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GEO. W. IRETON,
Mr. George W. Ireton is the owner and
operator of one of the most productive farms in
Jackson township, whose excellent location is
one of its attractive features. He is one
of the enterprising and energetic agriculturists
of Clermont county, and is well known in this
community. He displays splendid business
ability and executive force in the management of
his farming interests. A native of
Clermont county, Ohio, his birth occurred in
Jackson township, on a farm adjoining his
present home, Dec, 24, 1854, his parents being
Robert and Missouri (Johnson) Ireton.
Robert Ireton was a prosperous farmer of Jackson
township, where for many years he was known as
one of the substantial men of the county.
He was practical and systematic and by diligence
and strict attention to business accumulated a
nice property. He was born on a farm in
Williamsburg township in 1824. In response
to his country’s call for aid, Mr. Robert
Ireton enlisted in Company B, One Hundred
and Fifty-third regiment, Ohio volunteer
infantry, serving for four months. He had
one brother, Erastus Ireton, and
four nephews, Samuel, Aleck, Lorenzo and
John, who were also soldiers in the Civil
war, beside one son, James, who entered
the army at the age of sixteen years, all
enlisting from Ohio. It was in 1891. that
death claimed Robert Ireton and Clermont
county lost one of her most highly esteemed
citizens.
Missouri (Johnson) Ireton was also a native of
Clermont county, her birth occurring in 1832.
She passed from this life in 1888. She was
a member of one of the representative families
of Clermont county, and was a lady of noble
characteristics. She was laid to rest in
Bloom Rose cemetery, Brown county, Ohio, where
her husband is buried also. In the family
of this worthy couple were seven children, who
were all born in the county, four of whom grew
to maturity. They are as follows:
James, who was a soldier in the Civil war,
enlisting at the age of sixteen years.
George W., the
subject of this mention.
David, who makes
his home with his brother, George.
William, a resident of Jackson township.
Mr. George W. Ireton attended school in the
Harbough district and assisted his father with
the farm duties, thus preparing himself for his
future life occupation. He learned from
his father the proper times for planting and
harvesting and the many details of the work of
an agriculturist who desires success in the
tilling of the fields. Mr. Ireton
remained at the home of his parents until he had
reached the age of twenty-two years.
The marriage of Mr. George W. Ireton to
Miss Jennie Price occurred in 1876.
She was born near Miamiville in 1853, a daughter
of John S. and Rebecca (Snider) Price,
the former of whom was born near Camp Dennison
and was a carpenter of Brown county, and the
latter was born near Camp Dennison also, and
both are deceased. They became the parents
of five children, three of whom still survive.
They are:
Elizabeth, who
became the wife of Moses Harbough,
lives in Brown county.
Henry resides near Goshen, Ohio.
Etta, married
Elliott Reddick, of near Marathon,
Brown county.
Orlando, deceased.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ireton was born one
son:
John R. Ireton was a young man of unusual
ability, having graduated from the Williamsburg
High School at the age of seventeen years, and
entered Cincinnati Dental College only a short
time before his death, which occurred Jan. 26,
1905, at the home of Dr. Hines,
Williamsburg; Ohio, never reaching home after
having taken sick. This was a sad stroke
upon the entire community, as “Johnnie”
was loved by all.
Mrs. Ireton was called to her last rest,
Oct. 20, 1904, three months prior to the death
of her son, and was buried in Bloom Rose
cemetery.
Mr. Ireton chose for his second wife,
Miss Maude E. Wise, the ceremony being
celebrated on the 23d of June, 1906. She
was born in Brown county, near Cedron, in 1877,
and her parents were George F. and Mollie
(Barber) Wise, the father being a native of
Brown county, whose birth occurred near Cedron,
in 1837, and whose death occurred in 1905.
He was a farmer of Brown county, but made a
specialty of no particular line of agriculture,
carrying on general farm. He was a son of
Henry Wise, who reared a family of eleven
children:
Samuel, William, Ellen,
Martha, John, Andrew, Lydia,
Jane, Amanda and George F.,
the father of Mrs. Ireton, are all
deceased; Susan, deceased.
George F. Wise married Mary Jennings for
his first wife and to this union were born two
sons: Henry Edgar, who resides near Point
Isabel, Ohio, and William E., who resides
near Bethel, Ohio.
To his union with Mollie (Barber) Wise, who was
born near Felicity, Ohio, in 1838, four
children were born: Frank W., whose record
appears elsewhere in these volumes; Josie,
deceased; Raymond S,. of near Batavia,
Ohio, and Maude E.,
who is Mrs. Ireton, of this review.
The grandfather of Mollie (Barber) Wise was a
native of Ireland, and upon his arrival in
America, settled in Boone county, Kentucky,
where he raised a family of eight children:
Robert, David, John, James, Mary Ann, and
Martha, all deceased.
In the family of James Barber were eleven
children:
Zeno, Harvey, Franklin, Elizabeth, Eliza Jane
and Martha, all deceased; Mary
Ann, the mother of Mrs.
Ireton; Logan, of Felicity, Ohio, is a
veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted from
Ohio; Ella, deceased.
Mr. Ireton settled on his present farm
when he was first married, eighty-seven acres of
which he inherited from his father. Later,
he added thirty-three acres in Brown county,
making a fine farm of one hundred and twenty
acres. As the years passed by, Mr.
Ireton erected the home and new barns,
and by constant attention to the farm interests,
has made a home that is both pretty and
comfortable.
Mr. Ireton was seriously injured in an explosion
of an engine while shredding fodder at the home
of Raymond Wise, on the Emily
McKeever farm near Williamsburg, Nov. 26,
1910. The engineer, Will Pride,
was killed, and Mr. Ireton almost
fatally injured, while the barn and entire
contents was burned. From this Mr.
Ireton has never entirely recovered.
To the second marriage of Mr. Ireton have
been born two children, both born in Jackson
township: Stella Marie, who was
born May 30, 1907, and Raymond Frank,
born Sept. 7, 1910.
In politics, Mr. Ireton has always voted the
Republican ticket, but is not a politician in
the light of an office seeker. He has
served, however, on the school board, and in
1900 was census enumerator.
In religious matters, both Mr. and Mrs. Ireton
embrace the faith of the United Brethren church,
and Mr. Ireton has filled the
office of trustee and of steward. He is
liberal in the support of his chosen church and
in all charitable enterprises. Mr.
Ireton is a genial, pleasant gentleman, a
great reader, keeping well informed on all
subjects of the day. Mrs. Ireton
is an affable, hospitable lady and the
family stand high in the community in which they
live, and the life record of Mr.
Ireton is one of uprightness of character,
and exemplary conduct. The Ireton
family are descendants of relatives of
Oliver Cromwell. We take
pleasure in reproducing a poem written by Mrs.
Maude (Wise) Ireton for the
campaign of 1908, which is said to have aided
very materially to the success of the no license
cause in Clermont county.
WHY VOTE?
Composed by Mrs. Maude (Wise) Ireton,
Williamsburg, Ohio.
Why 'gainst the liquor traffic
vote
When not one drop goes down your throat?
Why worry over child or friend
Whose future you can't comprehend?
Stock and think a moment men!
Listen! Listen! Think again!
King Alcohol sits on his throne
In every land where man in known;
Placed there, not for the good he's
wrought,
Not for the battle he has fought,
Not for the victories he has won,
But for the evil he has done.
With tears as jewels in his crown;
With blood is stained his costly gown;
His sceptor proudly he displays
Bought by the drunkards in their graves.
His throne is built of dead men's
bones;
Each skull now represents the homes
Of those he's crushed beneath his
feet,
Ah! What an army when they all meet!
Will he boast then of deeds he's
wrought,
When Christ will say, "I know ye not"?
There's fathers, sons and husbands
dear,
Once true and good, pure and sincere,
In this vast army marching on
Where millions of others have surely gone.
Say brother, sisters shall we stand
by
Do not one thing but watch them die?
Let's cast this foe from out our
State;
And save our boys, ere 'tis too late.
Maybe your boy, not distant time
Will sup his whiskey, beer and wine;
Will tread the path of sin and woe,
And to a drunkard's gave will go.
When I look at my innocent babe, so
fair,
With smiling lips and curly hair,
And know there are many, as innocent
as she
The wife of a drunkard has been, and will be,
I pray to my God to forbid that her
life
Should meet such a fate, as a sad drunkard’s wife.
Let’s then as fathers, mothers, all,
Release ourselves from liquor’s thrall,
And teach our children the disgrace,
Of such an awful cursed place,
As the saloon, which leads to hell,
And paves the path, yes, paves it well
With bleeding hearts and tears and
moans,
And robs our purse and robs our homes.
Now there’s one way, and only one,
That this great work can e’er be done;
That is to join our hearts and hands
And vote this curse from out our lands.
We’ll sink or swim! We’ll live
or die!”
Hurrah! Old Clermont’s going dry. |
Source: History of Clermont and Brown
Counties, Ohio - Vol. II - by Byron Williams -
Publ. 1913 - Page 616 |
