JOHN McEVOY, who is well and favorably known through his residence of forty years in St. Mary's and vicinity, has been a witness of much of the growth of this city and has won a high place among its most trusted business men for honor and strict probity in trade.  He deals in groceries, provisions, chinaware, lime, cement, etc., and occupies a neat, two-story frame building on Spring Street and conducts a large and profitable business.  He is also connected with the agricultural interests of Auglaize County, having improved a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres.
     The subject of this biography was born in Sussex County, N. J., Apr. 22, 1832.  His father who bore the name of Peter McEvoy, was a native of County Louth, Ireland.  He was a weaver by trade.  He was first married, in England, but his wife died young, leaving a son.  He then came to America and married Mary Willits, a native of Sussex County, N. J., becoming his wife.  He lived in that State several years and carried on the trade of a weaver.  In 1835, he came to Ohio and turned his attention to farming.  He stopped in Newark, Licking County, for a while, and then removed to the country on a farm.  In 1843, he took up his residence in Franklin County and was engaged in that region at farming until he came to St. Mary's in 1852.  He finally purchased a farm near the city and there spent the closing days of a long and honorable life, dying in 1864, at the venerable age of eighty-six years.  Both he and his good wife were true Catholics in religion.  She, too, lived to be eighty-six years old.  They had three sons, of whom the eldest is deceased.
     John McEvoy, in order to obtain an education, followed a path through the woods in his boyhood days to a school taught on the subscription plan in an old log house.  He often had to work a day to get wood to burn in the old-fashioned fireplace in the schoolroom.  He was only three years old when his parents sought a new home in Ohio, and he grew up amid pioneer scenes, the country roundabout his early home being new, with but few settlers, and a life of hardship and sacrifice was the common lot of pioneers.  He had nearly attained manhood when he came to St. Mary's with the family.  He found here only a small village, seated in the midst of wild environments.  He remained an inmate of the parental household until he was twenty-eight years old, giving his father needed help in carrying on his farm.  In 1860, he assumed the responsibilities of married life, taking unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Alice Ennis, who has been to him a cheerful helpmate and a devoted companion.  She was born in Ireland, and after the death of her parents came to this country with a brother.
     After his marriage, Mr. McEvoy continued to engage in farming until 1866, when he removed to St. Mary's and burned lime on the canal a few years, operating two kilns, and manufacturing a large amount of lime.  In 1876, he entered the grocery business, and two years later purchased his present establishment just across from his first location on Spring Street.  He carries a large and varied stock of the articles enumerated in the first part of this notice, having everything of the best, and he commands an extensive trade, not only among the city people, but he is well patronized by the country folks for miles around.  He is an excellent business man, tends closely to all the details in his operations, and is alive to all that will promote his financial interests.   He is whole-souled and kind hearted as a man, and is generous and public-spirited as a citizen, who has always sought to benefit the city of his adoption in every possible way.  He has been of inestimable service as an office-holder, serving as Justice of the Peace, as a member of the Council, etc.  Politically, he is a Democrat, with sound views on party questions.  Both he and his wife have been very active in the upbuilding of the Catholic Church of St. Mary's of which they are devoted members, and he has been secretary and Treasurer of the society for several years.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. 1892 - Pages284

CHARLES P. McKEE is the fortunate proprietor of the best oil farm in Auglaize County, situated on section 16,  St. Mary's Township, with whose interests his own have been closely interwoven for many years, as it has been his home from early childhood, and he has aided in its advancement materially, educationally, socially and religiously.  He is a farmer of sound principles, and advanced views in regard to agriculture, and he is an exemplary, public-spirited citizen, whom it gives us pleasure to represent in this biographical work.
     A native of Ohio, Charles McKee was born in Athens County, Sept. 17, 1833, but the month following his birth his parents removed to St. Mary's, there fore the most of his life has been passed in this county.  His father, Thomas McKee, was a native of Pennsylvania, but came to Ohio when very young with his parents, who were early settlers of this State.  His father was John McKee, who was of Irish birth.  Thomas McKee was a farmer in Athens County until his removal to this county in October, 1833.  He resided in St. Mary's two years, and then purchased land a half-mile south of town, which he developed into a substantially improved farm.  He was prominent and well known as a pioneer and a citizen, and was held in high regard by the entire community.  For many years, he was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and actively aided in the advancement of religious interests in this section.  He departed this life in 1874, in his seventy-fourth year.  His first wife, mother of our subject, was Annis Reynolds, who died in 1839.  They had seven children, of whom three are living.  His second wife was Sarah Amerstrong,  a daughter of one of the first settlers of this section.  She died in 1879.  Five children were born of that marriage, of whom three are living.
     In his boyhood days, Charles McKee attended school in a log schoolhouse, and in that humble institution of learning laid the foundations of a sound education, that was completed in the excellent Union School at St. Mary's.  He had a bright mind and scholarly tastes, which led him to adopt the profession of a teacher, at which he was very successfully engaged some twenty terms, his experience in school teaching being confined principally to two districts, except during one winter, when he taught elsewhere.  In the summer seasons, he devoted his time to farming, remaining an inmate of the parental home until nearly thirty years old that he might assist his father.  He began farming for himself during the war, and has lived on the farm that he now occupies in St Mary's Township for nearly twenty years.  He first bought eighty acres of land, to which he has added by subsequent purchase until he has a good-sized farm of two hundred and twenty acres, which is in a fine condition, is amply supplied with modern improvements, and everything about the place bears evidence of careful and judicious management.  Oil was discovered herein December, 1891, and now there are fifteen flowing wells and one gas well.  The farm was leased for oil purposes after the important discovery, and has been developed by others who have sub-leased it.
     Mr. McKee and Miss Jennie Smith were united in marriage in 1864, and theirs is a congenial union, as he is a model husband, always thoughtful of her welfare, is generous and considerate with her, and does not forget the important part she has played in the making of their home, while she is in every sense a true wife, who sympathizes with her husband in his aims, is a sage counselor, and contributes greatly to his comfort and well-being by her husband in his aims, is a sage counselor, and contributes greatly to his comfort and well-being by her wise and firm guidance of household matters.  Mrs. McKee was born near St. Mary's and is a daughter of  Aaron Smith, an early settler of the county, who is still living here at a venerable age.  Mr. and Mrs. McKee have had six children namely:  William who is finely educated, and has taught school several terms; Edward; Ada J., deceased; Charles P. ,Jr.; Elza and Jennie.  The McKees are prominent and well known in church and social circles, their integrity in all things, and their pleasant personal attributes making them greatly esteemed as members of the Presbyterian Church, and attracting to them many friends.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. 1892 - Pages 136

L. N. MEANS

LYMAN N. MEANS.  Lives of self-made men usually contain incidents of interest to those who study the ups and downs of existence, and without doubt this brief sketch of the life of Mr. Means will be read by many to whom it will furnish an example for emulation, no less than admiration.  He is, perhaps, the most extensive land-owner in Auglaize County, where his entire life has been passed, and where he is well known as one of the most successful business men of Wapakoneta.  In former years, he bought and shipped stock, but now devotes his time principally to farming pursuits, also operating as a grain dealer.  The attention of the reader is invited to his portrait on the opposite page, and the following facts in regard to his personal history:
     A native of the county where he now resides, our subject was born July 17, 1840.  His paternal grandfather was a Virginian, and his death occurred in the Old Dominion.  Robert L. G. and Sallie W. (North) Means were born in Ohio and Connecticut, respectively, and the former resided principally in Virginia until he reached the age of thirteen years, when he returned to his native State and made his home in Newark with an uncle.  At the end of five years, he went to Champaign County, was there married and removed thence, in the year 1835, to Auglaize County.  At that time, the country was covered with a dense forest, the Indians still inhabited the region, and the wood contained numerous wild animals.  Robert Means settled on a woodland farm in what is now Goshen Township, and with the energy which characterized the lives of so many of the early pioneers -

     "He cut, he logged, he cleared his lot.
     And into many a dismal spot he let the light of day."

His nearest neighbor was four miles distant, and the nearest flouring mill was at Springfield, a journey to and from which place occupied five days.  The farm which he improved is now one of the finest in the county and everything about it indicates that a man of thrift, energy and enlightened views has had control of affairs.  Of a family of ten children born of this marriage, four are living, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest.  After a career of usefulness, the father wa called from life in September, 1885.
     L. N. Means grew up to a sturdy manhood upon terms of familiarity with all kinds of farm labor.  In his boyhood, he attended such schools as that day afforded, the rudiments of his education being obtained in a little log cabin one and one-half miles from his home, but he was not permitted by the exigencies of his condition to get beyond this in his acquisition of knowledge.  On the 1st of September, 1861, he enlisted in the service of the Stars and Stripes, becoming a member of Company D, Fifty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and serving until July 17, 1862,when he was discharged on account of a wound which he had received at the battle of Shiloh.  He returned home, and after convalescence, re-enlisted in Company B, Forty-fifth Ohio Infantry, the fortunes of which he followed until the close of the war.  In the battle of Rockford, near Knoxville, Tenn., he received a second wound, a gunshot penetrating his right lung.  He received two other wounds, but not of a serious nature.  He was commissioned Lieutenant, but was not mustered in, on account of the reduction of the company.  His career as a soldier was marked by strict adherence to duty, and no braver soldier ever trod the crimson turf of a battlefield than L. N. Means.
     When peace was declared, Mr. Means returned home and farmed for one year, after which he married and moved to Wapakoneta, where for fifteen years his attention was given to buying and shipping stock.  That occupation still receives some of his attention, although the most of his time is given to agricultural pursuits.  Through his own perseverance and energy, he has become the owner of fourteen hundred acres of land in Auglaize County and seventeen hundred acres outside its borders.  He is a stockholder in both the Artificial and Natural Gas Companies, is a Director and stockholder in the First National Bank, besides being a stockholder in several other concerns.  He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and the Royal Arcanum.
     In February, 1861, Mr. Means was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Edmiston, by whom he has six children: Robert C., an attorney of the State of Washington; Guy D., a medical student of Cincinnati; Mamie, wife of Dr. G. B. Nichols; Carl, Edna and Harry L.  Mrs. Means is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. 1892 - Pages 383