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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 |
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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