HON. RUFUS CARPENTER, ex-Probate Judge and prominent real-estate dealer, Delaware, Ohio, was born in Franklin county, this State, August 20, 1835.
     His parents are Rodney C. and Ervilla (Tinkham) Carpenter, both natives of Vermont, who came to Ohio at an early day.  Rodney C. Carpenter was a small boy when he landed in Franklin county with his parents, and here he has since resided, being now eighty-four years of age.  His father, Moses Carpenter, also a native of the Green Mountain State, was of English descent and was a veteran of the war of 1812.  Judge Carpenter’s maternal grandfather, Isaac Tinkham, also dated his birth in Vermont.  He was of English descent and by occupation was a farmer.  It was in 1814 that he and his family settled in Ohio.
     The subject of our sketch is the oldest of a family of seven children.  He grew up in his native place, receiving his early education in the district schools and afterward attending the academy at Worthington.  He remained at home until he was twenty years of age.  Then for some time he worked out on farms by the month, receiving $13 per month the first year, and afterward $15.  In 1859 his ambitious spirit led him to seek his fortune on the Pacific coast and in April of that year he landed in San Francisco, having made the journey from New York by the Vanderbilt line of steamers.  His experience in California was not unlike that of many other young men of that period, prosperity and misfortune coming to him by turns.  He was at first employed as shipping clerk for a mining company, buying gold dust, and later himself became a member of a company engaged in damming the American river.  This enterprise proved a failure and in it he lost all he had.  He then returned to his former employers and for a brief time was shipping clerk again.  His next venture was in the dairy business, which was also unsuccessful, and after that, in company with others, he started a shingle mill, he furnishing the capital; but, although the mill was a success, it was destroyed by fire, and again he lost all he had.  Then for two months he drove a ’bus in San Francisco, and with his earnings he purchased a half interest in a fruit and tobacco stand, his partner running the business while he returned to the mining company and again resumed his old place as shipping clerk.  In September, 1863, he returned to New York and from there came to Ohio, where he has since remained.  Upon his return home he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but on account of ill health was rejected.
     March 13, 1864, Mr. Carpenter married Elizabeth Cornell, a native of New York, who came to Ohio when she was a child.  After his marriage he located on the old farm near Worthington, where he remained two years, having poor health all this time.  Then in 1866 he bought a small farm in Orange township, Delaware county, where he located.  The following year he was elected Justice of the Peace by the Republican party, and for fifteen successive years filled that office.  In the meantime he read law in the office of James E. Wright, of Worthington, and in 1881 he was elected Probate Judge.  This office he held for six years.  Upon the expiration of his term of service, he purchased a farm in Trenton township, which he still owns, and in May, 1890, he turned his attention to the real-estate business, having for his partner W. T. Watson.  Mr. Watson was succeeded in 1891 by Rev. S. R. Squires, and in December of that same year Mr. Squires sold out to W. C. Nye.  The firm is now Carpenter & Nye, and are doing a general real-estate, loan and insurance business.
     Of Judge Carpenter’s social life we record that he is a thirty-second degree Mason and has taken all the degrees in the I. O. O. F.  He has also served as a representative to the Grand Encampment of the latter order.  He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and at this writing is President of the Board of Stewards of Asbury Church.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 153-154Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

CYRUS W. CHIDESTER, physician and surgeon, Delaware, Ohio, has been a resident of this city since May 1, 1890.  For one year he was associated in practice with Dr. E. H. Hyatt, and at the end of that time he opened an office at his present location, 53 North Sandusky street, and has since practiced alone, giving his attention to a general practice.  His abilities were soon recognized here and he has already filled various important positions.  He is assistant surgeon at this point for the Big Four Railroad Company, is physician to the county jail, was elected Coroner of Delaware county in 1892, and is examining physician for several life insurance companies, among which are the Home Life Insurance Company, of New York, the Provident Life & Trust Company, of Philadelphia, and the Phoenix Life, of Hartford, Connecticut.  He was medical examiner of Lenape Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of this city, for two years, of which order he has been a member three years, and he also filled the same position two years in Olentangy Lodge, No. 53, I. O. O. F.  He is a member of the Ohio State Association of Railway Surgeons.
     Dr. Chidester is a native of Kingwood, West Virginia, born November 4, I 861, son of Harrison and Louvina (Falkenstein) Chidester, who were of Welsh and German origin.  The family removed to Hocking county, Ohio, in 1867 and located at Union Furnace.  His parents still reside there, and there our subject lived until he entered upon his professional career.  His boyhood days were spent on the farm and his early education was obtained in the district schools.  In 1880 he was granted a license to teach in the public schools of the county, which vocation he took up and followed at intervals for five years.  With the money he earned by teaching he defrayed his expenses through college.  In 1883 he was a student at the Ohio University, at Athens, Ohio, and the following year he entered the Ohio Normal University, at Ada, Ohio, where he completed a scientific course and graduated in July, 1887.  That same year he entered the office of Dr. H. G. Campbell, of Logan, Ohio, for the purpose of reading medicine, and in the fall of 1887 he became a student in the Columbus Medical College.  He graduated in medicine in the spring of 1890, ranking second in a class of thirty-two, and also taking second prize in a competitive examination.  While he was attending college at the Ohio Normal University, that institution conferred upon him the degrees of B. S. and M. S.  It was through the influence of Dr. Hyatt that he located in Delaware, and here his excellent qualifications and his special fitness for his chosen profession soon brought him to the front.
     Dr. Chidester was married in Delaware, May 10, 1892, to Miss Clara M. Freshwater, daughter of William and Sarah J. Freshwater, of this city.  Mrs. Chidester is an accomplished and charming lady.  She is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and of the Central College of Eclectic Short-Hand, Chicago; was for two years professor of stenography and typewriting in Michael’s Business College, this city, and for one year was private secretary of the superintendent of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home at Xenia, Ohio.  They reside at No. 66 North Washington street.  Both the Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He is a stanch Republican, and takes an active part in local affairs.  As a writer he wields a facile pen.  He has contributed much valuable matter to medical journals and other periodicals.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 284-285
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

HENRY CLARK, a farmer of Kingston township, was born in Delaware county, on the 13th of February, 1838, and is a representative of one of its honored pioneer families.  For more than half a century he has witnessed its growth and progress, and has aided in its development and advancement.  Progressive and public-spirited, he is deeply interested in everything pertaining to its welfare, and is numbered among its valued citizens.
     Mr. Clark’s parents were Moses and Elizabeth (Fancher) Clark, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of this county.  Moses Clark first married Elizabeth King, and to them were born two sons and a daughter. ––David, Elijah and Susanna.  In 1837 he wedded Miss Fancher, and they became the parents of four sons and three daughters, namely: Henry; Isaac and Myers, both of whom reside in Morrow county, Ohio; Smith, who is living in Delaware county; Rebecca, who makes her home with Henry; Hannah, wife of George Crist, of Clark county. Iowa; and Nancy, wife of Isaac Snyder, of Santa Clara county, California.  The family were Methodists, and were people of prominence in this community.  Moses Clark followed farming throughout his entire life.  On locating in Harlem township he purchased the farm now owned by C. B. Paul, then a densely wooded tract of land upon which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made.  He then cleared and fenced it and successfully operated it until his death.  Its boundaries he also extended until it comprised 300 acres of rich land.  He also owned land in Porter township.  He died in December, 1856, and was buried on Christmas day.  The mother of our subject was called to the home beyond in 1862.
     Henry Clark was reared to manhood on his father’s farm and upon his father’s death the management of the business affairs devolved upon him, as he was the eldest child.  In connection with his brother Isaac he then purchased the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead and for ten years they operated the farm in partnership.  On the expiration of that period they divided up the farm they had bought and he is now sole proprietor of a valuable tract of 175 acres which yields to him a golden tribute in return for the care and cultivation he bestows upon it.  All the improvements were placed thereon by him and stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise.
     The lady who now bears the name of Mrs. Clark was in her maidenhood Miss Susie Finley, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Terrell) Finley, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of New Jersey.  The father was a farmer, and in 1814 came to Delaware county where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1886, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.  His wife, who was born in 1807, also died in the year 1886.  They were both earnest Christian people and active workers in the Presbyterian Church, in which they held membership.  Their children were: Mrs. Clark; Joseph T. and Martha, both deceased; Mary E., wife of William Strain, a resident of Nebraska; and David A., who is living in Delaware.
     Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one child, a daughter, Edna May, who was born on the 1st of May, 1883, and is the life of her parents' home.  They, too, hold membership with the Presbyterian Church, and are highly respected citizens of the community.  Mr. Clark exercises his right of franchise in support of the Republican party and has served as Trustee and School Director.  He is true to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private, and his life is one well worthy of emulation.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 350-351
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

E. J. CONDIT. ––One of the most noteworthy of the many fine farmsteads in Trenton township, Delaware county, Ohio, is the Homestead Percheron Stock Farm, of which the subject of this review is proprietor.  Mr. Condit was the fourth in order of the five children born to Jotham and Mary (Mulford) Condit, both of whom were natives of New Jersey.  The parents came to Delaware county, Ohio, in an early day, locating on the farm where our subject now resides, and there remained until they were summoned to the life eternal, ––the father dying at the age of seventy-nine years and the mother at eighty-nine.  The father was a man of sturdy integrity, marked intelligence, and much business ability, and success finally came as a reward for his perseverance and singleness of purpose.  He became an extensive farmer, owning 1,200 acres of the most desirable land in Trenton township, the village of Condit having been named in his honor.  In his political adherency he was an ardent Democrat, and a quite active partisan in a local way.  He bore arms in the war of 1812 and was a thorough patriot in thought, word and deed.  Mr. and Mrs. Jotham Condit became the parents of five children, namely: John K., deceased; Mary J., now Mrs. Green; Winfield Smith, a resident of Delaware county, Ohio; Elias J., subject of this sketch; and Susan E., now Mrs. Perfect.
     E. J. Condit was born in Trenton township November 27, 1837, and passed his boyhood days upon the parental farm, receiving his education in the schools of the township.  In his maturer years he did not depart from the noble art of husbandry, with which he had been identified from his youth up.  The wisdom of his continued allegiance has been shown in the success which has come to him, ––the diametrical result of his consecutive application and thorough knowledge of the most expedient methods to be employed.  He now owns 580 acres of magnificent farming land, which is in a state of highest cultivation, and which shows the most substantial and attractive improvements, among which may be particularly noted a commodious residence and five large barns.
     Mr. Condit has attained no little prominence as a breeder of Percheron horses, and upon his place may be seen some of the best specimens of this celebrated and popular breed, including Contigny, a magnificent individual, whose registered number is 35,338, the horse having been bred and reared by Mr. Periott, of France.  He also owns American Herdbook, whose weight is 2,000 pounds.  It is conceded that the Percherons owned and raised by our subject hold rank with the very best in the State.
     At the age of twenty-six years Mr. Condit took unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Jennie C., a daughter of Middleton and Huldah (Patrick) Perfect, prominent among the early settlers of Delaware county.  To our subject and his wife five children have been born: Mulford S.; Lizzie C., wife of John Williamson, of Delaware county, Ohio; Ed. G.; Minnie, wife of Milford Merideth; and Milo J.
     It is scarcely necessary to state that Mr. Condit is one of the influential farmers of this section, nor that he is held in the respect and esteem of the community where his entire life has been passed.  He is actively identified with the Democratic party, and in his religious views and adherency supports the tenets maintained by the Christian Church.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 271-272
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

L. S. CONDIT, owner of the Evergreen Home Jersey Stock Farm, in Trenton township, Delaware county, was born in this township, March 28, 1854, a son of Marvin Condit, a native of New Jersey, and a mechanic and wagon-maker by trade.  His death occurred in 1857.  Marvin Condit married Sarah Leak, who died in 1882, and they had six children, three now living: Alice, wife of George Simmons, of Licking county, Ohio; D. H., a resident of this township; and L. S., the subject of this sketch.
     The last named came to the Home Jersey Stock Farm in 1871, to reside with his uncle, Ed M. Condit, a prominent and well known citizen of this locality, who died in 1881.  His widow still resides on the home farm, aged seventy-nine years.  Our subject owns 360 acres. of well improved land.  His Jersey butter brings the highest market price.  Everything about the Evergreen Stock Farm shows the thrift and prosperity of its owner.
     Mr. Condit was married in 1880, to Miss Della Conard, a native of Licking county, Ohio, and a daughter of James W. and Nancy (Evans) Conard.  They are the parents of two children: Edith M., born in 1882: and Dane Conard, born in 1891.  Mr. Condit affiliates with the Prohibition party.  Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a ruling Elder.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 138-139
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

PROF. DANIEL E. COWGILL, Superintendent of the public schools of Delaware, Ohio, was born in Zanesfield, Logan county, Ohio, April 12, 1854, son of Daniel and Mary (Everett) Cowgill.  The family comes of old Virginia stock, their remote ancestors being Scotch-Irish.
     Daniel E. was reared in Delaware county from the time he was five years old, his boyhood days being spent on the farm and his early education being attained in the district schools.  In 1873 he entered the preparatory department of the Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, where he completed the classical course and graduated in 1884.  In the meantime, however, he taught school a number of terms, and in this way defrayed his own expenses through college.  He was employed in the country schools in this county and also at Ashley.  After his graduation he taught at Prospect, next at Richwood, and afterward at Van Wert, having charge of the schools at all these points.  He spent three years at Van Wert, whence, in the spring of 1891, he came to Delaware, where he has since filled his present position most efficiently.  In 1883 he received a life certificate from the State Board of Education.  For seventeen years he has been in educational work, and all this time it has been his earnest effort to advance its interests and bring it up to a higher standard.  Under his able management the Delaware schools have prospered, and are now in a flourishing condition.  He has under his supervision thirty-six teachers, all of whom are performing faithful and efficient work.
     Prof. Cowgill was married, in 188o, to Miss Stella Bell, a native of Delaware county, Ohio, and they have two children, ––Paul E. and Ruth L.  He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 463-464
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

G. E. COWLES, a prominent young physician of Ostrander, was born in Concord township, Delaware county, Ohio, August 6, 1862.  His father, H. J. Cowles, is a prominent and well-known citizen of Concord township, and the latter’s father was S. J. Cowles, who came to Ohio from New York in an early day.
     G. E. Cowels [sic], the subject of this sketch, received a good education in his native place.  In 1884 he began the study of medicine, and graduated in 1889, since which time he has successfully followed the practice of his profession.  Dr. Cowels [sic] is a Democrat in his political views.  Socially he affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 348.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, p. 493
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

ROBERT J. COX is beyond doubt the most extensive contractor of Delaware. and is numbered among its leading business men.  He was born in the city which is still his home on the first of September, 1838, and is a son of Thomas W. and Ann B. (Jones) Cox.  His father was a native of England, his mother of Wales, and in early life both crossed the Atlantic to the New World.  Thomas Cox was a painter and contractor and built up a very extensive business.  His wife, who was born in 1810 died in September, 1892.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Cox aided in the organization of the Church of Delaware and for the long period of twenty-three years he served the society as senior warden.  He is still living at the age of eighty-three, and makes his home with his son Robert.
     Mr. Cox of this sketch was reared in his native city and in his youth received good privileges.  He attended the public schools and afterward entered college, where he pursued his studies until 1851.  In that year he crossed the water and in London attended the first World’s Fair that was ever held.  The family remained abroad for nine months, during which time they visited many points of interest in the Old World, and then returned to their home in Delaware.  Here Robert Cox again spent one year in college, after which, at the age of fifteen, he entered a clothing store, where he was employed as a salesman for about five years.  He then entered the Commercial College of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was a student at the time of the breaking out of the late war.  Soon after he returned to Delaware and entered the nursery business, but in a short time he responded to the country’s call for troops and joined the boys in blue of Company C, Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, with which he served for nine months.  On the expiration of that period he enlisted in Lincoln’s Body Guard, Light Horse Cavalry; with which he was connected until the close of the war.
     When the South had laid down its arms and peace was once more restored, Mr. Cox returned to Delaware and took up his father’s old business of painting and contracting, which he followed for about two years.  In 1867 he again went to Europe, attended the Paris Exposition, and traveled quite extensively in the southern part of that continent.  In 1868 he returned and since that time has been engaged in business as a painter, taking large contracts.  He undoubtedly has the largest business in his line in Delaware county, having obtained this liberal patronage by fair and honest dealing and straightforward business methods.
     Mr. Cox is one of the trustees of the cemetery of Delaware.  Socially, he is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics he is a Republican, being one of the most active members of the party in this locality.  For sixteen years he has been a member of the County Central Committee, serving as its chairman for five years, and at this writing he is chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee.  He is recognized as a man of sterling worth and his excellencies of character have gained him high regard.  Of broad and liberal mind, he is a great reader and possesses the finest general library in Delaware county, containing about four thousand volumes.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 89-90
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

ELBERT CRANE, of Porter township, Delaware county, was born in Putnam county, New York, April 27, 1830.  His father, Amza Crane, was born in Connecticut, a son of Zebulon Crane, a native of England, and a soldier in the war of 1812.  The mother of our subject was formerly Adilla Hopkins, a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and a member of an old family of that place.  In 1831 Mr. and Mrs. Amza Crane left New York for Bennington township, then Delaware county, but now Morrow county, where the mother died.  The father died at the age of seventy-two years.  He was a blacksmith and farmer by occupation, and was identified with the Democratic party.  Mrs. Crane was a member of the Baptist Church.  They were the parents of eight children, viz.: Mary Ann, Alson B., George W., Albacinda, Sarah, Zebulon, Elizabeth and Rebecca Jane.  Two of the sons, Alson and George W., were soldiers in the late war, the former a member of an Illinois regiment, and the latter of a Michigan regiment.  Two sons of George W. also took part in that struggle.
     Elbert Crane, the subject of this sketch, received his education in a Quaker school at Hesper Mount, Ohio.  He was afterward employed as a traveling salesman and collector for ten years.  In 1837 he located on his farm of eighty-seven acres in Porter township, and also owns the William Iler farm, which consists of 136 acres.  Both places are under a fine state of cultivation.  In his political relations Mr. Crane is identified with the Democratic party, and has served as a member of the School Board for twenty-three consecutive years.
     Our subject was married at the age of twenty-four years, to Miss Ellen B. Iler, a daughter of William and Jane G. (Gray) Iler.  The father, formerly a prominent citizen of this county, is now deceased, and the mother resides with Mr. Crane.  Mr. and Mrs. Iler had two daughters, ––Ellen B. Crane and Mary E. Chase, of this township.  Mr. and Mrs. Crane have seven children, viz.: Alwyn Melville Crane, a graduate of Columbus Medical College, is a physician of good standing in Marion, Ohio; Florence May, at home with her parents; Thurston W., a farmer; H. Clifton, a graduate of Starling Medical College, is located at Eden, Ohio; William I., Superintendent of the schools at Forgy, Ohio; Jennie Clare, a teacher in the A grammar room at Sparta, Ohio; and Nellie Marguerite, the youngest, who graduated at the Sparta high school at the age of fifteen, and is at home with her parents.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 154-155
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

D. G. CRATTY, who occupies a position of distinctive prominence as one of the most enterprising and successful business men of Ostrander, Delaware county, Ohio, a man of broad ideas, force of character and unimpeachable integrity, is particularly deserving of mention in connection with a consideration of the lives of the leading citizens of the county, of which same he is a native and with whose stable development along normal channels he has been closely identified.
     Born, November 6, 1828, in the vicinity of the thriving village of which he is now a resident, Mr. Cratty is the son of John and Eleanor (Porter) Cratty, the former of whom was a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania, of which State his father, William Cratty, was also a native, coming of stanch old Irish stock.  John Cratty was a farmer by occupation, a Republican in his political views, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a man of much intelligence and honor.  The mother of our subject was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of William Porter, who was of Welsh ancestry.  Mrs. Cratty departed this life at the age of seventy-five years, and her husband entered into eternal rest at the age of eighty-nine years, the funeral occurring on the day which marked the anniversary of his birth.  Both died in the State of Ohio.  They were the parents of seven children, namely: William Porter, deceased; Rosa Anna, deceased wife of Alfred McCampbell; D. G., subject of this review; Sarah, deceased wife of N. B. Tanner; Wilson; Lucinda, wife of W. C. Wingett; and Reuben, a resident of David City, Nebraska.
     Amid the manifold duties and free, out-of-door life of the farm our subject was reared to man’s estate, securing such educational advantages as were afforded by the district schools in the vicinity of his home, and early manifesting that sturdy independence and self-reliance which have been typical characteristics of his life.  While still a young man he commenced operations on his own responsibility, engaging for several years in buying wool; next giving his attention to the purchasing and shipping of live-stock, and subsequently dealing extensively in land and merchandise.  In whatever line he directed his efforts they were attended by success, his business sagacity and executive ability standing him well in hand.  At the present time he is engaged in the milling business, his fine, roller-process mill, which is equipped with the most improved machinery, having a capacity for the output of fifty barrels of flour per day, and proving an inestimable benefit to the farming community, as well as a most valuable acquisition to the industrial activities of the village.  Mr. Cratty is also proprietor of the leading livery and sale stable of Ostrander.
     Politically he is an ardent Republican and a prime factor in the local councils of his party.  He is one of the leaders of Republicanism in his township and has been called upon to serve in numerous positions of public trust and honor, having held the preferment as Justice of the Peace four terms, the office of Constable ten years, and having also served as Assessor and Trustee and as a delegate to county and State conventions.  These incumbencies perfectly betoken his popularity and the confidence and esteem in which he is held in the community.
     Mr. Cratty rendered effective service to his country during the war of the Rebellion, enlisting May 11, 1864, as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and being mustered out August 24, 1864, as First Lieutenant of his company.  He is now prominently identified with the G. A. R., being first Commander of Joseph Tanner Post, No. 531, of Ostrander.  He has also been for many years an officer of Edinburg Lodge, No. 467, I. O. O. F.
     Mr. Cratty was married November 18, 1852, to Miss Martha J. Crane, a native of Licking county, Ohio, and a daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Crane, the former of whom is now deceased.  Their son, Joseph Crane, participated in the late war, as a member of the Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and is now deceased.
     Our subject and his wife have three children: O. L., who is associated with his father in the livery business; Amanda R., wife of Dr. C. M. Wanzer, of Zanesfield, Ohio, and Nellie May, wife of Charles Bell, of Madison county, Ohio.  Both daughters are graduates of the Ostrander high school.  Mr. Cratty is and has been a member of the K. of P., Ostrander Lodge, No. 348, since its organization, May 9, 1889, being its first Chancellor; also, a member of the I. O. O. F., Marysville Encampment, No. 114.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 444-445
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

JOHN WILLIAMS CROSS, a prominent citizen of Ostrander, was born in Union county, January 4, 1859, and is a member of an honored pioneer family of the Buckeye State.  His great-grandparents, Robert and Naomi Cross, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1812, bringing with them their household goods and two children, -- Jane and Daniel.  The journey was accomplished on horseback.  They settled in Licking county, near Chatham, where Mr. Cross engaged in farming and also served as minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church of that neighborhood.  Five children were born to them in Licking county: Mack, John, Nelson, Duncan and Ruth.
     Daniel Cross, the grandfather of our subject, was married October 7, 1832, to Phoebe Howell, the second daughter of Hon. Elias Howell, and to them were born four sons and four daughters: George, Robert, John, Charles, Elizabeth, Sarah, Marietta and Harriet.  This family removed from Licking county to Union county in 1857, and located a few miles north of Marysville.  Before the removal, however, George Cross had married Margaret Patience Williams, a highly educated lady who graduated from the Granville Seminary, April 12, 1855.  She was the sixth child in a family of ten children, and was born August 3, 1833.  The others were Evan, Thomas, David, Jane, Benjamin, Benjamin, (the second of that name), Mary, Ann and John.  Two of the number, Thomas and Benjamin, died in Wales, whence their parents, John and Mary Williams, emigrated to America in 1831.  Mr. and Mrs. Cross have the following children, namely: David, Daniel, Howell, John, Charles, James, Edward, Anna and Frank.
     John W. Cross remained on the home farm until twenty-one years of age, during which time he attended the common schools and spent two years as a student in the high school of Marysville.  He then turned his attention to teaching, which profession he has followed continuously since with the exception of two years spent as a student in the Northwestern University, at Ada, when he was graduated in the class of 1888.  He then came to Ostrander, and has since been Superintendent of the schools at this place.  The schools rank among the best in the State for scholarship owing to his able and efficient management.  In 1888 he was granted a teacher’s life certificate by the Ohio State Board of Education, and in 1890 he was appointed County Examiner of Delaware county, which position he has since creditably and acceptably filled.
     In 1882, Mr. Cross joined the Methodist Episcopal Church of Marysville, but in 1893 withdrew his membership and united with the Presbyterian Church of Ostrander.  For four years he served in the Fourteenth regiment of the Ohio National Guards, having joined the same only a short time before the regiment was called out for duty at the Cincinnati riots.  In 1887, he became a member of Marysville Lodge, Knights of Pythias, with which he is still connected.  Mr. Cross is recognized as one of the able educators of the State, and a high testimonial of his ability is his long continued service in Ostrander.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, p. 118-119
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

HENRY S. CULVER, ex-Mayor of the city of Delaware, Ohio, was elected to this honorable and responsible office in the spring of 1890, having been a resident of the city since the centennial year, 1876, when he located here and established himself in the practice of his profession, that of law, forming a professional alliance with Mr. Frank Marriott and remaining thus associated for the period of one year, after which, in 1878, he was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and served in that capacity until 1882, proving one of the most able incumbents the county had ever retained in that capacity.  In the meantime he associated himself with Mr. C. H. McElroy and this professional partnership continued until our subject had completed his term as Prosecutor, when Mr. McElroy was elected Judge.  Since that time Mr. Culver has been alone in his professional work, his practice being one of general order and his clientele being one of distinctively representative character.
     He received his preliminary education in the public schools at Sunbury, this county, completing the high-school course.  He then attended a commercial college in Cleveland and graduated at the institution, after which he began the work of preparation for that profession which he had determined to follow as his vocation in life.  He accordingly went to Columbus and entered the office of Judge G. H. Stewart, and under such favorable and discerning perceptorage [sic] he continued his technical studies until 1875, when he was admitted to the bar.
     He at once made ready to put his legal acquirements to a practical test, coming to Delaware, where he forthwith entered upon that professional career which has been one of distinction and honor and which has redounded to his credit.
     In politics he is stanchly arrayed in the support of the Republican party and its principles, and has long been an active worker in the cause, ––one whose efforts have done much toward advancing party interests in a local way.  It is a significant fact that he was the first Republican Mayor the city had had in a number of years, and his administration was one that proved most satisfactory to his constituents, and gained the good will and endorsement of the general public, irrespective of party affiliations.  During his regime the city prospered in a material way and its government was directed along safe, conservative lines, the affairs of all departments having felt the influence of the able chief executive.  His term expired in 1894.  Always ardent in his political work he has occupied a position of prominence in the party ranks and has been a delegate to State and county conventions on numerous occasions.
     In his fraternal affiliations he has secured distinguished official recognition and has manifested a lively interest in the various societies with which he is identified.  He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Lenape Lodge, No. 29, and was one of the prime movers in effecting the organization of the Uniform Rank of that order in the State, having been the first Major of the Second Regiment, and having passed all the chairs in the order.  He organized the first company in the city of Delaware and was made Captain of the same.  He is also a member of the Masonic order, Hiram Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., and Chapter No. 88, R. A. M.  He has represented his chapter in the Grand Lodge on two different occasions, and is also a member of the National Union, Whetstone Council, No. 393.
     Our subject was born at Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio, April 19, 1854; was reared to the sturdy pursuits and uneventful life of the farm.  When he attained the age of seventeen years he put into practical use the scholastic attainments which were his by reason of his discipline in the public schools of Sunbury, engaging in pedagogic labor in district schools for a period of two years, and proving a successful teacher.  The more salient points in his subsequent career have already been noted in this connection and there is no need of recapitulation.
     Realizing the truth of the prophet’s statement, that it is not well for a man to live alone, in 1876 he led to the hymeneal altar Miss Mary D. Sprague, who is a native of Oregon, but who has passed the greater portion of her life in Delaware, this State.  She is the daughter of Judge F. B. Sprague, now of Westerville, Ohio, but formerly of this city.  Mr. and Mrs. Culver are the parents of four children: Stanley E., Mary Louise, Dorothy and Sidney.  Our subject and his wife are members of the Williams Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
     The parents of Mr. Culver were Sidney and Jane (Carpenter) Culver, both of whom were natives of Delaware county, Ohio.  The paternal grandfather of our subject was a Vermont Yankee, his name being Edward Culver.  He married and reared a large family of children in Vermont, where he remained until deprived of his wife by death, when he emigrated to Ohio, and here continued in that line of occupation which was his by birthright, ––that of farming.  After he arrived in Ohio he made the acquaintance of the Widow Stark, neé Catherine Rosecrans, who came from the Wyoming valley, in Pennsylvania, and in due time a marriage was consummated with this estimable woman.  She had reared a large family from her first marriage, but the only offspring of her union to Mr. Culver was one son, Sidney, the father of our subject.  The Culver family is of stanch old Puritan stock, while the Rosecrans is of lineage tracing back to Holland.
     Sidney Culver was born on the paternal farmstead, in Berkshire township, this county, in November, 1822, and he there grew to manhood, having received his education in the district schools.  He and General Rosecrans were playfellows as well as second cousins, and as boys they conned their lessons together before the light of the primitive old fire-place, around which lingers so much of romance and whose glowing shadows fell upon the form of many a boy who attained fame and distinction in the later years.  Sidney Culver remained in the same neighborhood in which he was born during his entire lifetime, and devoted his attention to the noble art of husbandry.  He was successful in his efforts and was accounted one of the solid men of that section, being upright and honorable in all his ways and a man of unimpeachable probity.  In the latter years of his life he became a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He died in January, 1893.  His wife was also a native of this county, where she was born in October, 1826.  She is still living and resides with her daughter in Columbus.  Her parents were pioneer residents of Delaware county.  Sidney and Jane Culver became the parents of three children: Edward T., who resides on a farm in the eastern part of the county; Susan M., wife of Burns L. Maynard, of Columbus; and Henry S., the immediate subject of this review.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 410-412
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

JOHN W. CULVER is one of the leading citizens of Delaware county, now living in Sunbury, where he is engaged in the livery business as a member of the firm of Perfect & Culver.  Being so well and favorably known in this locality, his sketch will prove of interest to many of the readers of this volume.  The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Trenton township. Delaware county, Ohio, in 1844 and is a son of Basel Culver.  The latter was born on the 28th of March, 1811, and his parents were John and Catherine (Johnson) Culver.  Farther back we have no account of the ancestry of the family.  Basel Culver died May 19, 1891, and his wife. Elizabeth, who was born April 1, 1811, survived him only a few days, passing away June 6, 1891.  They left four children, ––Truman, Martha J., Mary and John W.  Mr. Culver was an enterprising and thrifty man, and in his business dealings won success as the result of capable management and foresight.  He became owner of a valuable farm, and carefully reared his children.
     The subject of this sketch was reared in the place of his nativity, and in its public schools acquired a good education.  He manifested special aptitude in his studies and fitted himself for teaching, which profession he followed with good success for some years.  His work was always thorough and progressive and gave good satisfaction to those interested.  Later he engaged in the lumber business both in Ohio and in the South.  At this writing he is conducting a successful livery business in Sunbury and by his straightforward dealing and earnest desire to please his customers, he has secured a liberal patronage.  He also owns two good farms in Trenton township, which yield to him a fair income.
     In his social relations Mr. Culver is connected with Sparrow Lodge, No. 400, F. & A. M., of Sunbury, being one of its active and zealous members.  He is a man of intelligence and broad and liberal views, who has read extensively and always keeps himself well informed on the questions of the day.  A pleasant, genial gentleman, his social manner has made him very popular and gained him many warm friends.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, p. 259
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.