HOMER GARD, editor and public official, is a native of Hamilton, born on the 9th of January, 1866.  He is a son of Hon. S. Z. Gard, whose sketch appears more fully under the title of Warren Gard.  The subject of this sketch was graduated from the Hamilton high school in the class of 1884, following which he took a three-years course at Amherst College in Massachusetts.  He began his independent career in the field of journalism, being employed on the reportorial staff of the Daily News in this city.  In 1890 he accepted a position as reporter on the Daily Democrat, and in January, 1891, he was advanced to the position of editor and business manager.  Mr. Gard was entitled to great credit in bringing this paper up to a high standard in the ranks of progressive journalism and in placing it upon a paying basis as the leading organ of Butler county Democracy.  He instituted needed reforms in the management of the paper and assumed an attitude of independence, advocating the rights of the people, as against the influence of the party lash and the dictations of the would-be office holders.  Such an attitude was a new feature in Democratic journalism in Butler county and naturally developed some opposition among the disappointed aspirants, the effect of which are apparent at this time.  But Mr. Gard was equal to the emergency and the Democrat improved in value as a fearless and independent advocate of the party's principles.  The value of the plant was greatly enhanced and during his management the paper was sold to a syndicate for thirty-eight thousand dollars, an increase of twenty-four thousand dollars over the price originally paid for the plant.
     In January, 1895, Mr. Gard purchased the controlling stock in the News-Democrat at Canton, Ohio, and was elected president and managing editor.  He sold his stock in that paper after fifteen months to a syndicate of politicians, having more than doubled the circulation and placed the plant on a paying basis.  Returning to Hamilton, he became managing editor of the Daily News in June, 1896, continuing in that capacity until 1903, when, in company with Clayton A. Leiter, George Holderfer and L. R. Hensley, the Evening Democrat was purchased and Mr. Gard was elected president of the corporation, which position he still efficiently fills.
     In May, 1903, Mr. Gard was appointed city clerk for the term of two years.  He is a thoroughly competent and active business man and has established for himself an enviable record as a journalist.  Mr. Gard was married, on the 1st of June, 1892, to Miss Lutie Matthias, of Hamilton.  The social relations of the family are of the highest order.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 655

REV. STEPHEN GARD was born in Essex county, New Jersey, Nov. 3, 1776.  He received his education in a common school, except a few months in a private classical school in his native county.   He  was married to Rachel Pearce in 1801.  He emigrated to Ohio about the end of the eighteenth century, making a temporary stay at Columbia, and moving to Butler county and settling on the present site of Trenton the same year.  He came of Ohio in company with his father-in-law, Michael Pearce and family, and Dr. Squire Littell, who headed a colony of immigrants from New Jersey.  Rev. Gard was the first resident minister in Butler county, and in 1800 founded the first church organization in the county - The Elk Creek Baptist church, of which he became the pastor, and continued as such until his death, Aug. 14, 1839.  He organized nearly all the Primitive or Old School Baptist churches in the Miami valley.
     To Rev. and Mrs. Gard were  born several children as follows:  Eliza, who married William Wilson, of Middletown; Phebe, who married Wilkeson Taylor; Isaac N. became a physician and married Louisa Todd, of Newport, Kentucky; Fairman, who also became a physician and married Lucy Todd, a sister of Louisa Todd; Sarah married  John C. Potter; Mary L. married Ezra Potter and Rachel died unmarried.  Rev. Mr. Gard was twice married.  His second wife was Mary Van Horn.  By her he had one child, William B. Gard, who became a physician.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 987

HON. WARREN GARD.  This distinguished attorney is a Butler county product, of whom the city of Hamilton is justly proud.  Seldom, indeed, does a professional career, in any line of human effort, launch out into prominence and distinction without a long and tedious period of probationary growth.  The career of this subject, however, was somewhat marked, even from his schoolboy days.  He was always a zealous student and early manifested a disposition to "go to the bottom of things: in student life.  Mr. Gard was especially favored, also, in being a descendant of an able lawyer, hence his early training was in keeping with his chosen professional career.  Endowed with a brilliant mind, retentive memory, a magnificent voice and winning personality, it is not strange that he early manifested those traits of character which distinguished the successful lawyer.
     Warren Gard is yet on the threshold of young manhood, though he has mapped out a career for himself far in advance of the mediocre.  He was born in Hamilton on the 2d of July, 1873.  His early education was acquired in the city schools, and he was graduated with the Hamilton high school with the class of 1890.  Hen then entered the Cincinnati University, where he pursued a special course for three years, at the same time carrying the regular course in law at the Law School of Cincinnati.  He was graduated in 1894 and in the spring of the same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of the state.
     Mr. Gard at once opened an office in his native city and was engaged in general practice until January, 1898.  In the autumn of 1897 he was nominated by the county Democracy as the party's candidate for the office of prosecuting attorney, and was elected at the general election of that year.  He entered upon the duties of this onerous office on the first Monday in January, 1898.  Almost from the date of Mr. Gard's induction into office began a career of crime in Butler county never before equalled under the jurisdiction of any predecessor.  It was no theoretical study with him, - but an intensely practical career, covering his entire period of incumbency, during which time a greater number of criminals were tried than in any previous four years during the existence of Butler county.  Some of the defendants attained national notoriety, through the very hideousness of their crime.  The friends of the defendants made every effort possible in their defense, and Mr. Gard was often confronted by the most talented and successfu_ attorneys to be secured from the bar of the state.  He never asked assistance in the prosecution of a criminal case, but, confronting his wily opponents, met their motions and concentrated efforts with characteristic zeal and tenacity.  The notorious strangler, Alfred A. Knapp, was tried and condemned to the electric chair during the last year.  The Keelor murder trial resulted in conviction, but the verdict was set aside because of faulty instructions to the jury, after which the defendant plead guilty to murder in the first degree, and received a life sentence in the penitentiary.  The Thomas case was tried on an indictment for first degree murder, the jury returning a verdict of second-degree murder, and the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment.  The Welner case, indictment for first-degree murder, resulted in acquittal.  In the Spivey riot cases, one of the two defendants was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary, and the other died before trial.
     The Bishop "faith cure" case was one involving somewhat peculiar conditions, upon which the higher court was asked to establish a ruling, or precedent.  The parties were indicted for manslaughter, on the charge of criminal negligence on the part of the parents of a child seriously burned.  They relied upon prayer as a curative agent, and refused to call medical aid, or to administer medicines.  The supreme court established a ruling that "No conviction could follow, in the absence of a positive and direct statute covering such a case."
     In the Barret and Willard grand larceny cases, wherein the defendants were indicted for stealing diamond rings, of the value of twenty-five hundred dollars, Barrett was convicted and sent to the penitentiary for a term of years.  Willard was twice tried as an accessory and was finally acquitted.  Besides these, there were many minor criminal cases brought to trial by Mr. Gard in his official capacity, in all of which he demonstrated his ability as a lawyer, and entire fairness and honesty as a mediator between crime and justice.
     Mr. Gard was his own successor in 1900, receiving at the polls a very strong endorsement of his services, from the people of the county.   No man ever retired from a public office in Butler county with a more general recognition of his ability and special fitness, than Warren Gard.
     Not alone in legal lore is Mr. Gard a leader, but in the social and political world he is recognized as a moulder of public thought and sentiment.  As an orator, it is said that his equal does not exist in Butler county, and, whatever the topic chosen, his well-stored mind and ready use of language enable him to speak with fluency and readiness.  He was one of the principal speakers at the memorial services in Hamilton, on the death of President McKinley, his associate being Hon. H. L. Morey, now de ceased.  It is said by those who heard this address that it was a masterpiece of eloquence, pathos and oratorical sublimity.  As a campaign speaker, Mr. Gard is instructive and inspiring; his arguments are forceful, his similes pleasing, his comparisons rich and fertile in advanced thought.  As a leader in the political affairs of Butler county, Mr. Gard has a future bright with party honors, should he decide to claim them, and as an attorney in private practice, should he thus decide, his future career will be crowned with deserved success.
     Warren Gard is the youngest of two living sons and one daughter, deceased, born to Hon. Samuel Z. and Mary (Duke) Gard.  Both parents were natives of Butler county, the father born in 1832 and the mother in 1840.  Samuel Z. Gard has spent his life in the legal profession, and, when in active practice, was considered one of the ablest attorneys at the Butler county bar.  He was prosecuting attorney of the county from January, 1862, until January, 1866, and also served a year by appointment in 1871, in the same office.  He was educated at Antioch College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, then under the jurisdiction of the renowned educator, Horace Mann.  He read law under the tutelage of Hon. Alex F. Hume, of Hamilton, and was admitted to the bar in 1859.  Owing to delicate health, he has not been in active practice in recent years.  He has been a lifelong Democrat and an able and influential advocate of the doctrines of his party.
     Homer Gard, the eldest son of S. Z. Gard, is managing editor and principal stockholder of the Hamilton Evening Democrat, the oldest paper in Butler county.  He is also the present city clerk.  The daughter, Nora, died in infancy.
     The subject of this review retired from the office of prosecuting attorney on the first Monday in January, 1904, and is now established in pleasant offices in the Reily block, engaged in private practice.  He is an affable, companionable gentleman, devoted to his friends, and zealous and ambitious in his profession.  His official career, and the prophecy of future honors, are very properly a part of the history of Butler county.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 352⁴⁵

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 610

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 588

HERMAN GOEBEL, a prominent business man of Trenton, Ohio, was born in Madison township, within three miles of his present location, on the 13th of August, 1866.  He is a son of Leonard and Dorothy (Kennell) Goebel, natives of Germany.  They accompanied their parental families to this country in early life, and were married in Butler county, Ohio, where they have always lived.  The father spent his productive years in agricultural pursuits, and became well-to-do.  He and his estimable wife are now retired from active farm labor, and living in Trenton.  They reared a family of two sons and two daughters, of whom John W. is the eldest.  He is a prosperous farmer and merchant in Oklahoma territory.  He was among the "boomers" of 1891 and secured a very desirable quarter section of land at the opening of that country to settlement.  After securing his homestead rights, he located in town and engaged in merchandising, in which pursuit he has been very successful.  Herman, of this sketch, is the second in order of birth.  Mary is the wife of Emil Scheibert, who is cultivating the home farm in Madison township.  Louesa married Jacob Ulm, and resides in Trenton.
     Herman Goebel, of this article, received his education in the public schools of Trenton.  Being inclined to mechanical pursuits, he learned the carpenter's trade with Bender Brothers, a well-known and extensive contracting firm in Hamilton, and remained in their employ for ten years, during which time he mastered all the details of his profession and left their employ a master mechanic in his line.  On the 4th of June, 1902, he established his present business in Trenton, erecting a large and commodious shop and office building, lumber sheds, etc.  There was an opening for just such a plant in Trenton and Mr. Goebel met with success from the start.  He carried a large stock of lumber and builder's materials, supplying the trade with these commodities, as desired.  He gives employment in season to a large force of skilled workmen and averages a complete structure each month of the building season.  He prepares his own draughts, specifications and estimates, his long experience under the most capable instructors enabling him to secure profitable contracts at figures below those of the village carpenters, whose facilities are limited.  Mr. Goebel was the successful bidder on the construction of the First Presbyterian church, now in course of building at Trenton.  This is quite an imposing edifice, modern in all features, and is a credit to the skill and architectural design of the builder.
     Mr. Goebel was married Mar. 3, 1891, to Miss Mary Imhoff, a native of Butler county and a daughter of Jacob and Lena Imhoff, of LeSourdsville, in this county.  Four children have been born to this union, Clayton, Arthur, Stabley and Gordon.  In political affiliations the subject is an active Democrat and wields a potent influence in the counsels of Democracy.  He is president of the town council of Trenton.  He is a member of Aerie No. 407, Fraternal Order of Eagles at Hamilton.  In religious affiliations he is a member of the German Lutheran church and his wife is a Mennonite.  Mr. Goebel is an active, energetic business man who has made a success of life, though yet in the prime of his manhood.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 473

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 828

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 483

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 576

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 714

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 651

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 478

CAPTAIN ISRAEL GREGG, for many years a prominent steamboat man, was for a long time a resident of Hamilton. He was born on the 20th of February, 1775, in Virginia, but .his parents, who were adventurous pioneers, removed to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, shortly after, where, on attaining a sufficient age, he was taught the art of a silversmith, and on reaching his majority set up for himself. Two years after, or on the 12th of July, 1798, he married Elizabeth Hough, one of the younger children of a Quaker family, and sister of Joseph Hough, for twenty years the leading merchant of Hamilton. Another brother, Benjamin, was auditor of the State of Ohio from 1808 to 1815.
      Mr. Gregg afterwards became interested in steamboating, and in 1814 was in command of the steamboat Enterprise, built at Brownsville by Daniel French, on his patent, and owned by a company at that place. It was a boat of forty-five tons. It made two voyages to Louisville in the Summer of 1814. In December she took in a cargo of ordnance stores at. Pittsburgh, and sailed for New Orleans, arriving at that port on the 14th of the same month. She was then dispatched up the river in search of two keelboats, laden with small arms, which had been delayed on the river. She had reached twelve miles above Natchez when she met the boats, took their masters and cargoes on board, and returned to New Orleans, having been out six and a half days, in which time she ran two hundred and sixty-four miles. She was then for some time actively employed in transporting troops, etc. She made one voyage to the Gulf of Mexico, as a cartel, and one voyage to the rapids of Red River with troops, and nine voyages to Natchez. She set out for Pittsburg on the 6th of May, and arrived at Shipping port on the 30th, twenty-four days out, being the first steamboat that ever arrived at that port from New Orleans. She then proceeded to Pittsburg, where her arrival was warmly greeted, as the passage from the sea by the means of steam had been successfully accomplished for the first time. Captain Gregg afterwards commanded the Dispatch, a small boat of twenty-five tons, built at Brownsville, which was wrecked near New Orleans in 1819, and he continued as a com­mander in the river service for several years after.
     He then became an inhabitant of Hamilton, where he dwelt the remainder of his days. He was elected sheriff of Butler County in 1835, and served four years, also holding other orifices of trust and responsibility. By his first wife he had eleven children, who are now all dead. Upon her decease he married Mrs. Phebe Kelley, of Rossville, an aunt of William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, on Thursday, the 5th of December, 1822, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. H. Baker. By this  marriage he had two children: Jane H, now the wife of J. C. Skinner, and Sarah, widow of Samuel Cary. He died on the 20th of June, 1847, aged seventy-three years. He was a man of great uprightness and benevolence, and his memory is still cherished by those who knew him.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 922

Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 549