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BIOGRAPHIES

 

Source:
History of Highland County, Ohio
by Rev. J. W. Klise -
Publ. Madison, Wis.,
Northwestern Historical Association
1902

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
JONATHAN LADD, a retired farmer living near Leesburg, Ohio, belongs to a family connected with the growth and development of Highland county for nearly a hundred years.  In the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a settlement of Ladds on Chowan river in North Carolina, descended from Welsh immigrants and professing the religion of the Society of Friends.  Like many others in the South of the  Quaker faith, they found the institution of slavery so repugnant to their notions of justice that they determined to seek residence in a free state.  In 1808, Gerrard Ladd left his home in the Old North State, bound for Highland county, Ohio, where the others of his faith preceded him and found homes.  When near Chillicothe he died, but his wife Margaret and several children continued the journey to Fairfield township where they made permanent settlements.  Among these children was one named Jacob who became the parents stock of the Ladds that subsequently figured so extensively in Highland county.  He was born in 1767 and married twice, his second wife being Elizabeth Reams, who accompanied him on his migration to Ohio.  He settled first about two miles north of Leesburg, on the site of Roney's mill, but in 1811 bought of Isaac McPherson a farm one mile south of Leesburg near the Fairfield meeting house.  There he remained until his death, which occurred in 1850 when he was eighty-three years of age.  By his wife Elizabeth he had twelve children, the oldest of whom was born in North Carolina in 1795 and named Asa.  In the same year that the Ladds came to Highland county there arrived from Grayson county, Virginia, William and Ruth (Hunt)  Chalfant, also members of the Society of Friends.  They were valuable additions to the little colony, as William understood the business of wagonmaking, blacksmithing and milling which he carried on to the great benefit of the pioneer settlers, besides cultivating the five hundred acres of land which he had taken up under a warrant.  He died in 1840, leaving a large family of children, and among the number a daughter named Mary, who subsequently became the wife of Asa Ladd.  The latter was blessed with a numerous progeny, including Jonathan Ladd, the subject of this sketch, who was born near Leesberg,, in Highland county, Ohio, Dec. 20, 1831.  He has spent his entire life in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture and has been a worthy member of the family which has furnished so many high-minded, upright and industrious citizens to Highland county.  One of his brothers served several terms as township trustee, and another held the offices of trustee, treasurer and county commissioner.  His father died in 1864, after a life of usefulness, lamented as one of the most blameless of the county's citizens.  In fact, from their advent in 1808 the family of Ladds, especially the descendants of Jacob, have figured conspicuously at all periods of the county's history as factors in its industrial, agricultural, civil and moral development.  In 1859 Jonathan Ladd was married to Eliza, daughter of John Lazenby.  This union was blessed with one son, Everett J., who married Rosa, daughter of Robert, and Martha Cox, and resides with his father on the old homestead.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 365
WESLEY LAFFERTY, a substantial farmer of Salem township, has well earned all his present comforts by a life of labor which had very unpromising beginnings.  Even as a lad only ten years of age he knew what hard work was and had to "keep his nose to the grindstone," as the saying is, in order to obtain for himself the ordinary means of livelihood.  His father was James Lafferty, a shoemaker by trade, who married Mary Snyder and lived for some years at West Union, Ohio, subsequently spending a short time at Lynchburg and then moving to New Vienna where he died about 1840.  Shortly after this event, his widow came to Highland county and located in White Oak township, where a few years later she was married to John Heckerthorn.  With him she spent the remainder of her days and reached the extreme age of over ninety-five years before her death.  There were eight children by her first marriage, of whom John, Absalom, Rebecca, Eliza, and Amanda are dead.  The three living are William, of Paint, and Quincy and Ella, the only two children by Mrs. Lafferty's second marriage, have both passed away.  Wesley Lafferty, fifth of the first set of children, was born Nov. 16, 1830, while his parents were living at West Union, Ohio, and was still quite young when brought by his widowed mother to Highland county.  Even as a child, however, he was ambitious to "do for himself" and early conceived a desire to go to work and become a man of independent means.  He commenced carrying out his resolve at the age of ten, when most boys are still engaged in playing marbles or robbing birds-nests, and many weary years of drudgery passed before he succeeded in establishing himself on a firm basis.  His work was mostly on farms at Monthly wages, which were distressingly small at first, but grew better with age and experience, and eventually he felt sufficiently independent to choose a wife.  He was married to Mary, daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth Sprinkle, of Highland county, and settled temporarily on a rented farm in Salem township.  By industry and economy he had saved enough money by increased to 104 acres and constitutes his present residence.  He has farmed and raised stock in the usual way, depending on gradual increase from regular industry rather than on speculation or fancy schemes of any kind.  In this way he has accumulated a comfortable home while rearing and educating his children to be useful men and women.  He is a member of the Dunkard church and his political affiliations have always been with the Democratic party.   His six children are Samuel, Henry W., Eliza B. and Lydia, at home; Lieuphenia, wife of Mander Stevens, of Hillsboro; and Clara, wife of V. Stroop, of Salem township.  Mrs. Lafferty died in 1892, since which time the children have been keeping house for their father.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 366
JOHN CHARLES LARKIN

Source: History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 ~ Page 367

DAVID N. LAWSON

Source: History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 ~ Page 369

JOHN O. LEMON, a well-to-do farmer of New Market township, is one of the many descendants of an old pioneer who joined the rapidly increasing army of Highland county settlers in 1814.  Samuel Lemon, a native of Pennsylvania, was a shoemaker by trade and after his arrival in Ohio drove a thriving business by making boots and shoes for the inhabitants of his bailiwick.  His custom was to ply the awl and thread during the inclement season of winter and devote his time to farm work in summer, in this way earning a comfortable living and laying up some store for the future.  He bought and settled on a farm two and a half miles north of the town of New Market and there spent the remainder of his days.  Samuel Lemon’s marriage proved fruitful and was blessed with twelve children, of whom John, Adam, James M., Samuel, George, Perry, William Isaac, Isaiah, Catherine and Anna have passed away.  The only one living is Eliza J., who married Thomas Peal of Lynchburg.  James M. Lemon, third of the children in age, was born in New Market township, June 16, 1816, and as he grew up acquired knowledge of the chairmaker’s trade.  He worked at this in Hillsboro for a while before his marriage to Mary, daughter of John and Mary Chapman, old settlers of New Market township.  He located with his bride on the farm now owned by Mr. McKee and shortly afterward engaged in general mercantile business at what is now known as Shackelton.  This he followed several years, meantime continuing to make chairs during his hours of leisure, and altogether between merchandising, farming and chairmaking he did a thriving business.  He became a man of considerable local influence, having held all the important township offices and reached the age of eighty-two before his death.  The children of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Lemon were Rachel, wife of Robert Purdy of New Market township; John O., subject of this sketch; Laura, deceased, and Charlie, a resident of Hillsboro.  John O. Lemon, second of the family, was born near New Market, Highland county, Ohio, Mar. 16, 1847, and remained with his father on the farm until he reached his majority.  About that time he was married to Miss Prances, daughter of William and Lucinda Strange, of Hamer township.  The first ten months of their married life was spent on a farm, from which they removed to occupy a place purchased on the Cincinnati pike.  Here they lived about fourteen years, when they took up quarters at the old homestead for the purpose of caring for Mr. Lemon’s aged parents.  After the death of the latter, he bought the home place and has since resided there, being now owner of 146 acres which he cultivates with the usual crops and raises considerable stock.  Mr. Lemon has been township trustee six years, also school director. His children, two in number, are Alvin, a resident of Union township, and Walter, who remains at home.  The family are communicants of the Christian church.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 370
CHARLES M. LEWIS, an estimable citizen of Concord township, resides upon the farm purchased in 1818 by his grandparents, Lewis and Abigail Lewis, who came to Ohio from Bucks county, Penn.  They bought three hundred acres of wild land, much of which they cleared and improved, and Lewis Lewis came to be one of the leading men of his township, successful as a farmer and stock raiser, and active in politics, holding the office of justice of the peace for many years.  His home was a polling place for many elections.  The children of these grandparents were William, Clinton, Lewis, Judah, Milton, Celia and Alford.  Milton was born in Bucks county, Pa., July 1, 1814, and reared from four years of age in Concord township.  In early manhood he married Catherine, daughter of Campbell Nance, a lady born in Virginia, and reared in Highland county, and they began their married life and filled out their lives on the old home place, the husband dying at eighty-three years of age and the wife at seventy-two.  Both are buried in the Lewis cemetery on the home farm.  It can be said in memory of Milton Lewis that he was one of the leading men of the township, being honored with many local offices which he honorably filled, and that he prospered in business, becoming an extensive dealer in live stock.  At one time he owned over three hundred acres of land in the township.  His five children are: Martha, wife of Godfrey Wilkin; Jennie, wife of Joseph Burns; Allie, wife of William Stewart, of Greenfield; Ella, widow of Daniel Butters, of Marshall, and Charles M., the subject of this sketch.  The latter was born in the house where he now lives, Feb. 23, 1862, was educated in the district school, and in early manhood was married to Elizabeth, daughter of James B. Shannon.  One child has been born to them, a daughter, MayMr. Lewis is an affable, courteous man, as well as of business habits and industry, and is notably popular throughout his vicinity.  He is the owner of nearly two hundred acres of well-improved land, and his residence and farm buildings have been remodeled and improved until they are among the most attractive and convenient in the township.  In addition to farming and the breeding of Shorthorn cattle, Mr. Lewis gives much of his time to the introduction of the Page wire fence in his neighborhood, and whatever he undertakes is likely to meet with success.  He is a member of the school board of the township, is a communicant of the Church of Christ, and is firmly allied to the Republican party, with which his family has long been identified.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 371
CHRISTOPHER LEWIS, proprietor of the famous farm in Penn township known as Flora Vale, is the principal living representative of one of the oldest and most honorable families in Highland county.  They came originally from Wales.  According to the carefully preserved records it was in the year 1682 that three brothers emigrated to America and fixed their abodes in different parts of the colonial settlements along the Atlantic coast.  Two of them were lost to sight, so far as subsequent history is concerned, and it is not known whether they left descendants or what became of them.  Evan Lewis, second in age of the trio, settled in Philadelphia and became the progenitor of the family subsequently so well known in the West.  Among his children was a son named Jehu, born in 1723, who afterward settled in Chester county, Pa., and remained there until the close of that century, when he removed to Bedford county, Va.  He married Alice, daughter of George and Hannah Maris, and their nine children were as follows: Jesse, born in 1750; James, in 1751; Elijah, in 1752 (these three died young); Joel, in 1755; Hannah, in 1757; Evan, in 1760; Jesse (named from the eldest, who died), in 1763; George, in 1765; Ann, in 1767.  Jehu Lewis died in 1804 and his wife, who was born in 1726, died in 1820, both being buried in Friends’ graveyard, Goose Creek meeting house, in Bedford county.  Their son Joel, accompanied by his brothers Evan and Jesse and sister Ann, migrated to Ohio in 1814 and settled first on the Little Miami, near Millgrove, where he remained until 1822.  In that year Joel removed to Highland county, where he purchased a farm in the southern part of what is now Penn township.  Mar. 9, 1786, he was married to Sarah, daughter of William and Esther Daniel, of Loudoun county, Va., and his four children were: Jehu, born in 1791, and died in 1875, at State Center, Iowa; Daniel, more fully noticed below; Sarah, born in 1797; and a second daughter who died on day of birth in 1802.  Joel Lewis died at his home in Penn township Nov. 30, 1829, after which his widow was tenderly cared for by her children and grandchildren until her death, which occurred June 23, 1840, in the eighty-second year of her age.  Her remains were deposited in the cemetery of Clear Creek by the side of those of her husband which had been left eleven years before in the same place of final rest.  Daniel Lewis, the second son of this pioneer couple, was born in Bedford county, Va., in 1794, and after coming to Ohio with his parents in 1814, taught school several years in the counties of Warren, Clinton and Highland.  In 1825 he bought of Gov. Allen Trimble the farm in the northwestern part of Penn township now known as Flora Vale and owned by his son.  At the time of the purchase this land was covered by an unbroken forest, which disappeared in the course of years before the woodsman’s ax and pioneer fortitude and eventually emerged as one of the handsomest estates in the county.  In 1825 Daniel Lewis married Priscilla, daughter of Christopher and Sarah Hussey, and the eight children resulting from this union were as follows: Charles D., born in 1829; Christopher, fully sketched below;  Sarah A., born in 1835; Albert, in 1836; Alvah, in 1839; Mary B., in 1841; George, in 1843; and Rachel, in 1845.  The father of this family died Nov. 28, 1847, his widow surviving him many years and passing away in May, 1885.  Charles D. Lewis, their oldest son, was a young man of great promise and had entered upon a career that promised most fruitful results but which, unhappily, was cut short in the prime of life by a railroad accident July 4, 1857.  At the time of his death he was professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the Eclectic college of medicine at Cincinnati and had exhibited remarkable versatility of talent, as well as much force of character, during his brief but brilliant life.  Christopher Lewis, second in age of the eight, children of his parents, was born on the homestead farm in Highland county, Ohio, Sept. 16, 1831, and has devoted his entire life to the quiet pursuits of agriculture.  Under his skillful management and endless industry the place has been steadily improved and is now almost ideal both in its external and internal appointments.  In the fall of 1825 his father built a comfortable Hewed-log house, which gave place in fourteen years to the present neat, dwelling-house where Mr. Lewis and his family have so long resided.  In 1870 several additions and tasteful improvements were made by the proprietor and it would now be difficult to find a prettier place than Flora Vale, with its lovely lawns, choice shade trees and shrubbery, highly cultivated fields and other concomitants of rural repose.  In fact, the contrast between “pioneer days,” as exemplified by Mr. Lewis’ father, and twentieth-century civilization, as witnessed by Mr. Lewis himself, can nowhere be seen in more force than at this luxurious country home in Highland county.  Sept. 22, 1859, Mr. Lewis was married in Philadelphia to Louisa K., daughter of Joseph and Esther C. Hallowell of Chester county, Pa.  Shortly after this event, he began purchasing the interests of the other heirs in his father’s estate, which was kept up from time to time until 1865, when he obtained and has retained full possession of this desirable property.  The farm, consisting of a hundred acres, is situated in Penn township on what is now known as the Careytown pike, about three miles and a half southeast of New Vienna.  Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have three children of whom Eugene C., the oldest, was born June 20, 1860.  Walter H., the second son, was born Nov. 17, 1862, and married Apr. 19, 1888, to Maude K. Smith, his children being Walter H., Ralph M., Gertrude M., Louise K., William Waddell and Priscilla.  Marion, the only daughter, was born May 25, 1866, and married Dec. 24, 1890, to Horace K. Anson, their children being Virgil L. and Louisa L.  Mr. Lewis served several years as master of Union grange, No. 77, Patrons of Husbandry, at New Vienna and was for a long time school director in his district.  He and his wife have long been devoted members of the religious Society of Friends and prominent in connection with church affairs.  They possess the same reposeful traits of character, the same industrious habits, the same love of liberty, good morals and right-doing that have characterized these people for centuries and made them such staunch supports of law and order and free government everywhere.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 373
MILTON E. LEWIS, notable among the leading men of Concord township, is a grandson of Lewis and Abigail Lewis, early settlers of the township, of whom, a sketch is given in the foregoing.  His father was William Lewis, born in Chester county, Pa., Dec. 24, 1810, eight years before his parents came to Ohio.  In youth William Lewis found employment in the work of pioneer farming with his brother Judah, in, Concord township, was a teamster in the days of forest roads before the era of canals or railroads, hauled pottery from the Concord township pottery to various parts of the county, and made one trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the flat boats of that, day.  Meeting with success in his efforts he was able to buy a farm of 106 acres, and then married a Miss Williams, a native of Highland county, and settled down to farming, varying his employment with work as a carpenter for a good many years.  His industry and business instinct made him a. well-to-do man in his time, and he was the owner of 212 acres.  He passed away at the ripe age of eighty-nine years, survived by several of his children.  These were, Cecilia, deceased; Phoebe A., wife of William Ridings, of Kansas; Elizabeth, deceased; Haney, wife of William Link, of Concord; Anna, deceased; Milton E., subject of this sketch; Clinton, deceased; William, of Clinton county; John, deceased; Thomas, of Concord township; Edward, living on the old homestead.  Milton E. Lewis was born near Fairfax, Ohio, Nov. 28, 1846, was reared on the farm and educated in the district school. When seventeen years of age he began work on the farm for his uncle, Milton, which continued four years; after that he followed the carpenter trade for six years, and then spent a short time in Iowa.  Coming back to Taylorsville, he succeeded J. T. Potts as a general merchant, but did not remain in business long, leaving it to engage in farming on a place that he traded the store for.  On securing, this home he married Levinia Hetherington, daughter of William Hetherington and descended from one of the pioneer families of the township.  A year later they changed their home to the farm of 126 acres where they now reside, but have disposed of some of the land.  They have one child, EvaAlice, wife of James Shannon, of Washington township.  Mr. Lewis is quite successful as a farmer and breeder of live stock, and is held in high esteem by his neighbors.  For six years he has served as a member of the school board.  He is a valued member of the Methodist church and in politics a Republican.  He has made all the improvements now to be seen on his attractive property,vand has one of the best equipped farms in that region.  With a commendable spirit of enterprise, he was one of the principal promoters of the Concord pike, No. 49, and Rural free delivery, No. 2, and he is one of the stockholders in the Merchants National hank of Hillsboro.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 372
LYNN FAMILY

Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 375

MILTON GLENN LUCAS

Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 377

REUBEN W. LYLE, prominent for many years in the printing and publishing business of Hillsboro, comes of old and honorable pioneer stock identified with Highland from an early period of the county's history.  His great-grandparents were Samuel and Eleanor (Finley) Lyle, whose lives are mentioned in the foregoing sketch.  Their eldest son, Finley Lyle, was born in Virginia in 1800, married Catharine, daughter of John Ellis of Concord township, in 1830, and died in March, 1869, on the estate previously settled by his father.  James G. Lyle, one of his sons, was born in Concord township May 22, 1841, and Mar. 19, 1863, married Keziah, daughter of Solomon and Mary Fling, and by her had the following named children:  Catherine A., who died in infancy; the subject of this sketch; Mary E., who died at the age of twenty-two years;  S. Ellis, a job printer in Hillsboro; Charles F., a carriage painter; Albert J., a tinner at Circleville; Harry H., a blacksmith in Leesburg; Ida Belle, wife of Belle Rector, lumber inspector at Hillsboro; and Sarah J., a bookkeeper.  In 1874 James G. Lyle located at Hillsboro, where he served eight years on the police force, ten years as city marshal and since 1900 as private watchman for a number of the city merchants.  Reuben W. Lyle, the second of his children, was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 19, 1865, and passed through the grammar grade of the Hillsboro public schools.  When sixteen years old he began to learn the printer's trade and six years later was made foreman of the job-printing department of the Gazette.  In 1893 he formed a partnership with his brother S. E., and opened a job printing establishment under the firm name of Lyle Brothers.  Mar. 1, 1895, this concern was incorporated as the Lyle Printing Company, which has since continued business on North High street and is the leading establishment of the kind in the city.  Mr. Lyle is a past grand of Lafayette lodge, No. 25, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was its representative at the grand lodge session of 1900, on which occasion he was appointed grand marshal.  He is a past chief patriarch of Tawawa encampment, No. 58, Odd Fellows, and past master of Buckeye lodge, No. 17, Ancient Order United Workmen.  June 22, 1887, he was married to Frances, daughter of W. I.  and Maggie (Malcom) Davis of Sanders, Ky., and he has one son, George E., born Jan. 13, 1889, and a student in the Hillsboro schools.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 379
ROBERT M. LYLE, Member of the Highland county infirmary board and otherwise influential in the public affairs, comes a long line of farmers who for several generations have been identified with the agricultural development of Liberty township.  William Lyle founder of the American branch of this well known family, was a native of Ireland who married Nancy Gilmore and subsequently emigrated to Rockbridge county, Virginia.  Among his children was a son named Samuel, born in 1773, after the parental emigration to Virginia, and married in early manhood to Eleanor Finley.  The six children of this union were Sallie, Finley, William, Nancy, Jane, and Samuel, Jr., all of whom were brought by their parents about the year 1815 to Highland county, where the father bought over four hundred acres of land in Concord township.  In 1818, a few years after his arrival, the head of the house divided the Concord farm between his two eldest sons, Finley and William, and purchased two hundred acres in Liberty township one mile east of the infirmary, where he lived until his death in 1842, seven years after his wife had passed away.  His son, Samuel Lyle, Jr., was born in Rockbridge county, Va., in 1815, and was an infant in arms when his parents came that year to their new home in the West.  He grew up on the farm in Liberty township and in 1841 was married to Mary Alice, daughter of John and Ailsie (Boyd) Black, another family of Virginians.  The children of Samuel and Mary (Black) Lyle were Margaret Ann, now widow of J. B. Gamble, who died at Noblesville, Ind.; Sarah E., wife of George Fox, who farms opposite the infirmary; Robert M., further sketched below; Mary E., wife of R. R. West, formerly of Paint township; Alice J., wife of Hugh A. Evans, of Paint township; Charles A., teaming in Hillsboro; and Hettie E., unmarried Robert M. Lyle, third of the children, was born in Highland county, Ohio, Apr. 6, 1846, on the farm in Liberty township purchased by his grandfather, inherited by his father and his own home at the present time.  July 17, 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth regiment Ohio National Guard, with which he served until the close of the war.  After the termination of hostilities he returned to the home farm where, with the exception of two years in Iowa in the drug trade, he has spent all the subsequent years of his life.  At present he is one of the board of directors in charge of the Highland county infirmary and superintendent of the Marshall pike in Liberty township.  He is a member of the Paint lodge, No. 453, Knights of Pythias.  In April, 1880, he was married to Lummie, daughter of Edward and Sophia (McCoppin) Head, and the children of this union are: Frank G., born Aug. 10, 1882; Carrie E. and Mary A., twins, born July 19, 1891; and Stella M., born Oct. 11, 1894.
Source:  History of Highland County, Ohio by Rev. J. W. Klise - Publ. Madison, Wis., Northwestern Historical Association - 1902 - Page 378

 
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