JOHN J. GABRIEL, who stands as one of the successful and influential farmers of Union township, Union county, Ohio, figures as a representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of the county, and it is signally consistent that a review of his life and ancestral history be incorporated in this volume. He was born in a primitive log cabin on the farm where he now abides, the date of his birth having been April 20, 1823.
     His father was John F. Gabriel, who was a prominent figure in the pioneer history of the county, where he settled within the first year of the present century. John F. Gabriel was one of three brothers who, in 1798, effected [sic] the purchase of 500 acres of land in this county, and it is a portion of this tract which constitutes the farm operated by our subject. The father was born in Washington county, Maryland, near the village of Hagerstown, and was a son of Abram Gabriel, who was likewise a native of that county, with whose history that of his ancestors had been identified for many generations, the agnatic line tracing back its origin to Germany.
     In 1801 the three brothers, William, Richard and John F., came overland from their native State to Ohio, and, arriving here, the first named settled near the present village of Milford Centre, the second locating on a tract just to the south, and John F., father of the immediate subject of this review, establishing himself on the farm which is now retained in the possession of his son, the place being at the time entirely unreclaimed. His wife, née Maria Stewart, was born October 15, 1800, in Pennsylvania, near what is called Friends’ Cove, her father, Joseph Stewart, having removed to this county and settled upon Buck Run, about a mile and a half north of Milford Centre, in 1809. The Stewart family is of Irish extraction, and the original American ancestor came from the same section of the Emerald Isle as did the late millionaire merchant of New York city, A. T. Stewart.
      John F. and Maria Gabriel were the parents of five children: John (first) is deceased; Josiah was killed by a falling tree when he was but twelve years of age; John J. is the subject of this review; Hiram went to Green county, Wisconsin, in 1844, being one of the first settlers in that section: in1849 he, in company with his brother, Joseph S., became afflicted with the California “gold fever” and joined the innumerable caravan which was then wending its weary way toward the new Eldorado: he is now a resident of Green county, Wisconsin; Joseph S. is a prominent resident of Lake City, Calhoun county, Iowa. The father, John F. Gabriel, was born in 1778 and died November 15, 1828, at the age of fifty years. He was the twin brother of Richard Gabriel and they settled on adjoining farms and lived and died there. They were experts as musicians, the violin being their favorite instrument, and our subject has now in his possession his father’s old violin which he bought in the city of Baltimore about one hundred years ago. The mother never remarried, but devoted her life to her children, whom she cared for with greatest solicitude, rearing them to fill honorable and useful positions in the world. She died April 26, 1872, having reached the age of seventy-one years. Both were zealous members of the Presbyterian Church. This church was situated about a mile below where he resided and was the first church in the county, being organized in 1809, with Samuel Woods as pastor.
     Our subject, John J. Gabriel, was reared on the old homestead, lending effective assistance in the work of the farm and acquiring such mental discipline as was available in the district schools. He was an avidious reader and student as a boy, and night after night in the winter he sat before the cheery old fire-place, and in the light of its crackling flames conned his books and learned his first lessons as to the great outside world. Diligence and ambition conquer many an obstacle, and notwithstanding the meagre advantages, our subject was enabled to secure a good, practical education and eventually to become a teacher in the district schools, proving a capable and popular instructor. He taught in various schools in Union township and was for three years in charge of the school at Milford Centre, and for twenty-five or thirty years a member of the School Board. He finds it pleasant to recall the fact that there were several of his pupils who in time became men of prominence in public and private life.
     Mr. Gabriel has a fine farm of 150 acres and the same is thoroughly well improved. His residence is a commodious and substantial one and the place is well equipped with barns and other outbuildings so essential to the successful conducting of the farm. In connection with general farming he has made a specialty, for the past forty years, of raising fine draft horses, of the Norman breed, that stock having been introduced here about that time, and he has raised some very fine specimens of that line.
     At the age of thirty years he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Parthemor, a lady of intelligence and refinement, who was reared in Union township, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah C. (Thorton) Parthemor, natives respectively of Virginia and Ohio. Her mother, Sarah C. Thorton, was born in Urbana, Ohio, in 1806. Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel have four children, namely: Myron, who is a well known resident of Milford Centre, and who holds official preferment as Constable, and is a painter by trade; Elmer, who is engaged in the furniture business at Milford Centre; John, who is a carpenter and builder; and Helen, who has been a successful school teacher, but who is now at the parental home.
     Mr. Gabriel has met with some very serious reverses in life. In 1846 he had a severe spell of sickness, from which he never entirely recovered. February 12, 1877, the house where he now resides was almost entirely destroyed by fire, together with nearly all the contents, not leaving them a change of clothing. The weather at the time being extremely cold, they cleared up as best they could and utilized the woodhouse until they could rebuild, which they did the following summer.
     In politics, our subject supports the Republican party and its principles, and has been an active worker in the cause. He has held the office of Township Trustee, and has been urged by local constituents to allow the presentation of his name for some responsible office, a nomination in this township or county being equivalent to an election, but he has ever held that his private interests demanded his full time and attention and he has had no desire for political recognition. It has been his ambition to strive to live an honest life and to deal fairly and honestly with his fellowmen, having never sued a man or been sued in his life, so that he may leave a name that his children will not be ashamed of, believing that “a good name is better than great riches.” As a man he is genial, frank and honorable, strong in his convictions, and never afraid to defend his position upon any point where principle is involved. That such a man enjoys a marked popularity in the community is a foregone conclusion.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 269-271
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

A. M. GARDNER, proprietor of a tile factory and sawmill at New California, Union county, Ohio, is one of the enterprising young men of the town.
     This factory and mill plant was built in 1886 by his father, F. M. Gardner, and is one of the most complete establishments of its kind to be found. The sheds are 170 x 30 feet, the engine is a 30-horse power, and the capacity of the kiln is 1,300 rods of 3-inch tile. Six men are here employed. Mr. Gardner has a local market for all his product and does an annual business of $2, 500. He has worked at this business for a number of years, thoroughly understands its every detail, and is meeting with merited success.
     A. M. Gardner was born in 1872, and comes from a worthy ancestry. His father, F. M Gardner was born in Athens county, Ohio, in 1847, son of Obadiah Gardner and grandson of Captain Gardner, a sea captain of Gardner, Maine. The Gardners are of Scotch origin. Obadiah Gardner’s wife, née Maria Vincent, was a daughter of Captain John Vincent, her father also being a sea captain. F. M. Gardner married Maria Rettenhouse, daughter of Thomas Rettenhouse, and a lady of culture and refinement. She died in November, 1877, leaving three sons and one daughter, viz.: Albert M., Harry, Laura, and Lester.|
     Albert M. is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, affiliates with the Prohibition party, and is a young man of the highest integrity of character. His frank and genial manner make him a favorite with his many friends. It is too soon on his journey of life to attempt a sketch of his career, for much of it, we trust, is before him.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 373-374
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

J. H. GILLESPIE, deceased, was one of the prominent early settlers of Union township, Union county, Ohio. Mr. Gillespie was born in Champaign county, Ohio, March 7, 1819, son of James and Mary (Phillips) Gillespie, both members of highly respected families, the father being a relative of the late James G. Blaine, and the mother a cousin of Hon. Thomas Corvine, and died July 23, 1894. His father, James Gillespie, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was one of eight brothers who came to Champaign county, Ohio, in 1816, being among the first settlers of that county. He and his wife had three children, namely: James H., whose name heads this article; Jane Thomas, deceased, and Elijah, a veteran of the Mexican and civil wars and now at the Soldiers’ Home at Washington, District of Columbia.
     The parents of James H. died before he was six years old and his uncle, Jesse Phillips, reared him, and he learned his trade, that of a tanner. He worked at the tanner’s trade for some years and for twenty years was in the tile business. The rest of his life was spent on the farm. He had 200 acres of choice land near Irwin, well improved with modern residence, good barn and other buildings, and everything kept up in good shape. One of the attractive features of this farm is a beautiful oak park. Originally this was the James Irwin farm.
      Mr. Gillespie was married October 2, 1845, to Anna E. Hathaway, a lady of culture and a member of a prominent family. She was born, reared and educated in this county. Her father, Dr. Nicholas Hathaway, was one of the early settlers of Union county, and died here in 1848. He was born at Freetown, Massachusetts, December 4, 1773, son of Steven Hathaway, also a native of Massachusetts. John Hathaway, the original ancestor of the family in this country, came from Wales and settled in Massachusetts. Dr. Hathaway graduated at Providence, Rhode Island, and after his graduation was married in his native State to Miss Anna Pierce, daughter of Eben Pierce, by whom he had ten children, all of whom have passed away. For his second wife the doctor married Mrs. Elizabeth (Mitchell) Morton, daughter of Charles Mitchell, and their only child is Mrs. Anna Gillespie. Dr. Hathaway was a man of large means, owned a thousand acres of land in this county, and was public-spirited and generous, always taking an active part in public affairs, —political, educational and religious, —and was regarded as one of the most influential men in the county. He was one of the first three Judges of the county, when the court was held at Milford, in George Brown’s bar-room. His widow survived him until 1863, when she died at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie had three children, viz.: Mary, who has been a popular and successful teacher for a number of years; Harvey M., who died June 21, 1888, at Emelton, Pennsylvania, leaving a widow and two children, James Glenn and Eva Gertrude; and Gertrude, wife of Willis Hathaway, of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
     Politically Mr. Gillespie was a Democrat. Mrs. Gillespie and her daughter Mary are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their son was also a member of this church.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 394-395
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

A. H. GOODWIN. —The history of our nation found its cradle in the old Colonial States of New England, and back to this locality does the subject of this sketch trace his lineage, and that in his character abide those sterling traits which marked the individuality of the New England type is manifest when we come to consider the more salient points in his life history, which has been one marked by constant application, invincible spirit, sturdy loyalty and unwavering honor, —all of which have eventuated most naturally in securing to him a position in the respect and esteem of his fellowmen and the tenure of offices of public trust and responsibility. The last preferment which has come to him is that of County Recorder of Union county, and the duties of this office he assumed in January of the present year (1894).
     Mr. Goodwin is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Jefferson county, February 28, 1844, the son of George and Mary J. (Wilson) Goodwin, the former of whom is now a resident of Canton, Ohio, the mother having died in 1863. The father of our subject was for many years engaged in the mercantile business and his son became associated with this line of enterprise at an early age, his education having been received in the common schools of his native county. He remained with his father, assisting in the store, until he had attained the age of seventeen years, when the full fire of his youthful patriotism was enkindled as the dark cloud of civil war began to obscure the national horizon. Thus it came about that, in August, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company B, Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the place of his enlistment being Cadiz, Harrison county. He served valiantly and participated in a number of the most crucial conflicts which marked the history of the late war, among which may be noted the following: Carnifax Ferry, West Virginia, September 10, 1861; Bull Run, August 29, 30, 1862; South Mountain, Maryland, September 16, 17, 1862; the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, May, June and July, 1863; Mission Ridge, November 25, 1863; Dallas, Georgia, May 28, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, same State, June 27, 1864. At the last named engagement he was severely wounded in the left leg and was conveyed to the hospital at Big Shanty, Georgia, whence he was transferred to Altoona Pass, then to Rome, Georgia, and finally to Columbus, Ohio, where he was mustered out, in February, 1865.
     Mr. Goodwin’s injuries received at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain consisted of five separate and distinct wounds, touching both feet and both hips. The left foot was entirely shattered and was amputated the same day that the battle occurred. This amputation was made just above the ankle joint, and about eighteen months later, after he had reached his home, it became necessary for him to submit to a second operation, an incision being made and amputation performed somewhat above the point of the original operation. These severe wounds incapacitated our subject for any active business for a period of three years, but at the expiration of this time, in 1867, he fortified himself for the even sterner battle of life, undaunted by the physical infirmity which other warfare had brought upon him. He came to Union county and engaged as salesman for Mr. Webb, a grocer at Milford Centre. He remained in this position for somewhat more than four months and then entered the employ of James H. Neal, who was engaged in the insurance business at Milford Centre. This incumbency he held for fifteen months, when he received an appointment as guard at the Ohio State Penitentiary, his service in this capacity extending over a period of nearly four years, when he was advanced to the superintendency of the State shops in the prison and remained in charge for nine years. After this he returned to Milford Centre and then for three years acted as Deputy Sheriff of the county, under Sheriff Hopkins. Finally, he once more returned to Milford Centre and shortly after was elected Township Clerk and Justice of the Peace, and also Mayor of the village, which offices he held for six years, or until the time of his removal to Marysville, whither he came, in January 1894, to assume his official duties as County Recorder, an office to which he had been elected by a large majority, as the candidate of the Republican party.
     Mr. Goodwin has long been one of the active politicians of this section of the State, has never swerved from his close allegiance to the Republican party and its principles, and has always served his constituents faithfully in any position of trust to which he has been called.
     Fraternally our subject retains a membership in Silas Kimball Post, No. 579, G. A. R., at Milford Centre. His marriage was celebrated at Uhrichsville, Ohio, November 12, 1876, when he was united to Mrs. Elizabeth P. Gregg, daughter of Alfred Pumphrey, of that place. They have one child, Raymond, who is a student in the Marysville high school and who assists his father in his official duties during vacations. Mrs. Goodwin has one son by her former marriage, Walter P. Gregg, who is a student at Starling Medical College, in Columbus. He also gives his time during vacations to assisting in the clerical work in the Recorder’s office.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 263-264
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

JASPER N. GOSNELL, who occupies the important office as County Clerk of Union county, Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Licking county, July 26, 1843, the son of Abraham and Margaret (Armstrong) Gosnell.
     Abraham Gosnell was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and in the year 1808 he came with his parents to Ohio, locating in Licking county, where he remained until 1858, when he removed to Union county, having purchased a farm of 306 acres, lying in Taylor and Leesburg townships. The year after his arrival in this county he met his death as the result of an accident, having been killed by the explosion of a boiler in a sawmill. His widow is still living and retains her residence on the homestead farm in this county. Abraham Gosnell had been actively identified with the Whig party from the time of its organization and was not an inconspicuous worker in its cause. Religiously he was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He left a family of seven children, touching whose lives we are enabled to offer the following brief record: Ruth became the wife of Nathaniel Armstrong, of Wichita, Kansas, and is now deceased; Miranda is the wife of A. W. McCaney, of Taylor township, this county; Jasper N. is the immediate subject of this review; George W. is a resident of Carroll, Iowa, where he is engaged in the implement business; Franklin D. and Fletcher C. (twins) are both residents of Columbus, Ohio, the former being a member of the police force of the city and the latter devoting his attention to his trade, that of brick mason; John A. is a resident of Marysville, and acts as a deputy in the office of his brother, our subject.
     Jasper N. Gosnell received sturdy discipline in his youthful days, having been reared upon the farm and having received his preliminary educational training in the district schools. He continued amid such environment until the late civil war was precipitated upon a divided nation, when he promptly made ready to contribute his quota toward the defense of the stars and stripes. He enlisted August 6, 1862, as a member of Company K, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and his service continued until December 8, 1864, when he was mustered out at Camp Chase. He participated in a number of important engagements, among which may be noted the battles of Arkansas Post, Chickasaw, Vicksburg, Jackson (Mississippi), Grand Coteau, and Sabine Crossroads. At the last named place he received a severe gun-shot wound in his right hip, and for some five months was confined in St. James hospital, at New Orleans, after which he returned to Ohio and received his discharge, as noted, at Camp Chase. His war service finished, he resumed his educational work, entering the high school at Marysville, where he continued his studies for some time and then returned to the parental farm, where he remained about two years.
     The first business enterprise with which Mr. Gosnell became concerned was the conducting of a general store at a little crossroads town, but he continued in this line of mercantile trade only a short time, removing then to Peoria, this county, where he opened a general store, which he conducted successfully until 1881, when he retired from the mercantile trade. He has since devoted his attention to the duties devolving upon him in the official capacities which he has been called upon to fill. He was elected Justice of the Peace and served in this office for a full decade; he also held the preferment as Postmaster of Peoria for a term of eight years, proving a most capable and popular executive. In 1880 he was elected Land Appraiser and held this office one year. At the fall election of 1893 Mr. Gosnell became the Republican candidate for the office of County Clerk of Union county, was elected by a large majority and entered into the discharge of his official duties in August of the present year (1894). His record as a painstaking and efficient executive in other capacities stands as sufficient voucher that his work in the present imporant [sic] office will come fully up to the high standard which has hitherto been maintained, and such is his capacity for details and systematic routine that the service can scarcely fail to be improved in many particulars.
     Our subject has always been stanchly arrayed in the support of the Republican party and its principles and has been an active worker in the ranks. Fraternally he retains a membership in Ranson Reed Post, No. 113, G. A. R., and in Broadway Lodge, No. 704, I. O. O. F., of Broadway, this county, having been the first incumbent as Noble Grand of the same, and having been a member of the order for a full quarter of a century.
     Mr. Gosnell was married, March 11, 1868, to Miss Amanda Hartrum, a native of Franklin county, this State, and a daughter of Benjamin and Margaret Hartrum. Mr. and Mrs. Gosnell are the parents of three children: Nettie, widow of the late Weldon Hill, of Marysville; Howard married Miss Mary Reed and is engaged in public work in various points of the county; Otto is at home. Our subject and wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 208-210
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

REV. JOHN GRAHAM. —After nearly half a century of active work in the Christian ministry, this venerable gentleman is now enjoying the rest and repose that belong to the decline of life, in his pleasant home northwest of and adjoining the town of Richwood.
     Mr. Graham was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, October 13, 1822, the oldest son of Samuel and Sarah (Butterfield) Graham. His father was the son of John and Jane (Patterson) Graham, the former being a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ireland, her parents being Protestants in religion. They first came from Ireland to New Jersey, and afterward settled in Pennsylvania.
     About the year 1798, while Ohio was yet a Territory, John Graham moved his family from Pennsylvania to Harrison county, being among the very first settlers in that section. He assisted in the building of the first log cabin in Steubenville. After living for a time near Steubenville and Cadiz, Mr. Graham moved his family to Carroll county, where he lived for several years: he next moved to Coshocton county, where he remained until 1837, when he sold his farm and came to Union county, buying and settling on 100 acres of land, one mile northwest of the town of Richwood. Here he passed the remainder of his life, dying April 2, 1850, in his eightieth year.
     Jane (Patterson) Graham, the paternal grandmother of our subject, as has already been stated, was a native of Ireland. She was born in one of the northern counties, and came to America with her parents when seven years of age. This must have been about the time of the breaking out of the Revolution, as she was yet a young girl when that struggle began. She remembered distinctly, and used to tell of hearing, the boom of the cannons in the battles fought in the vicinity of her New Jersey home. She also related that while she was in the garden on a certain day, near the house, a body of horsemen in bright uniform rode up, and, after refreshing themselves with some cider given them by her father, hastened on their way. After they left she was told that General Washington was one of their number. They had not been gone long before another party, coming from the same direction, and evidently in pursuit of them, arrived. These were the red-coats of the British army. One of them, “a very pretty man,” approached her, she being still in the garden, and asked which way the first party had gone. Being somewhat frightened, she found herself unable to give an audible answer. Upon the inquiry being repeated, she answered by pointing “over the hill.” The party then left in pursuit of the patriot band.
     The date of the removal of her family to Pennsylvania is not known, nor is the exact locality of her residence. It was in this State that she met and married John Graham, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. She died near Richwood, July 22, 1847, in the seventy-sixth year of her age. The mother of the subject of this sketch, Sarah (Butterfield) Graham, was the daughter of John and Mary (Long) Butterfield. Her parents were natives of Virginia, and were born and reared near Winchester. They were Quakers in religion, and were members of what was known as the “Apple Pie Ridge Church.” They are believed to have been of English ancestry. They moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania, where their daughter, Sarah, the mother of our subject, was born July 22, 1803. When she was two and one-half years old they moved to Carroll county, Ohio, settling near Leesburg and Hagerstown. Here her father passed the remainder of his life. Her mother, afterward, about 1834, came with her only surviving son, Thomas Butterfield, to Union county, settling near Summerville, in York township. She remained with this son until his death, in 1845, and then made her home and passed the remainder of her life with the father of our subject. She died about 1852, aged eighty-four years. In accordance with her wish, expressed before her death, her grave was left unmarked by headstone or monument. She was a woman of quiet and gentle nature, who lived a pure and holy life, avoiding anything partaking of worldly show, ostentation or display. She left the example of a beautiful Christian life as a legacy to her children and her grandchildren, who hold her memory in loving reverence.
     Samuel Graham, the father of the subject of this sketch, had two brothers and three sisters, as follows: John, William, Elizabeth, Margaret and Jane.
     John came to Union county with the family and bought 100 acres of land near Richwood, and here he lived and died. Two of his sons, Marion and Isaac, are residents of Richwood. William, another son, resides in East Liberty, Logan county.
     William died when about seventeen years of age, before the family moved from Ohio.
      Elizabeth, the oldest sister, married Gabriel Hadley. She and her husband lived for a time near Richwood, but afterward moved to DeKalb county, Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their lives.
     Margaret married Robert Boyd, in Coshocton county; she soon afterward died, of consumption, leaving no children.
     Jane, when a young woman about eighteen or nineteen years of age, married Samuel Livingston, in Coshocton county, Ohio. About 1840 she came with her husband and her children to Union county, and settled near Richwood. Soon after coming here, Mr. Livingston set up a blacksmith shop and did work for the neighborhood. He was the father of fourteen children, nine sons and four daughters. Eight of the sons served in the Union army, seven of them being in the service at one time. With the exception of Harrison Livingston, who died in Richwood, December 30, 1863, from a wound received in the battle of Yazoo River, February 16, 1863, they all returned home without being wounded, having made an honorable record as soldiers, and having shared the dangers of the battlefield with their comrades in arms.
     Sarah (Butterfield) Graham, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was one of six children, having two brothers and three sisters. One brother died in Carroll county, Ohio, at the age of fourteen years. The other brother, Thomas Butterfield, as has already been stated, came with his mother to Union county, in 1834, and settled on a farm near Summersville, where he died in 1845.
     Nancy Butterfield married Benjamin Hudson, in Carroll county. About 1848 or 1849 they moved to Union county, and settled near Pharisburg, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Their son, Jack Hudson, a well-known citizen of Leesburg township, and father of Samuel Hudson, son of the present County Auditor, resides on the home place, near Pharisburg. Lydia Butterfield married William McGiffin, in Coshocton county. They lived to a good old age, and left a numerous family. Maria Butterfield never married. She lived to a venerable age, and died near San Pierre, in northwestern Indiana. Ruth Butterfield died when a young woman. She was unmarried.
     When Samuel Graham, the father of the subject of this sketch, was twenty-one years of age, he went from Coshocton to Carroll county, and married Sarah Butterfield, the date of their marriage being October 16, 1821. After his marriage he and his wife took up their residence in Coshocton county. In June, 1836, Mr. Graham came by himself to Claibourne township, Union county, and bought the land on which the subject of this sketch now resides. After making this purchase he returned to Coshocton county, and in the following September moved his family to their new home. He then proceeded, with the aid of his sons, to clear and cultivate his farm. On April t4, 1864, while absent from home on a journey, he was killed in a railroad accident, near Marion, Ohio. He was in the sixty-fourth year of his age at the time. His widow survived him eleven years, dying July 4, 1875, at the age of seventy-two years.
     Samuel and Sarah Graham were the parents of twelve children, eight of whom are deceased.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 473-476
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

GREINER & SHIRK, proprietors of the Marysville Steam Laundry, Marysville, Ohio, are successors to the firm of Wilgus & Shirk, and are among the most enterprising young business men of their city, the members composing the firm being J. W. Greiner and H. A. Shirk. They began business July 18, 1894, have a complete steam plant, and are thoroughly equipped for their line of work, and have thus far rendered a high degree of satisfaction to their many customers. A personal mention of both Mr. Greiner and Mr. Shirk is appropriate in this work, and is as follows:
     H. Arthur Shirk was born in York Center, Union county, Ohio, January 7, 1871, son of John H. and Phoebe (Hornbeck) Shirk, his father being a resident of Marysville, and his mother having died in 1875. Young Shirk spent the first nine years of his life on a farm, then went with his father to Mount Victory, Ohio, and four years later returned to Union county. He received his education in the public schools of this city, and at eighteen began life on his own responsibility, first in the employ of the Robinson & Curry Company, of Marysville, with whom he remained three years. He then turned his attention to the laundry business in the establishment of M. E. Smith, and later took charge of the management of the laundry of D. S. Price, operating the business for him until July, 1893. In August of that year he purchased the hand laundry of A. Drake. This he conducted alone until March 12, 1894, when he consolidated with the steam laundry, under the firm name of Wilgus & Shirk. This firm, as above stated, was succeeded by Greiner & Shirk. Mr. Shirk gives his whole time and attention to this business, and in its management has evinced a marked ability. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Marysville Lodge, No. 100, and in politics is a Republican.
     John W. Greiner was born in Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, April 20, 1863, son of Louis and Levina (Hess) Greiner, residents of Somerset. Louis Greiner was born in Germany, and when fourteen years of age came to America with an uncle, and settled in Perry county, Ohio, where he learned, with this uncle, the shoemaker’s trade, at which he has worked all his life. He was married in Somerset, Perry county, to Miss Hess, whose parents were natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Greiner have had ten children, of whom six are living, namely: Augustus A., a resident of Somerset, Ohio; Minnie A., a teacher in the Orphans’ Home at Richmond, Indiana; Seigle H., of Somerset; John W.; Clio E., a member of the home circle; and Earle, also of Somerset. John W. attended the schools of his native town until he was thirteen, when he hired out to do farm work, and was thus employed five years. After this he went to Columbus, Ohio, and entered the employ of P. Hayden & Co. in the saddlery hardware business, remaining there two years. In November, 1884, he returned to Somerset, and began to learn the trade of a printer in the Somerset Review office, where he worked until the following April, when he came to Marysville. Here he completed his trade in the office of the Marysville Tribune, and continues there still. Since July, 1894, however, he has given only half of his time to the Tribune, the other half being devoted to his laundry business.
     Mr. Greiner was married April 18, 1889, to Miss Lillian M. Shirk, daughter of John H. and Phoebe (Hornbeck) Shirk, and they reside on Ninth street, in the west part of the city. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and, like his partner, Mr. Greiner is a Republican.
     Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 314-315
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

JOHN ELLSWORTH GRIFFITH, who has attained a marked prestige in a professional way, as one of the most capable young lawyers of Union county, Ohio, merits specific recognition in the list of those able professional men whose life histories are incorporated in this volume.
     He was born in Delaware county, this State, October 24, 1864, son of William H. and Jane (Lodwig) Griffith, both of whom were born in Radnor township, Delaware county. The father died in February, 1886, at the age of forty-nine years. He had passed his entire life in Radnor township and had been an agriculturist from his youth, save for a period of six years, during which time he worked at the carpenter’s trade, following this vocation while a young man, but eventually resuming his allegiance to the art of husbandry. He was a man of broad intelligence and upright character, having been very actively identified with the Prospect Baptist Church. His parents were Owen and Catherine (Lewis) Griffith, who were natives of Wales and who came to the United States when about twenty years of age, their marriage being consummated in this country. They possessed those traits of character so characteristic of the Welsh type, —were industrious, frugal God-fearing people, intelligent and ambitious.
     Our subject was the eldest of a family of four children, the following being a brief record concerning the other three: Mary R. died at the age of sixteen months; William H. died in 1891, at the age of seventeen years: Jennie E. resides with her widowed mother in Marysville, where our subject also maintains his home.
     John Ellsworth Griffith was reared on the old homestead farm in Radnor township, the place being still in the possession of the family, and comprising 240 acres of fine land. Here he passed his boyhood, assisting in the duties of the farm and attending the district schools during the winter months. When he had reached the age of fifteen he attended a select school for one term, and two years later matriculated at Dennison University, Granville, Ohio, where he graduated in the preparatory department, having completed a prescribed three years’ course of study in eighteen months, —a fact that is significant as indicatory of his native ability, his determination and his power of application. He then passed a short interval at the Ohio Normal School, in the city of Delaware, dividing his time between study and teaching. He then secured the preferment as teacher in the school of his home district, remaining in charge of the same for a period of five months, after which he went to Cleveland and passed the summer in attending the Spencerian Business College, at which he graduated as a member of the class of 1885. He had simultaneously devoted careful attention to the study of elocution under the efficient preceptorship of Professor John W. Rusk, having manifested a marked talent for dramatic and character delineations and having profited much from the finishing discipline thus secured. After his graduation Mr. Griffith went to Prospect, Marion county, this State, where he assumed charge of the business department of a normal school that had been established at that point, also teaching in the literary department. He retained this position for nine months, when owing to the death of his father and his appointment as administrator of the estate, he was compelled to resign his pedagogic work and to return home and give his entire attention to the operation of the farm and to settling up of the business of the estate. He remained upon the old homestead for two years, and entered into the work with characteristic vigor, not only successfully cultivating the home place, but also operating for one year a farm of 100 acres, belonging to an uncle.
     While on the farm and encumbered with duties that would demand the undivided attention of the average man, he still found time and opportunity to continue his literary and scientific studies, being still imbued with the determination to secure a fully rounded education. In 1888 he went to Fostoria, this State, and entered the North American Normal School and Business College for the purpose of making a general review of his past work. Here his ability gained recognition, and he was soon called upon to teach in the institution, and within three months was honored with a professorship in the same, —teaching civil government, political economy, natural philosophy, physiology, physical geography, etc. He retained this professorship for one year, and then, in the fall of 1889, resigned the same in order to prepare himself for that profession to which he had determined to devote his life, for in early youth one of his limbs had been so badly mangled as to make it impracticable to long continue the active duties of the farm, in which he took great interest. He went to Cincinnati and entered the law college, where he completed the prescribed course and graduated in May of the following year, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, being admitted to the bar of the State on the twenty-ninth day of the same month, and soon after to practice in the Federal courts. While in the Cincinnati Law College he was given distinctive precedence by being chosen as president of the senior class, which comprised 106 members; he was also president of the Mansfield Club, and was one of six chosen by the faculty of the institution, after a preliminary contest, to represent his class in forensic debate upon graduation day. Quick in intuition, and with a mental breadth which enabled him to udge [sic] and decide as to mooted points more readily than many who gave mature deliberation, he naturally came to the front in his class, and his powers of oratory also conserved this distinction, which he has been enabled to maintain when brought into practical forensic debate.
     August 4, 1890, Mr. Griffith took up his residence in Marysville, where he displayed the “shingle,” which denoted his vocation, and where he has since remained in the active practice of his profession, having gained a representative clientage and an enviable reputation. Politically, he is an ardent Republican, and is an active worker in the cause, having been Chairman of the County Convention in 1894. He was appointed in 1894 by the Secretary of State, as a member for two years, of the Board of Supervisors of Election, and for two years prior to that time was Clerk of that body; he is now serving his third year as secretary of the Union County Agricultural Society, and his second year as clerk of the Board of Health, of which he was a member for the year prior to his present incumbency. Fraternally, Mr. Griffith is identified with Palestine Lodge, No. 158, F. & A. M., of which he is Master at the present time; with Marysville Lodge, No. 87, I. O. O. F.; with Marysville Lodge, No. 100, Knights of Pythias; and with the Order of the Eastern Star, Mary Chapter, No. 9.
     He was married, September 19, 1889, to Miss Hannah E. McMillen, daughter of John P. and Belinda McMillen, and a native of Muskingum county, Ohio. They have one child, Lena Estelle. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are members of the Congregational Church of Marysville, in which he holds official preferment as president of the Board of Trustees. He has also been superintendent of the Sunday school for the past three years.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 110-112
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

BOLAND H. B. GRISWOLD. —Among the most prominent and most highly honored of the pioneer residents of Union county, Ohio, must the subject of this review be given a foremost rank, for not only is he a native of the State, but with its history has that of his ancestors been identified from a very early day, when they left their old home in New England and made their way across the weary intervening leagues between that section and the forest wilds of the Buckeye State.
     Our subject, who is one of the substantial farmers of Allen township, was born in Goshen township, Champaign county, April 19, 1816, the son of James Griswold, who was a native of Vermont, and who came from a very prominent old family of New England, — one of English extraction. James was the son of Esuriah Griswold, who married a Miss Boland, who was of Scotch ancestry. They both died in their native State. James Griswold grew to man’s estate on the paternal farm in Vermont, and finally was united in marriage to Polly Beal, who was a native of Vermont, as were also her parents, Obadiah and Rebecca (Moodie) Beal. His parentage is not known. Obadiah Beal was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and he came to Ohio early in the present century, locating in Champaign county, where he died.
     In 1812 the parents of our subject left their native State and came through to Ohio, locating at Marietta, Washington county; subsequently they came to Champaign county, and settled on the white oak plains, two miles north of Mechanicsburg, —this being a portion of the Galoway land tract, where Obadiah Beal, the maternal grandsire of our subject, had also located. James and Polly (Beal) Griswold subsequently removed to Union township, this county, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the former dying in the village of Irwin Station, at the age of seventy-seven years, and his widow at the age of eighty-four.
     Of their eight children we make record as follows: Melona Tarpning, deceased; Sarah, wife of Samuel Harris, died in Texas; Boland H. B., subject of this review; Hosea died at Loda, Illinois; Phedora died in early life; Sylvia M., wife of William Brown, died in Union county, Iowa; Rebecca is the widow of Ira Jones, and is a resident of Van Buren county, Iowa; Obadiah E. is a resident near Fountain Park, Champaign county, this State. In religion the parents and their children have been identified with the Universalist Church.
     Our subject was reared in Champaign county, lending an effective aid in its cultivation as he waxed strong in years. His educational discipline was confined to a few weeks’ attendance in the log school-house of the district during the winter months, but this was sufficient to serve as the groundwork of the broad information which is now his, for his was an alert and receptive mind, and he was ever an avidious student and reader. At the age of fourteen years he assumed the responsibility of his own maintenance, hiring out to work on a farm and receiving on the start $7 per month for his services. He was thus employed for seven years, and in 1838 he came to Union township, this county, where he rented a dairy farm, known as the Gabriel farm, and gave his undivided attention to its operation for three years. At the age of nineteen years, with true filial solicitude, he purchased twenty-three acres of land in Champaign county, giving the same to his parents for a home. In 1850 he made the original purchase of eighty-four and one-half acres of his present farm in Allen township, making subsequent purchases until he had acquired a fine place of 151 acres. The same is under effective cultivation, and has buildings and other permanent improvements of excellent order.
     Mr. Griswold took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Amanda Melvina Peck, their marriage being solemnized in Champaign county, October 29, 1837. Mrs. Griswold was born in the vicinity of the city of Cincinnati, the daughter of Thomas Peck, one of the early settlers in that section. Our subject and his wife became the parents of two daughters, namely: Cerepta J., who died March 10, 1849; and Cynthia Altina, who was a successful teacher in her early womanhood, and who became the wife of E. C. Marsh, who resides near her father’s home; they have one daughter, Lotta M., wife of E. M. Coe, of Union township.
     Grevious [sic] was the loss which came into the life of our honored subject February 24, 1874, when she who had been his devoted and faithful wife and cherished companion was called to enter into the life eternal. She had been his solace and comforter during thirty-seven long years, with their varying lights and shadows, and as the days fast lapsed into the realm of yesterday, and age left its imprint on their brows, they depended yet the more on each other, and found their thoughts, their hopes and their fears the more unified. But it has ever been that one should be taken, the other left, and the consolation is not lacking when a noble and consistent life is rendered into the hands of death, who opens wide the door of eternity and blessedness. Mrs. Griswold was a woman of gentle, kindly nature, and was loved by all who came to an appreciation of her unassuming worth. She was a devoted member of the Universalist Church of Woodstock.
     Mr. Griswold has rendered a most active support to the Republican party ever since the same was organized, and has been called upon to serve in offices of public trust and responsibility. He was Trustee of his township for several terms, and was Justice of the Peace for two terms. Though now seventy-eight years of age, he preserves intact his mental faculties, and has retained much of the virile vigor of his early years. In address he is frank and genial, and he is held in the highest esteem as one of the pioneers of Allen township, and as a man whose character is above reproach.
Source: Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 108-110
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.