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BIOGRAPHIES

The following biographies are extracted from:
Source: 
A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio
Vol. II.
Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York
1917

A B C D EF G H IJ K L M N OPQ R S T UV W XYZ

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  NEWTON E. ICE.  Combining farming with veterinary practice, Newton E. Ice, of Liberty Township, is one of the busy men of Ross County.  He has 200 acres of land under his care and no part of this large farm shows any evidence of neglect.
     Doctor Ice was born in Wetzel County, West Virginia, Feb. 20, 1885, and is a son of D. B. and Phoebe (Wyatt) Ice. Both parents were born and reared in what is now West Virginia, and are retired residents of Smithfield, Wetzel County.  They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Of their family of three children, one died in infancy and both of the survivors live in Ohio, Newton E. in Ross County and Lee in Washington County, and both are interested in agricultural pursuits.  The one daughter bore the name of Jennie.
     On his father's farm Newton E. Ice grew to manhood and learned not only the practical business of operating a farm, but also the care and medical treatment of stock.  He came greatly interested along this line and studied veterinary science and has adopted its practice as a profession.  After attending the common schools, he entered the high school at Buchanan and was graduated therefrom in 1905.  Mr. Ice found remunerative employment in the oil fields in his native state and continued there until 1909, when he came to Ross County, Ohio, and took a correspondence school course in veterinary medicine and surgery, graduating with an average of 96 per cent.  His knowledge of veterinary science serves him well on his large estate, giving him the knowledge and skill to keep his own stock in condition while gradually building up a wider extended practice.  He makes a specialty of fine horses.
     Doctor Ice was married July 8, 1906, to Miss Bessie Fry, who was born and reared in Virginia.  They have four children:  Beryl, Hortense, Drexel and Lorie.  Doctor Ice was reared in the democratic party, as was his father.  His 200 -acre estate is situated one mile southwest of Londonderry, Ohio.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 672
  CAPT. JOHN W. JENKINS

Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 726

  ARSENE J. JONES, whose farm of ninety acres is located on the northern edge of the Village of Vigo, belongs to the younger generation of the agricultural element which must be depended upon to preserve the farming prestige of the County of Ross in the coming years.  He has passed his entire life within the limits of the county and is a farmer by training and inclination, having displayed already in his career those qualities which go to make up the successful and progressive tiller of the soil.  He was born on a farm in Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio, now occupied by his father, Sept. 23, 1884, and is a son of Thomas C. and Martha (Rittenour) Jones.
     The Jones family is one which is one of the best known and oldest in Ross County.  It was founded here by William Jones, the great grandfather of Arsene J. Jones, who came to this fertile and productive portion of Ohio at an early date in its history, and here became well-to-do and prominent, as a stock dealer and a citizen.  His son, Mason Jones, was also agriculturally inclined, was a husbandman all of his life, and
accumulated a good property.  Thomas C. Jones was born on the farm which he now occupies in Liberty Township, and has never cared to
change his locality.  Through the exercise of good management and industry and the display of ability in his vocation he has succeeded in the
accumulation of a good farm, while as a citizen he has always been progressive and public-spirited, fairly winning and holding the respect, esteem
and confidence of his fellow men.  He and his wife have had three sons:  B. O., a graduate of Wilmington College, who lives on his farm in Liberty Township; Arsene; and R. E., who resides with his parents.
     Arsene J. Jones received his education in the district schools of Liberty Township and Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio.  Returning at that time to his father's farm, he worked thereon until his marriage, Nov. 10, 1909, to Miss Clara May Jenks, a daughter of Truman and Addie (McKinniss) Jenks.  Truman Jenks was born in Jackson County, Ohio, and after his marriage went to Sedalia, Missouri, where he remained for about six years.  He then returned to Jackson County for fourteen years, following which he took up his residence at Frankfort, and a short time later came to Vigo, Ross County.  Here he has since been engaged in business successfully as the proprietor of a tile factory.  Mrs. Addie (McKinniss) Jenks is a daughter of Granville and Mary (Cassiday) McKinniss, and a granddaughter of Charles and Martha (Cramer) McKinniss, who in 1802 came from Pennsylvania to Chillicothe, Ohio, and then removed to the farm near Coalton, Jackson County.  Martha (Cramer) McKinniss was a granddaughter of Robert Fulton, Sr., who was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland.  Hence the Scotch-Irish in the McKinniss family.  Mr. and Mrs. McKinniss moved back to Chillicothe and then to Coal Township, Jackson County, where the grandfather was engaged in the river trade.  Truman Jenks and wife became the parents of eight children, of whom five are living: Harford P., of Columbus, who married Grace Dixon; Clara May; Frank, of Atlanta, Ohio, who married Nannie Argabright; Stella, the widow of D. T. Yoakum; and Granville, of Vigo.  The other three children died in infancy.
     After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Jones settled on the farm which they now occupy, and which has been brought to a high state of cultivation.  Mr. Jones raises the standard crops and uses the latest methods in his work, and makes a constant study of conditions in the vocation in which his best energies are enlisted. In his political views he is a prohibitionist, and he has at all times been an indefatigable worker in behalf of temperance and a bettering of public morals.  Mrs. Jones is a devout member of the Vigo Baptist Church, and takes an active interest in its work.  They have one son, Truman Corwin, who was born Oct. 17, 1910.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 652
  BOYTON B. JONES.  The farming men of Ross County have played an important part in the fortunes of that section, and among them should be mentioned Boynton G. Jones, one of the younger and very progressive agriculturists of Liberty Township.  Diversified farming is his plan, and he is making a notable success of his endeavors.
     His home is the farm of 260 acres in Liberty Township, owned by his father, T. C. Jones.  He also owns eighty acres in Liberty Township.  His home place is on Rural Route No. 3, out of Gillespieville.
     Boynton G. Jones was born in Liberty Township, Feb. 14, 1879, a son of T. C. and Martha J. (Rittenhour) Jones.  His father was also born in Liberty Township, and members of the Jones Family located here in the very early pioneer epoch.  The great-grandfather, William Jones, was the founder of the family in this section of Ohio.  The grandfather was Mason Jones, who when T. C. Jones was a boy of four years, moved to Pike County, Ohio, and lived there until he and his wife died.  T. C. Jones grew to manhood in Pike County, was married there, and soon afterwards, returned to Liberty Township and bought the farm of 287 acres of land, which he made the nucleus of his farming enterprise for many years.  His success as a farmer is indicated by the fact that he now owns 770 acres in Liberty Township.  His has been an active career, and business has not claimed altogether his attention.  He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a loyal republican and has been honored by his fellow citizens with the office of township trustee four years, township treasurer and membership on the school board.  T. C. Jones and wife have three sons:  Boynton G., Arsene J., and R. Everett.
     Boynton G. Jones
grew up on the old homestead in Liberty Township, and besides such advantages as were given by the district schools spent two terms in Wilmington College in Clinton County, Ohio.  After returning home, he found a place on his father's farm, and worked industriously there until his marriage.  Mar. 1, 1900, he married Sophia Jane Calver, daughter of Marvin Calver and wife whose maiden name was Stratton.
    
During the first year after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Jones lived at Vigo, employed by his father, and then moved to the place where he still resides.  He and his wife are the parents of three sons:  Lauris C., who was born, Jan. 16, 1901, and is now in high school; Leslie M., born June 6, 1906, and a student in the public schools; Lloyd M., born Apr. 9, 1910, and recently started to school.  Politically, Mr. Jones is a republican.  He has served on the township school board two years, and is now filling with much credit and ability the office of district assessor for the years 1916-17.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 871
  IRVIN T. JONES, the leading merchant of Hallsville, was born in Kingston, Ross County, Ohio, Jan. 24, 1836.  His parents were John and Dorothy (Powers) Jones, the former a native of Maryland, where he was reared, and the latter a native of Delaware county, Ohio.  Irvin T. Jones was reared in Ross county, attending the district schools, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until Feb. 13, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Sixty-ninth regiment, Ohio veteran volunteer infantry.  His regiment first saw duty at Nashville, Tenn., and participated in the following noted engagements: Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and the historic campaign of Sherman against Johnston up to and including the battle of Atlanta.  After the surrender of Atlanta he accompanied Sherman in his famous march to the sea and on up through the Carolinas until Johnston's surrender, then to Richmond, Va., and from there to Washington, where he participated in the Grand Review, one of the most noted military pageants of modern times.  From Washington his regiment was order to Louisville, Ky., and there mustered out of the service.  During his entire military service, although in many of the hottest engagements of the war, he never received a wound and never lost a day's service on account of sickness.  After his return home he again turned his attention to merchandising and in 1883 permanently located in Hallsville where he opened up a completely stocked general store, and today we find him, after years of perseverance and energy, enjoying not only a successful business but also in the prime of his activities.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Maxwell post, G. A. R., at Kingston.  Mr. Jones is a Republican in politics, is a postmaster at Hallsville and a highly esteemed citizen.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 704

J. Finley Jones
Scott F. Jones
J. FINLEY JONES.  The claim of J. Finley Jones upon the good will and consideration of the people of the region of Gillespieville is based upon many years of effective work as an agriculturist, upon his record as a public-spirited citizen, and upon his activity in promoting education and kindred accompaniments of advanced civilization.  He has nearly reached man's allotted three-score-and-ten years, but is still active, both bodily and mentally, and in addition to supervising operations on his farm in Liberty Township, takes a keen interest in the affairs of his community.
     Mr. Jones was born on the farm upon which he now resides, Oct. 11, 1847, and is a son of Thomas and Susanna (Pierce) Jones,  the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Virginia.  They came to Ross County as children, with their parents, and were here reared, educated and married.  After their marriage they settled down to house-keeping on a farm in this neighborhood, and here the rest of their lives were spent.  Mr. Jones was a hard-working an industrious farmer and had established himself well, with every chance of winning a full measure of success, but did not live to see his efforts fully appreciated, as his death occurred in 1848, before J. Finley Jones was one year old.  There were nine sons and two daughters in the family, and of those four are living at this writing, namely:  Wilson; Thomas, whose home is in Kansas; James W., of Liberty Township, a farmer; and J. Finley, of this notice.
     J. Finley Jones received his education in the early district schools of Ross County and was reared on the farm in Finley Township.  When he reached manhood he began farming operations on his own account, and the old homestead, upon which his father located on first coming into this county, is still his home.  He has made many improvements in regard to ditching, tiling, fencing, etc., has installed up-to-date equipment and machinery, and ha a fine, substantial set of buildings, with all modern accommodations and comforts.  Mr. Jones has carried on general farming, and as new methods have been proven good, has adopted them, although his practicality has not allowed him to dispense with time-honored and tried customs until he has found that they could be bettered.  His farm now consists of 262 acres, and is one of the valuable ones of Liberty Township.
    Mr. Jones was married to Miss Edith E. Pummell who died in 1899.  They were the parents of four sons, of whom but one, Scott F., is now living. Mr. Jones is a republican but not a politician.  Scott F. Jones was born July 18, 1893, on the home farm, and is one of the enterprising and energetic young farmers of the township.  He attended first the district schools, folowing which he pursued a course in the Chillicothe High School, from which he was duly graduated.  After that he taught school for three months in the country district of Harrison Township and one year in Liberty Township, and then returned to the home farm to become his father's assistant.  He is a member of the Concord Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which he has been active, as he has also in the Sunday school.  Like his father, he is a republican in matters of public policy.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page
704
  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 1½ 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 Ohio Infantry, and was out for 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 like wise 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 him self 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 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 Colerain Township of Ross County, a daughter of Nelson L. and Mary (Strawser) LuckhartNelson 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) StrawserMrs. Luckhart now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 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 he 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.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page
755
  MRS. MARTHA LANE JONES is one of the few survivors of the early members of the teaching profession in Ross County.  All honor is due to those who formed and trained minds of the youth of this county forty or fifty years ago, and she has many interesting recollections of school conditions and educational affairs in general in Ross County up to the time the first free public school system was established.
     Born in Concord Township October 27, 1840, Martha Lane is a daughter of Pleasant Lane, who was born in Ross County, where Mrs. Jones' grandfather came as a pioneer, buying a tract of timbered land in Concord Township and developing a farm from the wilderness.  The father of Mrs. Jones grew up on that farm, and made farming the basis of his career in this county, he spent all his life in Concord Township, where he and his wife died may years ago.  The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Jones was Nancy Parish, who was born in Concord Township, a daughter of Samuel Parish, likewise a pioneer there.  Mrs. Jones was one of the five children: Sarah, John, Martha, Catherine and Robert.
     As a girl Mrs. Jones made the best of her opportunities and man aged to acquire a good education in the local schools.  When only sixteen years of age she taught her first term in Concord Township, and she remained active in that profession until her marriage.
     At the age of twenty-two she married James Harvey Jones.  The late Mr. Jones was born in Vermont, where he was reared and educated and had the usual influences and environment of the New England boy.  When a young man he came west, and he also for several years taught school in Ross County.  He finally bought a farm in Concord Township and was engaged in its management, raising field crops and stock until his death.
     Mrs. Jones died August 27, 1916, at Clarksburg.  She was the mother of three children.  One son, James Morton, died in infancy.  The living children are Nancy Ellen and William D.
     William D. Jones graduated from the Frankfort High School and took up the career of medicine.  He studied with Doctor Barnett, and then attended lectures in the Starling Medical College at Columbus, now the medical department of the Ohio State University.  Graduating M. D. in 1892, he forthwith began practice in Franklin, where he remained five years, and since 1897 has been one of the leading physicians of Clarksburg.  In 1898 Doctor Jones married Cora Wilkius.  She was born in Concord Township, a daughter of Owen and Susan WilkinsDoctor and Mrs. Jones have two daughters, Ruth and Hazel.  In the line of his profession Doctor Jones is a member of the Ross County and the Ohio State medical societies.  He is also affiliated with Frankfort Lodge, No. 721, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; with Frankfort Lodge of the Masons, and with Chillicothe Chapter, Royal Arch Masons.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page
861
  MILTON P. JONES.  To the community of Twin Township Milton P. Jones is known not only as a practical and successful farmer, but as a public-spirited citizen and a man whose service on more than one occasion and in various capacities has been useful to the public.  First and foremost he is a farmer, and has the supervision of a very large estate consisting of 800 acres in Twin Township, located seven miles from Bainbridge and fourteen miles from Chillicothe. He is served by Rural Route No. 1 out of Bourneville.
     In farm where Milton P. Jones was born, Feb. 4, 1872, is part of the old Jones family has distinguished itself by constructive labors and the accumulation of a large amount of land and also by striking qualities of personal character and citizenship.
     The farm where Milton P. Jones was born, Feb. 4, 1872, is part of the old Jones estate in Twin Township, and is now occupied by David Jones.  His parents were William A. and James (Storms) Jones.  William A. Jones was born in Louisa County, Virginia, and when a small boy, accompanied his parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Jones, to Ohio.  David Jones died a short time after his arrival in this state.  The family first located near Waverly in Pike County.  William A. Jones possessed in a striking degree the qualities which enable a man to get along in the world.  Through the early death of his family he was thrown upon his own resources, and was about sixteen or seventeen years of age when he came to Ross County.  He worked out by the month, being employed for considerable time by Enos Prather.  He was thrifty as well as industrious, and in a few years was safely on the road to success.  At the age of twenty-five he married Jane Storms. Her father, John Storms, was one of the pioneer settlers in Hetherby's Bottoms, and later established a home at what has been known for many years as a landmark in Ross County, Storms' Station. In that community he spent the rest of his days and was one of the leading characters in that section of the county.
     After his marriage, William A. Jones bought 200 acres of land, where his son, Milton, now resides.  During his residence there, three children
were born, and he then bought the farm where his son David lives, and that was his home until his death, about 1900.  Mrs. William A. Jones is still living, and makes her home with her son, David, in Twin Town ship. In spite of his unpromising start, William A. Jones made a fortune and was long rated as one of the largest landholders in Ross County.  At one time his possessions aggregated over 2,500 acres.  He and his wife became the parents of eight children, of whom seven grew to maturity, and the four now living are: William F., a retired farmer of Francisville, Illinois; David G.; Anna, wife of William A. Wallace; and
Milton P.
     Milton P. Jones grew up in a home of substantial comforts and was given the equivalent of a liberal education.  He attended the public schools and the high school at Bourneville, spent one year in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, and another year in the Ohio Northern University, at Ada.
     On Dec. 10, 1896, he married Miss Emma Corcoran, a daughter of Dennis and Sarah Corcoran, of Irish descent.  Mrs. Jones was born in Twin Township, and has spent practically all her life there.
     After his marriage, Mr. Jones lived in the old house on his father's farm for three years, then spent a brief season in Norfolk, Virginia, and on returning to Ross County resumed farming on the same place but in another house for two years.  He and his wife then returned to the home which they had first occupied after their marriage, but in 1906 put up the modern dwelling which they now call their home.
     Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of two children: S. Albert, born Oct. 8, 1897, took three years in the Bourneville High School and was graduated in 1915 from the Chillicothe High School, and is now a student in the Ohio State University.  Milton C., born Feb. 8, 1899, is in the third year of the course of the high school in Bourneville.
Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page
914
  THOMAS JUNK

Source:  A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio - Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917 - Page 719

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NOTES:

 

 

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