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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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GEORGE C.
PARRETT, superintendent of the Ross County
Infirmary, is a member of the Parrett family that
established a home in Buckskin Township fully a century
ago and through the activities and influence of its
various members has contributed a great deal to the
development of that section of Ross County. It was
from a farm in Buckskin Township that George C.
Parrett was called to his present position and for
fully three generations the Parrett family have
reaped the fruits of their industry as farmers in this
county.
The American ancestor of this sturdy stock was a native
of Switzerland. From the best available
information it is found that he came to America in 1730,
locating in Virginia, where he spent the rest of his
life. Five of his sons were soldiers in the
Revolutionary war. One of them, Frederick
great-grandfather of George C. Parrett, was born
in Virginia, and many years after he had helped to win
independence for the colonies he started for the western
frontier and in 1814 arrived with his family in Ross
county. He located in Buckskin Township and was
among the first to make clearings in the woods there.
The farm which he improved was his home at the time of
his death in 1842. Frederick Parrett
married Elizabeth Keller. She died many
years before him, and was the first person to be laid to
rest in the South Salem burying ground.
George Parrett, grandfather of George C.,
was a native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and
was still very young when he came with his parents to
Buckskin Township. He became a prosperous farmer
and resided in that township until his death. The
maiden name of his wife was Millie Wilkins.
Her parents were Henry and Rachel Wilkins, both
of whom were of Swiss stock. Henry and Rachel
Wilkins came from Virginia to Ohio in 1802, the year
Ohio became a state, locating eight miles south of
Hillsboro in Highland County. Elizabeth Parrett
was a typical pioneer woman. In the early days she
did all her cooking by the fireplace. She also
spun and wove the cloth required to clothe her family,
and the old iron oven with its inverted cover which she
used in cooking and the grease lamp which furnished the
dim light for the house after dark are now carefully
preserved by Mr. George C. Parrett. The
latter has taken great interest in some of these old
time relics, and has also in the course of his lifetime
secured a valuable collection of Indian implements and
curios. One of them is a specially rare and
valuable specimen. It is a stone plowed up on the
Ashland farm in Buckskin Township and shows the
face of an Indian maiden chiseled probably by the hand
of some Indian artist of a bygone generation.
Frederick Parrett, father of George C.
was born on the same farm in Buckskin Township on which
George C., first saw the light of day in 1864.
He grew up amidst pioneer scenes, attended pioneer
schools, and eventually succeeded to the ownership of a
part of the old homestead. There he lived a useful
and honorable life and died a number of years ago.
He married Lucinda Kuhl. She was born in
Fayette County, Ohio, daughter of John and Charity
(Hopkins) Kuhl. She passed away at the age of
fifty-two, having reared four children named George
C., Charity and Ruth.
Mr. George C. Parrett grew up on the old homestead
in Buckskin Township. The rural schools supplied
him with his early advantages and he afterwards
continued his education in Salem Academy. When not
in school the farm supplied him with abundance of work
to do, and he thus acquired a valuable preparation for
his life career. At the time of his marriage he
located on a farm belonging to his wife and her brother,
Edgar M. Pinkerton, in Fayette County. He
operated that for seventeen years continuously, and then
returned to the Parrett homestead in Buckskin
Township. There he was closely identified with
general farming and stock raising until in May, 1815, he
was appointed superintendent of the Ross County
Infirmary in Union Township. He has proved an able
executive and manager in this position, and has
introduced many improvements during the year since he
took charge.
In 1885, Mr. Parrett married Miss Fannie
Wilson Pinkerton. She was born in Fayette
County, Ohio, daughter of William M. Pinkerton.
Mr. and Mrs. Parrett have six children, named
Agnes, Edgar, Lucy, Grace, Robert and Dorris.
Agnes is the wife of Rev. Edwin Lodwick
and her two children are Edwin and Robert.
Edgar married Lillian Porterfield.
Lucy is the wife of Frank E. Beard and has
two children, named Helen and Weldon.
Grace is the wife of Wilbur Smalley and
they have a son, Richard. Robert married
Ellen Hennegan.
Fraternally, Mr. Parrett is a prominent
member of the Knights of Pythias, being affiliated with
the lodge at Bloomington and also with the Uniform Rank
and has served on the staff of the brigadier general of
Ohio with rank of major. He is also a member of
Salem Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page 519 |
FRED
PUTNAM, prominent farmer in Concord Township, continues
the activities and influence of a very notable family in Boss
County. The Putnams have been identified with this part
of Ohio since pioneer times, and the lives and characters of its
members have made an indelible impress upon the farms, good
citizenship and the varied institutions of the county.
Mr. Putnam was born in Concord Township,
November 17, 1885. His father, Marcellus Putnam,
was born in the same Township. The Grandfather Alfred
Putnam was born also in Concord Township. Peter
Putnam, the great-grandfather, was a native of Virginia,
as was also his father, Philip Putnam.
Philip Putnam emigrated from Virginia to Ohio and was
one of the first to develop the lands of Concord Township in
Ross County. Peter Putnam bought land in
Concord Township, became a very successful farmer and lived to
the advanced age of ninety-two years. He married Keziah
Hoddy. That introduces another pioneer family of
Ross County. Her father, Richard Hoddy, was
born in Virginia, served with distinction in the Revolutionary
war, and afterward settled among the pioneers of Ross County.
Peter Putnam and wife reared a family of twelve
children.
Alfred Putnam grew up on a farm in Ross
County, and was widely known over this section of Ohio not only
as a farmer but as a stock raiser and dealer. He acquired
considerable wealth through his varied enterprises, but lived on
his farm until about five years before his death. He
married Rebecca Day.
Marcellus Putnam grew up on a farm, and
made that his vocation until his death. He married Mary
Belle James, who was born in Concord Township, a
daughter of Strawder James and a granddaughter of
Reuben James, one of Concord Township's early
settlers. Strawder James was a farmer and
spent all his life in Boss County. He married Rebecca
Bush. She was born on the present site of Austin in
Concord Township, a daughter of Jacob Bush, who
was a native of the same locality and a son of John
Bush, one of the very first settlers of the township. Jacob
Bush owned and operated a farm near the present site of
Austin, and lived there until his death in 1868. His wife
was Eve Mallow, of another pioneer family.
She was born about three miles north of Austin, and spent her
entire life in Concord Township. Mrs. Rebecca (Bush)
James died in 1907, having reared six children named
Milton, Mary Belle, Vina E., Clara, Charles and Nannie.
Fred Putnam was one of five children, the others
being named Lee S., Earl, Madge and Russ.
Mr. Fred Putnam spent his early life on his
father's farm and after leaving the common schools entered the
Clarksburg High School, where he was graduated in 1902. He
then took up farming on his grandfather's old homestead, and has
remained there successfully identified with agricultural affairs
to the present time. He has his farm completely stocked
and equipped with all the implements necessary for thorough
field and animal husbandry.
On October 29, 1908, he married Etta Jamison.
She was born in Deerfield Township of Ross County, a daughter of
David and Etta (Peek) Jamison. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam
have a son named Frederick Wendell, born May 1,
1911. The family are active members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of Austin, and Mr. Putnam is
affiliated with Frankfort Lodge No. 309, Free and Accepted
Masons.
Source: A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio -
Vol. II. - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago &
New York 1917 - Page 729 |
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