750 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY the rural and village schools, and at the age of seventeen began teaching in Salt Creek Township of Hocking County. He proved a very successful educator and taught steadily until 1902, serving many communities during that time. His last term was taught in Adelphi, his present home. In the meantime he carried on the study of law, and at the conclusion of his last term of school was admitted to the bar and began practice at Adelphi. On April 10, 1890, Mr. Redfern married Miss Adele Floyd. She was born at South Perry, Ohio, daughter of George W. and Mary Floyd. Mr. and Mrs. Redfern have four children, Emery W., Audrey M., Paul L. and Mary M. The son Emery, who was educated in Adelphi and at Baldwin University at Berea, and in the Cleveland Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1913, and is now associated with his father in handling a large and important practice at Adelphi. Audrey, the second child, graduated from the Adelphi High School, and after one term of experience as a teacher, married Pearl D. Armstrong, a farmer in Pickaway County. Mr. and Mrs. Redfern are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with and is past master of Adelphi Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; past grand of Adelphi Lodge of Odd Fellows, and is past chancellor commander of Adelphi Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. FRED L. LUTZ. The record of a very old and prominent Ohio family can be written under the name of Fred L. Lutz, who for many years has been successfully identified with Ross County agriculture and is now living in Green Township. He was born in Union Township of this county February 19, 1865. His emigrant American ancestor was Michael Lutz, who settled in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, as early as 1730. The small tract of land which he bought in that county was located on the south side of the Lehigh River, not far from its mouth. That was the scene of his activities until his death. In the next generation comes Ulrich Lutz, who died in 1790. His wife, Elizabeth Deis, who died in 1818, was the daughter of parents who were born in Zwebrucken, Germany. Jacob Lutz, great-grandfather of Fred L., was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and after his marriage rented a small house near his father, but over the county line in Lehigh County. In 1790 he bought a farm of 400 acres in the Shamokin Valley in Northumberland County, lived there about four years, and, selling his land, bought a farm of 200 acres in Buffalo Valley. In 1799 Jacob Lutz and a neighbor made a tour of the Northwest Territory, coming as far as Chillicothe. After that he continued to live at his old home in Pennsylvania until 1802, when he came out to Ohio to make a permanent settlement. He and his family made the entire journey overland with teams. His choice of location was in Salt Creek Township of Pickaway County. The first home of the family there was a small cabin, where they lived during the winter, but in the next spring moved into a larger house on the HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 751 east part of the farm. The widowed mother and five of her sons came with Jacob Lutz to Salt Creek Township. His industry and good judgment brought him a large success for that generation, and he was able to give land to each of his sons. His death occurred September 4, 1824. Jacob Lutz was married about 1787 to Elizabeth Demuth, of German descent. Hon. Samuel Lutz, grandfather of Fred L., was born in 'Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1789, and was thirteen years of age when brought to Ohio. He had many qualities which made him a natural leader and a forceful factor in this early country. He acquired a good education and for many years followed the business of surveying. He was also very successful as a farmer, acquired large tracts of land sufficient to give each of his nine children a farm. A wholesome, temperate life, filled with industry, came to a close with his death at the age of one hundred and one years and five months. In public affairs he was prominent, filled a number of positions in his home county and was several times elected a member of the State Legislature. He married Elizabeth Featherolf, who was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Their nine children were Samuel G., Harriet, Catherine, Isaac, John, Lydia, George, Mary and Rachel. In the next generation of this interesting family is Isaac Lutz, who was born in Salt Creek Township of Pickaway County, May 10, 1823. Until he was ten years of age he spoke only the German language. An English school supplied his subsequent training, and he was quite well educated and also applied habits of industry at home. When married, his father gave him a farm in Union Township of Ross County, and there he brought his bride and started housekeeping in a hewed log house. His years were also passed with a growing increase in material wealth, and his surplus was invested in lands, not only in Union Township of Ross County, but also in Pickaway County and in the states of Iowa and Kansas. His holdings at one time amounted to nearly 2,000 acres. On the home farm in Ross County he surrounded himself with all the comforts of life, and lived there until his death, December 19, 1914, in his ninety-second year. His first wife, Mary Spangler, whom he married January 26, 1846, was born in Salt Creek Township of Pickaway County and died in 1847. On September 13, 1855, Isaac Lutz married Susan Barton. She was born at Yellowbud January 22, 1838. Her father, Levi Barton, was born at Mifflin, Pike County, Ohio, May 23, 1811, and her grandfather, John Barton was a native of Virginia, married Susan Bryan, and came to Ohio about the year 1800, being one of the pioneer settlers of Pike County. A tract of timbered land was converted by his industry into a good farm, and it remained his home until his death. Levi Barton had to make the best of limited opportunities in such schools as were found in Pike County a century or more ago. He also had an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and on reaching his majority his father gave him a horse, saddle and bridle. With that equipment he went to Yellowbud, and set up in business as a contractor and builder. He studied architecture and always kept up with the 752 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY times. After the death of his wife he lived with Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Lutz, who cared for him in his old age. He married Eliza Ann Lee, who was born at Berryville, Virginia, a daughter of William and Jane Lee, who spent their lives in that old commonwealth. Eliza Ann was left an orphan and then came to Ohio to live with an aunt. She and Levi Barton reared five children, named Susan, Mary, John, George and Lida. Mr. Fred Lutz, who was born in Union Township February 19, 1865, was one of six children, the others being Ada J., Mary Eliza, Freeman Barton, Elizabeth and Florence. He grew up on a farm, and afterwards took the management of the old homestead, which he retained until 1914. In that year he left the farm in charge of his son-in-law and moved to Green Township, where he now has one of the splendid country estates of that locality. It has excellent buildings and is conveniently located as to the road from Kingston to Chillicothe. In 1892 Mr. Lutz married Mandane Dick, who was born in Pick-away County, daughter of Jackson and Margaret (Bolin) Dick. Mr. and Mrs. Lutz have two children, Florence Margaret and Mary Suse. The daughter Margaret is the wife of Price Ashbrook, and they have a son, Fred Lutz Ashbrook. FRANK HOLDERMAN. One of the oldest and most prominent families of Colerain Township is represented by Frank Holderman, who has spent practically all his life on the farm that he now owns and occupies. Mr. Holderman was reared and educated in this township, and since reaching manhood has been closely identified with the farming and stock raising interests of the locality. His birth occurred on the farm where he now lives on April 23, 1853. One of the very early settlers in the township was his grandfather, David Holderman, a native of Pennsylvania. At one time he owned and occupied a stone house located on section 2, but spent his last years in Hallsville and died there at a good old age. His four sons were Oliver, Elihu, Francis and Levi. Elihu Holderman was born in Colerain Township April 25, 1820, and was for many years a conspicuous figure in the farming life and enterprise and good citizenship of that section of Ross County. Reared to the life of a farmer, about three years after his marriage he bought a place on section 9 of Colerain Township. It contained a log house and stable, but aside from a few acres cleared, it was almost in the condition that nature had left it. In 1860 he built a brick house, and that was only one of the evidences of his increasing prosperity. Few of his contemporaries were more successful in raising the fruits of the soil and in managing their sale and his farm more efficiently. He gradually extended his holdings as a land owner, until his ownership comprised upwards of 700 acres, all situated in Colerain Township. He lived on his home farm there until his death on July 29, 1910. In 1845 Elihu Holderman married Mary Karshner, a daughter of Daniel and Rebecca (Flannigan) Karshner. Mrs. Elihu Holderman HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 753 died at the age of sixty-four. Her two children were Frank and Susan. The daughter Susan married Lewis K. Cryder. Frank Holderman as a boy spent his life on his father's farm, gained an education in the district schools and learned how to apply his efforts successfully to all phases of farm management. After reaching his majority he located on one of his father's outlying farms, and operated that until 1911, when he returned to the old homestead in section 9, and has since occupied his energies with its management and has brought about some further improvement in its condition. In January, 1873, Mr. Holderman married Matilda Reed. Mrs. Holderman was born in Hocking County, Ohio, a daughter of Alfred and Mary (Giberson) Reed, early settlers of that part of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Holderman have the following children : Leota, Alda, Arrie, Stella, Howard, Charles and Guy. Leota married C. N. Clark, and their two children are Freida and Hugh. Alda married George Hinton and is the mother of three children, named Merle, Iva and Marvin. Arrie is the wife of George DeLong and has five children, Darrell, Carl, Wayne, Kenneth and Charles. Stella is the wife of Rowland Pontius, and they have one child, named Zola. Howard married Leota Waite, and has three children, Juanita, Lester and Gerald. Mrs. Holderman, the mother of these children, is an active member of the United Brethren Church. HENRY WILLIAM ARLEDGE. Half a century ago Henry William Arledge bought the fine homestead in section 17 of Green Township which he occupies at the present time. There have been few more successful farmers in Ross County than Mr. Arledge. He began his career working at wages on farms, and with developing experience has turned his efforts to good account in almost every undertaking in which he has been engaged. He now has a splendid property, and is justly accounted one of the best-known and most highly esteemed citizens of Ross County. He was born in Vinton County, Ohio, in 1832, and has long passed his eightieth birthday. His father, Isaac Arledge, was born in North Carolina and came with his parents to Ohio, settling in Vinton County in the very early days. Isaac Arledge made the best of his meager opportunities when a boy to obtain an education, and so successfully did he pursue his studies that he was well qualified for teaching, and taught for several years. When not teaching he was engaged in farming. He finally bought a homestead in the northwest part of Vinton County, and occupied that until his death when upwards of seventy years of age. Isaac Arledge married Mollie Morrison, who was also a native of North Carolina, and spent her last days in Vinton County, Ohio. She reared nine children, James, Susanne, Isaac, Elizabeth, Huldah, Melinda, John, Jesse and Henry William. The sons Isaac and John were both soldiers in the Union army in the Civil war. Henry William Arledge spent his early life in Vinton County. After gaining a fair education he left home and started the battle of life as a farm laborer at monthly wages. In the fall of 1853, when he was twenty- 754 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY one years of age, he went, out to Missouri and spent the winter in feeding cattle, and for six months was engaged in farming. On returning to Ohio he continued work by the month, and by much thrift and self-denial accumulated a small capital. During that time he made his first purchase of land. It was in Vinton County, and he paid 121/2 cents an acre for a quarter section, or 160 acres. After keeping this land two years and making some improvements, he sold at $1 an acre. Since 1858 Mr. Arledge has been a resident of Ross County. Here for seven years he continued employment by the month, but then bought 141 acres in section 17, the purchase price being $50 an acre. In a half century that land has been wonderfully improved and has increased correspondingly in value. He still lives there and it has been the center and stage of his best achievements. His farm, which is well cultivated and has a group of substantial buildings, is 21/9 miles southeast of Kingston. Through his success as a farmer Mr. Arledge has reared and educated a family of ten children, has bought other tracts of land from time to time, and now has upwards of 350 acres. In November, 1859, while still a struggling worker in the field of agricultural enterprise, he married Miss Elizabeth Huffman. She was born in Ross County, a daughter of Adam and Catherine (Polen) Huffman. Mrs. Arledge died in 1892. In 1893 he married her sister, Mrs. Mary (Huffman) Scott. Her father, Adam Huffman, was left an orphan at a very early age, and was bound out to live with a farmer in Vinton County, where he grew to manhood. After his marriage he settled in Ross County, lived there until late in life, and spent his last days near Urbana in Champaign County. His first wife, Catherine Polen, and the mother of both the Mrs. Arledges, died in 1860, at the age of forty-five. He afterwards married Elizabeth Root, who survived him. Mrs. Arledge was one of ten children : Elizabeth, Samuel, Francis, Joseph, Adam, John, Emanuel, Mary, William and Wilson. Three of the sons, Francis, Samuel and Joseph, were soldiers in the Union army. The present Mrs. Arledge first married Samuel Scott. He was born in Champaign County, Ohio, a son of William and Ruth Scott, who were either natives of Scotland or of Scotch parentage. Samuel Scott spent his early life as a farmer, but afterwards was in the real estate business at Springfield and Urbana, and died in the latter city at the age of forty-seven, leaving three children : Clifford, Frederick and Ethel. By his first marriage Mr. Arledge had eleven children : Herschel, Catherine, Francis, Ellen, William H., Emanuel, Clara, George, Guy, Luther and Edward. The son Herschel married Vinie Barnhart, and their four children are Frederick, Ray, Grace and Arthur. Catherine married Addison Stevenson and has five children, named Mabel, Gail, Walter, George and Elizabeth. Francis married Lettie Garrett, and their children are Grace and Mary. Ellen is the wife of George Stout, and her five children are Ralph, Grover, Esther, Goldie and Elizabeth. Emanuel, by his marriage to Ellen Fry, has the following children : Maude, Walter, Ernest, Roland, Mary. Clara married Earl Carmean, and at her death left two children, Olie and Bertha. George married HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 755 Emma Ginther, and has five children : Nellie, Russell, Lucy, George and William. Guy married Annie Ginther, and their five children are Richard, Nettie, Edith, Tillie and Joseph. Luther married Flora Smith, and their children are Mervin, Bernice, Ralph. Edward, the youngest child, married Grace Reed, and their children are Leona, Merle, Carl, Paul. Thus, besides his large family of children, Mr. Arledge is surrounded by grandchildren to the number of forty or more. Mrs. Arledge by her first marriage to Mr. Scott also has grandchildren. Clifford Scott married Annie Reed; Fred Scott married Belle Vest and has a daughter, Mary Edna; and Ethel Scott married Clarence Moore, and their three children are Madge and Agnes, twins, and Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Arledge are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. JESSE JONES. One of the oldest and most substantial families of Ross County is represented by Jesse Jones, who has had a long and useful career in farming and who looks after an extensive acreage in Green Township, both as a manager and as an owner. Mr. Jones was born in Harrison Township of Ross County June 26, 1859. One of the pioneers of Harrison Township was his grandfather, Abel Jones, who came when that part of the county was in all its wilderness condition. Acquiring a tract of timbered land, he gave his energies to its clearing and cultivation until his death. John W. Jones, father of Jesse, was born in Harrison Township of Ross County in 1827. When he was a boy there were no public schools in Ohio, and he attended such schools as were maintained by community co-operation and by subscription. Many other affairs were conducted in a very primitive style. His mother did all the cooking by the open fireplace, and wool and flax were grown, which the housewives carded and spun and made into cloth, from which were fashioned the garments worn by members of the family. John W. Jones grew up to a life of usefulness and honor. He succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead, and many years ago erected there a hewed log house which was 11/2 stories high and at that time was considered one of the best homesteads in the township. In May, 1864, he enlisted for service in Company D of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth foro Infantry, and was out foi 100 days, going to Virginia and taking part in several battles and skirmishes before receiving his honorable discharge. After the war he resumed farming and cultivated the homestead until his death. John W. Jones married Sarah Leasure, who was born in Colerain Township of Ross County and likewise represented a family of pioneers. Her father, Thomas Leasure, was born near Bedford, Pennsylvania, and about 1814 came to Ohio, making the entire journey across the country with wagon and team. He located in Colerain Township and was there when its population was very sparse and when few improvements had been made. He himself improved a tract of land originally a wilderness and lived there until his death. Thomas Leasure married Hannah Luckhart, who survived her husband and attained the great age of one hundred years two months and two days. Both she and her husband are now at rest in 756 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY the Leasure Cemetery. Before coming out to Ohio, Thomas Leasure had fought as an American soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. John W. Jones reared seven children : Hannah, Silas A., Nancy, David W., Jesse, Margaret and Thomas W. Jesse Jones spent the first twenty-one years of his life on his father's farm, in the meantime getting a practical training in farming, and also attending the district schools. He worked by the month for a time, and then rented a small farm, and finally rented and became manager of the well-known Dresbach farm, which was later owned by Cyrus F. Pontius. Upon the death of Mr. Pontius, Mr. Jones became trustee of his estate, and has since managed the farm as trustee. In 1912 he bought a tract of sixty acres about a mile south of Kingston, has improved it with some substantial buildings, and his family now live there. In 1884 Mr. Jones married Ida B. Luckhart. She was born in Cole-rain Township of Ross County, a daughter of Nelson L. and Mary (Strawser) Luckhart. Nelson Luckhart was born in Colerain Township, a son of John Luckhart, a native of Pennsylvania, who had settled in Colerain Township among the pioneers, and developed a tract of timbered land which he bought in the east part of the township, until • it comprised a very comfortable farm. That was his home until his death at the age of seventy-six. Nelson Luckhart grew up on that homestead, and began his independent career as a renter. After his marriage he located on the Strawser homestead, in section 22, and continued general farming until his death at the age of sixty-eight. His wife, Mary Strawser, was born in Colerain Township, a daughter of John and Hannah (Cutshawl) Strawser. Mrs. Luckhart now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Jong have a son, Clarence F. His early education was acquired in the rural schools, and later he attended the Kingston High School. Much of his active career has been spent in teaching, and he made his mark in that work. In 1907 lie taught his first term in the Pleasant Grove District, and remained there two years. Following that he took a commercial course at Columbus, and then resumed teaching at Sulphur Lake for one term, spent another three-year period at Pleasant Grove, then taught one term in the grammar, school of Kinnikinick, and has since been engaged in farming in association with his father. Clarence Jones was elected a justice of the peace in 1912, serving one year, and in 1913 was elected township trustee and re-elected in 1915. He is a member of Lodge No. 419, Knights of Pythias, and is past and present grand chancellor of that lodge. He married Florence Richter. JOHN H. WEST. It is no small distinction to have lived ninety-two years. When the living of so many years is accompanied by good works, honorable achievement, integrity and probity of character, such a life counts for a great deal. Recently John H. West of Green Township in Ross County celebrated his ninety-first birthday. He has a host of recollections and associations covering more than three-quarters of a HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 757 century. He has also established a worthy line of progeny, and he is now a great-grandfather. His life began at Newmarket in Frederick County, Maryland, December 20, 1825. His father John West was born at Mount Airy in Frederick County, Maryland, and his grandfather Charles West at one time owned and operated two farms including the site of Mount Airy. Charles West was a tobacco planter, but in later years turned his attention largely to the cultivation of fruit. John West in his youth served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade and was first in business for himself at Newmarket and afterwards at Fredericktown. As was the custom of the times, much of his work was done in an itinerant manner. He visited all the plantations in his section, carrying his tools with him, and employed his skill in putting all the farm implements in the best of order. Late in life he moved to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, five miles west of Fredericktown, and in those peaceful and beautiful surroundings spent his last days. The maiden name of his wife was Annie Sayne. They reared nine children : Upton, Mary Ann, Susanne, Joseph, John H., William, Dennis, Isabel and Henry. While growing up near Fredericktown, Maryland, John S. West was a witness of some of the beginnings which have transformed modern civilization. In 1835 when a boy of ten years of age he rode on the first engine owned and operated by the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. This engine was built in 1832 and more than eighty years later, in 1914, it was exhibited during the carnival at Chillicothe. Probably Mr. West at that time was the only one who had witnessed it when it was first in operation drawing a few primitive cars along a wooden track in the East. Again Mr. West was invited to ride on the engine and he delivered an interesting address to the assembled audience, telling them what he knew of the early history of the Baltimore & Ohio road. When he was sixteen he left his father's home and went to Harper's Ferry, where in 1841 he assisted in building a bridge across the Potomac River. From Harper's Ferry he crossed the Alleghenies to Charleston, West Virginia, and served an apprenticeship in the woodworking department of a wagon factory. Having completed his apprenticeship his first location was at Leestown, where he served out his term in learning the blacksmith's trade. It was in 1850 that Mr. West first came to Chillicothe, Ohio. Up to that time his highest salary had been $3 a month and board. He liked the situation of Chillicothe and determined to make his work there at least for several years. He called upon a Mr. Hitchins, the principal blacksmith of the town, and offered to work a month for his board. His services were accepted, and at the end of the month Mr. Hitchins presented him with $12 in cash and offered him permanent employment. However, this was not in line with his ambitious plans. He had the enterprise and the skill but lacked capital. Another blacksmith in town offered to sell him his tools and goodwill for $100. In the meantime he had gained the confidence and friendship of a number of local citizens, and a young man named George Fells had $50 in capital while a brother Vol. II-18 758 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Odd Fellow, who was then in the tailoring business, offered to lend Mr. West .$50. Thus was started and established the firm of West & Fells. At that time Chillicothe had no railroad, but was the flourishing center of diverging routes over which thirty-five stage lines traveled, and that made Chillicothe the equivalent of a great railroad center of modern times. The firm of West & Fells soon contracted for the shoeing of the horses and the making of repairs on the stage coaches and carried on a very prosperous business. In 1860 Mr. West sold his share in the business to his brother and bought a farm in Green Township. He was engaged in general farming there until 1884, when leaving his son in charge he moved out to Clark County, Illinois, purchasing 321 acres of land. For the next eleven years he was a farmer and stock raiser in Illinois, but in 1895 returned to his old place in Green Township of Ross County and has lived there in prosperity and ease for the last twenty years. In 1852 Mr. West married Mary Carmean, who was born in Scioto Township of Ross County and who died in 1853, the year following her marriage. For his second wife Mr. West married her sister, Martha Carmean, who was born in Scioto Township July 30, 1836. Her father, Judge Carmean, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, a son of John Carmean, a native of the same state. John Carmean was a pioneer of Ross County, Ohio, came in the very early days, accompanied by his wife and some seven or eight children, and by several other families. The journey was made across the mountains and through Eastern Ohio by wagon and team. A cart carried all the household possessions of the Carmean family and at night they camped out by the roadside. They were early settlers in Pickaway County, where John Carmean secured land and improved a farm. He and his wife Nancy are both buried in the Salem churchyard. The father of Mrs. West was seven or eight years of age when brought to Ohio. At that time all the country was a wilderness, and the settlers secured their meat almost entirely from the wild game that filled the forest. No railroads were here for a number of years, and there were no convenient markets. Those who had cleared land and raised crops shipped the surplus grain down the rivers on flat boats. After his marriage Mrs. West's father settled in Scioto Township and engaged his time in the clearing and tilling of the soil there. Mrs. West's mother was Mary Dehaven, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Harmon Dehaven, who moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1805 and improved a farm in Green Township. The maiden name of his wife was Magdalene Gearhart. Both are buried in the White Church cemetery. Mrs. West's mother was a typical pioneer housewife. She learned to cook by the open fire, also carded and spun and wove the cloth used for the family clothing. To vary the color of this cloth she used walnut hulls to make a brown tint and apple tree bark for a yellow color. Mr. and Mrs. West reared a fine family of children. Two of their sons, John M. and Jesse, both died at the age of twenty-two. Irene May married Charles W. May and lives at Crockett, Houston County, Texas, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 759 and their two daughters are Grace and Essie. Grace May is the wife of Peter M. Jensen and has a son named Charles A. Mary, the second oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. West, married Seymour Shanton and they live in Green Township of Ross County, their three children being Gaylord, Ronald and Marthena. Zorah, the third child, married Charles Elder, who is now deceased, and Mrs. Elder has taken a homestead in Scott County, Arkansas. Pearl, the fourth child, married Mary Ebenback, and their two sons are Arthur and Ralph. Of these Arthur West, grandson of Mr. John H. West, married Marie Hutchins, and their son is named John Arthur; while Ralph, another grandson of Mr. West, married Anna Belle Denton, and has a son Robert. This child Robert in 1916 had living one grandfather, two grandmothers, two great-grandfathers and two great-grandmothers. Olive, the fifth of Mr. and Mrs. West's children, married Jacob Daster and has two children named Genevieve and Marjorie. Martha, the youngest, is still living at home with her venerable parents. Mr. and Mrs. West are among the very oldest members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church at Chillicothe. Mrs. West joined the church at the age of thirteen and Mr. West has been a member since 1850. In early manhood in 1847, he also became affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has kept up his affiliations ever since. WILLIAM R. DAILY. Scioto Township in Ross County has no more progressive and energetic farmer that William R. Daily. Mr. Daily was trained to farming as a boy, has made it a real business and has not only cultivated his fields with a maximum of return, but has been both a careful and judicious buyer and seller. He was born in Seal Township of Pike County, Ohio, November 17, 1858. His grandfather was a native of Virginia and one of the early settlers in Pike County. His father, Ralph Daily, who was also born in Pike County, grew up on a farm and made agriculture the basis of his life's pursuit. He lived a long and useful career and died in the eighty-seventh year of his life. His wife was Emily J. Cross. She died at the age of sixty-seven, having reared the following children : Catherine H., Mary Jane, Susan, John, Charles, Maria, Hannah, Daniel and William R. Another child, the first, died in infancy. Such opportunities as came for education and training in early youth William R. Daily wisely improved, and in addition to the district schools, he attended the Piketon High School. After years had matured his strength and given him some experience, he was associated with his father and brother in farming for a couple of years. Mr. Daily then rented the Sargent farm in Seal Township of Pike County, but in 1890 removed to Ross County and located on the Massie land in Scioto Township. Since then for a period of more than a quarter of a century he has successfully cultivated a large farm there, and is now operating 350 acres. In 1885 Mr. Daily married Mary Landrum. They lived happily together for more than fifteen years, and Mrs. Daily died in 1901. For his second wife Mr. Daily married Emma Breunig. She was born in 760 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Cincinnati, and her father, Herman Marauth, was born in Germany, located in Cincinnati on coming to America, and died there when Mrs. Daily was only two years of age. Her mother, whose maiden name was Caroline Weekly, afterwards married Mr. Breunig, and Mrs. Daily took the name Breunig and was known as Emma Breunig until her marriage. By his first wife Mr. Daily had eight children, named May, Claude, Edwin, Parker, Merle, Hazel, Robert and Edna. There is one daughter by the second marriage, Beatrice Geneva. Of his older children, his daughter May is the wife of Edward Cook, and they have a daughter named Helen. The son Claude married Lona Sanger. Edwin married Minnie Broft, and his three children are May, Dolorie and Edwin. GEORGE W. FRY. One of the old and honorable families of Ohio bears the name Fry, and it was founded in Vinton County by the grandfather of Prof. George W. Fry, a representative citizen of Ross County, now a prominent resident of Richmond Dale. Grandfather Fry was a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He and his family assisted in the early development of Vinton County and made honorable names for themselves among the pioneers of that time. He served in the War of 1812. George W. Fry, who has spent a large portion of his useful life in the educational field, was born January 8, 1838, in Vinton County, Ohio. His parents were Isaac and Hannah (Wyatt) Fry. The father was born in 1812 near Chillicothe, Ohio, but was reared near McArthur in Vinton County, to which place his parents moved in 1816. He was occupied during life in the pursuits of agriculture. In 1831 he was married to Hannah Wyatt, who was born in Vinton County, and in 1841 they moved to Jackson County and there passed the rest of their lives. They were the parents of a vigorous family of eleven children, seven of these still surviving. The early education of George W. Fry was secured in the primitive log schoolhouse that was near his father's farm. He was yet young when he was permitted to teach in the district school, his first certificate bearing the date of December 5, 1857. He took a course in Gilmor's Academy, at Jackson, Ohio, and afterward alternated going to school and teaching until 1864, when he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a private in Company K, Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of the war and was honorably discharged October 9, 1865. In the state militia in 1863 he served as first lieutenant, Company I, First Regiment, Jackson County, when General Morgan made his spectacular raids in Ohio. After his military life closed, Mr. Fry returned to Ohio and resumed his educational work, in 1894 receiving a life certificate through a state examination. Keeping thoroughly abreast with the times, Professor Fry for many years afterward continued an important factor in the teaching field, continuing active until 1913. In his fifty years' teaching he has been the principal of schools of Berlin and Wellston in Jackson County, Ohio; Hamden and Zaleski in Vinton County, Ohio; Wheelers-burg in Scioto County, Ohio; Frankfort, Adelphi, Bainbridge, and HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 761 Richmond Dale in Ross County, Ohio. In addition he has also taught rural and select schools. He was appointed school examiner of Jackson County in 1872 and served under three appointments. He visited the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, the Cotton Exposition at Ncw Orleans in 1885, the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, and the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon, in 1905, and also visited various points in the Pacific States, including Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa grove- of big trees. Mr. Fry has been in thirty-two states and the District of Columbia. Although independent in his political affiliation, he has frequently been called on by his fellow citizens to serve in responsible positions. He was township clerk of Milton Township for some years, at present is a notary public and for almost thirteen years has been a justice of the peace. On March 8, 1866, Professor Fry was married to Miss Minerva Phillips, who died April 21, 1868, leaving one son, Charles, who is now a resident of California. On March 30, 1887, Professor Fry was married to Miss Ella M. Feurt, who was born in Scioto County, Ohio. Mrs. Fry was a popular teacher at that time, holding a state certificate, for life, and was well known in educational circles. They have one daughter, Georgia, residing at home. Professor Fry and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are hospitably inclined and their many friends find a welcome in their beautiful home at Richmond Dale. Professor Fry belongs to Fenton Post No. 316, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is chaplain, and to Adelphi Lodge No. 527, Free and Accepted Masons. O. E. SIGLER. It is as the owner and operator of one of the finest farms in Jefferson Township that O. E. Sigler is best known. For thirty years or more he has devoted all his time and energies to farming, and is a man who possesses to an unusual degree the faculty of being able to get along well in the world. While the activities of home and farm have always kept him busy, he has not neglected the public welfare and has given some capable service in public office. His farm consists of four hundred acres of timber and grazing land. His homestead is located a quarter mile east of Richmond Dale on the Jackson Road. It was on that farm that he was born November 18, 1862, a son of George and Elizabeth (Deshler) Sigler. On both sides he represents some of the early stock of Southern Ohio. His father, George, was born on an adjoining farm in Ross County, March 7, 1832. The Grandfather John Sigler was also a native of Ross County. The Siglers before coming to America were German people and in the old country the name was spelled Ziegler. They first located in Pennsylvania, and from there came to Ohio. Elizabeth Deshler, mother of 0. E. Sigler, was born near Athens in the Ohio county of that name on June 21, 1834. Her father was Christopher Deshler. She was visiting in Ross County when she met George Sigler and their acquaintance ripened into affection and eventually they married. They first located on a small part of 762 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY what is now the Sigler homestead. George Sigler was a carpenter by trade, and until he owned sufficient land to require his entire attention he followed his trade, but the last twenty-five years of his life were spent on the farm. He prospered, and in many ways was one of Ross County's leading citizens. He was one of the most active workers in the Methodist Church of his community. He and his wife had three children, and Mr. 0. E. Sigler is the only one now living. The oldest was Emily Luella, who died when six or eight years of age. The youngest, Effie D., was born in 1872 and died in 1889. Mr. O. E. Sigler, while living at home on the farm, attended the district schools and laid the foundation of a substantial education. Since early manhood his enterprise has been directed along the line of operating the mill by which he and his father for many years worked up some of their own timber and did custom work for their neighbors, and in season he ground feed meal and managed home affairs in a general way. He is one of the men who has made himself a helpful factor in Ross County. Since early youth he has been a member of the Methodist Church, and is one of the official board of his home church. For the past four years he has held the office of township treasurer, and has been quite active in republican politics. By a former marriage Mr. Sigler is the father of two children : Miriam, wife of Leon Brant of Wakefield, Ohio ; Florence, wife of Frank Kelley of Circleville, Ohio. On July 4, 1907, Mr. Sigler married, for his present wife, Miss Anna Laura Kinney. She was born in Vinton County, Ohio, a daughter of Perry and Ann (Walker) Kinney. Her father was born in Jackson Township of Vinton County, February 25, 1847, and was of Scotch descent, while his wife, Ann Walker, was of combined Irish and English stock. Ann Walker's father was born in England, and was brought, when eight years of age, to Maryland and he subsequently became a settler in Muskingum County, Ohio, and from there moved to Vinton County. Mrs. Sigler, who is the oldest of her parents' ten children now living, grew up in Vinton County near Eagle Mills, and by attendance at the district school and by home study prepared herself for work as teacher. She first taught in Friendsville, Blount "County, Tennessee, and remained there thirty months. Returning to Ohio 04 took a normal course at Chillicothe in 1901, and for two years taught in Scioto Township. She accepted her next school in Richmond Dale, and during the two years spent there she became acquainted with her future husband. Afterward she became matron of the Home for Friendless Girls at Columbus, Ohio, resigning her position to marry Mr. Sigler. Mr. and Mrs. Sigler have one daughter, Elizabeth Lorraine, who was born August 30, 1909, and is now in school. HIRAM E. BROWN. One of the oldest homesteads in Greene Township is that occupied by Hiram E. Brown, who was born on the place where he still resides, had it as the scene of his early associations, and later as the stage of his material activities as a farmer and stockman. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 763 He is one of the most honored and respected citizens of that portion of Ross County. He was born there July 19, 1878. His father, Hiram E. Brown, Sr., was born in Springfield Township of Ross County and the grandparents were among the earliest settlers in that locality. The father grew up on a farm and, lived in Springfield Township until 1842. He then identified himself with the westward movement, and set out for the territory of Iowa. In that early year there were practically no railroads west of the Allegheny Mountains, and his journey beyond the Mississippi was accomplished by wagon and team. His little family accompanied him and there were many incidents and adventures which have been handed down as part of the family tradition. In Iowa everything was new and primitive. Nearly all the land was still owned by the government and could be had by settlers at a dollar and a quarter an acre. Hiram Brown, Sr., bought some, land in Des Moines County, but after a year on that portion of the western frontier sold out and returned to Ross County. Here he bought the land in Green Township where his son and namesake now resides. The land when he first occupied it had among its few improvements a log cabin that had previously been used for a stable. The building had no floor, and he carpeted it, with straw, and thus provided something in the way of a comfortable habitation for the family during their first winter. His work as an axman in clearing away the forest began as soon as he purchased the land and had settled his family, and as a result of his labors continued year after year he improved the greater part of the 300 acres and erected some very substantial buildings, some of which are still standing. Hiram E. Brown, Sr., died in 1885. He was three times married. His third wife, the mother of Hiram E. Brown, Jr., was Sarah Andrews. She was born at Waverly, Pike County, Ohio, and died at the age of forty-nine, leaving five children, named William, Norah Blanche, Hiram E., Pearl, and May. By his first marriage the father reared one daughter, named Sarah J., and there were two daughters by his second union, Ida and Anna. Reared in Ross County, Hiram E. Brown had such education as the district schools could afford, but his real preparation for manhood came in performing as strength permitted the duties of the household. He lived with his mother, and succeeded to the ownership of the old place, and for years has profitably conducted it as a farm and as a place to raise stock. On March 18, 1903, Mr. Brown married Maude Blaine Dearth. She was born in Vinton County, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Allen) Dearth. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two children, Hiram E., and Thelma Mae. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. EDWIN E. SPENCE has been identified with the farming interests of Ross and Pickaway counties for a quarter of a century, and has made something more than a local reputation as a breeder of thoroughbred 764 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY livestock. He has one of the very fine farms in Greene Township of Ross County and is a citizen whose ability in business affairs and strict probity are factors for good in any locality. He was born near Vernon, Kent County, Delaware, November 12, 1861. His grandfather, Elias Spence, owned and operated a farm in Kent County and probably spent all his life there. He married a Miss Graham. Emory Spence, father of Edwin E., was also born in Kent County, Delaware, in 1835, grew up on a farm, and after some years as a farmer died, at the early age of thirty-five, in 1869. The maiden name of his wife was Anna E. Smith, who was born in Delaware. Her father, Col. John Wesley Smith, commanded a Delaware regiment in the Union army, but aside from his war service was a farmer in Delaware throughout his career. Mr. Spence's mother, after the death of Emory Spence, married again and now lives near Hobbs, Maryland. Edwin E. Spence has a sister, Alice, who is the wife of Harry Pickett of Philadelphia, while another sister, Anna, married B. T. Steedars of Maryland. His only brother, William, lives in Champaign County, Ohio. Reared on a farm in Kent County, Delaware, Edwin E. Spence when not in school was busied with the varied responsibilities about the home farm. In 1887 he came to Ohio, and for several years was employed in farming in Ross County. After his marriage he moved to Pickaway County and rented land for several years. Mr. Spence had the foresight and good judgment to recognize that the best profits in farming lies in the raising of first class stock. He soon made a start on a modest scale in the breeding of Poland China hogs. In 1901 he introduced Shorthorn cattle and the distinctive part of his record has been concerned with the breeding and handling of livestock. Mr. Spence continued his operations as a stockman in Jackson Township of Pickaway County until 1908, when he returned to Ross County and located on the Kellenberger farm in Green Township. Since then he has worked up a large business in the breeding of swine, 'cattle and poultry. On February 18, 1886, Mr. Spence married Jessie Goldsberry, who was born in Deerfield Township of Ross County. Her father, George W. Goldsberry, was born in Concord Township, a son of Jeremiah and Ann (Plyley) Goldsberry, who were pioneers in that locality of Ross County. George W. Goldsberry married Mary J. Crumpton, who was born in Sussex County, Delaware, a daughter of Jonathan and Ann (Graham) Crumpton, who came to Ross County as early as 1833, locating in Union Township. Mr. and Mrs. Spence have always taken a very active part in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has served as superintendent of its Sunday school and as recording steward. CHARLES GOODMAN. The rewards of a long and useful life have come to Charles Goodman, who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday. These fourscore years have been lived in Ross County, and his own achievements and character have been in keeping with the splendid HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 765 record maintained by the Goodman family in this country for more than a century. It was several years before the close of the eighteenth century, and when Ohio was included in the great Northwest Territory, that his ancestors first came to Ross County and settled in what is now Green Township. His great-grandmother, Catherine (Gouger) Goodman, was the first white woman who is definitely known to have come within the limits of Ross County. She was born in New Jersey in 1732, went as a child with her parents to the wilds of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and when a young girl she and a younger brother were stolen by the Indians. Her brother was cruelly murdered, but she was kept and well treated by the Indians, though retained as a captive for five years. During that time her captors remained in camp in what is now Ross County, and years afterward she recognized the place when she returned to Ross County to make it her permanent home. Afterward she spent three years in Canada with some French traders and was then released and returned to Pennsylvania. In the meantime her father had been slain by the Indians and her mother had disappeared, and she lived with friends until her marriage. She married George Goodman, great-grandfather of Charles Goodman. George Goodman was a native of Germany and had come to America in pioneer times settling in Berks County, Pennsylvania. After his death Catherine Goodman moved with her son John to Ohio, and lived there until her death in 1801. Her remains were laid to rest on her son's farm in Green Township, and quite recently her great-grandchildren erected a monument to mark the site. John Goodman, grandfather of Charles. Goodman, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and about 1797 came to Ross County and selected land in Green Township. He afterward built a commodious house and used it for purposes of an inn. It was an early hostelry which entertained a host of travelers in early days, and among them some noted personages, including President Monroe and General Hull. There John Goodman died in 1830, and his wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Shoch, also a native of Pennsylvania, passed away in 1825. Daniel Goodman, father of Charles, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and was only an infant when his parents moved to Ohio. He grew in the midst of such means and environments as belonged to the western frontier. He had Indians as playmates, and all the wild animals of the forest were around the little home in which he spent his childhood. Neither railroads nor canals were built through this part of Ohio until after he was grown. For some years he and his brother, David, whose descendants are also found in Ross County, were in the transportation business, taking produce from the Scioto, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, where they sold their cargo and also the flatboats, and then returned north by such means as they could avail themselves of. They also took cattle and hogs across the mountains to Philadelphia and New York markets. At that time corn sold in the home markets for from twelve to eighteen cents a bushel. Daniel Good- 766 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY man was a very successful trader, farmer and business man, invested heavily in local real estate, and at one time owned more than a thousand acres in Greene Township. His death occurred at the age of seventy years. Daniel Goodman married Elizabeth Charles. Her father, Jacob Charles, was among the pioneer settlers of Green Township and improved land just east of the Goodman estate, where he lived until his death. His remains are now at rest in the Crouse Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Goodman reared a family of twelve children : Harriet, John, Jeremiah, Josiah, Daniel, Charles, Elizabeth, James, Alfred, Sarah, Nancy E., and Samuel. One of this large family of children, Charles Goodman, was born in Green Township of Ross County, February 18, 1836. Andrew Jackson was still president of the United States when he was born. He has witnessed all the remarkable transformations and improvements recorded during the fourscore years and he has witnessed improvement in transportation from the canal boat to the flying machine. The first school he attended was held in a log house, and he submitted himself to the primitive curriculum taught the boys and girls of that time. He also exercised his growing strength in such tasks as were assigned to him at home, and grew up to a useful and' vigorous manhood. After the age of twenty-one he worked in his father's employ for a time at monthly wages, and at the death of his father received a hundred acres of land. He has been steadily identified with agriculture and stock raising in Greene Township for half a century or more, and now has a place of 200 acres, one of the best homesteads in that township. In 1876 he married Elizabeth Garrett, who was born in Ross County and is a sister of Silas Garrett, under whose name more details concerning the Garrett family history will be found. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman have reared three children : Sarah, Floyd, and Florence. Mrs. Goodman and her daughter, Florence, are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Goodman and his son are affiliated with Chillicothe Lodge No. 6, Free and Accepted Masons. OLIVER NEWTON GRIMES. While Ross County is one of the oldest agricultural sections of the state, it is not behind hand in the introduction of modern equipment and apparatus for the working of the land. In this county may be found some of the most progressive farmers in America. One of them is Oliver Newton Grimes, who lives in Green Township, and finds both pleasure and profit in adapting modern ways and implements to his business. The farm which he now owns and occupies is the place where Mr. Grimes was born February 15, 1868. The Grimes family has been identified with Ross County more than a century. His grandfather John Grimes was born in Pennsylvania, probably of Scotch-Irish ancestry. From Pennsylvania he removed to Maryland, and in 1810 set out with wagon drawn by a four-horse team for the western country of Ohio. The family located in Chillicothe, and grandfather John Grimes spent the rest of his days in Ross County. John Grimes, Jr., father of HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 767 Oliver Newton, was born in Maryland December 15, 1794, and was in his sixteenth year when he came to Chillicothe with his parents. In that old settlement he found employment at different kinds of work until 1812, when he regularly enlisted in the army for service during the War of 1812, and was with the troops until the expiration of his service. He was a true pioneer. For many years after he came to Ross County there were no railroads, and he was one of those who engaged in the primitive transportation of the time, driving a stage carrying both mail and passengers to Circleville. He also entered Government land in Madison County, and bought 120 acres of heavily timbered land in the Scioto Valley in Green Township of Ross County. When he married in 1818 he and his bride began housekeeping on the Green Township farm, and their first home was a house of hewed logs. They had one of the few homes in that community at the time. All around them was a virtual wilderness, filled with wolves, turkeys, and other kinds of wild game. His first wife did all her cooking by a fireplace and also spun and wove the cloth used for dressing her family in homespun. After locating in Green Township John Grimes began the heavy task of clearing and cultivating his land, and like his son he was very progressive and readily adapted himself to changing conditions. The first wheat crops he raised were cut with the hand sickle, and later with a cradle. In the absence of threshing machines the grain was spread on a floor and trampled out by horses. John Grimes was one of the first men to operate a threshing machine in this section of Ohio. The old threshers were all operated by horse power. As new machinery came in he bought his share of it and always kept his farm equipped with the latest implements. He was both a farmer and stock raiser, and by various additions to his estate he owned at one time upwards of 500 acres and was also known to have considerable money in the bank. The death of this honored old time pioneer occurred in October, 1871. His marriage in 1818 was to Elizabeth Hasselton. She became the mother of twelve children, only one of whom is now living, named James. She died about 1842. For his second wife John Grimes married Mrs. Jemima (Weaver) Schriver. At her death she left two children. For, his third wife John Grimes married Nancy Weaver, a sister of his second wife. Her children were named Sarah, Susan, John, Martha, Douglas, Ransom, Oliver N. and Belle. The mother of these children survived her husband many years and passed away in 1903. Oliver Newton Grimes, the son of his father's third wife, was about three years of age when his father died. After that he lived with his mother and assisted in the work of the home farm until he was twenty-one. In the meantime he had acquired an education in the local schools. Starting out for himself he rented land, but after five years bought the old homestead, where he now owns 279 acres and for many years has been extensively engaged in general farming and stockraising. His farm has excellent buildings, is well stocked, and equipped with all the modern improvements. Mr. Grimes is one of the few farmers in this section of 768 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Ohio who employ a tractor in working the fields, and he uses that for plowing his land. On September 15, 1896, Mr. Grimes married Ida Gottman, who was born in Ross County, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Gottman. Mr. and Mrs. Grimes are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are the parents of a son and daughter, Olive Dale and Sarabel. AUGUSTUS SANTO. At Adelphi is the home of one of the oldest living native sons of Ross County, Augustus Santo, who for many years was in active business pursuits, but is now living retired enjoying the fruits of a well spent career. Mr. Santo was born in Chillicothe, November 16, 1837. His father, Alexander Santo, was born in Baden, Germany, and he and two of his brothers, George and Simon, came to America. His brother, George, settled in Iowa and Simon located at Nauvoo, Illinois, when that was the headquarters for the Mormons. While living in his native land, Alexander Santo learned the butcher's trade, and then in 1831 set out for America in a sailing vessel. Six weeks after embarking he was landed in New York, and from there went by ocean and gulf to New Orleans. He came up the Mississippi River as far as Natchez, Mississippi, and after a short stay there proceeded on his way up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Portsmouth, Ohio. From there he started through the woods and came to his real destination in America, Chillicothe, which was then a very small town, completely isolated except by river and rough highways. He engaged in the butchering business at Chillicothe until 1862 when he removed to Springfield Township of Ross County, where he had previously purchased 520 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. Thenceforward his active energies were devoted to the clearing and cultivation of this land, and after three years he passed away at the age of fifty-seven. Alexander Santo married Sophia Ringwolt. She was born in Germany, and had come with her brothers and sisters to America. She survived her husband and died at the age of seventy-two. Her six children were : Laura, now deceased ; Sophia and Caroline, both widows living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; Augustus; and William and John, both of whom are deceased. Augustus Santo received his early education in the public schools of Chillicothe. However, it was not a real public school which he first attended but one kept in a log building on Park Street, and conducted on the subscription plan, each scholar paying $1.50 a month tuition. Even when he was a schoolboy he was assisting his father in the butcher business, and later worked at the trade for other parties in Chillicothe. Finally leaving Chillicothe he moved to Adelphi, and for fifteen years was employed by Augustus Rose, and then set up a business for himself. He made a splendid success both as a meat dealer and in the buying and handling of live stock, and a few years ago retired with an ample competence for his remaining years. In 1869 Mr. Santo married Rose Ann Withrow, who was born at HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 769 Adelphi, a daughter of John and Louisa (Bickley) Withrow. Mrs. Santo died in 1910. She was the second wife of Mr. Santo. His first marriage was to Louisa Rollman, a native of Chillicothe. There are two children of this marriage, Frank Edward and Lula. The daughter is now a trained nurse living in Chicago. Frank Edward, who is a commercial traveler living at Toledo, is married and has three children, William S., Mamie, and Irene. William S., the grandson of Mr. Augustus Santo, is married and has a daughter, Lucile, who is a great-grandchild. WILLIAM GINTHER. After half a century of hard and honest toil, mingled with good judgment and strict probity in all his dealings, William Ginther finds himself the possessor of a splendid estate, with homestead in Green Township. In the course of his active lifetime he has contributed a great deal to the improvement of Ross County, and has always had the reputation of sterling citizenship, and represents one of the stanch and sturdy families of German origin that established themselves in this section of Southern Ohio more than three quarters of a century ago. He was born in Germany, August 21, 1836, a son of Andrew Ginther. The grandfather died in Germany, but the grandmother subsequently accompanied her children to America, locating in the northern part of Pike County, Ohio, where she lived to attain the great age of ninety-nine years. Her three children were : Andrew, John, and Fred, all of whom came to America with her. Fred and John settled in Huntington Township of Ross County, and lived there until their death. Andrew Ginther was reared and educated in Germany, married there, and in 1840, accompanied by wife and three children, by his mother and two brothers, set out for America. They crossed the ocean an a sailing vessel, which was then almost the only mode of transportation across the Atlantic, and from New York made their way by rail and canal as far as Pittsburgh and thence by river boat down the Ohio to Portsmouth. From Portsmouth they journeyed north over the canal to Waverly. On reaching their destination the grandmother bought thirty acres of land, which had a few acres cleared and a log cabin as its chief improvement. That was the first home of the family in Ross County, and Andrew Ginther lived there with his mother during her last years and succeeded to the ownership of the place, which in turn he occupied until his death in 1891 at the age of seventy-nine years, fifteen days. Andrew Ginther married Razey Gader, who died at the age of seventy-eight. She was the mother of five sons and five daughters, and the two now living are William and his brother Fred, whose home is in Huntington Township of Ross County. A child of four years when the family came to America, William Ginther has among his earliest recollections the old homestead which by the efforts of his father and uncles gradually emerged from the wilderness. While attending such schools as were maintained in the community, he also assisted in the work of the farm, and contributed 770 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY his support to the family, his family receiving all of his wages until he was twenty-one years of age. He then worked out by the month until 1863, when he bought a tract of land in Huntington Township, the purchase price being $535.00. This land had a log cabin, and he moved his family into that humble home in 1864. Most of the farm had not yet been cleared, and while clearing it he converted much of the heavy growth into hoop poles. At that time Chillicothe was a center for cooperage industry, and hoop poles found a ready sale there. By working hard from the beginning to the end of every year Mr. Ginther accumulated a modest capital, and in 1888 he bought 303 acres of the fertile Scioto River bottoms in fractional section 3 of Green Township. There he embarked in a remunerative business as a general farmer and stock raiser, and along those lines has accomplished his chief success. From time to time he has bought other lands, and besides his homestead in Green Township he owns a farm on Deer Creek in North and South Union Township, and another place in Pickaway Township of Pickaway County. His total holdings now aggregate 700 acres. In 1863 Mr. Ginther married Margaret Lamenshamer, who was born in Germany and a year later was brought to this country by the parents, who settled in Ohio. Mrs. Ginther died in 1890. Mr. Ginther and family are members of Crouse Chapel of the Reformed Church. To their marriage were born four children : Henry, George, Annie, and Emma. The daughter Annie married Guy Arledge, and their five children are Richard, Nettie, Edith, Tillie, and Joseph. Emma married George Arledge and also has five children, Nellie, Russell, Lucy, George and William. The son Henry died at the age of thirty-four, leaving his widow, Mary (Gardner) Ginther, and a daughter, Matilda. George married Clara Stahl, and his two children are Fred and Ethel, Fred being married and having a child who is William Ginther's great-grandson. ROBERT SWINEHART is one of the older members of the legal profession in Ross County, and for many years has successfully practiced at Adelphi, and has served more than a generation of clients in all their legal work. He is a first class lawyer, and has given his time faithfully and .intelligently to the management of the various interests entrusted to his charge. He is a native son of Adelphi, having been born there June 27, 1846. His grandfather, Anthony Swinehart, was born in Pennsylvania, was one of the early settlers in Hocking County, Ohio, and from there moved to Ross County, buying land in Colerain Township. He married Susan Frederick, who was born either in Ross or Pickaway County, and she survived her husband, spending her last years in Clark County, Ohio. Hocking County was probably the birthplace of Eli Swinehart, father of Robert. Eli Swinehart was reared in Ross County, learned the saddler's trade, and followed that for many years at Adelphi, where he died at the age of sixty-five. He did a great part of his work as a saddler in the days when horseback riding was one of the necessary means of travel, when railroads and canals were few and far between., Eli mar- HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 771 ried Sarah Madden, who was born in Ross County, a daughter of Peter and Susan (0 'Neal) Madden, both natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers in Ross County. Mrs. Eli Swinehart died at the age of seventy, having reared twelve children. Reared and educated at Adelphi, Robert Swinehart found employment for some years as clerk in a dry goods store. His ambition for a professional career led him to utilize all his spare time in reading law, and he was finally admitted to the bar, and has since devoted all his energies to private practice with office in Adelphi. On October 3, 1871, Mr. Swinehart married Mary J. Denig, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Dr. George W. Denig. Her mother's name was Wilds. Her father was an early physician in Chillicothe, where he practiced several years. Mr. and Mrs. Swinehart have five children : Russell D., Earl W., Flora R., Mary Adele and Georgia Marie. The oldest son, Russell D., who is now deputy internal revenue collector at Columbus, married Virginia Baldwin, and they have a daughter named Virginia Judith. Earl W., the second son, is now a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, where he is practicing orthodontia, and by his marriage to Grace R. Reigle has a son named Darwin R. The daughter, Flora, is the widow of Fred A. White, and her two children are Kathleen R., and Frederick A. Mary Adele is now the wife of Horace A. Curtis of Chicago, Illinois, and has a daughter, Mary Adele. Georgia is the wife of H. G. McFarren, now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, at Bucyrus, Ohio. WILLIAM R. BITZER. It is a substantial tribute to a family when it can be said that what one generation has secured and won from the dominion of the wilderness, the next following has continued to improve and has increased in value many fold. That is real progress and without such work a community would stand still. Such has been the dominating fact in the history of the Bitzer family in Ross County, where the name has been represented for a century. William R. Bitzer represents the fourth generation in this section of Ohio, and is one of the most progressive and successful farmers of Colerain Township. His great-grandfather, William Bitzer, a native of Pennsylvania, emigrated to Ohio when it was still a part of Northwest Territory. He became one of the first to locate in Coleraine Township of what is now Ross County. Jacob Bitzer, grandfather of William R., was a native of Pennsylvania, but was still young when brought to Ohio, where he was reared among pioneer conditions. For many years after the family settled in Ross County all kinds of game abounded, and as a boy he had Indians for companions. On reaching manhood he secured a tract of timbered land, hewed a farm from the wilderness, and remained a resident there, in comfortable prosperity and in the esteem of his neighbors, until his death at the age of eighty-six. Jacob Bitzer married Barbara Metzgar, a daughter of Jacob Metzgar. She died at the age of eighty-two. William Bitzer, a son of Jacob and father of William R., was born 772 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY in Colerain Township of Ross County, and was reared and trained to a life of industry and honor. He contributed his early- labors to the support of the family household, and when able to do almost a man's work he was paid only 121/2 cents a day for his time. His wages increased with his efficiency and by saving most of his earnings he was able to invest in a team and such farm implements as were then in common use, and with that equipment started out independently as a renter. He and his bride began housekeeping in a log cabin. Hard work on the part of both of them brought prosperity, and later they bought 137 1/2 acres in section 18 of Colerain Township. The only improvements on the land were a set of log buildings and half of the acreage in fields. Here William Bitzer engaged in general farming and stock raising, and prosperity came to him in large measure. He died in 1904, leaving his land thoroughly cultivated and well tilled and improved with excellent buildings. On February 14, 1861, he had married Mary Ann Creachbaum. She was born in Harrison Township of Ross County, March 5, 1834, and her father John Creachbaum, a native of Pennsylvania, was a son of George Creachbaum, who had moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio about 1797, and was one of the first white men to make permanent settlement in Harrison Township of Ross County. George Creachbaum improved one of the first farms in that township, and lived there until his death. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Gates, who was a daughter of Adam Gates, a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the very early settlers in Green Township of Ross County. John Creachbaum during his youth learned the trade of cooper and was identified with that industry in Harrison Township, where he also owned a farm. John Creachbaum married Catherine Rowe, a daughter of Peter and Mary Rowe. In the Creachbaum family were the following children : Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Ann Maria, Sarah, Peter, and Rebecca. Mrs. Mary Ann (Creachbaum) Bitter is still living at the home of her son, William, and though eighty-two years of age is well preserved in bodily health and mental faculty. She has many interesting stories to relate of her early life spent in the wilderness of Ross County, and is a connecting link between the modern present and the pioneer past. When she was young her mother did all thc cooking by an open fireplace, and all the cloth used to dress the members of the family was carded and spun at home. There were no mowing machines, no reapers, nor threshing outfits. Grass was cut with a scythe, grain was cut with a sickle, and the threshing was done by horses or oxen walking over the threshing floor. Mr. and Mrs. William Bitzer reared four children, named Leah, Flora, Mary and William R. The only son among these children, William R. Bitzer, was born in Colerain Township, May 12, 1868. As a boy he attended country schools, learned farming by practical experience, and as a youth he worked a part of his father's land on the shares. After the death of his father he bought the interests of his sisters in the homestead, and has since conducted it and made a success of general farming and stock raising. At the age of twenty-eight, Mr. Bitzer married Jessie M. Damm, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 773 who was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, a daughter of Daniel and Susanna Damm. Mr. and Mrs. Bitzer have eight children : Russell E., Nolan D., Marie, Dorothy, William, Bertha, Florence and Frances R. Mr. Bitzer's parents were both active members of the United Brethren Church and he and the other children were reared in the same faith. THE RICHARD ENDERLIN WELFARE HOUSE. Chillicothe has long been known as one of the most progressive cities in the state in caring for those in need. Every community— however high the average intelligence, however great the general prosperity—has in its midst some members who through poverty or sickness, or both—since one often begets the other—are unable to care for themselves. Good men and women are ever ready to lend a helping hand to these unfortunates, but the aid given is only temporary and is often so unwisely planned, though well intentioned, as to leave the recipient in a state worse than before. To extend such wide and systematic aid as may be of permanent value to the one who is "down and out," whatever the cause, is the aim of all true charity, and how to accomplish this end is a problem. for the wisest. A long step in this direction, so far as this community is concerned, was gained when Col. Richard Enderlin gave to the city a beautiful home to be used for all time as headquarters for carrying on systematic welfare work, thus putting the care of the needy on a solid and permanent basis not otherwise possible. Philanthropy is not a new thing with Colonel Enderlin. Those who knew him in his early manhood, when his income was meager, tell how even then he was ever ready to aid those to whom misfortune had come. Mention of this is not made to extol Colonel Enderlin, but merely to show that the wise provisions made in his gift were the result of the wisdom and thought of a lifetime of service to his fellow man. The Richard Enderlin Welfare House, Incorporated, was presented to the city in April, 1914, and the necessary proceedings were at once begun to secure a charter of incorporation under the laws of the state of Ohio. The board of directors named in the papers of incorporation are : Mr. William Zurcher, chairman; Mr. W. F. Sulzbacher, Mr. J. P. Rigney, Mr. Carl Enderlin, and Mr. J. H. Greenbaum. This board is self-perpetuating, the remaining members in the event of a vacancy, filling the same by vote. The purpose and intent of the donor are best expressed in the following extract from the articles of incorporation : "The said corporation is formed for the purpose of establishing, maintaining and conducting an institution, free to all persons, regardless of age, race, color, religious or political affiliations, to whom, temporarily and in emergencies, may be dispensed charity, aid, relief, medical treatment and nursing; receiving funds by donation, bequest or otherwise; holding, investing and disbursing the same ; and the doing of all things necessary and incidental to the purpose of this corporation, including the power to purchase and acquire all personal and real property, and the right to sell and dispose of the same; it being expressly understood Vol. II-19 774 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY that said corporation is not formed for any object which may embrace the care of dependent, neglected or delinquent children, or the placing of such children in private homes." Since acquiring the property Colonel Enderlin has expended several thousand dollars in alterations and improvements in order that it may in every way be best adapted to fulfill its purpose. An addition to the main building provides a reception room for patients and other applicants, and also a dispensary which has been furnished with the most modern equipment. At present the building is occupied by The Ross County Anti-Tuberculosis Society and the Chillicothe Associated Charities, whose activities are now consolidated. The general work carried on by these societies is described elsewhere. One of the main rooms of the building is known as " The Recreation Room" which is designed for the use of the girls of the city, and is at their disposal at all times; all furniture and decorations in this room were presented by the ladies of the Century Club. In addition to the main building, but entirely separate from it, Colonel Enderlin has constructed a building known as " The Detention House," although this does not fully describe the various uses to which the building is being put. Here are well furnished, clean rooms, where women or children who are detained as witnesses by the court may be comfortably and kindly cared for instead of being held at the county jail where, as was the former custom, they came in contact with convicts and their evil talk. The deserted and homeless wife and children here receive a kindly welcome and temporary care until relatives can be communicated with, or other provision made for their future. Included in the equipment is a commodious modern bath room. In the basement, Colonel Enderlin has installed a heating plant of latest design, the vapor system being employed. The capacity of the heating plant is sufficient not only for the Welfare House and the Detention Home, but also for any buildings that future needs may demand. One point upon which the donor is most emphatic is that this home is not for mendicants or professional beggars, but that it shall hold out a helping hand to all worthy poor, regardless of creed or race. So wisely is the future provided for that through all time, so long as men may need and men may give, the Richard Enderlin Welfare House will perform the beneficent purpose provided for by the donor. H. A. BARNHART. When he was seven years of age his father died and H. A. Barnhart at once had to become the mainstay of his widowed mother. Over obstacles and with many vicissitudes of experience he has been steadily working toward success and there are none to begrudge him his well earned prosperity, represented in the Barnhart Granite Company, one of the leading establishments of its kind in the state. Born in Ross County, July 26, 1865, he is a son of George and Barbara Ellen (Hassenpflug) Barnhart. Grandfather John Barnhart came to Ross County from Pennsylvania at a very early day and located in