1798. In that year, accompanied by his wife and children, he made an overland journey to that part of the Northwest Territory that is now known as Ross County, and here, in Jefferson Township, secured a tract of Government land. All of the country roundabout was in its virgin wildness, the dense forests' being inhabited by deer, panthers, wolves, and wild game of all kinds, while the sparkling streams abounded with fish. With the assistance of his sons he began the clearing of the land, and the following year erected a substantial stone house, which he occupied until his death, in 1835. He married Elizabeth Slusher, who was also of German descent, and to them six sons and two daughters were born, as follows : Henry ; George ; Jacob ; Frederick ; John ; William ; Eve, who married first a Mr. McNeil, and for her second husband married Smiley Caldwell ; and Margaret, who became the wife of Rev. Hector Sanford. An ardent Methodist in religion, Anthony Rittenour contributed very liberally toward the building of the stone church, and also gave an acre of ground for the Jefferson Township Cemetery. Born in Frederick County, Virginia, February 15, 1787, Jacob Rittenour was a lad of eleven years when brought by his parents to Ross County, where he was reared in true pioneer style. During his earlier life there were neither railroads nor canals in the country ; neither were there any convenient markets in the territory ; and very little money was in circulation. Live stock, including the hogs, was driven across the country to Baltimore and other eastern markets, the journeys to and fro being long and tiresome. From the flax raised by the farmers the diligent housewives spun and wove all of the material from which they fashioned the clothes worn by their families. He began as a boy to assist on the tome farm, and was subsequently engaged in agricultural pursuits in Jefferson Township the remainder of his life, dying October 15, 1882. He married, April 3, 1812, Anna Claypool, who was born in Randolph County, Virginia, of honored English stock, one of her early English ancestors, a certain John Claypool, having married the favorite daughter of Oliver Cromwell. Her father, Abraham Claypool, was born in Harding County, West Virginia, April 2, 1762, and his father, James Claypool; Jr., was born in Virginia, December 1, 1730, a son of James Claypool, Sr. This James Claypool, Sr., grandfather of Anna Claypool, and great-grandfather of Mr. Rittenour, was born in Virginia, February 14, 1701, and married, October 9, 1753, Margaret Dunbar, who was born November 20, 1736, and died March 26, 1813. She reared nine daughters and three sons. Abraham Claypool, Mr. Rittenour's.maternal grandfather, received an excellent education in his native state, and there lived-until coming to Ohio in 1799. Selecting what he considered a desirable tract of land in Liberty Township, he began the improvement of a homestead. A man of broad capacity, energetic and forceful, he soon became influential in HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 523 public affairs, and served not only as a member of the first state constitutional convention, but of the first State Senate, which convened at Chillicothe in 1803. He improved a valuable farm, and having built a commodious house of hewed logs was there a resident until his death. He married Elizabeth Wilson. Mrs. Anna (Claypool) Rittenour died June 3, 1873. To her and her husband, four children were born and reared, namely : James ; Isaac Newton; George C., the special subject of this sketch ; and Margaret, who died unmarried, February 22, 1898. James, who settled at Independence, Indiana, married Ellen Hemphill. Isaac N., who lived but thirty-three years, married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Orr. True to the religious faith in which they were brought up, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Rittenour were also active and valued members of the Methodist Church. George C. Rittenour was educated in the district schools, while on the home farm he was well trained in agricultural arts. Soon after entering his teens, he went to Richmondale to live with an older brother, and while there worked as a farm hand during seed time and harvest, the remainder of the year being employed as a clerk in his brother's store. On attaining his majority, he engaged in mercantile pursuits on his own account, forming a copartnership with his brother. After his marriage Mr. Rittenour located in Chillicothe, and here, in company with his nephew, John W. Rittenour, and Austin and Nelson Purdum, erected a building, and embarked in the hardware and farm implement business. A little more than a year after the establishment of the firm, Austin Purdum died, and the business was closed out. Mr. Rittenour in the meantime had been managing his father's estate, and had likewise built up a large and lucrative trade as a cattle dealer. He soon purchased, in company with his brother James, a tract of land in Fayette County, near Bloomingburg, retaining, however, his residence in Ross County. Subsequently selling his interest in his Fayette County property to his brother, Mr. Rittenour purchased land in Pike County, near the home of his father-in-law, T. W. Sargent, and later, at different times, bought other tracts in Ross County until his land holdings amounted to upwards of 3,000 acres of rich farm lands. For a period of nearly three-score and ten years, Mr. Rittenour was actively and successfully engaged in business, but afterward lived retired in Chillicothe, enjoying the fruits of a long and well spent life. Mr. Rittenour married, September 1, 1857, Elizabeth Sargent, who was born in Pike County, Ohio, a daughter of Thornton Williams and Elizabeth (Mustard) Sargent. She died July 29, 1911, aged seventy-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Rittenour reared three sons, namely : Thornton Sargent, James Milton, and Henry Francis. Thornton S. married Jennie Higbye, and they have one son, George Willey, who spent two years at the Ohio Wesleyan University, later graduated from the literary department of Yale, and was subsequently graduated from the law department of Harvard University. James M., the second son of the parental household, married Alberta Norton, and their only child, George Norton Rittenour, is a student in the Chillicothe High School. Henry 524 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Francis, the youngest son of Mr. Rittenour, married Eliza DuBois, and they have one child, Everett Francis, who is attending the Ohio Wesleyan University, being a member of the class of 1918. In his religious belief, Mr. Rittenour was a Methodist, both he and his wife having adhered to the faith in which they were reared. GILBERT E. ROBBINS, M. D. Identified with one of the most important and exacting as well as one of the most useful of professions, Gilbert E. Robbins, M. D., holds a noteworthy place among the leading citizens of Chillicothe and ranks high as an able and skillful physician. It was through his initiative that the first hospital was opened in Chillicothe. He founded the Ross County Anti-Tuberculosis Society, now the Ross County Welfare Society. His personal efforts were chiefly responsible for the building of the District Tuberculosis Hospital. Doctor Robbins is a member of the Ross County Academy of Medicine and an ex-president ; member of the Ohio State Medical Society, the Mississippi Valley Medical Association and the American Medical Association.He is ex-president of the Tenth District Medical Society and ex-president of the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. For three years he was a trustee of the Athens State Hospital, being appointed by Governor Harris in January, 1909. Born in the Village of Lubeck, Wood County, West Virginia, he comes of substantial New England ancestry, his paternal grandfather, Jonathan Robbins having been born and reared in New England, although he afterward moved to Orange County, New York, and from there to Wood County, West Virginia, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life of three score and ten years. Gilbert Robbins, father of Doctor Robbins, was born in 1832 in Orange County, New York, and as a young man served an apprenticeship at the wagonmaker's trade. He subsequently opened a shop in Lubeck, Wood County, Virginia, where he was engaged in the manufacture of wagons several years. During the progress of the. Civil war the village in which he lived and all that section of the country suffered frequent invasions from both armies, but as he had a crippled hand he could not enlist as a soldier in the army, but was made captain of a company of Home Guards. Coming to Ohio with his family in 1865, he bought land in Washington Township, Jackson County, and embarked in general farming. Several years later he removed to Chillicothe, where he lived retired from active business until his death in 1912, aged eighty years. His wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Leah Heaton, was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and since the death of her husband has made her home with her children. She reared a family of six sons and two daughters, as follows : Alfred L., deceased ; Lillie, Gilbert E., George K., James F., Ella, Charles and Nelson. With an elementary education acquired in the rural schools, and after advanced studies in the National Normal School at Lebanon, Gilbert E. Robbins began life as a school teacher when but sixteen years of age. During the ensuing ten years he alternately taught school and attended