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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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JACOB S.
CALDWELL. The extensive stock interests of
Jacob S. Caldwell, proprietor of the Hill Dale Stock
Farm, situated in Ross County, Ohio, have made his name
a familiar one all over the country. He is one of
the leading breeders of fine horses and of high grade
stock of all kinds in Ohio, and his exhibits have been
prominent features at fairs in a dozen states. He was
the owner of the famous trotting horse, Miss Directed,
and developed her record of 2:06¼
and subsequently sold the animal for $8,000. He also
owned Miss Respected, 2:05¼
Jacob S. Caldwell was born in Jefferson Township, Ross
County, Ohio, December 23, 1865, the youngest son of Edwin
and Martha J. (Davis) Caldwell, the former of whom
is deceased. He was born in Jefferson Township,
Ross County, May 26, 1834, and was educated in both
public and private schools. In polities he was a
republican. On September 13, 1855, he was married
to Miss Martha J. Davis, who survives and resides on the
farm on which she was born. Mr. Caldwell carried on
farming during active life and was considered a man of
sound
judgment and much enterprise. He was a member of the
Methodist
Episcopal Church at Richmond Dale, and for many years
was a trustee
in the township where he had always lived. He was one of
the stock
holders in the Ross County Bank, this stock being the
property of his
widow.
Mrs. Martha J. Caldwell, mother of Jacob S. Caldwell,
was born
December 28, 1838, in the same house in which she yet
lives, in Jefferson
Township, Ross County, Ohio. Her parents were John H.
and Elizabeth
G. (Strong) Davis. The father of Mrs. Caldwell was born
in Ross
County and the mother in Jackson County, Ohio. He was
reared on a
farm in Franklin township and she near Jackson, Ohio,
where they were
married and then settled on the farm in Ross County
where Mrs. Caldwell has passed her life. After the death of
Mrs. Davis,
in the fall of
1860, Mr. Davis went to Missouri and remained there
during the rest
of his life. For many years he was prominent in politics
and on the
republican ticket was elected to the Ohio Legislature.
He was a local preacher in the Methodist Church. His
four children were: Martha J.;
William H., who is a retired farmer in Nodaway County,
Missouri; J. J.,
and James, both of whom are retired farmers in the same
section.
Mrs. Caldwell was reared on what was then called the
Ginger Hill
Farm, situated one-half mile west of Richmond Dale. While she attended
the district school she also had instruction from
private tutors. She had
five children born to her marriage with Edwin Caldwell,
namely: Charles
D., who is a farmer and stock raiser near Burlington
Junction, Missouri; John, who is deceased; Eva E., who is the wife of
S. H.
Beady, of Columbus, Ohio; Jacob S., of Jefferson Township, Ross County;
and Letitia
J., who is deceased.
Jacob S. Caldwell attended the common and high schools
and then
entered Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he
spent two
years, and then returned home and ever since has been
interested in his
agricultural industries. He owns 1,600 acres of valuable
land in Ross
and Pickaway counties, made up of four farms. He devotes
much attention to the breeding of Aberdeen Angus cattle and keeps
from 100 to
150 head at all times, finding a ready market and
selling all over the
country. The present head of his herd is Belatun.
Formerly he raised
many trotting horses and still has a number that may be
termed "fancy
steppers." He has exhibited his stock in many states,
including Indiana,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Ohio, at the state
fairs usually, and
at the Ohio State Fair was awarded medals for the senior
and junior
herd champions.
Mr. Caldwell was married to
Miss Bertha L. Orr, who is a
daughter
of Presley and Martha E. Orr. They have five children:
Herbert O.,
who is a graduate of the Chillicothe High School and
spent two years
in the Ohio State University: Presley E., who is a
graduate of the Chillicothe High School; and Jacob,
Elizabeth and Bertha E. On
her
mother's side Mrs. Caldwell is related to Edward
Warwick Bradbury,
who was Lord Mayor of London. The great-grandfather of
Mrs. Caldwell was a direct heir to the great Trinity Church
property in New
York City, he being one of the lessees to that
corporation. In politics Mr. Caldwell is a republican and at present is serving
as a member of
the county board of equalization.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 573 |
DANIEL
CHESTNUT is one of the notable pioneer names of
Ross County. He was distinguished not only by his
very early settlement there, but also by his services as
a minister and teacher.
Born in Rockingham County, Virginia, he acquired a good
education for that time, qualified as a teacher and was
ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church.
It was in 1797 that he came into Northwest Territory,
first locating on the south bank of Paint Creek, across
the river from the City of Chillicothe. After a
time, on account of the unhealthfulness of the locality,
he moved to the present site of Massieville and bought
640 acres of land. He made improvements by the
erection of a double log cabin and remained a resident
in that community until his death. He was one of
the first Methodist preachers in that part of Ross
County, and supplied the pulpits in many places.
He was also the teacher in some of the pioneer schools,
and altogether a man whose influence was spread over an
entire generation. He filled the office of justice of
the peace for several years.
The mother of his children was Margaret Plain,
who was also born in Virginia. They reared ten children.
Of these their son, James Blain Chestnut, was born in
Scioto Township of Ross County in 1809, grew up on the
home farm and eventually bought the interests of the
other heirs to the homestead. He continued an
active and prosperous farmer of that community until his
death at the age of sixty-three. James B. Chestnut
married for his first wife Nancy Ann Truitt, who
spent her entire life in Ross County. Her five
children were named Daniel, Samuel, Charles, Martha
and Philip S. Daniel was a soldier in the
Union army and a prisoner of war eighteen months, and
afterwards served as court bailiff at Columbus until his
death at the age of seventy-seven.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 575 |
EDWIN P. CLIMER. Prominent among the old and
honored members of the agricultural element in Ross
County, is Edwin P. Climer, who for many years
carried on agricultural operations in Liberty Township,
but who is now living in somewhat retired life at
Gillespieville. Mr. Climer has passed his
entire life within the limits of Ross County and has
watched the great development and advancement that the
years have brought about with interest, as he has borne
his full share in the making of one of Ohio's most
prosperous and fertile farming counties.
Mr. Climer was born February 2, 1848, in
Ross County, Ohio, and is a son of Daniel and Martha
(Riley) Climer, early settlers of this county, both
families having come from Virginia at a pioneer period.
Edwin P. Climer was given his education in the
public schools of his locality, and his boyhood and
youth were divided between attending to his studies and
helping his father in the work of the home farm.
He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of
age, at which time he left the parental roof and started
out to make a name and position for himself in the field
of farming and the mercantile business. For
several years he was in the mercantile business at Vigo;
was also, railroad agent and postmaster, and then
returned to farming at his present location. How
well he succeeded in his ambition is shown by the
exalted place he holds in the respect and confidence of
his fellowmen and the material things that have rewarded
his efforts.
Mr. Climer was married June 9, 1880, to
Miss Emmeline Jones, who was born in
Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio, January 26, 1851, a
daughter of Henry and Mary Jones,
the former of English and the latter of Holland descent.
Mr. Jones was a lifelong farmer by
vocation, was a good and public-spirited citizen and an
active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the
faith of which he died at the age of eighty-nine years.
He was the father of seven daughters and one son, and
four children are living at this writing (1916).
Mrs. Climer enjoyed excellent educational
advantages, following full public school course and then
attending college, after which she attended a finishing
school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. and
Mrs. Climer have been the parents of four children,
as follows: Jessie F., a graduate of the public
schools and now the wife of Prof. G. L. Ely, of
Harrisburg, Ohio; Alice, a graduate of the high
school and now the wife of A. H. Free, of
Bainbridge, Ohio; Gertrude E., a graduate of the
high school and now the wife of James L. Heath; and
Edwin P., Jr., who lives on the home farm and looks
after his father 's large agricultural interests.
During the active years of his life, Mr.
Climer did much in the way of building and
improving, and thus contributed to the progress and
upbuilding of his community. Also he supported
such beneficial community movements as good schools and
good roads. He and Mrs. Climer are
active in the work of the Methodist Church. They
now reside in the old homestead of Dr. Nelson
Jones, at Gillespieville, which was built by the
doctor in 1850. Mr. Climer is a
republican in politics.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 665 |
LeROY
CLIMER. Many interesting associations
revolve around the name of Climer in Ross County.
It is a family which has been identified with this
section of Ohio for fully a century. Before coming
to Ohio they were successively residents of the Province
of Pennsylvania and of Virginia, and it is nearly two
centuries since the family stock was transplanted from
Europe to the shores of a new world. Out in
Harrison Township is a fine old homestead which has been
occupied by the Climers through four generations,
and is now owned by LeRoy Climer, who was
himself born there, and his children, and it is also
associated with the early lives of his grandchildren.
Since the family came to America the name has been
spelled variously as Clemmer, Clymer and
Climer. The first American of the name was
Valentine Clemmer, who was a bishop of the
Mennonite Church and who came to America from either
Germany or Switzerland in 1717. He settled
in what is now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Most of his descendants spell the name Clymer.
A son of Bishop Clemmer was Christian
Clymer, who was born in 1720 and became an
extensive land owner in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. Christian and Mary
Clymer had a son, Isaac Clymer, who
was born in 1755. Isaac was the great grandfather
of LeRoy Climer of Harrison Township.
In the Pennsylvania archives, fifth series, fifth
volume, page 357, are the muster roll and papers
relating to the associators and militia of the County of
Bucks. In the list of militia belonging to Captain
Patterson's company of militia in Tinicum Township,
returned May 22, 1780, is found the name Isaac
Climer in the third class. This patriot of the
American cause in the struggle for independence died in
1801. His wife was named Margaret.
Joseph Climer, grandfather of LeRoy, was
born August 10, 1779, either in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, or Loudoun County, Virginia. He was
also the founder of the family in Ross County.
From Virginia he came to this county in Ohio in 1815 or
1816, accompanied by his family. One winter was
spent on Lick Run, and he then bought a tract of
timbered land in section 31 of Harrison Township.
On that land he spent the rest of his days, bearing a
sturdy part in the pioneer activities of the county.
In 1800 Joseph Climer married Elizabeth
Ault. She died November 26, 1826. For
his second wife he married Sarah Wolfe, of
Clark County, Ohio.
Daniel Climer, representing the second
generation in Ross County, was born February 6, 1810,
near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and was about six years
of age when brought to Ross County. The schools in
Ross County a century ago could not in any way be
designated as public schools. They were maintained
only a few months each year, and on the subscription
plan. It was in such a school that Daniel
Climer received all his fundamental education.
There was no dearth of opportunity for practical
training in such duties and accomplishments as were
principally demanded of the sturdy manhood of the time.
He lived on the home farm and assisted in its
cultivation until his marriage, and then rented land
from his father and subsequently became its owner.
Most of his years were spent in the improvement of his
land. Daniel Climer possessed a great
natural skill as a worker in wood and iron, and employed
his energies to render a valuable service to his
community in the early days. Particularly was he a
skilful maker of the old fashioned grain cradles which
were used in harvesting before the time of the reaper.
He made about fifty of these cradles every year, and
there was sale for every one of them. To some
extent he was also a cattle dealer. His enterprise also
went in the direction of building some of the first
improved highways of Ross County. He was a large
stockholder, was the first president and for many years
a director of the Walnut Creek Turnpike Company.
Politically he was an ardent whig as long as that party
was in existence, and afterwards a republican.
On June 13, 1833, Daniel Climer married
Rebecca Jones, daughter of Aaron
Jones of Hallsville. She died March 3, 1845.
On March 28, 1847, he married for his second wife
Martha Riley, daughter of Alexander
Riley, who was a neighboring farmer. By the
first marriage there were five children: Caroline,
who married Thomas Wheeler; David;
Margery; Joseph, who served in the Civil
war and was killed in the battle of Perryville,
Kentucky; and Sarah Ann. By the
second marriage there were nine children: Edwin
Parker, LeRoy, William Henry, Sidney, Daniel
Watson, Quimby, Mary Jane, Nancy and Cynthia.
On the farm that he now owns and occupies, LeRoy
Climer was born August 8, 1849. He had better
school advantages than his father had before him, and
the environment in which he spent his early youth was
greatly different from what had encompassed the family
home nearly half a century before. Farming was the
occupation to which he was trained, and he adopted it on
becoming grown. He started as a renter, but after
the death of his father bought the old homestead, going
in debt for a greater part of the purchase money.
By constant industry and by intelligent management as a
general farmer and stock raiser he soon had the farm
paid for. This old place, which is one of the land
marks of Harrison Township, is well kept and shows great
care in its management.
On March 10, 1875, Mr. Climer married Ellen
Hammann. She was born on a farm in Beaver
Township of Pike County, Ohio, March 10, 1851. Her
father, Philip Hammann, was born on the
banks of the River Rhine in Germany, a son of Peter
Hammann. Peter Hammann brought his family to
America when Philip was fourteen years of age,
the little party consisting of husband and wife, and
five children. They came on a sailing vessel,
spending fifty-one days on the ocean, and after landing
in New York came on west to Ohio and became early
settlers in Pike County. Grandfather Peter
Hammann died soon after his arrival there, being
survived by his widow for several years. They
reared four sons, Peter, Henry, George
and Philip, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Each of the sons bought land in Pike County, and all
spent their days there except Henry, who died in
Illinois. Philip Hammann after
reaching manhood bought a tract of timbered land in
Beaver Township, and there erected the log house in
which Mrs. Climer was born. He
prospered by dint of much industry, and in the course of
time had his land all cleared, provided with substantial
buildings, and his later years were spent in comfort and
prosperity. He died at the age of eighty-four.
Philip Hammann married Martha
Bumgarner, who was born in Pike County, Ohio,
daughter of Reuben Bumgarner, who was a
native of Virginia and an early settler of Pike County.
Reuben Bumgarner married Ellen
Carson, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of
Robert Carson, who came from that state and
was also numbered among the early settlers of Pike
County. Mrs. Climer's mother died at
the age of eighty-three. Mrs. Climer
was one of twelve children: John, Catherine, Reuben,
Margaret, Elizabeth, Jacob, Ellen,
Philip, Laura, Mary, George and
Benjamin. From the time that Philip
Hammann and wife were married until the youngest
child was twenty-one years of age, it is said that no
doctor had ever been called to visit the family, and
render professional services. It is remarkable
also that eleven of the twelve children are now living,
the oldest being seventy-four and having celebrated his
golden wedding anniversary.
Mr. and Mrs. Climer have reared four children
whose names are Herschel, Carlton, Carrie and Martha
Estella. Herschel, who now lives in Texas, has
two children, Geneva and Mildred Joyce,
by a former marriage, and he married for his second wife
Frances Sprouse. Carlton, who
lives in Wyoming, married Catherine Lever
and has a daughter Margaret Eleanor.
Carrie is the wife of Otto Haubeil and has
one daughter named Ina Carrie.
Martha Estella is the wife of Homer
Belt, and they have a son, Robert Carlton.
Mrs. Climer is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and her husband is aligned
with the republican party.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New
York 1917 - Page 812 |
C. L. COUNTS. Head miller of the Richmond Dale
Milling Company, Mr. C. L. Counts has spent his years actively and
energetically and
among varied employments. He comes of a family that
possesses unusual
skill in mechanical trades. Mr. Counts himself is
practically a master
of all kinds of machinery, and that faculty has been an
important cause
in his ability to get ahead in the world. Besides
looking after the
interests of the mill at Richmond Dale, he also owns and
lives on a farm
of 120 acres in Jefferson Township.
He was born at Richmond Dale February 2, 1864, a son of
L. F. and
Lucretia (French) Counts. His father was born at
Uniontown, Virginia, January 7, 1836, but when four years of age his
parents came out
to Ross County, Ohio. Grandfather Counts was a
blacksmith, and in
1840 set up a shop in Richmond Dale, and made that shop
the medium
of an important service to the community until his
death. Ross County
had few citizens who worked longer and were so highly
regarded in
their community as the late L. F. Counts. He learned the
trade of
blacksmith in his father's shop and, beginning his
apprenticeship there
at the age of twelve years, was constantly on duty as a
blacksmith and
general mechanic in that one location from that time
forward for sixty-eight
years. He celebrated his eightieth birthday on January
7, 1916,
and on the following day he was again at his shop and
shod a horse,
among other work. He continued active almost up to the
date of his
death, on June 12, 1916. He and his wife became the
parents of seven
children: James Edward, of Jefferson Township;
Jennie,
wife of T. M.
Heath, of Gillespieville; C. L. Counts; Letitia, who
died in 1895; Daisy,
wife of T. G. Hedges, living on their farm north of
Chillicothe; and
two that died in childhood.
Mr. C. L. Counts grew up in the old home at Richmond
Dale, attended
the common schools, and from boyhood up has been
familiar with the
use of tools, and particularly with the activities
carried on in his father's
shop. He learned the trade under his father, and worked
in the old
shop for a number of years. He was also employed in farm
labor and
in railroad work.
On October 30, 1888, Mr. Counts married Nellie E.
Rogers, who was
born in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, October 5,
1867, a daughter
of Thomas and Margaret (Watson) Rogers.
Thomas Rogers
was born
at Newcastle, England, grew up there, passed a thorough
apprenticeship
in the machinist's trade, and for many years conducted a
blacksmith
and general machine shop at Portsmouth. He was married
in England,
and six months later he brought his bride to America,
first locating in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. While they lived there
one child was
born to them, and from Pennsylvania they removed to
Portsmouth, where Thomas Rogers followed his trade for many years. Both
the Watson
and Rogers families have been capable and splendid
people through a
number of generations in England. Thomas Rogers was a
natural musician and from the age of fourteen he and his sister
Mary
sang in the
choir of their church in England. The Watson
family
furnished many
useful men to the profession of the ministry, and that
branch of Mrs. Counts' ancestry has an honorable record as far back as
it can be traced. Mrs. Counts was graduated from the Portsmouth High
School, and
before her marriage was a substitute teacher in the
Portsmouth schools.
In 1890, after his marriage, Mr. Counts removed to
Portsmouth and
for about a year was engaged in blacksmith work. During
1894-95 he
was a clerk in the store of W. A. Maxwell, and in the
fall of 1895 first
began work in the mill at Richmond Dale. In 1897 he left
that employment and followed other lines of work for a few months,
and in January,
1898, returned to the mill and was actively connected
with its operation
until 1906. In January, 1906, Mr. Counts entered the
service of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Chillicothe, but in a few
months returned
to his old home and worked in different lines until
1911. He then
entered the service of A. Patterson in the mill, and
since June, 1913,
has been associated with Mr. J. E. Counts as head
miller.
Mr. and Mrs. Counts are the parents of five children:
Lewis J., who
graduated from the Richmond High School and the
Chillicothe High
School, was for four years engaged in teaching, for two
years served
as postmaster, and resigning that office, moved to
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,
where he is now engaged in office work. Florence, the
second child, is a
graduate of the Chillicothe High School and of Dennison
University at
Granville, Ohio, and since 1915 has been one of the
capable teachers
at Richmond Dale. The three younger children, Edwin,
Agnes and Lydia, are all at home, and Edwin is carrying many of
the duties connected with the management of the home farm.
Mrs. Counts is one of a family of nine children,
mentioned briefly
as follows: Jennie, widow of John Woodring, of Jefferson
Township,
Ross County; Mary, who taught school for thirty years
in Portsmouth
and is now living in Scioto County, the widow of Henry
Yengling; George is a resident of Dayton, Ohio;
Stella married
Thomas Smith,
now deceased, a resident of Maryland; Fannie lives with
her sister Mary and is unmarried; Lydia is the wife of
Charles Rowe, of Ports
mouth; Leona, who taught school seven years, is the
deceased wife of Joseph Sultzer of Cincinnati;
Mrs. Counts is the next
in age; and John
is a practical machinist and fine workman living at
Dayton.
Mr. Counts has served in the office of noble grand of
Garfield Lodge,
No. 710, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Richmond
Dale. He and
all his family are members of the Baptist Church and he
is one of the
church trustees. Politically, a democrat, he served for
three years in
the office of justice of the peace.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page 566 |
J. E. COUNTS.
It is interesting to note that there are people in many
sections of the United States, notably in Ross County,
Ohio, who personally own more land than some of the
princes in foreign countries govern and call their
rights sovereign. Prior to the great war that
involved Europe in 1914, there were principalities
innumerable that by no means aggregated as many acres as
are owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Counts, prominent
residents of Jefferson Township, Ross County, who are
representatives of old pioneer families of this section
of Ohio.
J. E. Counts, who resides on and personally
operates 450 acres of some of the best land in Ross
County, was born May 3, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio,
near Palestine, and is a son of L. F. and
Lucretia Counts. His father was born in
Virginia and at the age of four years was brought to
Ross County, Ohio. He was reared at Richmond Dale,
attended the early schools of the village and then
learned the blacksmith trade. For sixty-four
continuous years he operated a blacksmith shop at that
point. He was well and widely known, was
identified with the growth of the place and was one of
the charter members, without doubt, of the Masonic and
Odd Fellows lodges, in which he continued his interest.
He survived into vigorous old age and it is recorded
that he deftly shod a horse on the day following his
eightieth birthday. He was one of the pillars of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
To L. F. Counts and his wife, Lucretia,
four children were born, namely: J. Edward; Charles L.,
who is a miller at Richmond Dale; Jennie L., who
is the wife of Thomas M. Heath; and
Daisy, who is the wife of T. G. Hedges.
J. E. Counts was reared at Richmond Dale and
attended school there and learned the blacksmith trade
in his father's shop, afterward working at the same, at
intervals, until he was twenty-three years old.
For eight years he was in the educational field, being a
successful teacher for that period. Since then he
has given his attention largely to looking after his
large property, on which he carries on farming along
modern lines and has met with success in this
undertaking.
On October 17, 1888, Mr. Counts was
united in marriage with Miss Lillie E. Peppers,
who is a daughter of H. W. and Eliza (Kelley)
Peppers. The father of Mrs. Counts was born
in 1826 in Jefferson Township, Ross County, Ohio, and on
May 6, 1860, was married to Eliza Kelley,
who was born in Liberty Township, Ross County, December
6, 1838. Mrs. Counts was one of three
children born to her parents. Mr. and Mrs.
Counts have five children: J. W. and K. G.,
twins, the former of whom is a graduate of the
Chillicothe High School and a Detroit institution and is
now in the employ of the United States Government, and
the latter assists his father; Rondeau L., who is
a graduate of the high school; Rebecca B., who is
a graduate also of the high school; and Henry L.,
who is yet a student.
Mrs. Counts was born, and reared on the
farm of 600 acres which she now owns. This was the
old Kelley farm and belonged to her
maternal grandfather. The Kelley family
came to Ross County, Ohio, in 1811 and entered their
first land in 1815 and later added more land to their
original entry. The entry papers are now in the
possession of Mrs. Counts, bearing the
signature of James Madison, President of
the United States, and since they were issued this land
continued in the Kelley name until it became the
inheritance of Mrs. Counts. Thus
Mr. and Mrs. Counts are among the heavy taxpayers of
Ross County.
In politics Mr. Counts has always been a
democrat, but with the exception of serving as assessor
of Jefferson Township, he has never accepted any public
office. He belongs to Garfield Lodge, No. 710, Odd
Fellows, of which he is past grand.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New
York 1917 - Page 679 |
GEORGE W.
COX. Although not confining himself
exclusively to one line of business, George W. Cox,
the well-known and popular agent for the Cincinnati,
Hamilton and Dayton Railroad at Richmond Dale, Ohio, has
given many years of a busy life to railroad affairs. He
was born October 19, 1854, in Jefferson Township, Ross
County, Ohio, and is a son of Abram and Sarah
(Raines) Cox.
Abram Cox was born in Liberty Township,
Ross County, in 1810, and his wife in the same township
in 1814. They had five children, the two survivors being
George W. and Abel, the latter being a brakeman on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and living at Hamdon, Ohio.
By a second marriage Abram Cox had three children:
Margaret, who became the wife of G. A. Vaughters;
Rachel, who died at Londonderry; and Sarah,
who married James Counts. Abram
Cox, after marriage, located 1½
miles east of Vigo. He became the owner of
300 acres of fine land along Salt Creek, a part of which
he inherited from Joseph Cox. In
politics he was a democrat.
George W. Cox was reared on the farm in
Jefferson Township and attended the district schools in
boyhood. He was not very much interested in farming in
youth and that led to his learning the art of telegraphy
in the offices of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with
which corporation he worked for twenty-one years as
operator and agent. He then bought a farm in
Liberty Township, Ross County, and managed it for seven
years and then sold and removed to Ruple, Ohio, where he
conducted a store for one year and then sold that
business. Mr. Cox returned then to
railroad life and continued with the Cincinnati,
Hamilton and Dayton Railroad at Richmond Dale until
December 7, 1910.
In October, 1911, he went to Florida and also bought a
store at Richmond Dale, and in 1913 returned to railroad
work as agent at this point. From 1892 to 1896 he
lived at Ray, Ohio, and during that time was postmaster.
In politics he is a democrat and while living in Liberty
Township served three terms as justice of the peace.
On March 1, 1877, Mr. Cox was married to Miss
Calferna Holcomb, who was born in Gallia County,
Ohio, October 2, 1860. They have no children.
Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of the Baptist Church
at Richmond Dale, he being one of the trustees of the
same.
Source: A Standard History of
Ross County, Ohio, Volume II – Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company –
Chicago & New York - 1917 - Page 812 |
MERRETT COX.
Among the native sons of Liberty Township who are not only
maintaining the pioneer records of their fathers but are
establishing precedents for their successors, mention is due
Merrett Cox, who is cultivating his 280-acre farm on
Gillespieville Rural Route No. 1, in the Salt Creek Valley.
Mr. Cox has passed his entire life in this
vicinity, where he is known as an able agriculturist and as a
citizen, who has always done his best to advance the community's
interests.
Merrett Cox was born in Liberty Township,
Ross County, Ohio, February 4, 1855, one of the seven children
born to John and Ruth (Dixon) Cox. His father was
born in Pennsylvania, and, when a small boy, was taken by his
parents to Virginia, soon thereafter being brought to what is
now Chillicothe, Ross County, although there was, at that time,
no indication that the community was to develop into a large and
important city. After spending one year there, the family moved
to Vinton County, Ohio, where John Cox resided
until his marriage, after which he and his wife purchased 160
acres of land. They resided there but a few years, then coming
to the present farm of Merrett Cox, the original
purchase made by John Cox consisting of 350 acres.
To this he later added by purchase an additional 600 acres, and
at the time of his death was considered one of the substantial
men of his locality. He cleared a large amount of his land
and put it under cultivation and in various ways contributed to
the upbuilding of Ross County. Mr. Cox was a
man of sincere religious faith, while his wife was also a
devoted church member, and their children were reared to
consider honesty, integrity and consideration as among life's
greatest and most valuable virtues. Their children were as
follows: Martha, Joseph, Abraham, Annie,
John, Winnie and Merrett. All are now
deceased except Merrett and Winnie, the latter
being the widow of Benjamin Drummond, of Liberty
Township.
Merrett Cox received his education in the
public schools of Liberty Township and passed his boyhood like
other farmers' sons in Ross County, assisting his father and
brothers in the fields during the summer months and devoting his
winters to his studies. He was only about eighteen or nineteen
years of age when he was compelled to take complete charge of
the farm, all the other members of the family having passed
away, and until 1895 he managed the entire estate. In that
year he bought 400 acres of land formerly owned by his father,
and moved thereto, but after seven years spent in cultivating
that property sold his interests and moved back to the original
homestead, of which he owns 280 acres. Mr. Cox's
home is well built and comfortable, his barns large and
convenient, and his implements, fences and general improvements
give indication of a progressive, practical and inquiring mind.
General farming has received the greater part of his attention,
for he is equally informed in regard to all departments of his
calling.
In November, 1879, Mr. Cox was married to
Miss Margaret Clipner, who was born in
Vinton County, Ohio, daughter of Daniel and Marie
Clipner, of that county, and to this union there have
been born seven children: Clifford, a graduate of the Ohio State
College, and now engaged in the practice of electrical
engineering at Columbus; Althea, the wife of Elzie
Scott, of Kingston, Ohio; Ethel, living at home, a
graduate of the university at Athens, and a teacher in the
graded school at Clarksburg; Annie, who attended the
Athens institution and now a teacher in the Liberty Township
schools; Ruth, a graduate of the Chillicothe High School;
and Ray and Mildred, attending the graded schools.
Mr. Cox is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at
Richmond Dale. Politically he is a democrat, and his
public services have included a long membership on the township
school board under the old system. He has supplied an
element of strength and substantiality to the township since
young manhood, and has been one of the most interested as well
as the most active observers of its developing prosperity.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page 815 |
MRS.
RACHEL DAVIDSON CRISPIN, whose life has been
largely spent in Union Township of Ross County, where
she still resides, is the widow of the late Benjamin
Franklin Crispin, one of the most successful farmers
and honored citizens of Ross County.
Mrs. Crispin was born in Pickaway County, Ohio,
in 1849. Her father, William Davidson, was
a native of old Virginia, but when three years of age
was brought to Ohio by his parents, who were pioneer
settlers in Pickaway County. He grew up in
Pickaway County when it was comparatively new and
undeveloped, later bought land there, and was a
substantial farmer of that county until his death at the
age of eighty years. Mrs. Crispin's mother
was Rachel Ater. She was also a native of
Virginia. Her father, Isaac Ater, born in
Virginia, came to Ohio accompanied by his wife and three
sons and one daughter. The Ater family
passed through Chillicothe when it was only a hamlet and
pushed on to what is now Deerfield Township, where
Isaac Ater bought a tract of timbered land.
Ohio was then an isolated district, without railroads,
and all kinds of game could be found in the forest.
Improving a farm in Deerfield Township. Isaac
Ater lived there until his death. The maiden
name of his wife was Elizabeth Smith, who was
born in Virginia and who died on the old Ater
homestead, 2-1/2 miles from Clarksburg.
Mrs. Crispin's mother was quite young when brought
to Ross County, and as a young girl she acquired all the
housewifely accomplishments of that time. Among
other things, she learned to spin and weave, and was
also adept in cooking by the open fireplace. She
survived her husband and died in her ninety-sixth year,
having reared nine children, whose names were
Elizabeth, Penny, Nancy, Edward, Mary, Isaac, Anna,
Samuel and Rachel. Of these, the three
now living are Pensy, Edward and Rachel.
Mrs. Crispin grew up on her father's home in
Pickaway County. She attended the district
schools, and grew up to a cultured and noble womanhood.
At the age of twenty-two she married Benjamin
Franklin Crispin.
Benjamin Franklin Crispin was born on the farm in
Union Township where Mrs. Crispin now lives.
His birth occurred Dec. 18, 1848, and at the time of his
death, on Mar. 28, 1913, was in his sixty-fifth year.
His father, Benjamin Crispin, improved the old
homestead where Mrs. Crispin now resides and
occupied it until his death. Benjamin Franklin
Crispin had one sister, Emma, who married
Simon Noble. The late Mr. Crispin grew
up on a farm and was trained to habits of industry in
early life. After his marriage he began farming,
and at the death of his father succeeded to the
ownership of the old homestead. He was widely
known as a progressive and energetic business man, and
the fine condition of the home farm, with its
substantial buildings and other improvements, attest his
life of faithful toil.
Mr. and Mrs. Crispin reared two children:
William Benjamin and Ethel. William B.
married Mary Leffingwell, and their three sons
are Major, Maderia and Neal.
The daughter Ethel married Clarence Jarrett,
and her two children are Harold and Dorothy.
Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Crispin
has continued to occupy the old homestead, and has shown
herself possessed of much capacity for managing business
affairs. She in an active member of the Dry Run
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page |
|
ELIJAH
CUTRIGHT,
JR. A man of scholarly attainments,
possessing a wide knowledge of law,
Elijah Cutright, Jr., has gained a position of note among the native and
successful attorneys of Chillicothe, where he has been engaged in the practice of his profession for
upwards of a score of years. A
native of Ross
County, he was born Sept. 12, 1865, in
Springfield Township, where the birth of his father, Elijah Cutright, Sr., occurred on
July 25, 1823. His grandfather,
James Cutright, whose birth occurred
Feb. 26, 1798, in Scioto
Township, at Station Prairie, was said to have been the first white male child born in
Ross
County.
John Cutright, the great-grandfather
of the subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and, according to tradition, was a descendant of one of two brothers who
emigrated from Scotland
to America in early colonial
days, one settling in Pennsylvania, and the
other in Virginia. Joining a colony of brave adventurers
in 1797, he came with his family to the Northwest Territory,
making an overland journey with teams.
After living for a time in Scioto
Township, Ross County, Ohio, he moved to
Springfield Township, where he bought a tract of heavily timbered land, and at once
began the arduous task of improving a homestead, in the meantime renting from
General Massie several acres of
improved land. On the farm which he
cleared, he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1830, as did his wife,
whose maiden name was Elizabeth Subre.
In the
boyhood days of James Cutright, who
was reared in true pioneer times, the wild beasts of the forest had not fled
before the advancing steps of civilization, but, with the dusky savage, habited
the vast wilderness. There were
neither railways nor canals, and no convenient markets, livestock being driven
over the mountains of Baltimore or
Philadelphia. As a young man he
made two or more trips down the Mississippi
to New Orleans
on flatboats loaded with produce, flour and meat.
The farmers raised sheep and flax, and the industrious wives and mothers
used to spin and weave the homespun material in which they clothed their
families.
After his
marriage, James Cutright lived on a
farm on the Massie and
McDougal land until 1838 when he located on a part of his father-in-law’s estate. Successful in his undertakings, he
wisely invested his surplus money in land, at the time of his death, when
seventy-two years of age, having title to 800 acres of valuable real estate. He was active in public affairs,
serving acceptably as county commissioner.
He married Sabra Neff who was born in Virginia, July 5, 1800, and died in
Springfield Township, Ross
County. Her
father, Leonard Neff, with his wife,
Lydia, and their family, came from
Virginia to Ohio in 1809, and immediately entered the southwest quarter of section 24,
Springfield Township, Ross
County, where he cleared and improved a farm, on which he
spent his remaining days, passing away in 1833.
Elijah Cutright, Sr., was born on the
Massie farm and brought up on the
home farm from the age of fifteen years, receiving his education in the district
schools. After his marriage he lived
on a part of his father’s land until 1865, when he moved in the home with his
father (his mother having died), and at the death of his father received the
home farm. He continued his
occupation as a tiller of the soil, living there until his death, at the
venerable age of eighty-six years.
He married Elizabeth Barclay, who was born in Harrison Township, Ross County,
Ohio, Nov. 14, 1838, and is now living in Springfield Twp. Her father, James Barclay, was born in 1811, in Ireland, and
as a young man emigrated to Ohio. Settling in
Ross County, he turned his
attention to farming, and soon after his marriage purchased land in Harrison
Twp., and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age
of three-score and ten years. The
maiden name of the wife of Mr. Barclay
was Mary Pontious. She was born, Aug. 21, 1819, in Ross
Co., and there spent her entire life of seventy years. Her father,
John Pontious, a native of
Pennsylvania,
came to Ross County, Ohio, with three of his brothers in pioneer days, and
settled permanently in Coleman Twp.
He was of Holland
ancestry, and his wife, whose maiden name was
Elizabeth Myers, was of German descent. Nine children
were born of the union of Elijah and
Elizabeth (Barclay) Cutright, as follows:
John F.; Eliljah, Jr.; Mary¸ wife of E. E. Hough; Albert; Sarah Florence, wife of
John Zuber; Grant; James N.; Emma,
who married Henry Rose; and
Douglas.
Having
acquired a good common school education,
Elijah Cutright, Jr., began his professional career as a teacher, in that
capacity earning enough money to pay his college expenses at the
Lebanon University. After his graduation from that
institution, Mr. Cutright resumed
teaching, and while thus employed devoted all of his leisure time to the study
if law. In March, 1893, he was
admitted to the Ohio bar, and a month later opened a law office in the Ross County Bank Building
at Chillicothe,
where he has since been in active practice, his patronage being extensive and
highly remunerative.
Mr. Cutright married, Feb. 7, 1894,
Miss Minnie, the adopted daughter of
his uncle, Nelson Cutright, and into their pleasant household three children have been born, namely:
Howard Elijah; James F.; and
Robert E.
Mr. and Mrs. Cutright are members of St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, and for several years
Mr. Cutright was one of the trustees of St. Andrew’s
Mission.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page
|
HENRY
CUTRIGHT.
Any one acquainted with the farming and industrial community of
Springfield
Township knows the personality of
Henry Cutright, whose position has
been one of assured influence and prosperity in that locality for a number of
years.
His career is interesting not only
for what he has accomplished individually but because of the associations of his
name with some of the old settlers and prominent people of Ross County
during the last century. In fact, he is
descended from one of the very first settlers who penetrated the wilderness and
settled in this part of Northwest Territory. That was his great-grandfather,
John Cutright, a native of
Virginia.
John Cutright came to the
Northwest Territory
with General Massie in 1796. He located on some land owned by
General Massie in 1796. He located on some land owned by
General Massie in 1796. He located on some land owned by
General Massie in
Springfield Township. There he and his wife spent the years of
pioneering and enjoyed a solid prosperity at the last. Both died there in 1830.
Hiram Cutright, grandfather of
Henry Cutright, was born in
Virginia, was reared in
Ross County,
and on reaching manhood bought a tract of land in
Springfield Township. For several years he was engaged in
farming there, and then moved to
Chillicothe, where he was a grocery merchant. His death occurred in July, 1882.
Hiram Cutright married Hannah Neff,
daughter of Leonard Neff, also one of
the first settlers of Springfield
Township. She
died several years before her husband, having reared seven children, whose names
are Amaziah, Jeremiah, Hiram, Joseph, Minerva J., Rufus and
Louisa. Of these,
Amaziah, Jeremiah, and
Rufus were all soldiers in the Union
army and members of the One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Infantry. They enlisted in May, 1864, all the call
for hundred-day men, went to Virginia,
and were with their regiment in all its services until the termination of their
term of enlistment.
Jeremiah died a few weeks after his return from the war.
Amaziah Cutright, father of
Henry, was born in Springfield Twp.,
spent his active career there as a farmer and died at the age of seventy-four. He married
Mary J. Hanks, a name that introduces
another family of early settlers in
Ross
County. She was
born in Springfield Twp. Her father,
Isaac Hanks, was a native of Virginia
and her grandfather, Thomas Hanks,
was also born in the same commonwealth and came to
Ross County
about 1800.
Thomas Hanks was of the same family stock that produced the mother of
Abraham Lincoln. After living for a time at High Banks,
Thomas Hanks entered a half section
of government land in Harrison Twp.
Subsequently he moved to Logan
County where his death occurred in 1834. Isaac Hanks grew up on the Ross County
farm, and followed farming as a vocation and quite successfully. He acquired a large tract of land
including some of the best in Springfield
Township, located in sections 26 and 31. His death occurred there Apr. 11, 1883.
Isaac Hanks married Maggie Raypole,
who was born in Virginia and was brought to Ross
County by her mother who occupied a log cabin in the southeast part
of Springfield
Township in pioneer times. Mrs. Isaac Hanks died in 1897 in her ninety-first year.
She reared three children named Jerry,
Ephraim and Mary J. Mrs. Mary J. (Hanks) Cutright died at the age
of seventy-two. There were only two
children, Mary and Henry.
Reared
in a district which had been the home of
his family connections for more than half a century,
Henry Cutright was prepared for the serious responsibilities of life in a district school, and
by such training as he could receive on the farm.
He was born in Springfield Township
Feb. 23, 1867. When ready to start out on
his own account he rented land for seven years, and then located on a part of
his Grandfather Hanks’ estate, which
his mother had inherited. The house upon
the land at the time was burned in 1909, and it was replaced by the attractive
home which Mr. and Mrs. Cutright and
family now occupy. His farm is pleasantly
located on the Charleston Road
about five miles below Chillicothe. In addition to this
homestead, Mr. Cutright owns and
operates a farm of ninety-one acres in Harrison Twp. In March, 1892, he married
Miss Lucretia Stauffer, who was born
in Springfield Twp. They have four
children named Grace, Walter, Joie
and Martha. Mr. and Mrs. Cutright are both members
of the Methodist Church.
Mrs. Cutright’s people were also
early settlers in Ross County. Her great-grandfather
John Stauffer was born in Center County,
Pennsylvania, of German parentage. As a young man he learned the trade of
stonemason, which he followed in Pennsylvania,
and about 1830 he came to Ohio,
accompanied by his wife and six children.
The entire journey was made overland with wagons and teams, and they camped by
the roadside wherever night overtook them.
Reaching Ohio
they first settled in Fairfield
County, but a year later moved to Ross County, where
John Stauffer bought a tract of land
near Dry Run in Springfield Twp. There he
lived out his useful years, and reared six children,
David, John, Eliza, Mary, Samuel and
Solomon.
David Stauffer, grandfather of
Mrs. Cutright, was a son of his father’s first marriage. He grew up in
Pennsylvania, came to Ohio
with his father, and at the time had $300 which he had inherited from his
mother’s estate. This money was employed
to purchase fifty acres in East Springfield,
now owned by Henry and
Walter Cutright. A log house stood on the land surrounded
by a small clearing. That log cabin was
the home to which he brought his bride.
After two years there he sold the place for $500 and then purchased 160 acres in
the same township. The purchase price was
$1,000, and he went in debt for half of it.
The improvements on this land were also primitive, consisting of a log
house and several acres of cleared land.
David Stauffer proved his industry by
clearing up his farm and enjoyed a great deal of solid prosperity and comfort
before his death, which occurred in his seventy-sixth year. David Stauffer married Mary Barnhart, who was born in
Pennsylvania,
a daughter of Lawrence Barnhart, who
came from that state and settled in Green Township of Ross County.
Mrs. David Stauffer, who died several years before her husband, reared two
children, Benjamin and
Rebecca, the latter becoming the wife
of David Brown.
Benjamin Stauffer, father of
Mrs. Cutright, was born in East
Springfield, Ross
County, Sept. 3, 1838.
District schools supplied his education and he was well trained on the
home farm to habits of industry and thrift.
Living with his parents until the age of twenty-one he then married and
began earning his way at daily or monthly wages.
He did a great deal of clearing, and for several years was employed in
getting out coopers’ stock. Later he
rented some land in Green Township
and some years later moved to Springfield
Township, where he rented a portion of the
Isaac Hanks farm for twenty-two
years. For another two years he lived in
Twin Twp., and then returned to Springfield, where he is still living, and for the past few years has been
engaged in market gardening. Benjamin
Stauffer was married in 1861 to Hester A.
Keller, who was born in Springfield Township, a daughter of George
and Lovett (Hough) Keller. Mrs. Cutright
was one of five children, and other four being
Shepard, George, David, Allen and
Naomi.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page |
. |
