BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
HISTORY OF PICKAWAY CO., OHIO
and Representative Citizens
Edited and Compiled by
Hon. Aaron R. Van Cleaf
Circleville, Ohio
Publ. 1906
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CHARLES
T. NEFF, who is known as an expert horsehoer and
who has conducted a general black-smithing business at
Darbyville for the past six years, was born in Darby
township, Pickaway County, Ohio. Aug. 28, 1871,
and is a son of Nathaniel and Samantha (Thornton)
Neff.
The grandparents of our
subject were George Enoch and Pauline Neff,
who came to Darby township, Pickaway County, at a very
early day, about 1845, and lived and died in Darby
township. They had seven children, Nathaniel
being the third in order of birth. He was reared
and married in Darby township, but in 1878 moved to
Muhlenberg township. HE and his wife still reside
on their farm near Pherson.
The children of Nathaniel and Samantha Neff
were: William, of Monroe township;
Charles T., of this sketch; Homer of Monroe
township; Laura, wife of Willard Whiteside,
of Darby township; Elmer, of Monroe township; and
George, who is still in school.
Charles T. Neff was seven years old when his
parents settled in Muhlenberg township. He
remained at home, assisting on the farm and attending
school until he was 17 years old, when he went to
Pherson and learned the blacksmith's trade with J. J.
McLaughlin, with whom he remained at work for 11
years, being his employer's right-hand man. He
then started into business for himself at Darbyville and
enjoys a large trade. He owns his home and his
shop and is looked upon as one of the town’s successful
business men.
On Feb. 27, 1896, Mr. Neff was united in
marriage with Mary Kern, who wasborn in
Deerfield township, Ross County, Ohio, and is a daughter
of Philip and Magdalene Kern, the former of whom
was born in Germany and the latter in Ohio. The
four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Neff are:
Charles K., Philip, Maria M. and Francis E. The
family belong to the Lutheran Church at Lick Run.
Politically Mr. Neff is a Republican and
the esteem and confidence with which he is regarded by
his fellow-citizens has been shown by his election as a
member of the Village Council and as a member of the
School Board.
Source: Portrait and Biographical History of
Fayette, Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio.
Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 663 |
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GEORGE
EDWIN NEFF, a native of this county and a
resident of it since his birth, has conducted a general
store at Derby for the past 12 years. He was born
Dec. 13, 1854, and is a son of William and Elizabeth
(Marshall) Neff and a grandson of Jacob Neff.
Jacob Neff, who was born in what is now West
Virginia, married Catherine Clark in that State,
and as emigrants he and his wife with their three
children came to Pickaway County, Ohio, by wagon,
settling first on a rented farm, the Judge Florence
place. The three children born to them before
coming to Ohio were three sons, namely: John,
who married Elizabeth Owens and resided near
Circleville - both now deceased; William the
father of our subject; and Tillison, who married
Elizabeth Steele - both now deceased.
William Neff married Elizabeth Marshall,
a daughter of James and Sarah (Murray) Marshall,
the latter of whom was born in Ireland, and came to
America when six years of age with her parents, who
settled in Pennsylvania. It was in that State that
she was married to James Marshall. The
seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. William Neff
were: Sarah, now deceased, who was the wife
of Albert Miller; George E., our subject; Mary,
wife of A. E. Loofbourrow, both of whom reside at
Mount Sterling, Ohio; John who married Osie
Maxwell and is a resident of Columbus; William,
Jr., who was married (first) to a Miss Cartmill
and (second) to Helen Strain; James, who married
Elizabeth Hewitt and lives at Newport, Ohio; and
Courtney M., who married Mary Anderson.
George E. Neff married, as his first wife, Mary
E. Hott, daughter of Peter Hott, a native of
this State. Mrs. Neff died in 1882.
ON Sept. 2, 1886, at Derby, he married Mary Elizabeth
Johnson, daughter of James and Sarah (Briley)
Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. James Johnson came from
Maryland and 17 children were born to them - Jonathan
William, James, Homer, Matthew, John, Grant, Peter,
David, Jane (deceased), Lillian and two
children that died in infancy.
After his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Johnson,
Mr. Neff commenced housekeeping in the present
family home at Derby, which belongs to his wife.
Three children have been born into the household,
namely: Brice, who died in 1892; and
Marguerite, born May 17, 1892, and Sarah born
May 17, 1896, both of whom live at home.
Mr. Neff has been engaged in business at Derby
for the past 12 years, and has established one of the
leading general stores in his section of the county,
carrying an especially good line of groceries, dry goods
and shoes. He has served on the School Board for
six yeas, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
is an Odd Fellow, and altogether is a substantial, moral
and progressive member of the community in which he has
resided throughout his life.
Source: Portrait and Biographical History of
Fayette, Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio.
Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 634 |
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GEORGE S.
W. NEFF, a substantial agriculturist and leading
citizen of Darby township, is the owner of 269 acres of
valuable farm land, lying in three compact bodies.
The largest tract, containing 165 acres, is the
homestead on which he resides, situated on the old
Federal road. Another farm of 52 acres is on the
same thoroughfare, and the third, almost equal in size,
is located on the Darbyville and London road.
Our subject is a son of Elijah and Mary A. Neff,
Virginians. Seven children were born to their
union, as follows: William deceased;
Isaac V. S., who died June 14, 1892; James,
who died at an advanced age; three girls, who died
in infancy; and George S. W., who is the only
member of the family now living.
Mr. Neff's birthplace
was Hardy County, Virginia (now West Virginia), but has
resided in this county since he was six yeas of age.
Both he and his many friends therefore consider him
practically a native of Pickaway County, and his success
a part of its progress.
George S. W. Neff was married to Elizabeth
Powell, daughter of Jacob Powell, of the Old
Dominion, and four children were born to the, viz.:
Otis who married Minnie Grable and at his
death, at the age of 35 years, left a widow and one
child - Hazel; Mary E., who married
James Grable and became the mother of three children
- Edith, George and Alfred; Carrie Jane,
who became the wife of Harry Adkins, and the
mother of two children - Agnes and George;
and Ella who is the youngest and resides at home.
The parents of Mrs. Neff are both dead. She
has three sisters - Mary, Alice and Almira;
six half-sisters - Jessie, Anna, Carrie, Mattie, Osta
and Maggie, and a half brother- Otis.
The Neff family residence is a nine-room, frame
house one of the prettiest in the neighborhood.
The farm on which Mr. Neff lives has been his
home ever since he came to the township as a boy of six
years. Since then he had not only developed into a
splendid manhood, reared a family of his own and
prospered in worldly affairs, but established a solid
reputation for intelligence and morality. He has
taken deep and continuous interest in educational
matters, having served for a number of years on the
School Board. Fraternally he is affiliated with
the Masonic order.
Source: Portrait and Biographical History of
Fayette, Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio.
Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 817 |
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ROSS NEFF,
of the younger generation of prominent agriculturists,
comes of a family well known and thoroughly respected in
Pickaway County. He is the owner of 180 acres of
valuable land in Darby township, divided into two
bodies. The home farm, which he bought from the
Mitchell heirs in 1899, comprises 121 acres; the
other tract of 59 acres he purchased in the spring of
1905.
Our subject is a son of Isaac V. S. and Sarah
Malinda (Neff) Neff, and a grandson, on the paternal
side, of Elijah and Mary A. (Powell) Neff and, of
the maternal side, of Absalom and Sarah (Reay) Neff.
The grandparents on both sides came to Ohio from
Virginia. Seven children were born to Elijah
and Mary A. (Powell) Neff, as follows:
William, deceased; Isaac V. S., father of our
subject, who died on the 14th of June, 1892; James,
deceased; three girls who died in infancy; and
George S. W., who married Elizabeth Powell
and, with his wife, is living in Darby township.
Isaac V. S. Neff was born in Virginia and when
14 years of age came to Ohio with his father. The
latter purchased 212 acres of land where George S. W.
Neff the uncle of our subject, now resides.
Isaac V. S. Neff lived at home until he married
Sarah Malinda Neff, daughter of Absalom Neff
who also had migrated from Virginia. Five children
were born to this union, viz.: Mary Jane
who died when a child; Ada who died in 1885, and
William, who died in 1894; Ross; and
Catherine who died when an infant.
Ross Neff was born on
the old home farm in this county, Sept. 2, 1868, and on
Feb. 28, 1900, he was married to Effa May Murphy
daughter of W. F. Murphy of Derby. Besides
herself, there were four children in the family of
Mrs. Neff's parents - George, now deceased,
who married Emma Neff; Joseph also deceased,
whose wife was Molly McKinley; Charles who
married Clara Dennison; and Sally, wife of
Abraham J. Dennison.
Mr. Neff is identified with the Knights of Pythias
and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Although still comparatively a young man, he already is
placed in the ranks of the reliable and progressive
citizens of the township.
Source: Portrait and Biographical History of
Fayette, Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio.
Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 802 |
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A. C.
NOTHSTINE, SR., a prominent citizen of Ashville,
was closely identified with the agricultural interests
of Pickaway County for 44 years, and still owns some 300
acres of valuable farming land in Walnut township.
He is a worthy representative of a pioneer family, which
settled in this section in the time of his grandfather,
but his father, like himself, was born in Ohio.
Mr. Nothstine was born in Madison township, Pickaway
County, Ohio, not far distant from Lithopolis, on Feb.
5, 1836, and is a son of Henry and Susan (Hall)
Nothstine.
John Nothstine, the grandfather, was of
German extraction and the family had lived near Reading,
Berks County, Pennsylvania, prior to its migration to
Ohio. Our subject can recall seeing the old
covered wagons in which the family and its belongings
were transported over the mountains to the new home in
Pickaway County, where they settled in the woods and
endured pioneer privations. The children of
John Nothstine were: Annie, Maria,
Daniel. Peter. Joseph and
Henry. Maria married Daniel
Glick and she lived and died in Madison township. Daniel
was killed by the fall of a tree near the county line.
Peter established his home in Fairfield County,
where he died.
Henry Nothstine, father of our subject,
spent his whole life in Pickaway County. He
married Susan Hall, who was also born in
Pickaway County, and was a daughter of Henry
Hall, who owned a farm cornering on Pickaway and
Fairfield counties. The Hall connection is
a large one and Mrs. Nothstine's three
brothers—Philip. Henry and David—
became well-known citizens; Martha, a sister,
married Daniel Rockey. a pioneer pumpmaker.
of Columbus, Ohio.
The children born to Henry Nothstine and
wife were five sons and three daughters. Joseph,
who was a soldier in the Civil War, served in the 30th
Regiment. Ohio Vol. Inf., under Captain Groce
and was killed in the battle of Mission Ridge. He
was interred in the same grave with two other brave
soldiers who had also met a heroic death on this
terrible day, one Sergeant Shannon, of
Pickaway County, and the other, a brother of Major
Johnson. John, the next son, served
also in the Civil War, a large part of his service being
the guarding and escorting of prisoners to different
points. After the war he went to the West and has
never returned to Ohio. Lewis Lafayette
resides at Columbus, Ohio. Jacob owns a
farm in Madison township, which adjoins the one on which
he was born. Eliza married Nathan Whaley
and resides on a farm in Fairfield County near Waterloo.
Christena married Levi F. Dum and resides
on the old homestead. Roxa married Isaac
Donnelly, who has been one of the caretakers at
Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, for the past 14 years. Annie,
who was the wife of Adam Reed, died about
1886. Our subject is the oldest of the family.
A. C. Nothstine, Sr., was reared in Madison
township and attended the local schools, working on his
father's farm in the meantime and completing his
education with one year of study at Lithopolis. In
1859 he began to farm on his own account, but his first
year’s experience was rather discouraging as in that
year there came an untimely freezing spell that
destroyed his wheat and corn, so that his crops brought
him very little return for all his effort. This
weather freak did not subsequently visit his crops, or
he later learned better how to manage his operations,
for Mr. Nothstine became a noted
agriculturist and for the 44 years he devoted to general
farming, he can show a successful record.
Mr. Nothstine was married in 1859 to
Elizabeth Ann Ward, who is a daughter
of Richard Ward, formerly a well-known
farmer of Walnut township. The mother of Mrs.
Nothstine died when she was eight years but she
was carefully reared by her father and lived on the home
farm until her marriage. The Ward family
came to Ohio from Virginia.
Mr. and Mrs. Nothstine have had a family of
eight children—five sons and three daughters. Ida,
who married John Parks, resides at
Circleville; Rose Althea, who married
C. B. Hedges, resides' on a farm in Harrison
township; Mr. and Mrs. Hedges have three sons—Walter,
Howard and Roger. Fannie, who
married John Noecker, a farmer of Madison
township, has one son—Cecil.
Edward, who was formerly a teacher, conducts a
photograph gallery at McArthur, Vinton county. He
has two sons and two daughters, viz.: Keneth,
Paul, Dorothy and Ida. R. C.,
who is connected with Washington Court House and
Circleville canning factories, married Vinnie
Teegardin, a daughter of John Teegardin,
of Madison township; they have five daughters and one
son, namely; Harriet, Mildred, Gertrude,
Frances, Gretchen and A. C. Nothstine,
Jr. Percy, who is a conductor on
the P., C., C. & St. L. Ry., between Logansport,
Indiana, and Chicago, has been on the road about eight
years. He married Mabel Kirkendall
of Circleville, a daughter of Captain Kirkendall.
William C. married Oela C. Dunnick,
daughter of Ex-Sheriff H. M. Dunnick, of Pickaway
County, and has one daughter, Sarah Elizabeth.
They reside on the home farm on the island.
Arthur C., the youngest of Mr. Nothstine's
children, is a chemist at the Carnegie Steel Company's
plant at Zanesville, Ohio. He was educated at the
Ohio State University
at Columbus.
After his marriage, Mr. Nothstine
purchased the farm of 150 acres on the Island, in Walnut
township, which he stills owns. His other land,
amounting to 160 acres, is situated east of the canal.
As stated above, Mr. Nothstine continued
to farm for very many years, raising corn and wheat and
making a specialty of potatoes, raising by the mulching
process some of the finest tubers ever offered in the
local market. During the ’70’s and ’8o’s he raised
fine Berkshire and Poland-China hogs, and for 16
successive years was an exhibitor of fine hogs and
agricultural products at the Pickaway and adjoining
county fairs. Well does he recollect the yearly
performance of the pacer “Reese Morris,” on the little
circular track. In 1904 he left the farm and
purchased his fine property at Ashville, where he has
resided ever since. He has taken a leading part in
town affairs and is at present serving as a member of
the Town Council, being a man whose discretion and
judgment are much relied upon.
Mr. Nothstine is not only a charter
member but a promotor of Nebraska Grange, No. 64,
in Walnut township, Pickaway County. He was one of
the earliest farmers of this section to become
interested in the agricultural movement, which resulted
in establishing the Grange; and in its early days he
gave a great deal of time visiting throughout Walnut
township and placing the matter before his fellow
farmers. Nebraska Grange was organized June 16,
1873, Mr. Nothstine securing the services
of the State Grange organizer, Mr. Ellis,
for this purpose. The Grange now has 104 members,
being one of the strongholds of the organization.
On June 16, 1906, its anniversary was held, and at this
time 18 applications for membership were voted on. Mr.
Nothstine is credited for its prosperous
condition. He has done a great deal in the way of
bring the farmers closer together so that they may
exchange ideas and experiences and a brotherhood has
been established which is worth a great deal in rural
life, both materially and socially.
In political sentiment Mr. Nothstine
adheres to the principles of the Democratic party, in
which he was reared. He was reared a Lutheran by
Lutheran parents.
Source: History of Pickaway County, Ohio and
Representative Citizens, Edited and Compiled by Hon.
Aaron R. Van Cleaf. Circleville, Ohio - Publ. 1906 -
Page 632 |
NOTES:
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