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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County,
Ohio
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention
to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial,
Educational, Civic and Social Development
--
Prepared Under the Editorial Supervision of
Dr. Benjamin F. Prince
President Clark County Historical Society
--
Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
--
Volumes 2
--
Published by
The American Historical Society
Chicago and New York
1922
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JOSEPH J. MEENACH
is one of the few survivors of the Civil war, and for over a
half a century has enjoyed a place of honor and esteem in
Clark County. A man of industry, he depended on his own
efforts to earn him a competence, and after many years as a
farm renter he acquired the attractive place he now occupies
in Harmony Township. Mr. Meenach was born in
Clark County, in Pleasant Township, Aug. 3, 1844, son of
James and Harriett (Wolf) Meenach. His father was
born in Springfield Township of Clark County in 1811, and
his mother in Harmony Township in 1819. His grandfather,
William Meenach, came from Pennsylvania and was
one of the pioneers of Clark County, locating here
considerably more than a century ago. James
Meenach grew up in Clark County, had such educational
opportunities as were afforded in his time, and after his
marriage he settled on a farm in Pleasant Township.
Subsequently he lived in Springfield Township, where he
died. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Of his
four children two are living, Joseph and Sarah,
the latter the wife of William Butler, of
Kansas. Joseph J. Meenach was reared in Springfield
Township, attended the common schools there, and when a boy
of eighteen, in 1862, he enlisted in Company A, of the
Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry. He was in the service until the
end of the war, largely in the armies of Sherman and
Thomas, participated in several battles but was never
wounded. He marched with the troops of General Sherman in
the Grand Review at Washington after the war. On leaving the
army Mr. Meenach returned to Clark County and
to the tasks of farming. Dec. 27, 1877, he married
Louise Butler, a native of Clark County. Mr.
Meenach made slow and steady progress toward
prosperity by operating rented farms, and altogether he paid
out $13,000 in rent. Finally he bought the farm of ninety
acres where he now lives, and has occupied this place since
1896. He is an honored member of Mitchell Post
No. 45 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a
republican in politics. Mr. Meenach has four
children: Harriett, wife of Frank Pierson, of
Springfield and she has five children, William,
Lawrence, Esther, Robert and Walter;
Olive, wife of George Engle, of
Pleasant Township, they have one child, Rodger; J. W.,
who operates the home farm, married Maud Ward,
but they have no children; and Lottie B., wife of
Paul Booghier, of Springfield, and they are the
parents of one child, Helen Louise.
SOURCE: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark
County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 386 -
Transcribed for Ohio Genealogy Express by Cathy Portz |
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EARL NEWTON MILLER.
The packing interests, like others of importance, are well
looked after at Springfield, and a leading concern is the
Springfield Abattoir Company, which has been developed in
the last quarter of a century by its present owner and
manager, Earl Newton Miller, who formerly was
identified with the great packing house of Swift &
Company. Mr. Miller’s modern plant takes
precedence over the majority of others in Ohio, and has a
commercial trade field that insures over $1,000,000 annual
average of business.
Earl Newton Miller was born in Clark County,
Ohio, the youngest of a family of seven children born to
Samuel Newton and Cassandra M. (Baker) Miller. Samuel
Newton Miller, or as he was usually known, Newton
Miller, was born in Clark County, on his father’s farm
in Mad River Township. He was a son of Daniel
Miller, a native of Maryland, who was the first of this
branch of the Miller family to come to Clark
County. He settled as a pioneer near Enon in Mad River
Township, cleared land and prospered as a farmer. Here
Samuel Newton Miller was born June 30, 1819, and grew
to manhood. His educational privileges were limited,
but his intellect was quick and, almost entirely
self-educated, he became a man of general information and
sound judgment. He followed general farming and found
it profitable to specialize on potatoes. Although a
man of peace and a life long member of the Christian Church,
when the Civil war was precipitated he was one of the first
in his neighborhood to offer his services, and served out an
enlistment of three months. He married Cassandra M.
Baker, who was born May 13, 1822, and died in March,
1896, surviving her husband, whose death occurred in
September, 1887. He was a consistent Christian man,
and he reared his family to be loyal to each other, their
church and their country. For many years he was a
church class leader and superintendent of the Sunday School,
and as he was gifted with a fine voice, was the leader of
the choir.
Earl Newton Miller spent his boyhood and early
manhood on the home farm, in the meantime gaining a
first-class public school education. In the spring of
1883 he moved to Springfield, where he conducted a fruit
store for a time and then engaged in handling livestock,
and, in a small way, also dealt in meat. In 1892 he
entered the employ of the Swift Packing Company, and for the
next five years managed their branch establishment at
Springfield. In 1897 he came to his present location
on Rockaway Street, west of Fountain Avenue, where he began
for himself in the packing industry, in a building 50 by 25
feet. This was the nucleus of his present extensive
plant operated as the Springfield Abattoir Company, where
the immense volume of business requires the assistance of
forty-five workers. As may be inferred, a large amount
of capital is invested, and only trained service can insure
the satisfactory preparation and production of the choice
meat products such as are demanded by the public today, and
incidentally it may be added that only an exceedingly
clear-headed, capable business man can manage such a
business successfully.
On Jan. 23, 1878, Mr. Miller married
Miss Frances Dunkle, and they have one daughter,
Alpha, who is the wife of Dr. R. E. Tuloss,
president of Wittenberg College. Mr. Miller and
his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. In
political opinion he is a republican. Although never
consenting to hold a public office, he has been a most
active and earnest citizen in promoting the best interests
of the city, and so confident are his neighbors in his
integrity that they often follow his lead in public-spirited
movements and in matters pertaining to the general welfare.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 115 |
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JOHN MILLER
was one of Springfield’s merchants, and had founded a
successful business before his death, which took him away in
the prime of his years and usefulness.
He was born at Springfield, Jan. 27, 1857, son of
John and Agnes Miller, early settlers in the city.
Mr. Miller was educated in the public schools and
also attended Wittenberg College. As a young man he
engaged in the grocery business, and was located on West
Main Street for two years, after which he moved his
establishment to 2415 East High Street. He bought the
store building there, and had active charge of the growing
business until his death on Sept. 21, 1883.
In March, 1879, Mr. Miller married
Mary Cramer. She was born in Springfield,
Aug. 11, 1857, daughter of George and Catherine (Hefner)
Cramer, natives of Germany, who came to Springfield in
1852 and soon settled on a farm in Springfield Township,
where they lived the rest of their lives. Her father
died Apr. 10, 1911, and her mother, Apr. 10, 1916.
Mrs. Miller has one son, Walter John,
born Aug. 2, 1883. Since he left school he has been
associated with his mother in managing the grocery business
at 2415 East High Street, and is one of the very energetic
and successul young business men of the city.
Mrs. Miller is a member of St. John’s Church.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 287 |
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JOHN E. MILLER.
In the life histories of men who have attained to places of
prominence through the medium of their own efforts there is
always to be found something of interest and value to the
youth who is starting out to make his own way in the world.
The lessons set forth by the lives of self-made men should
be included in the training of each aspiring youth.
There is nothing so stimulating to ambition as the thought
that what man has done man can do. With the
illustration before him of the obstacles overcome, the
hard-fought battles won and the final success attained, even
the young man facing the greatest of disadvantages may well
take heart and apply himself to his task with a feeling of
confidence. In the career of John E. Miller,
vice president and manufacturing director of the Crowell
Publishing Company of Springfield, owners and publishers of
The American Magazine, Woman’s Home Companion, Colliers, The
National Weekly, Farm and Fireside, and The Mentor, there
are to be found these lessons. The success which he
has attained within a comparatively few short years, the
position which he occupies among Springfield’s business men,
and the regard and confidence in which he is universally
held are attractive enough in themselves to inspire
emulation, and when it is considered that all have been
gained by his own endeavors the lessons become of
incalculable value.
Mr. Miller was born at Delphos, Ohio,
Jan. 30, 1881, and received his primary educational training
in the public schools of that place. Owing to the
death of his father when he was a lad of fifteen years his
educational plans were disarranged, but he managed to
complete his course at the Delphos High School, from which
he was graduated as a member of the class of 1897. For
several years, as a thrifty and energetic youngster, he
turned his hand to any honorable employment that presented
itself, without settling down to any one line of work, but
in 1902 he came to Springfield as chief clerk to the car
accountant of the Detroit Southern Railroad. After two
years with that road he entered the service of the Amering
Seeding Machine Company, but shortly thereafter was employed
bY the International Harvester Company and served in the
accounting department until the end of August, 1905.
On September 1 of that year he became bookkeeeper and
cashier of the Kelly Springfield Road Roller Company,
with which concern he remained until October, 1912, when he
identified himself with the Crowell Publishing
Company, a concern with which lie has since remained.
His first titles were office manager and accountant, and
from Apr. 15, 1916, until February, 1920, he was general
superintendent, since which time he has held the positions
of vice president and manufacturing director. While
Mr. Miller admits that there is something unusual
in his quick rise from obscurity to prominence, without
advantages or outside assistance, he states that an equal
chance is open to every American youth possessed of ambition
and will. In his own case he modestly asserts that
fortuitous circumstances played a large part in his rise,
but it is reasonable to suppose that had he not possessed
the brain capacity, the initiative, the eternal watchfulness
and the constant industry he would not have won success even
though all the circumstances in the world had been in his
favor. Mr. Miller has numerous important
business connections, and is a member of the Lagonda Club,
the Springfield Country Club, the Rotary Club and the
Chamber of Commerce.
On June 27, 1905, Mr. Miller was united
in marriage with Miss Gertrude Emma Blumenstiel, of
Springfield.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 114 |
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JOSEPH MILLER.
Those who never come into direct contact with the producers
of their daily food have little conception of the debt the
world owes these faithful, hard-working men and women who
labor under many obstacles in order to feed the multitudes.
Many of these, especially those adjacent to large cities,
find it more profitable and convenient to specialize on
raising vegetables and market this produce themselves
through direct selling to the public, in this way cutting
out the profits of the middleman and lowering the price to
the consumer. The city market of Springfield offers
splendid opportunities for the truck farmer to sell his
products and the public to buy at first cost fresh
vegetables and fruits. One of the energetic men of
Clark County who has won a well-sustained reputation for the
excellent quality of his produce and the fairness of his
prices is Joseph Miller, whose
finely-cultivated truck garden is on Clifton Avenue.
Joseph Miller was born at Dayton, Ohio,
Apr. 12, 1862, and he comes of good, solid German stock.
His parents, John G. and Gertrude (Trangenstein) Miller,
were born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, from whence they came
to the United States and settled at Dayton, Ohio. By
trade the father was a machinist and traveled about the
country working at his calling, although he continued to
maintain his home at Dayton until in March, 1882, when he
moved to Springfield, and there he continued to live until
his death, in 1908, when he was eighty-four years old.
His wife died in the same year, aged seventy-seven years.
Their children were as follows: Joseph, who was the
eldest; Emma, who married Sylvester Sheeley,
of Saint Louis County, Missouri; Lewis, who lives on
East Main Street, Springfield, Ohio; and Jacob, who
lives in Springfield Township, Clark County.
Joseph Miller obtained his educational
training in the country schools and grew up on a farm.
When he was twenty years old he began to put to practical
use the lessons of industry and thrift taught him from
childhood by his watchful parents, and began to learn the
moulder’s trade, and for thirty years followed that calling.
Tiring of its exactions, he then commenced gardening at 1608
Clifton Avenue*, and has maintained a stand in the city
market ever since.
On May 3, 1893, Mr. Miller married
Caroline Groeber, who was born at Cincinnati,
Ohio, a daughter of Anton and Caroline (Culvis) Groeber,
natives of Bavaria and Prussia, Germany, respectively.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller have the following children:
Caroline, who is a professional nurse; and John,
Anton, Gertrude, Marie, Charlotte,
Joseph and Catherine, who are all at home.
Mr. Miller and his family belong to Saint
Bernard’s Catholic Church of Springfield. He is a
strong democrat, but has not come before the public for
political favors. Fraternally he belongs to the Loyal
Order of Moose of Springfield. Mr. Miller
is not a man who seeks publicity. All his life he has
sought to understand his duty and then to live up to what
was expected of him. His work is well done, whether it
be the planting of his seed, the marketing of his produce,
the casting of his vote, the performance of his religious
obligations, or the watchful bringing up of his children,
and people have learned to depend upon him and to follow his
example in many things, for they know that he is a good
citizen and reliable man and one whom they are willing to
emulate in large measure.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 329
* Home no longer there. |
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ORION PALMER MILLER
is a successful city farmer, with home on South Limestone
Street, practically within the city limits of Springfield.
He has long been an honored member of the community and his
name introduces the record of several families that came to
Springfield and Clark County at almost the beginning of
civilization in this section of Ohio.
His branch of the Miller family was
established in Virginia by Frederick Miller in
1743. A son of this Frederick was Frederick Miller,
Jr., who married Elizabeth Peery.
They were reared and married in Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, and after their marriage moved to the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and in 1818 they left
Botetourt County, Virginia, and came overland to Clark
County, Ohio. Here they acquired land in Bethel
Township, and Frederick Miller died there Dec.
2, 1822, being survived by his widow until 1844. They
were the great-grandparents of Orion Palmer Miller.
The grandfather, John Miller, was born
Nov. 29, 1798, in Botetourt County, Virginia, and was about
twenty years of age when he came to Clark County. He
married Joanna Smith, who was born Dec. 27,
1806, in Bethel Township of Clark County, daughter of
Samuel and Elizabeth (McClure) Smith, who were among the
earliest settlers of this county.
A son of John and Joanna Miller was Samuel
Smith Miller, who was born July 20, 1829. On May
13, 1856, he married Margaret Palmer, a daughter of
John and Margaret (Hance) Palmer. John
Palmer was born in England in 1791, and died Dec. 11,
1882. His birthplace was Bristol, England. His
wife, Margaret Hance, was born in Kentucky in 1800
and died June 21, 1884. After their marriage Samuel
Smith Miller and wife lived at Springfield, where he
worked in a printing office for years. He was a
graduate of the Cleveland Medical College but on account of
deafness was unable to practice. Accordingly he bought part
of his father’s farm in Bethel Township and was identified
with the agricultural vocation there until 1874.
Selling out in that year, he bought thirty-six acres just
south of Springfield, but now within the city. He
continued farming and dairying for about thirty-five years.
In 1886 he erected a fine frame residence on the farm and
throughout his lifetime he kept all the land but five acres.
He died Apr. 6, 1916. His widow passed away Jan. 8,
1922.
Orion Palmer Miller is the oldest child of
Samuel Smith Miller and wife. The second son, Cyrus
I., born Mar. 11, 1859, lives at 27 South Lourie Avenue,
in Springfield. Margaret, born June 14, 1864, died
Oct. 15, 1865. William died in infancy Dec. 3,
1866. Bertha Ann, born Sept. 9, 1870, is the
wife of George W. Frants, has one son, George M.,
born Apr. 18, 1907, and she lives with her brother Orion.
Mary Elizabeth, born Sept. 13, 1872, died May
9, 1881. John Milton, the youngest
child, born Aug. 23, 1876, lives at 21 Euclid Avenue.
Orion Palmer Miller, who was born Feb. 7, 1857,
has never married, and he made his home with and looked
after his parents during their declining years. He was
educated in the district schools of Bethel Township and in
Wittenberg College and his business from youth to the
present time has been farming. He is a republican and
the family has been active in the Christian Church.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 132 |
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LEMUEL MITCH. One of the fine
farms of Clark County is owned by Lemuel Mitch,
whose life has been spent in this county and whose energy as
a farmer and capability as a citizen have brought him a high
degree of appreciation from his fellow citizens. Mr. Mitch's
farm is situated on the National Road, a mile and a half
east of South Vienna, in Harmony Township. He was born only
half a mile away, Aug. 2, 1867, son of Charles and Mary
(Bennett) Mitch. His father, a native of Germany, was
brought to this country at the age of twelve years by his
parents, who settled at Springfield, where they lived out
their lives, the grandfather dying in 1882. Charles
Mitch was reared in Springfield, and from early youth
worked as a farm hand until his marriage, when he located on
a rented farm near Brighton. During the administration of
Governor Bushnell he was appointed a guard in the State
Penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio, and served there four years.
After that he returned to his farm. He was active in
republican politics, served as a trustee of Harmony Township
two terms, became a soldier in the Union Army in July, 1861,
and served until December, 1865, when he was discharged at
San Antonio, Texas. He first enlisted in the infantry,
served three years, and after re-enlisting was in the
cavalry. He and his wife had eight children, six of whom are
living: Lemuel; Charlotte B., wife of S. A.
Miller, of Springfield; Jane, who is married and
lives at Sedalia, Ohio; Alice, wife of Arthur
Madder, of Brighton; Emma, wife of William
Clark, of South Vienna; and Bruce B. Mitch.
Lemuel Mitch grew up on the home farm and
acquired a common school education. For thirty years he has
been prosperously engaged in farming and has a place of 347
acres. Outside his farm he has other interests and is a
stockholder in the Ohio Gate Company and the Springfield
Stock Yards. Dec. 29, 1892, he married Effie M.
Wilson, who was born in Harmony Township, Nov. 26,
1871. They have three children: Mary A., a graduate
of the Plattsburg High School; Leroy B., who married
Mabel Snodgrass and lives on a farm; and Floyd
H., a graduate of the Plattsburg High School, who is
married and lives in Harmony Township. The family are
members and Mr. Mitch is a deacon in the Wilson Chapel
Christian Church. He is a past grand of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, past chancellor of the Knights of
Pythias Lodge, and has been active in republican politics.
He is a member of the Board of Election, and is the present
trustee of Harmony Township.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 208 - Transcribed for Ohio
Genealogy Express by Cathy Portz |
| |
ION A. P. MORGAN,
M. D. In medical circles
of Springfield Dr. Ion A. P. Morgan occupies the
position of a reliable, learned and skilled practitioner, to
whose other professional qualifications are added the
desirable concomitants of intense human sympathy and wide
practical experience. He is also a business man of
capacity, and his connection with the Morgan Medicine
Company has done much to further the interests of that
concern.
Doctor Morgan was born at Columbus, Ohio, Mar.
28, 1869, and is a son of William and Dorothy (Funk)
Morgan, the former born at Harrisburg, Ohio, and the
latter at California, Ohio. The parents were married
at Morgan Station, a community in the neighborhood of
Columbus, named in honor of the family, where William
Morgan was the owner of a large and valuable tract of
land on which he carried on agricultural operations until
his death, in January, 1920. His widow still survives
him and makes her home on the farm.
Ion A. P. Morgan attended
the public school of Columbus, and after some preparation
entered the Homeopathic Medical College at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated as a member of the
class of 1891, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
He immediately started practice at Columbus, where in
addition to a general practice he was retained by several
institutions as physician, but in 1913 changed his field of
practice to Dayton, where he remained three years. He
then went to Cleveland, where he spent one year, and in 1917
took up his residence and practice at Springfield, where he
has since made gratifying advancement in the acquirement of
a large and representative practice. Doctor
Morgan belongs to the various organizations of his
profession, and keeps fully abreast of the advancements
being made in medical science, having always been a close
and careful student. He is a republican, but has not
sought political honors or public preferment. He has
been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
Mrs. Morgan of the Rebekahs, and both belong to
the Church of Christ.
SOURCE: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County,
Ohio; Vol. 2; Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 348 |
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HARVEY E. MYERS
for a long period of years was in service in an executive
capacity with one of Springfield’s greatest industries, the
Robbins and Myers Company, and when he retired
from business he took up responsibilities both pleasant and
useful as a practical farmer. He is proprietor of the
Beaver Creek Farm, a splendid place of 500 acres situated on
the National Pike, eight miles east of Springfield.
Mr. Myers was born near Jamestown, Greene
County, Ohio, July 27, 1866, son of Joseph and Susana
(Long) Myers. His father was also born in the same
county, was reared and educated there, and spent his active
life on the farm near Jamestown. He had 160 acres, and
was a very substantial citizen as well as successful farmer.
He was a republican, served as township trustee and was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Joseph
Myers and wife had eight children: William A.,
and Henry C., deceased; Louisa E., living at
Springfield, widow of John H. Gano; James A.,
and Charles A., deceased; Laura B., widow of
Frank Bryan; John F., a farmer in Greene
County, and Harvey E.
Harvey E. Myers lived on the home farm in Greene
County until he was nineteen years of age. While there
he attended the common schools, and on going to Springfield
he became a bookkeeper in the offices of the Robbins
and Myers Company. Subsequently he acquired an
interest in the business, and from 1886 to 1916, a period of
thirty years, he was secretary and vice president of this
corporation. Mr. Myers sold his interest
and retired from the business in 1916, and since then has
been devoting his time to the management of the Beaver Creek
Farm, undoubtedly one of the best properties in the rural
district of Clark County.
Mar. 28, 1889, Mr. Myers married Mary E.
Griffith of Springfield. She was born on a farm in
Clark County, July 26, 1866, daughter of Jeremiah and
Lorena (Kelly) Griffith. Her father was born in
Indiana, Dec. 19, 1842, and her mother, in Greene County,
Ohio, Aug. 10, 1836. Mrs. Myers lived on the
farm where she was born until she was twelve years of age,
and then went to Springfield, where she completed her
education. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have four
daughters: Gladys, born Apr. 28, 1893, a
graduate of Wittenberg College and the wife of Rev. J. D.
Wint; Marjorie, born Apr. 10, 1896, a graduate of
Wittenberg Academy and Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware,
has been a bookkeeper and teacher in a business college;
Dorothy, born May 8, 1897, a graduate of the Plattsburg
High School, is now wife of Ralph N. Agle, of Harmony
Township, and Jean E., born Nov. 27, 1908, attending
the eighth grade of the public school. There was
another child, Clarence, who died at birth.
Mr. Myers and his family are members of the Central
Methodist Episcopal Church of Springfield. Mrs.
Myers has been very active in Sunday School and is
teacher of the Woman's Bible Class. Fraternally he is
affiliated with Anthony Lodge No. 456, Free and Accepted
Masons, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason in the
Consistory of Dayton, a member of Antioch Temple of the
Mystic Shrine at Dayton, is a past grand and one of the
trustees of Ephraim Lodge No. 146, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, at Springfield, and is also a trustee of the Grand
Lodge and a member of the Mad River Encampment. He and
Mrs. Myers are members of Ivor Lodge of the Rebekahs.
Politically he has always done his duty as a republican.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 71 |
 |
JAMES ASBURY MYERS.
Among the many prominent business men who have helped to
build Springfield and establish its commercial supremacy,
there are few who labored more earnestly or incessantly or
who were held in higher esteem than the late James Asbury
Myers. He was born in a log cabin on the
Cedarville-Jamestown Pike, in Greene County, Ohio, Sept. 1,
1852, and died at Springfield, May 27, 1904. Joseph
Myers, his father, was an agriculturist, who migrated
from Virginia to Ohio in the early days and settled in
Greene County, where he rounded out his career as a man of
upright character and a devout Methodist.
James Asbury Myers passed his youthful days at
work on the home farm, and during the winter months attended
the district schools. Later on he pursued a course at
the old seminary at Xenia, and for a time after his
graduation was engaged in teaching school. After this
he came to Springfield, and here for a time was engaged in
the retail grocery business, but in 1878 disposed of his
interest in that enterprise, and with the late Chandler
Robbins organized the Robbins & Myers
Company, founders. The firm members could not foresee
what this organization would eventually become. Each
saw future possibilities of fair success, of course,
otherwise they would not have embarked in the business, but
that the venture would develop into one of the leading
industries of Springfield was beyond this power of
foresight. From that time until his death Mr.
Myers labored energetically toward the building up
and prosperity of his concern, and he lived to see it take
front rank. He is entitled to a large share of the
credit of inaugurating a new era among business men - that
of honesty and good-fellowship among competitors. His
entire life, both social and commercial, was based on honor,
and that this was so thoroughly instilled in and so
inseparable a part of his character is attested by his
attitude toward his customers, and his success can, in a
great measure, be attributed to his rugged honesty and
strict adherence to the policy of allowing no
misrepresentation to be made of the product of his plant.
Recognized as an indefatigable worker, unceasingly laboring
to make Springfield a center of which posterity would be
proud, he came into close contact with other men of affairs
and had their confidence and respect, while he was equally
esteemed and even beloved by his associates for his sterling
qualities. He took an exceedingly active part in the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was Sunday
School superintendent for more than a score of years, and
his outside life, aside from business, was largely devoted
to church work. Although a strong advocate of the
principles of the republican party, and while connected with
a number of public movements and charitable enterprises, his
naturally modest and unassuming disposition, and his
devotion to his church, family and business, prevented him
from accepting any office of public acknowledgments,
although at one time he served as a member of the School
Board.
Mr. Myers married Miss Emma
Elizabeth Horner, who survives him, and their
two sons, Wilbur J. and Warren A., are both
identified with Springfield’s business life, and
particularly with the business of which their honored father
was one of the founders.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 20 |
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JOHN EZRA MYERS, M. D.
The medical profession of Clark County has some of the
ablest representatives of this learned calling to be found
in Ohio, men whose lives are given up to a self-sacrificing
care of others and the safeguarding of the health of their
communities. One of these representative physicians
and good citizens of this section is Dr. John Ezra Myers
of Springfield, who with his brother, Dr. Noah
Myers, is engaged in a general practice, with offices at
715 Fairbanks Building.
John Ezra Myers was born in Pike Township, Clark
County, Oct. 25, 1853, a son of Lewis and Elizabeth
(Frantz) Myers, also natives of Pike Township. The
grandparents on both sides of the family were among the very
early settlers of Pike Township, where they obtained land
from the Government, and it is still owned by their heirs.
Lewis Myers bought the homestead, and he and his wife
continued to live upon it until their deaths, he passing
away in 1873 and she in 1893. Their family consisted
of the following children: Simon, who died in
infancy; William, who lives at Springfield ; Aaron,
who lives in Kansas City, Missouri; Doctor Myers,
whose name heads this review; Mary, who married
Henry Dresher and lives on the homestead; Noah,
who is his brother’s partner; Sarah, who is the widow
of I. B. Trout and lives at Chicago, Illinois; and
Clara, who is Mrs. Lewis Pieffer and lives at
Chicago.
Doctor Myers attended the district schools, the
Lebanon Normal School and the Cincinnati, Ohio, Medical
College, from which he was graduated in 1880, with the
degree of Doctor of Medicine. For seven years
thereafter he was engaged in a general practice at
Donnelsville, Ohio, and then came to Springfield, where he
was later joined by his brother, and since 1912 they have
occupied their present offices.
In June, 1881, Doctor Myers married
Laura Strock, born in Pennsylvania, and they had one
daughter, Marie, who married W. B. Bauer, of
Springfield, and their children are Bettie,
Jeannette and Walter B. Mrs.
Myers died in 1893, and Doctor Myers
married Kate S. Dibert in January, 1896. She
was born in Clark County, a daughter of George and
Elizabeth Dibert. At the time of her marriage to
Dr. Myers, Mrs. Myers was the widow of
Austin Evans, and they had one daughter, Pearl
Evans, who married Frank C. Harwood, and died,
leaving one son, Manton Harwood, of Springfield, and
he married Cathryn Chapman.
For two terms Doctor Myers was president
of the Clark County Medical Society, and he belongs to the
Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical
Association. For eight years he was a member of the
Springfield Hospital Board. He is a physician and
surgeon exceptionally endowed with those gifts which go to
make up the ideal medical man. He has great energy and
capacity for hard work, and delights in solving the problems
which are constantly confronting his profession. There
is one trait about which few know anything, he is very chaitable
of his valuable time among the poor, whom he serves without
thought of remuneration.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 389 |
| |
WILBUR J. MYERS
is a son of the late James A. Myers, whose career as
a constructive business man and industrial founder in
Springfield has been carefully sketched on other pages.
Wilbur J. Myers is one of the two sons who has
maintained the great business momentum set in motion by
their father.
The son was born July 29, 1882, at Springfield,
graduated from the high school of his native city in 1901,
and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Ohio Wesleyan
University in 1905. Since his graduation his tasks and
responsibilities have been with the industrial and financial
life of Springfield.
In the fall of 1905 he became purchasing agent for the
Robbins & Myers Company, and has been with that
corporation, whose products have a world-wide reputation and
use, and is now vice president. He is also a director
of the First National Bank and the American Trust and
Savings Bank.
Mr. Myers is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce, the Lagonda, Rotary and Country Clubs, is a Beta
Theta Pi and a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree
Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He is the master of
H. S. Kissell Lodge No. 674, Free and Accepted Masons.
Sept. 12, 1906, he married Blanche Peck,
daughter of Mrs. Frances S. Peck. They
have one son, Richard Asbury.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 21 |
| |
WILLIAM MYERS.
Among the substantial retired residents of Springfield,
Ohio, for many years well-known in business circles, is
William Myers, formerly a justice of the peace,
and a representative of one of the old pioneer families of
Pike Township, Clark County. Mr. Myers
owns a large body of land in Pike Township, together with
valuable realty at Springfield.
William Myers was born in Pike Township, Clark
County, Ohio, near Dialton, Feb. 24, 1849, a son of Lewis
and Elizabeth (Frantz) Myers, the former of whom was
born in German Township, Clark County, May 4, 1821, and the
latter near Hampton, Clark County, Ohio, Nov. 7, 1825.
His paternal grandparents were George and Magdaline (Cosler)
Myers, who came to Clark County from what is now West
Virginia and settled in German Township. His maternal
grandparents were Jacob and Sarah (Ebersole) Frantz,
who were natives of Switzerland. They settled in Pike
Township, Clark County, about 1818. All this section
was almost a wilderness at that time and people who traveled
had to go on horseback and follow trails through the
forests.
After Lewis Myers and Elizabeth
Frantz were married they settled in Pike Township, and
in 1856 Mr. Myers bought the old Frantz
homestead. To the original 160 acres he added
twenty more acres for a site for a sawmill, which he built
and operated. He was a man of great industry and much
enterprise, and during a part of his life did business as a
farmer, sold timber, burned brick and profitably followed
other lines of industrious activity. His death
occurred May 28, 1873. The mother of Mr.
Myers survived him for twenty years, dying Apr. 2, 1893.
They were good, kind, virtuous people, respected by all who
knew them, and faithful members of the Dunkard Church.
They had the following children: Simon, who died when
two years old; William; Aaron, who lives at
Kansas City, Missouri; J. E., who is a physician at
Springfield; Mary Ann, who is the wife of
Henry Dresher, of Pike Township, Clark County;
Noah, who is a physician at Springfield; Sarah E.,
who is the widow of Isaiah B. Trout, of
Chicago, Illinois; and Clara Idella, who is
the wife of Lewis Peiffer, of Chicago.
William Myers gave his father assistance
on the farm in his earlier years, but later prepared himself
for the profession of teaching, attending normal schools at
New Carlisle and at Lebanon, Ohio, from the latter of which
he was graduated in 1875. He was not more than
eighteen years old when he commenced to teach school, and he
continued to teach during the winters for the next fourteen
years, giving attention to the farm during the summers.
Mr. Myers married, July 21, 1880, Miss
Matilda Ream, born in Pike Township, Apr. 8, 1858, a
daughter of Jeremiah and Madeline (Fansler) Ream, the
father a native of Pike Township and the mother of
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, from which her parents came
first to Massillon, Ohio, and then to Springfield. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Myers were
Samuel and Elizabeth (Basinger) Ream, natives of
Virginia, who settled early in Pike Township. For a few
years after his marriage Mr. Myers taught
school at North Hampton, Ohio, and also conducted a general
store, then removed to Springfield, and here was in the
sawmill and lumber business for many years, and was
additionally interested in buying timber and conducting a
threshing machine. It was about this time that he
built a comfortable residence on West High Street,
Springfield, which some years later he traded for a farm of
ninety-four acres adjoining the old homestead in Pike
Township, on which still stands the old log cabin his
grandfather built. In 1906 Mr. Myers had
his fine modern residence erected at No. 1112 North Fountain
Avenue, Springfield, which has been his home ever since, and
he owns 227 acres of land.
Two daughter's were born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers:
Glenna, born May 2, 1881, who is the wife of Rev.
Ernest Fremont Tittle, pastor of the
First Methodist Episcopal Church at Evanston, Illinois; and
Nellie Lucile, born May 4, 1886, who is
principal of the Ridgewood Private School at Springfield.
Mr. Myers is a member and a trustee of St.
Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics a democrat,
he served twenty-five years as clerk of Pike Township, for
two terms was a justice of the peace and was a member of the
Election Board that first operated under the Australian
ballot system. He was the first chancellor commander
of the Knights of Pythias at Northampton, Ohio.
SOURCE: A
Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by
Benjamin F. Prince, 1922 - Page 396 |
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