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BIOGRAPHIES
The following biographies are extracted from:
Source:
A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio
Vol. II.
Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York
1917
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WILLIAM
F. BAILEY. As increasing years separate the
present from the years of the Civil war, greater and greater
respect is paid to the honored survivors of that struggle.
One of the old soldiers of Ross County whose life has otherwise
been one filled with activity and worthy accomplishment is
William F. Bailey, now living retired at his home in South
Salem. He is also serving as justice of the peace of
Buckskin Township.
Of that old and historic community of Ross County Mr.
Bailey is a native. He was born two miles east of
Salem May 7, 1849, a son of Martin and Nancy (Fagin) Bailey.
Martin Bailey's father was Richard
Bailey, who was born in England, came to the United States,
but found it very difficult to accommodate himself to American
customs and ways and never entirely laid aside British habits.
He lived in Buckskin Township, and there acquired what is now
known as the Simon Clouser farm. He
lived and cultivated that for many years. He was also a
man of aristocratic habits and tastes. Martin
Bailey was born in 1809, in Hagerstown, Maryland. In
Ross County he married Nancy Fagin, who was born
in this county in 1814, and was of Irish descent. Of their
nine children the four now living are: Catherine, widow
of Jackson Nichols, is spending her last days in
the Odd Fellows-Rebekah Home in Springfield, Ohio; William F.
is the second; Nancy J., a resident of South Salem, is
the widow of J. C. Holloway, who was a soldier in the
Civil war and was wounded at Gettysburg; John R. lives in
Portland, Oregon.
William F. Bailey spent his boyhood days in
Illinois chiefly, the family having gone to that state in 1855.
At the age of eight years he was bound out to a teamster living
in Decatur, Illinois, and remained with him, working hard and
securing little opportunity to attend school until he was
fourteen.
In 1862, at the age of fourteen, he returned to Ross
County, worked on a farm for a time and also began learning the
saddlery trade. He then went to a farm in Fayette County, and
from there, on September 2, 1864, enlisted in Company H of the
One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He
remained with his command until the close of the war, and saw at
least one of the great battles of that conflict, the battle of
Nashville. He was mustered out and given his honorable
discharge on June 20, 1865. After being discharged he
returned from Columbus to Ross County, and therewith began his
practical career as a farmer, which continued for practically
half a century.
On October 28, 1868, Mr. Bailey married
Miss Centrilla L. Kerr. Her father was John H.
Kerr and he and William H. Bailey were soldiers
together in the Civil war. Mrs. Bailey was
born in Buckskin Township January 5, 1849. Mr. and Mrs.
Bailey lived on their farm until 1913, when they sold it,
then lived on a rented place for a time, and since June, 1916,
have occupied their present home in South Salem. Mr. and Mrs.
Bailey are the parents of four children: Austin K. of
Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Edgar C., who graduated from
the South Salem Academy and now lives in Trinidad, Colorado;
Stella, wife of Charles A. Barrett, of Buckskin Township;
and Lena K., who formerly taught school but is now the
wife of Eldon Miller of Concord Township.
The family are active members of the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Bailey is a member and is now
commander of J. C. Irwin Post, No. 669, of the Grand Army of the
Republic. The members of this post hold their regular
meetings at Mr. Bailey's home in South Salem. Politically,
he is a republican, but is usually for the best man in local
politics. For twelve years he served as constable and for three
years three months was a United States deputy marshal of the
Southern District of Ohio. He served in that capacity
under Vivian J. Fagin and W. L. Lewis, both of
Cincinnati. Mr. Bailey has also served as
mayor, an office he still holds in South Salem, and as justice
of the peace is called upon to preside over the minor judicial
cases arising in this township.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 794 |
Peter Bohn |
PETER BOHN.
The activities of Peter Bohn as a business man have b een
well known in Chillicothe for a great many years, and his name
is likewise associated with much of the city's municipal, social
and educational life and affairs. He is the type of a
sturdy, vigorous, public spirited citizen. He is the type
of a sturdy, vigorous, public spirited citizen.
Born Sept. 7, 1855, in Chillicothe, he is a son of
John and Catherine (Litler) Bohn. His father was born
in Germany and accompanied by his wife and one child emigrated
to America in 1853. In some particulars this journey was
rather remarkable. The little family started at Hamburg,
Germany, on a sailing vessel, accomplished the entire distance
between Hamburg and Chillicothe, their final destination, by
deep sea, river and canal boats. The sailing vessel landed
them at New Orleans and thence came up the Mississippi River, up
the Ohio as far as Portsmouth, Ohio, and there embarked on a
canal boat on the old Ohio Canal, finally landing on Hickory
Street in Chillicothe. In the fall of 1859 John
Bohn engaged in the grocery and saloon business on Main
Street near Paint Street and continued in that line until his
death in 1876. He was an esteemed citizen of Chillicothe,
much interested in public affairs, and was a democrat in
politics. He was also a member of the Eintracht Singing
Society and Social Organization composed mostly of people from
the old country.
Out of a family of nine children, Peter Bohn
is the only one now living. He grew up in Chillicothe,
gained his education in St. Peter's Catholic parochial schools
and at the age of twenty began business as a dealer in fruit,
his stand being at the corner of Main and Paint streets.
He was in business there continuously until Apr. 1, 1897, and
after wards conducted business in an adjacent block from 1907.
Since then his business establishment has been at 93 East Main
Street, and through a great many years he has steadily prospered
and has a large and profitable trade.
Mr. Bohn is a Catholic, is a member of the St.
Ignatius Council, Knights of Columbus, and was one of the
charter members of this the first council of the Knights of
Columbus established in Chillicothe on Jan. 6, 1906.
His part as a public spirited citizen has been one of
much importance. He was elected township clerk of Scioto
Township in 1885 and held that office for five consecutive
terms, 1885 to 1891. In 1901 he was elected township
treasurer and from March, 1913, to 1914, held both positions of
clerk and treasurer. In 1913 he was elected township clerk
and reelected in 1915. For several years he has also
served as clerk of the board of education and treasurer of
school funds, which position he still holds.
On Jan. 10, 1879, in Chillicothe Mr. Bohn
married Miss E. Florence Kelley, daughter of William
C. Kelley, of Highland County. She died July 13, 1916.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 676 |
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AUTIMER S. BONE.
Of the men who are contributing to the material growth and
advancement of Ross County through their connection with
important and long-established enterprises, Autimer S. Bone
is deserving of mention. As head miller and partner in the
Salt Creek Valley Mill, at Gillespieville, he is identified with
one of the oldest industries in this part of the state, and one
which has grown with the county and has aided in its progress.
Mr. Bone was born on a farm in Jackson Township,
Vinton County, Ohio, May 9, 1878, and is a son of Samuel and
Sarah (Jordan) Bone.
Mr. Bone comes of honest Pennsylvania Dutch
stock, the progenitor of the family in Ohio settling first in
Noble County. There was born William Bone, the
grandfather of Autimer S. Bone, who moved from that
community at an early date and located in Vinton County, where
the remaining years of his life were passed in the pursuits of
agriculture. Samuel Bone, the father of Autimer
S. Bone, was born in Vinton County, where he received his
education in the district schools, and was reared as a farmer,
an occupation which he took as his own when ready to enter upon
his independent career. He was the operator of the old
homestead place for several years, the property which had been
owned by his father before him, but later moved to another
property and continued its cultivation and management during the
remainder of his active life. Both Mr. Bone and his
wife died in 1888, the parents of seven children, all of whom
survive: J. G., who is his brother's partner in the Salt
Creek Valley Mill, with his headquarters at Londonderry;
Sarah, who is the wife of Frank Johnson, of Saint
Louis, Missouri; Nancy, who is the widow of William
Fitzgerald, and lives at Chillicothe; Hester Viola,
who resides at Londonderry with her brother, J. G.;
Carl James, a resident of New London, Missouri;
Doctor-Pinckney, a specialist in eye, ear, and throat
diseases, of Lancaster, Ohio; and Autimer S., of this
review. The children were all small at the time of their
parents' death, the mother following the father to the grave
within forty days after his demise, but J. G., the eldest
managed to keep the children together and to rear them to sturdy
man and womanhood. Samuel Bone was not active in
political matters, but took a good citizen's part in the
promotion of public-spirited enterprises. While a
religious man, he was not connected with any particular
denomination, and his quiet, unassuming nature disliked any
untoward display in any direction.
Autimer
S. Bone was educated in the public
schools and although he was but ten years of age when his
parents died, managed to get also a course in the normal school.
He remained at home with his brothers and sisters until his
marriage, Sept. 26, 1898, to Miss Louisa M. Ankrom, who
was born in Vinton County, Ohio, a daughter of William Ankrom,
of Jackson Township, and a member of an old and well known
family of that county. After his marriage, Mr. Bone
resided on the home place for about five years and then entered
the milling business as an employe, learning it thoroughly in
every department. For two years he applied himself to a
mastery of the engineering department and then took up the trade
of miller, which he followed for several years at South
Bloomingville, Hocking County, Ohio. In 1907, with his
brother, J. G. Bone, he came to Londonderry and purchased
the Salt Creek Valley Mill, which they have since conducted with
the greatest success. Mr. Bone is an excellent
business man, who has the reputation of being possessed of the
strictest integrity and whose reputation is therefore an
enviable one in business circles. Fraternally, he is
affiliated with Wattawamat Tribe No. 194 of the Improved Order
of Red Men, at Londonderry, in which he has passed through the
chairs. He is a democrat politically, but not a seeker
after public office. All good civic movements have his earnest
support. Mr. and Mrs. Bone are the parents of four
children: Paul, who is in third year of high school; and
Hazel, Helen and James, who are attending the
graded schools.
The Salt Creek Valley Mill, of which the Bone brothers,
J. G. and A. S., are proprietors, is one of the
historic spots of Ross County. The original mill was built
by Joseph Dixon, in 1803, and has continued in usefulness
up to the present time, a period of about 113 years.
Joseph Dixon was born in Pratt County, North Carolina, and
in 1802 moved to Ross County, Ohio, in the following year
erecting the mill and in stalling the buhr system. The
buhrs for this early enterprise were quarried at McArthur,
Vinton County, Ohio, and were hauled by team to Salt Creek, it
being necessary to cut the road through from Allensville to the
destination, as there were no roads over which they might be
taken at that early day.
From the outset the business was a profitable one, and
Mr. Dixon was forced to work the mill day and night in
order to care for the custom that flocked to him. At the
time of his death the business passed to his two sons,
Joseph, Jr., and Abel Dixon, who continued to operate
the business with equal success for upwards of forty years, and
who kept it equipped with up-to-the-minute machinery. It
was the regular custom of these brothers in the early days,
whenever they got a good stock ahead, to load the product on a
raft and float it down the Ohio River, and thence to New Orleans
via the Mississippi River, where they found a good market.
They would then return to Salt Creek overland, on foot, and once
more resume business, repeating the process when a new stock
accumulated.
After the death of the Dixon brothers, this old
mill went into the hands of Brown and Hoover, who, in 1891, tore
up the old buhr system and installed a roller system,
manufactured and put in by the Case Manufacturing Company, of
Columbus, Ohio. They, in turn, sold out to J. M. Slone,
who operated it until his death, in 1904, when the site and mill
were purchased by Bone and Stevens, who put in a
sifter system in order to keep it up to date. In 1907,
Bone brothers bought out Mr. Stevens, and the mill
has since been operated under their management, J. G. Bone
being manager, and A. S. Bone, head miller. The
product of the mill, "Valley Patent" and "Gilt Edge" brands of
flour, have a wide sale throughout the Central West and are
noted for their purity and general excellence.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 869 |
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J. G. BONE.
Few men have lent more practical encouragement to the milling
business in Ross County, Ohio, than has J. G. Bone, owner
of the Londonderry Mill on Salt Creek and the Joe Dixon Mill.
Mr. Bone was formerly a farmer, and still the owner of a
good agricultural property, but since 1907 has devoted his
interests uninterruptedly to the milling business. He is a
native of Vinton County, Ohio, and was born on a farm, Feb. 11,
1864, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Jordan) Bone.
The Bone family of Ross County, Ohio, originally
came from that sturdy class known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, and
from the Keystone State the first Ohioan of the name came to
Jefferson County. There was born William Bone, the
grandfather of J. G. Bone, who moved from that community
at an early date to Vinton County and passed the rest of his
life there as a farmer. Samuel Bone, father
of J. G. Bone, was born in Vinton County, received an
ordinary education in the public schools and was reared as a
farmer, a vocation which he adopted when entering upon his
independent career. For several years he operated the old
homestead which his father had owned before him, but
subsequently moved to another farm, which he continued to
develop and work during the remainder of his life. Both he
and his wife died in 1888, having been the parents of seven
children, all of whom grew to maturity and are still living:
J. G., of this notice; Mrs. Sarah Johnson,
of St. Louis, Missouri; Nancy, a resident of Chillicothe,
Ohio; Viola, who resides at Londonderry; James, of
New London, Missouri; Pinkney, of Lancaster, Ohio; and
A. S., of Londonderry. Samuel Bone was
not politically active, being a quiet, rather unassuming man who
was well satisfied with the activities he could secure from his
vocation. However, he took a good citizen's part in the
promotion of his home community's interests and was generous in
his support of beneficial movements. He was a religious
man, but was not connected with any particular church
denomination.
The district schools of Vinton County furnished J.
G. Bone with his early educational training, and after his
own education was completed he was engaged for several terms in
teaching school, making his home on the farm and working thereon
during the summer months. Thus he remained, taking care of
his parents and keeping the family together until his parents
died. Mr. Bone continued his operations on the old
place until 1907, and is still the owner of 120 acres in Jackson
Township, Vinton County, now occupied by a renter. In the year
mentioned Mr. Bone came to Londonderry and started
in the milling business in partnership with Thomas
Stevens, these gentlemen purchasing the Salt Creek Mill.
It was in a run-down condition, and Messrs. Bone
and Stevens built up the business and repaired the mill,
but it continued in existence only one year, when Mr.
Bone exchanged his interests and assumed complete control of
the Salt Creek Mill, which he has since conducted. He is
now the owner of this property, as he is also of the Buck Dixon
planing and grist mill at Londonderry, which is operated in
conjunction. Mr. Bone has built up a
substantial and profitable business which has its own
established place in the commercial life of the community and
which bears an excellent reputation in business circles.
He has interest in the Chillicothe Milling Company, which is now
building a large mill at that place. Mr. Bone's
financial success is augmented by a recognized moral influence.
He carries with him into business and social life a splendid
ethical perspective, and a capacity for acknowledging the good
and weeding out the undesirable in general existence.
Fraternally, he is affiliated with Allansville Lodge, No. 855,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and South Bloomingville Tribe
of the Improved Order of Red Men. Politically, he
affiliates with the democrats, and while living in Jackson
Township was elected by that party as township clerk for five
years and as justice of the peace for twelve years. Mr.
Bone's present home is at Gillespieville, in Liberty
Township, in the vicinity of which he has numerous warm and
sincere friends.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 682 |
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LAWRENCE M. BUTLER
is one of the younger and more progressive farmers of Union
Township. He has succeeded well in the task of making a
home and creating a profitable industry and already has much to
show for the active years of his career.
He was born on a farm in the south precinct of Union
Township, Nov. 22, 1887. He is old New England stock, his
great-grandfather having been so far as known as lifelong
resident of Vermont. His grandfather Ormond Butler
was a native of Vermont, and after reaching manhood set out with
his two brothers John and George of Ohio. Ohio was
still the Far West, and they rode horseback as far as Pittsburgh
and thence came by boat down the Ohio to Portsmouth and from
there on to Ross County. Ross County was still undeveloped
in most of its townships; there were no railroads, and Ormond
Butler found for a number of years a very profitable
occupation in teaming and freighting. His home was in
Union Township, where he spent his last days and where he and
his wife lived to a good old age.
Phillip Butler, father of Lawrence M.,
was born in Union Township, and spent his life as a farmer.
He lived in the township his death in 1910. The maiden
name of his wife was Sarah Lawrence, who was born near
New Holland in Pickaway County.
The only child of his parents, Lawrence M. Butler
as a boy attended the public schools and secured a thorough
training by practical experience on the home farm. He
lived with his parents a number of years, and in 1907 located on
the farm on which he now resides. Besides the raising of
the staple crops Mr. Butler is one of the most proficient
in the growing Ross County industry, bee culture. He has
made a thorough study in bees, is an expert in handling them,
and has found both a congenial and profitable occupation in
looking after his colony of honeymakers. His apiary now
consists of over seventy hives. His bees are a cross
between the Italian and the common black bee.
In September, 1915, he married Edna Donahue, who
was born in Union Township, where he was reared and educated,
the daughter of Harvey and Ida Donahue.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. -
Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917
- Page 657 |
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